WDHMTU |CHAPTER 50

Chapter 50

 

Berry pulled Marsha into a tight embrace, her voice trembling.

 

“Stay healthy. And I’ll always be here, so if you ever feel like you can’t breathe, don’t think of anything else—just come straight back. All right?”

 

Tears welled in Marsha’s eyes. 

 

Ah, could a person really be this warm? 

 

If she were ever allowed a life after catching the culprit, she wanted to become someone like Berry. 

 

Warm, kind, and utterly lovable.

 

Berry offered to help Marsha pack, but Marsha firmly refused. 

 

She didn’t want to trouble her friend to the very end.

 

“If you say so… ah, then would it be all right if I stop by sometimes and look after the house?”

 

“I’d be grateful if you did. But I feel like I’m only being a burden to you…”

 

“Oh, nonsense! Checking in once in a while to see if the place is all right—that’s nothing!”

 

Berry insisted she didn’t need to tidy everything, but Marsha wanted to leave the house as clean as possible.

 

How does such a small house have so much to clean?

 

She thought she’d lived neatly enough, yet no matter how much she swept and scrubbed, the work never ended. 

 

Before she knew it, she had stayed up through the entire night.

 

When dawn came, she thought to close her eyes just for a moment. 

 

An hour later, she dragged them open again.

 

“…?”

 

The man who had insisted he didn’t need to help—and yet stayed up with her anyway—was nowhere to be seen.

 

Where is he…?

 

Half-dazed, she stumbled outside, only to find Claudio loading their luggage onto the horse.

 

“You woke earlier than I thought.”

 

“…You didn’t sleep at all, did you? Are you all right?”

 

Marsha instantly covered her mouth. 

 

Did I just say ‘you’? 

 

She couldn’t address him so casually anymore. 

 

She should be polite, formal.

 

“I’ve been getting plenty of rest lately. I’m fine.” Claudio replied as he always did, unconcerned. It seemed he didn’t care in the least how she chose to speak to him.

 

…Maybe I’ll just keep speaking normally until we reach the villa.

 

Switching her tone all of a sudden was too awkward. 

 

But once they arrived, she resolved to change her manner of speech completely.

 

“Is this all of the luggage?”

 

“Yes. But before we leave, I need to give Berry the key. She promised to look after the house.”

 

“I already gave it to her. She said she’d drop by this afternoon.”

 

Marsha blinked.

 

“Berry came? When?”

 

“While you were sleeping, of course.”

 

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

 

“Was there any need? You’d already said your farewells yesterday. She only needed the key.”

 

Claudio’s indifferent tone made Marsha frown.

 

“Even so. We won’t be seeing each other for a long time. I wanted to say goodbye properly.”

 

“Oh? I’ve never once missed someone simply because I couldn’t see them.”

 

Claudio smiled brightly. 

 

How could he look so pure while saying something so infuriating?

 

Even that’s a kind of talent.

 

Ugh, he was insufferable. Shivering with irritation, Marsha stretched out her hand toward him.

 

“Before we leave, write something to me something.”

 

“Write to you… what?”

 

Claudio’s brow twitched as if he couldn’t make sense of her words.

 

“A letter of recommendation, of course. If someone like me suddenly shows up at the Duke of Gloria’s villa, who’s going to open the gate for me?”

 

His eyes narrowed. 

 

Then, realizing her meaning, he tilted his head back with a groan.

 

“Good grief. Were you planning to go on your own?”

 

“Then are we going together? I can’t possibly keep up with a horse on foot.”

 

“You really imagine terrible things. Do you honestly think I’d ride ahead while you trailed behind on your own legs?”

 

Marsha stared at him, bewildered.

 

“You’d walk with me? But—I don’t know how to ride a horse.”

 

“You don’t need to.”

 

With a calm smile, Claudio slipped an arm around her waist and lifted her easily.

 

“Ah!”

 

Marsha shrieked at the sudden motion, only to find herself safely settled on the saddle. She was so shocked she didn’t even have the strength to protest. 

 

Her eyes screwed shut—falling from this height would surely shatter her bones.

 

“What’s wrong? Afraid?”

 

Claudio chuckled softly. 

 

Marsha turned her head. 

 

He had vaulted onto the tall horse in one smooth motion, a graceful smile curving his lips.

 

“No need to be afraid. I won’t let you fall.”

 

“No, really, it would be better if I just—”

 

Before she could finish, Shawn began to move.

 

“Oh!”

 

The shifting scenery before her eyes made her dizzy at first, but soon she realized how gently the horse carried them, even along the uneven forest trail.

