ETKAD 14

Chapter 14

A few years ago, that day had been the day she and her neighborhood friends held a playful party disguised as a masquerade ball.

It was late afternoon, with the sky sinking into a reddish orange.

‘This feels so different. I can’t believe I spent all this time wearing stuffy dresses when I could have been this comfortable.’

Elin giggled as she fiddled with the awkward suspenders and baker boy cap she was wearing.

‘Everyone will be completely fooled when they see me.’

Dressed like the boys her age, she suddenly wanted to imitate all the things they usually did.

Kicking pebbles along the road with her foot, poking at the grass with a long branch, and so on.

Flap-flap-flap!

Just then, a large crow suddenly took flight from the other side of the forest, making her flinch.

‘What the—! You scared me!’

It was a path through the forest she often took, but walking alone just before nightfall made it strangely eerie.

Her leisurely pace gradually quickened.

Bang! Baaang!

All of a sudden, the sound of gunshots rang out, and it felt as though the entire forest shook.

“Ah!”

She crouched down, huddling herself and covering her ears, when she caught sight of someone running through the bushes.

‘That person!’

One of the two people fleeing was someone she knew quite well.

She couldn’t understand why they were running away in such a panic, guns in their hands and their faces pale with terror.

‘What’s going on? Did they come out here to hunt?’

Her heart was still pounding from the gunshots when she faintly heard a painful groan from somewhere.

‘……Is there someone else?’

Her head screamed at her to get out of the forest immediately, yet her feet carried her toward the direction of the groaning.

She cautiously pushed aside the thick, long blades of grass and found a large black horse standing in front of her.

Elin’s eyes widened in shock.

A person was lying on the ground a short distance away from the horse.

Blood was soaking his shoulder. It seemed the gunshots she had just heard had been aimed at him.

‘What should I do?!’

Her mind went completely blank. She had never witnessed anything like this in her life.

Her legs trembled so badly that she couldn’t even step backward.

‘……Is he dead?’

Swallowing hard, she slowly approached the man.

“Excuse me. A-are you all right?”

Summoning her courage, she turned him over, only to discover that he was someone she had never seen in the village before.

His face was pale, his thick brows drawn together in pain, but he was an astonishingly young and handsome man.

Judging by his clothes, he certainly wasn’t an ordinary person like the frivolous young men in the village.

A hunting rifle lay beside him, so perhaps he had come hunting and somehow ended up being attacked.

‘What on earth happened?!’

With no one nearby whom she could ask for help, she slowly shook him.

“E-excuse me. Please wake up.”

As she shook him, his long, tawny eyelashes slowly lifted, revealing brilliant golden eyes.

“You…… you…….”

Before he could finish speaking, the man lost consciousness again. Blood was still pouring from his shoulder.

By the time she finished shaking him in an attempt to wake him, his blood had stained the hem of her clothes red as well.

The sight of the dark red blood pooling on the ground made her dizzy.

“Elin.”

Just as the world seemed to stop, an unfamiliar voice brought her back to reality.

The gloomy forest had transformed into a bustling street.

It felt as though the world had suddenly crossed over from one place into another dimension.

“Elin! What on earth are you thinking about so deeply? You wouldn’t even notice if you got hit by a carriage.”

“……Lois?”

The person standing in front of her, slightly lifting his hat, was Lois.

Lost in memories of the past, Elin hadn’t even noticed someone blocking her path.

He was hardly someone she was happy to encounter. Especially not on a street this crowded.

“Did something happen? You don’t look well.”

“Hello, Lois. I’m fine. I have somewhere I need to get to urgently, so I’ll see you later.”

Elin gave him a light nod and tried to walk past him, but Lois persistently followed her and asked,

“Where are you going? If it’s that urgent, I’ll escort you.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just right up ahead.”

Elin politely declined and started walking again.

“Elin. Why do you keep avoiding me? It’s not as though escorting you is such a big deal.”

Lois’s overbearing concern gradually began to irritate her.

Every time they ran into each other, he was always like this. He never simply let her go.

“It’s fine, Lois. I can get there by myself. Whenever we run into each other, I feel uncomfortable because you never just let me go.”

Elin honestly voiced the feelings she had been harboring.

“Elin. How can you say that to me…… We…….”

“Lois! I know. I know that we’re friends.”

Elin raised her voice as though to prevent him from saying anything strange.

“Please just leave me alone. We may be friends, but I think you’re going too far. You’re married now, too.”

Elin calmed herself and lowered her voice again.

