Deceived, Yet Drawn to You - Chapter 14

Blair couldn’t hide her confusion at the blunt question. Unlike the time he’d once advised her, half jokingly, to try running away with a lover, there wasn’t a trace of playfulness this time.

“That’s… not something I can decide on my own.”

“It sounds like you’re inclined to consider it.”

“There are complicated family circumstances involved… I’m sorry. I don’t think I can talk about it.”

“I see. I understand. I’ve never managed to free myself from the restraints of my family either.”

Edmund replied lightly and didn’t continue further. The conversation stopped there, and the air surrounding them grew awkward again. The flame rising from the nearly melted candle wavered precariously.

Blair struggled alone in the uncomfortable silence. In stark contrast, Edmund looked calm. In his consistently composed manner and posture that never wavered, she glimpsed the solidity that only someone thoroughly disciplined could possess. Had that man ever been overcome by bewilderment even once in his life?

“Lord Libert.”

Blair cautiously broke the silence and met Edmund’s eyes.

“By any chance, was the gift from that day delivered safely?”

She hesitated until the moment she asked. But suddenly, she was curious. She couldn’t help but ask.

What did the man’s human face look like beneath that solid exterior? She wanted to know whether the crack that had flickered in his eyes as he looked down at the gift box had been nothing more than her imagination.

“I was wondering if she liked the gift.”

As she asked again, Blair lightly licked her drying lower lip. She felt as if she could hear the strong pounding of her own heart.

Was it too personal a question? Or was it a perfectly reasonable one, and she was simply too conscious of him? Either way, the water was already spilled, so Blair decided to wait for his answer.

Edmund, who’d been blinking as he looked at her for a while, soon denied it in an even voice.

“No.”

“…Yes?”

“She didn’t like it at all.”

“I see. That’s… really unfortunate.”

Blair, stiff with tension, offered a suitably neutral response.

“As a fellow woman, I might be able to help….”

“It’s not a matter of taste. She wouldn’t welcome anything I gave her.”

“….”

“It’s regrettable that I can’t accept your help, my lady.”

Edmund finished with a joking tone and gave a faint smile. Blair smiled along with him, but there was no helping the churning unease in one corner of her heart.

As the air settled heavily, he gazed at Blair beyond the flickering candlelight. At the look that seemed to probe her inner thoughts, she instinctively steadied her breathing.

“It would be best if we at least put on the appearance of searching for keys now.”

Looking away, he gestured with his chin toward the tightly closed study door. It was a timely suggestion, and Blair nodded. They rose from their seats.

Taking the lead, she stepped forward over the creaking wooden floor. When she was about five steps away from the door, having passed the tall bookcases, laughter drifted in from the other side.

Blair came to an abrupt halt. The sound of several men and women laughing and chatting followed. Though she hadn’t done anything wrong, her heart began to race. She didn’t want to be seen emerging alone with Edmund from a dark, enclosed room. She didn’t want to become fodder for idle gossip. Was it instinct? Yet those people were freely spending time together, men and women mixed without concern.

After hesitating, Blair turned back toward Edmund and spoke in a whisper, “It would be better to go out once it quiets down.”

“As you wish.”

“There are people outside, so I thought it might not be a good idea to show ourselves right now.”

“I don’t mind, so you don’t need to make excuses.”

The blunt tone left her feeling slightly embarrassed. Blair leaned silently against the bookcase and stared down at the tips of her shoes. From somewhere beyond the door, the faint noise of cheerful chatter drifted in.

Even as she sank into her thoughts, Blair made an effort to listen closely. As far as she remembered, Edmund’s hearing wasn’t particularly good. When was it? It had been on a balcony overlooking the city as dusk settled in. He hadn’t heard that painfully vulgar sound at all and had simply asked her to move aside.

Suddenly aware of a direct gaze, Blair lifted her head. Edmund stood a short distance away, utterly still, his eyes fixed on her. It was as though he were observing her. Before she could examine it more closely, Edmund stepped toward her. Startled, Blair pressed her back firmly against the bookcase.

With his long strides, the man quickly closed the distance and stopped directly in front of her. Then, casting a large shadow over her, he slowly raised his hand toward her right cheek. Blair swallowed hard in sheer confusion.

Her sharpened senses picked everything up at once. His bodily scent mixed with a deep fragrance, the rise and fall of his chest with each breath, and his solid build that felt imposing even with the smallest movement.

What should I do? What is he trying to do? Don’t tell me he’s going to kiss me…. Then how am I supposed to react….

“I found it. A key.”

The calm voice dropped above her forehead, breaking the suffocating silence. Blair blinked her eyes wide. Her heart was pounding so fast that she couldn’t even grasp what had just happened.

“He hid it well, in a place like this.”

The key caught the flickering candlelight and flashed for an instant. Ah. A key. Only then did she belatedly remember the troublesome game Isaac had organized under the guise of a treasure hunt. Edmund had merely picked up the key from the bookcase she’d been standing against.

Even after realizing that, her racing heart refused to calm. Heat rushed to both her cheeks. What on earth was I thinking?

The man still didn’t step back. Standing close enough that his breath brushed her, he simply looked down at Blair, whose face was flushed with distress, with quiet eyes.

“Why did you act as if we were strangers?”

“…What?”

“Earlier in the lounge, you treated me like someone you were meeting for the first time. I’m asking you why.”

Blair, who’d lowered her head in embarrassment, lifted her chin. A faint rebellious feeling flared up. It felt as though someone had opened her diary without permission. Now a different kind of heat surged through her chest.

“I didn’t realize I was supposed to act pleased.”

“No, Lady Twyford.”

The man tilted his head slightly, his face steeped in the deep red glow of the candlelight.

“I was just curious about what you were trying so hard to hide.”

“What good would it do to reveal that I’m acquainted with my fiancé’s friend?”

Under the gaze that quietly pierced straight through her thoughts, she felt as though everything had been exposed. The things she’d thought about him, the flutter she’d felt when she didn’t even know his name, even the sketch she’d hidden deep inside the bookcase in her bedroom where no one could see it.

“You asked, didn’t you? Whether it felt awkward to spend time with another man when I’m about to get married.”

She was cornered. Just as he said, the excuses she’d made to hide her improper feelings spilled out.

“Yes. That’s right. So I thought that revealing I knew you in front of my fiancé would be the same as digging my own grave.”

“It’s strange. We’ve only run into each other twice,” Edmund murmured quietly as he twisted his mouth. “You talk as if we’ve already been sleeping together.”

His words crossed the line in an instant. Startled, Blair forgot whatever retort she’d been about to make. She couldn’t believe such a remark had come from the mouth of a man with such impeccably proper features.

…No, it would be a lie to say she’d never imagined it. Blair found it surprisingly easy to picture the savage side lurking beneath that immaculate mask.

“Lady Twyford. You should at least choose where you’re going to fall on your own.”

“….”

“Before someone else pushes you.”