Chapter 07
“Ethan…?”
In the backyard, a whisper drifted on the spring breeze.
Elisa’s neck tickled as the ribbon that was tied beneath her chin fluttered.
Elisa did not notice the movement of the ribbon and just stared at Ethan.
He slicked back his jet-black hair to show off his thick eyebrows and forehead.
His handsome face was smooth and scarless, even after four years on the battlefield.
But what caught her attention most were his ash-grey eyes.
Standing with the sunlight behind him, his eyes looked darker and colder than usual, like the sky just before a heavy rainstorm.
The sky, and the eyes of the man who possessed it, were what she had enjoyed.
No matter how hard she tried to forget, those old feelings came rushing back.
Elisa bit her tongue.
“You still bite your tongue,”
When his familiar yet strange fingers brushed her lips, Elisa snapped out of her daze.
“Get your hand away!”
Elisa shouted, pushing at his chest.
But Ethan didn’t budge.
Like a tree rooted deeply in the ground, he stood firm, and Elisa was the one who stumbled backwards.
“Ah!”
She fell into the fountain, letting out a sharp cry.
More than her wet clothes, Ethan’s gaze made her uncomfortable.
He’s probably laughing at how ridiculous I look.
Not wanting to see that, Elisa lowered her head.
Too ashamed to get up, unable to do so for the same reason.
Until she saw a big hand.
“Get up. You’ll catch a cold again.”
His kindness was unwelcome.
It felt more like mockery, so Elisa frowned and swatted his hand away.
“I don’t need your help. Go away.”
“Why? Because you like me?”
What nonsense was that?
Surprised, she stared at him.
Ethan let out a low laugh, scratching his throat.
His laugh matched the cool breeze, irritating her even more.
Everything about him annoyed her.
If his eyes were the stormy sky, then he was the sudden downpour that poured.
A sudden rainstorm you can’t stop and don’t want to get caught in.
Elisa stood up on her own and walked past him.
“Where are you going?”
She was about to leave when Ethan grabbed her wrist.
His hand was cold, but where it touched burned like fire.
Her heart, chilled by the unexpected contact, thumped loudly, and her mouth went dry.
“Aren’t you going to say thank you?”
“What?”
“I helped you take off your bonnet. You should thank me.”
It sounded ridiculous, but it was true.
If it had been anyone else, she would have thanked them several times.
She didn’t want to, though, because it was Ethan.
“When did I ask for your help?”
Elisa glared and snapped.
“You were interfering without cause. Why should I thank you?”
“Interfering?”
“Yes. It was interfering. I could have taken off the bonnet myself!”
Unaware that she was raising her voice, she bit her lip firmly.
She didn’t want to show that she hadn’t moved on or that she still liked him.
“Alright, Elisa. If that’s how you want it, I’ll accept that.”
While Elisa’s small shoulders trembled with anger, Ethan remained calm.
“Then let me change my question.”
“I don’t want to hear it. And don’t speak to me informally.”
“You allowed me to speak informally.”
Ethan adjusted the crooked ribbon on her bonnet and continued.
“You said we don’t need a formal speech between us. You told me to speak casually, so have you changed your mind?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Elisa untied the pretty ribbon nervously.
“We were children at the time and didn’t know any better. You were the one who refused and said it wasn’t allowed.”
She removed the bonnet roughly, as though she were discarding it.
“And now you say you’ll keep that promise after abandoning me and leaving without a word? Are you joking with me?”
“No way. I’m serious, Elisa.”
“Don’t call my name!”
Elisa shouted so loudly that her voice strained, startling a bird into flight.
“You’re just a servant, the son of a nanny.
You’re not someone who can call my name.”
The biggest barrier between Elisa and Ethan was their difference in social status.
Maybe that’s why he left without a word four years ago.
So Elisa deliberately touched on that point.
She wanted to hurt him.
She wanted him to suffer at least as much as she did, maybe even more.
Her wish came true.
Ethan’s calm expression twisted, and his ash-grey eyes that held Elisa flickered.
She should have felt better when she saw him in pain, but she didn’t.
Rather, she felt a sharp pain in her heart, as if she were stabbing herself.
Foolish Elisa Lesley.
You can’t even get angry properly.
Elisa closed her eyes and grinned sourly.
Her hand relaxed, and the bonnet fell off, but she didn’t care.
She opened her eyes and glanced up at him once more after taking a deep breath to soothe her agitated heart.
“Baron Estevan.”
Calling him by his title instead of his name made Ethan’s eyes tremble more.
“The only person allowed to speak casually to me is Ethan. Not Baron Estevan.”
Her gaze was calmer than ever when she met his eyes.
“So don’t speak casually to me again. Don’t act like you know me. Because I don’t know anyone named Ethan Estevan.”
“…You’ve changed a lot.”
Although he was the one who told her not to speak casually, hearing her polite tone made Ethan feel strange.
She didn’t show it, though—instead, she clenched her fists tightly.
“You used to get so upset that you would fight until it was over, regardless of what was involved. Now your personality’s changed a lot. You might not even be the Elisa Lesley I know.
Who’s changed more, him or her?
He was the one who changed the most.
When she saw him at the victory banquet, she even wondered if it was the same Ethan or just someone who looked like him.
He was completely different.
But hearing nonsense like that was so ridiculous she couldn’t even laugh.
She didn’t argue because it wasn’t worth it.
Arguing with him was tiring enough.
Her damp skirt kept clinging to her legs uncomfortably, too.
“Then I’ll take that as your answer, and I’ll be going.”
“Aren’t you curious?”
The Ethan she knew was decisive and always finished things clearly, but Baron Ethan Estevan was sticky like melted candy.
The Ethan I knew no longer exists.
Because of that instant, Elisa made up her mind and left with firm steps.
Water dripped from her clothes as if to mark where she had walked.
She had long forgotten that her bonnet had fallen off.
“Don’t you want to know why I left without saying anything four years ago?”
Elisa had planned to ignore whatever nonsense Ethan said, but she couldn’t this time.
She wanted to hear the reason, but she knew it was stupid.
Elisa stopped dead in her tracks, turned to him, and let out a long sigh.
“So you are curious after all.”
His smiling face, as if he expected this, annoyed her.
She wanted to slap her palm over her face.
“Stop with the useless talk and just tell me the reason.”
“I can’t say.”
Was he joking with her?
Just as her anger, which she had barely controlled, began to rise again, Elisa pressed her furrowed brow.
“I can’t tell you now, but I will tell you later. Please wait a little longer.”
She had already waited four years; now he wanted her to wait even more.
Elisa scoffed and tilted her head sideways.
“Are you planning to tell me in front of my grave?”
“……”
“Honestly, isn’t there any special reason? Just say you were scared, that the wall of status was too high and strong, and that’s why you ran away.”
Elisa spoke sarcastically, but he didn’t answer.
He just looked at her silently with eyes that had lost all trace of a smile.
Who said silence means agreement?
The slight curl of his lips was full of poison.
“Well, thanks to you, my curiosity is satisfied. I appreciate this part, Baron Estevan.”
Elisa mocked him to the very end and turned away.
She worried he might grab her again, but he didn’t.
He gave up.
She thought she should feel relieved but instead felt a strange regret.
She glanced toward the backyard for a moment, then walked back into the exhibition hall.
