Chapter 103: Chapter 103 No matter what you call a flower, its color never changes (8)
She saw Dylan mounting a horse and a servant preparing to leave the Lennox mansion.
Her lips trembled as she felt so miserable at the moment.
‘Does he hate me so much that he expelled me by lying that he was not at home?’
Francis looked back at him blankly. As she had been humiliated by Dylan, Douglas, who witnessed it all, also fumed with anger.
At that moment, Dylan Lennox coincidently turned his head towards her. They looked vacantly away from each other. As Dylan’s upper body moved unstably after he saw her, the horse neighed loudly as if it was unsatisfied. She could see him clearly.
Dylan stood for a moment before he turned around and approached her. The closer the clatter of the hoofs came, the more nervous and agitated she became.
She regretted not leaving earlier. She didn’t want to be a forlorn figure before him.
“Francis.”
Getting off the horse, he called her name with a subdued voice. She closed her dry lips tightly and didn’t speak.
“How come you came to my place without a wagon…”
Seeing her standing miserably on the road, Dylan could hardly get the words out properly.
He was more embarrassed because he didn’t expect she would wait for him here. He really felt sorry for her, of course. He hated her, but he felt sorry at the moment.
“Let me give you a wagon to ride back home,” he said.
Then he directed his servant to get her a horse.
“Is that all you can say to me?” Her terrible feelings showed in her controlled voice.
She demanded, “Was it because you didn’t want to see me at all? How could you humiliate me like that?”
“… No, that’s not what I mean. I just thought nothing good would come out when I saw you again.”
“Why? We met again only recently… I’m not begging you to love me. I just asked to see you. That’s all. Why are you so cruel to me?” She stared at him resentfully. She was stricken with sorrow.
“Am I cruel?” He asked, as if he was dumbfounded. As if it was the last straw, his eyebrows trembled. As she retouched his wounded heart that he barely healed, he spat it out.
“It’s you who has been cruel to me. I have thought so numerous times. So cruel. How could you be so cruel to a man driven to the edge of a cliff?”
“What the heck?” Francis was embarrassed by his unexpected response. Her lips were blue with embarrassment.
“The choice I made to get the marriage certificate from you that day… It was a sin that I have to carry for the rest of my life. Just ask to see me? How can I see you again? Every time I see you, I can’t control my emotions because of my growing resentment and sense of loss. ”
“… Do you hate me so much? Do you think it’s all my fault that you broke up with Olivia? ”
Francis said in a crying voice, with her face contorted.
“Stop it. I’m sick and tired! What’s the point of this kind of useless argument?”
“I loved you! That feeling of love that made your heart broken also made me feel the same. So, I couldn’t stand it… Can’t you see how broken my heart is?”
She finally cried. He put his hand on his forehead as if he was distressed.
“Do you want me to be patient for your love? Haven’t you ever thought that your love is violence to me?… Stop complaining like a child. Just take it if you feel distressed. You have to deal with it on your own.” Having said that coldy, he mounted the horse. His servant, standing hesitantly, followed him. Left behind, she was shedding tears, short of breath. She felt like her heart was torn apart.
Her clenched fists turned pale. She thought it would be very hard to win over his heart, but she never thought she would face this situation. She felt as if even a ray of hope was completely dashed.
“How could he…”
She didn’t know she would be so heartbroken. She laid her hands on her chest and held back tears. But her wounded heart would not go away and tormented her all the more. Her sadness sharply reminded her of the reason why she was trying to find Olivia. She laughed in vain, trying to comfort herself desperately. She was now listening to the cry of her innermost heart.
‘Olivia, wasn’t your revenge successful because you humiliated me like this?’
She bit her lip. Her emotional distress gave birth to an illegitimate child called ‘resentment’ in her heart. It was a dirty feeling that she couldn’t show to anyone. But she could not let even her love turn into an illegitimate child. The only illegitimate child she knew was Olivia Hazlet.
“Sir Douglas.”
Douglas, who witnessed this young lady’s loss of her lover, looked at her.
She did not hide her miserable feelings any more.
“I need your help.”
“Please say anything.”
“I heard there are many other places than the Edon center in the capital that boast of their excellence in checking others’ backgrounds. It doesn’t have to be an authorized service under the imperial law. I want you to take me there.”
“Lady…”
“Please. I want to check something with their help. I think I can feel relaxed only when I confirm that…”
Looking at her miserable face, Douglas couldn’t refuse, breathing out deeply.
A few days passed. During those days, Wendy spent a lot of time alone, looking down.
Pascal threw a suspicious gaze at her sometimes, but every time she met his eyes, she didn’t respond at all, looking more suspicious.
Pascal would not have cared much if she had continued to act like that. He now got used to seeing her face without the hint of a smile, but sometimes he was surprised at her strange behavior, which made him open his eyes wide. It’s because she often smiled without any reason while sitting alone, trimming flowers.
Her eyes still looked cold, but the smile on her face seemed very awkward and even weird.
There was clearly something wrong with her, he thought.
She sometimes hummed a tune, and she was excessively kind to the customers. During that short span, Pascal was scared because she looked so different from the woman he had known for the past few days.
‘Should I report this to the captain?’ He frowned heavily, at a loss about what to do.
Even now she was showing the same reaction. Every time the door opened, she was surprised and instinctively checked the visitor’s face. On such occasions, Pascal flinched in surprise.
Obviously, she was waiting for someone.
Surprised at her unusually strange attitude, Pascal naively asked her whether she was expecting anybody, but she reacted coldly like before.
She asked with an annoying voice, “Is there anybody else coming here except for customers?”
“Ah… I just thought you might be expecting an important customer,” he responded awkwardly.
Pretending not to have noticed it, she handed him a handful of flowers that a customer ordered.
Shortly after he gave the flowers to the customer and received the payment, the doorbell rang again. Seeing the person coming into the shop, Pascal quickly stopped moving a vase and gave him a salute briefly.
“You don’t have to salute me here.”
Having said that, Lard greeted her with his eyes. Looking at her face unintentionally, Pascal had to swallow again though his mouth was dry this time. Her thick eyebrows trembled, but she was obviously happy about his visit, though she didn’t express it. Pascal noticed a huge disharmony between her smiling lips and her frosty eyes.
“Come on in,” she said, asking Lard to sit down.
“Long time no see. I’ve been so busy these days that I couldn’t stop by. ”
“… No wonder you can’t stop by as you’re so busy. I thought you would come here later than sooner. I’m surprised at your unexpected visit today.”
Checking her sullen attitude again, Pascal found out why she showed such a cynical reaction until now. Although he was not sure if it was good or bad for him not to have reported her unusual behavior to the captain, he clearly realized that he would excuse himself and get out.
He picked up the empty vase again and walked into the muggy flower garden. Even if he sweat profusely in there, he vowed he would not get back into the shop.
As Pascal closed the door leading to the flower garden, there was silence between the two who had been talking naturally while he was there.
Was it because this was the first they had seen each other since they kissed by the river recently?’
As if conscious of this , she busied herself with preparing tea diligently without meeting his eyes. Fortunately, the sound of her pouring water hid her awkward breathing.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l