“I’m sorry.”

But Lois was already looking at her with such wounded, pathetic eyes that it seemed as though he had been deeply hurt.

He was the one who had chosen Jenis, yet the look in his eyes made it seem as though she were the one who had abandoned him. It irritated Elin.

There he went again.

That dejected look in his eyes.

“Elin. I know you resent me because I abandoned you and married Jenis.”

Elin felt like she was going insane and pressed a hand to her forehead.

“How did the Duke seduce you?”

Elin was dumbfounded when he suddenly brought up the Duke.

Seduce her?

What on earth was he talking about?

“Lois! You seem to have forgotten, but you were the one who chose Jenis! You were the one who told me you were sorry and asked me to wish you happiness. Have you already forgotten? Why are you suddenly bringing up the Duke? Whether I meet the Duke or a coachman, it’s none of your concern anymore!”

Elin delivered the words firmly before coldly walking past him.

Lois grabbed her arm and spoke in a spiteful voice.

“Does the Duke even know what kind of relationship we had? Does he know that you could have married me?”

Elin turned to look at Lois, her eyes now filled with shock.

Meanwhile, Dominic was returning from the club after meeting the architect Benjamin Rosso when he came across an unexpected scene.

“Wait. Slow down.”

As the carriage reduced its speed, he watched the scene outside the window with a puzzled expression.

Elin Nilsson was standing in the middle of the street with a young man, both of them wearing serious expressions.

The atmosphere between them was strange. They looked almost like former lovers, or as though the man were desperately clinging to the woman.

If someone with a loose tongue happened to witness this, it was exactly the sort of scene that could give rise to malicious rumors about the future Duchess.

‘Perhaps I expected too much.’

He was displeased with Elin for practically throwing herself in front of the hyenas as easy prey.

Once they had entered into a contract, he had at least expected her to take proper care of her own reputation.

He was about to close the carriage curtain with a cold expression when he caught sight of the man grabbing her arm.

Elin Nilsson’s face had gone pale.

From what he could see, she certainly hadn’t turned pale from happiness.

“Stop.”

The carriage wheels came to an abrupt halt.

“Why are you doing this, Lois? Let go!”

Elin was flustered.

Who could have imagined that Lois, whom she had once considered a good friend, harbored such irrational obsession?

You’re Jenis’s husband. So please, just get out of my life!

The words had nearly risen to her throat when someone grabbed her arm.

Lois noticed him before Elin did.

Seeing the bewildered expression on Lois’s face, Elin turned around.

“Elin.”

The person calling her so gently was Dominic Linderto.

“D-Duke?”

He gave Elin a flawless, perfect smile, but the look he gave Lois was cold enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

“I’d appreciate it if you would let go of her hand.”

It was only after hearing the Duke’s intimidating voice that Lois released Elin.

And for good reason. If he had been even a moment slower, it looked as though the Duke’s fist might have flown straight into his face.

As soon as Lois’s hand fell away, Dominic gently drew Elin toward him.

“What business do you have with my fiancée? Hmm…….”

Dominic slightly narrowed his brow as though trying to remember something, but Lois spoke first.

“I’m Lois Creighton, Your Grace.”

“Ah. Yes. Sir Creighton.”

Dominic remained cold and indifferent, as though he had no intention whatsoever of offering Lois his hand.

Lois realized first that his own behavior had been rude and took a step back from them.

“My apologies.”

“You should apologize to the lady, not me.”

Lois forced the words out as he apologized to her.

“I’m sorry, Elin. I was only worried about you.”

Perhaps those words rubbed Dominic the wrong way, because he frowned slightly before speaking.

“Even between family, there are boundaries one ought to observe. A relationship between a sister-in-law and her brother-in-law that is too uninhibited could give gossipmongers something to talk about.”

“But Elin and I have known each other since we were children…….”

Dominic turned toward Elin, making it clear that he had no intention of listening to Lois’s excuses.

“You don’t look well. Let’s get into the carriage. I’ll take you home.”

Elin readily obeyed the Duke and quietly took his arm.

The two of them headed toward the carriage waiting nearby.

Left standing there alone, Lois’s face flushed as though he had been publicly humiliated.

“Well, then. We’ll be going.”

After seating Elin in the carriage first, Dominic gave Lois a perfunctory farewell before climbing in with her.

As the carriage began to move, Lois stood there for a long time, staring at its receding figure with a stiff expression.

“Damn it.”

A quiet curse escaped his lips.