Chapter 94: Ripples and Reckonings
Chapter 93: Ripples and Reckonings
Lyria’s POV
A small smile touched his lips.
"I see," he said. "And do you find the water agreeable?"
I hesitated, then nodded once.
"It is... peaceful," I said. "When one is alone."
He chuckled softly.
"Ah. A subtle rebuke. Well deserved, I suppose."
He did not sound offended. If anything, the amusement in his tone deepened.
"I shall endeavour not to intrude upon your peace too often," he continued, "though I make no promises. Curiosity is a difficult habit to break."
I felt my face burn hotter. The casual way he spoke — as though this conversation, this entire encounter, were the most natural thing in the world — left me off balance.
"Y-your Grace," I said carefully, "this is... highly i-irregular."
"Is it?" He sounded genuinely curious. "I find the lake rather agreeable company. And you, it seems, do as well. Two people finding solace in the same quiet place does not strike me as particularly irregular."
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. There was no graceful way to explain that a duke and a servant girl sharing a hidden lake felt anything but ordinary.
He watched me for a moment longer, then his expression softened.
"You need not look so alarmed," he said gently. "I have no intention of causing you further difficulty. If my presence here is unwelcome, you have only to say so. I will take my leave."
The offer was sincere. I could hear it in the even tone, see it in the way he held himself — perfectly still, waiting for my answer without pressure.
And yet...
I did not tell him to go.
Instead, I looked down at my hands, twisting the edge of my skirt between my fingers.
"It is not... unwelcome," I admitted, the words stumbling slightly. "O-only... unexpected."
"Unexpected can be agreeable," he replied. "On occasion."
A small silence settled between us.
He shifted in the water, the surface rippling outward in slow circles.
"Tell me," he said after a moment, his voice quieter now, "when you come here — when you swim — what is it you seek?"
I considered the question.
"Quiet," I said at last. "A-a place where no one expects a-anything of m-me. Where I am not... anything at all, really."
He nodded slowly, as though the answer confirmed something he had already suspected.
"And does it help?" he asked. "For a time, at least?"
"Sometimes," I whispered.
The Duke was silent for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice had taken on a different quality — gentle, almost careful.
"I meant what I said earlier," he told me. "About adding me to your list."
My breath caught.
"Y-your Grace—"
"I am not asking for anything in return," he said, cutting across my protest with quiet firmness. "Only that you remember there is at least someone else in this palace who sees you. Who would notice if you were no longer here."
I stared at the water, unable to meet his eyes.
"I d-do not know w-what to say t-to t-that," I admitted.
"You need not say anything," he replied. "Only consider it."
He moved again, the water parting around him as he drifted a little closer to the bank, though still keeping a respectful distance.
"And if the day comes when the weight feels too great," he added softly, "come here. Or find me. Or simply remember that Blackmere exists — a place where people who have been told they are nothing are allowed to become something again."
My chest tightened at his words.
"I-I... I will think o-on it," I said at last, my voice barely above a whisper.
"That is all I ask."
He smiled then, small and genuine.
"I would have loved to see you swimming," he said.
My face reddened again, heat flooding my cheeks in an instant.
The Duke laughed, the sound low and warm.
"You get flustered easily," he observed, clearly delighted.
I looked away, mortified.
"Y-you are the o-one making m-me flustered," I muttered, the words escaping before I could stop them.
He laughed again, richer this time.
"Then I shall try not to make you flustered anymore," he said, though the amusement in his voice suggested he found the prospect difficult.
I did not reply.
Instead, a comfortable quiet settled between us.
He continued swimming in slow, unhurried strokes across the lake, while I sat on the bank, lost in thought. The water rippled gently around him, catching the late afternoon light in soft glimmers. My back still ached, but the pain felt distant now, muted by the unexpected kindness of his words.
Minutes passed in that peaceful silence.
Then, softly, I said, "T-thank you."
The Duke turned toward me, giving me a small smile.
"It was nice doing business with you," he replied, his tone light but sincere.
Just then, we heard a noise — the rustle of leaves and the snap of a twig.
The Duke sighed.
"It seems my peace is up," he said.
A young boy appeared in the opening between the trees. His gaze landed first on me, then shifted to the Duke, then back to me again. He moved closer to me, sniffing the air curiously.
The Duke sighed once more.
"Tommy," he said, "have some respect."
Tommy turned to the Duke.
"I was just trying to perceive—" he began.
The Duke cut him off.
"Shut up."
Tommy sighed dramatically, then looked at me with an apologetic expression.
"I’m sorry for His Grace’s rudeness," he said to me.
The Duke made a sound from the water.
"I beg your pardon?" he said.
"I said," Tommy repeated, entirely without the nervousness one might expect from a young man addressing a Duke, "that I was apologising for your rudeness, since you did not apologise yourself."
"I was not being rude."
"You told me to stop in the middle of a sentence."
"Because the sentence was heading somewhere it had no business going."
"But then how would you know that?" Tommy asked the Duke, his hands folded across his chest.
"I know a lot of things—"
"...painting isn’t one of them, though," Tommy said.
The Duke looked at him.
"You are quite insolent, Tommy," the Duke said. "It is a good wonder how you were able to get this job."
"You handpicked me," Tommy told the Duke. "And besides, if you let me do my job and not hide, then perhaps I wouldn’t be this insolent."
"Highly debatable," the Duke said. "And I do not hide."
"Really?" Tommy asked. "Then why is it that I had to search for you everywhere before finding you here?"
I just stared between the both of them at a loss for what I was now witnessing. This Tommy was His Grace’s servant, right?
"Furthermore," Tommy said, "I know you masked your scent."
The Duke’s expression did not change.
"I have no idea what you are referring to," he said pleasantly. "Perhaps your sense of smell is defective."
"Your Grace," Tommy said, "my nose is sensitive. You know this as much as I do, and one thing my sense of smell isn’t is defective. If you had not masked your scent to hide from me, I would have located you from the moment you went missing."
"Tommy, I don’t know if anyone has told you this, but you are rather annoying," the Duke said.
"You’ve told me, Your Grace, numerous times too," Tommy replied.