 

I’ve walked this path so many times, but it feels completely different…

 

The world itself seemed changed, simply from seeing it from a higher place.

 

Claudio couldn’t see Marsha’s face, but the quick turns of her head told him enough about her expression.

 

Honestly. 

 

She’s not a child…

 

His lips curved into a pleasant smile.

 

But this woman… she sits far too stiffly.

 

Claudio bent his head close to her ear and murmured,

“If you’re tired, you can lean on me.”

 

Startled, Marsha touched her ear and glared at him.

 

“I’m fine. No, but… why would you whisper right into someone’s ear like that?”

 

“You’re so small I thought you wouldn’t hear me otherwise.”

 

“I’m not that small.” Always with the teasing! Marsha turned her gaze forward again. 

 

Yet the scenery that had been so vivid a moment ago refused to register.

 

You’re… far too close.

 

His strong arm holding the reins, his entire frame so near—Marsha sat even straighter, terrified of brushing against him. 

 

She repeated the same words over and over in her heart.

 

Don’t make a mistake. 

 

Don’t make a mistake…

 

***

 

Three days before James’s outburst, the luxury shopping street in Delray glittered with dazzling signs.

 

‘Miles Wine.’ It was a high-class boutique selling only the finest wines of the Dominique Duchy. 

 

Past its lavish displays and the even more sumptuous reception rooms, through several locked doors, lay a row of dark chambers where men gathered to indulge in drink, smoke, and other sordid pleasures.

 

Beyond those rooms sat the office of the proprietor himself, Petrix.

 

The duke still refuses to show his face, and ‘Eagle’ has been confirmed dead…

 

Petrix studied a dossier, its cover marked with a sharp, hook-shaped insignia bound in ribbon, and his lips curled into a chilling smile.

 

“Ha-ha…”

 

On the floor at his feet, a middle-aged man in shabby clothes polished his shoes. 

 

When his rag slipped and brushed the hem of Petrix’s trousers, the already savage features on Petrix’s face contorted further as he barked,

“Can’t you do anything right?!”

 

“M-my apologies…”

 

He slammed his shoe down hard upon the man’s thigh. 

 

The servant swallowed his pain and, with trembling hands, resumed polishing.

 

“Tch.”

 

Petrix returned his gaze to the papers, letting his mind wander back.

 

To the world outside, he was a fortunate merchant who had clawed his way into the upper classes on the back of his wine business.

 

But his true origins lay elsewhere. 

 

Once, he had been nothing more than a fixer—a man who, for a fee, solved troublesome problems, even if it meant using brutal methods.

 

Petrix despised the word fixer. 

 

He loathed the word thug even more. 

 

He wanted to be known as an elegant businessman, a romantic problem-solver who moved for the sake of one woman alone.

 

Sending Eagle was the right decision after all.

 

Eagle had been one of his men—a comrade of Bear and the elder brother of Rose, who had died on a mission four years ago after falling into Claudio’s hands. 

 

The man had burned with hatred for Claudio. 

 

When Petrix had given him this latest order, Eagle had been so moved he’d wept.

 

That he had been captured and killed so quickly meant only one thing: the mission had not ended in vain.

 

If the duke were still alive, he would never stay silent until now.

 

He would have shown himself, if only to prove his survival to those who sought his life.

 

The fact that he had not appeared…

 

That man might truly be dead!

 

At last—Gloria’s detestable, wretched duke, gone!

 

“Kekeke… hahahahaha!”

 

His cruel laughter filled the dim study.

 

Then came a knock at the door.

 

—“Master Petrix. Lord Rom has come to see you.”

 

At once, the polishing man’s hand froze.

 

His trembling worsened.

 

“Let him in.”

 

Petrix answered, and shortly after, Lucas stepped inside. 

 

The face the world had once likened to warm sunlight was cold as ice.

 

“Lucas, my friend!”

 

Petrix spread his arms and strode toward him. 

 

But Lucas brushed past him and sat on the sofa, making Petrix’s eye twitch.

 

Arrogant bastard. 

 

Acting as though he’s some true noble!

 

Fury simmered inside him, but he refused to be provoked by something so petty. 

 

Today his spirits were far too high, and Lucas was his most vital business partner. 

 

It was through Lucas’s wines that Petrix had risen to his current station, and thanks to him he had begun to make a name for himself in the West.

 

I may not hold much sway as a vintner in Delray, but in the West… That’s another story.

 

In fact, the two men stood on much the same ground. 

 

Both were driven by desires for things forever out of reach—a wretched destiny that bound them. 

 

Of course, it was only natural they would support one another.

 

Until that incident, their partnership had been surprisingly amicable…