Deceived, Yet Drawn to You - Chapter 19

“Birthdays come every year, but a son’s marriage happens only once in a lifetime!”

“Lady Twyford, would you come here for a moment?”

Isaac cut off Marquis Dorman’s long-winded speech and gestured toward Blair. Please, anything but that. She cried out inwardly, but it was useless. Blair rose from her seat and went to him.

Isaac was holding a small velvet box in his hand, and Blair had no need to guess what it was. With Blair standing before him, Isaac continued speaking in the same manner that so closely resembled his father’s.

“My wedding is fast approaching. Even if it’s nothing more than a formal procedure, it would be terribly discourteous not to share such a romantic moment with all of you.”

As the performative proposal went on, bewilderment came first, and Blair hesitated. Edmund, standing only a few steps away from Isaac, was staring straight at her.

“Now, Lady Twyford.”

Click. The ring case opened with a soft sound and was suddenly held out before her eyes. Isaac smiled and urged her to offer her hand, and Blair had no choice but to carefully raise her left hand.

She watched as the engagement ring she’d personally chosen at the jeweler slid onto her ring finger. She could only look on as that tiny jewel finally bound her like a shackle. There was no other way.

“It suits you perfectly, as expected.”

Isaac grinned and cast his gaze toward the guests to draw their response. Cheers and applause filled the banquet hall. Surrounded by the clamor, Blair swallowed hard.

More deeply than the countless eyes upon her, one person’s gaze pierced her. What was Edmund thinking right now? Did he find it laughable? After all, it was the ring she’d chosen after hearing his advice.

“I should excuse myself for a moment.”

From a distance, Nicoletta rubbed her lips against the back of her hand and shoved her chair back as she stood. She looked quite unwell.

“My. Lady Underhill, are you all right?”

“I’m fine, so leave me alone.”

At a noblewoman’s concern, Nicoletta waved her hand dismissively and moved off with hurried steps. Meanwhile, drained by Isaac’s sudden display, Blair headed not back to her seat but toward the table laid with refreshments and an array of liquor bottles. She didn’t want to speak to anyone, yet she couldn’t even escape, so she decided she might as well have a drink on her own.

As Blair reached the table and looked for cider, she sensed someone a few steps away. When she turned her head, her eyes widened slightly.

Edmund, having slipped away from the noisy crowd, was pouring a coffee colored liquor into an empty glass. Tilting his head back, he took a sip, then, as if by natural course, looked down at Blair. With the chandelier lights at his back, his eyes appeared especially dark.

“Lady Twyford.”

“Good evening, Lord Libert.”

“We seem to be running into each other often these days. Are you having a pleasant evening?”

“…No.”

Apparently not the answer he’d expected, Edmund held her in his dark pupils and remained silent.

“And how about you?”

“As you can see. After saying far too many things I didn’t mean, my throat is quite dry.”

At Edmund’s gesture toward his glass, Blair finally let out a small laugh. It was fair to say it was her first genuine smile of the day. The man, drawing a faint curve at the corner of his lips, met her eyes, then let his gaze fall to her ring finger. The very finger where Isaac had just placed the ring.

“In the outdoor garden, we’ll be releasing sky lanterns. All guests, please gather this way.”

Just then, a footman of Marquis Dorman crossed the hall and gave that announcement. The nobles who had been eating and drinking throughout the banquet hall followed the footman with excited expressions. When Blair, standing before the table, didn’t move at all, Edmund tilted his head slightly.

“Won’t you go see the lanterns?”

“Yes. I don’t particularly want to.”

“I thought you might need a moment to catch your breath.”

“Of course I do. It’s just….”

At the man’s question, a sudden impulse rose up. The tip of her tongue tingled as if holding a secret she shouldn’t say. She swallowed unconsciously. Breaking free from the mechanism that tried to restrain her, Blair continued, “I just wanted to go somewhere quiet where there aren’t any eyes on us.”

As she confessed candidly, she pulled the corners of her mouth up. The hand fiddling with her own glass trembled a little, but Blair waited calmly for Edmund’s answer. At the same time, she asked herself seriously. What do I want, exactly?

Edmund, who had been looking at her as if seeing straight through the feelings she’d clumsily revealed, soon nodded once.

“It’s fortunate I know a suitable place.”

He then drained what little liquor remained in his glass in one go. Setting the empty glass down on one side of the table, he led Blair toward the door that opened out of the banquet hall.

“Let’s go.”

They blended naturally into the murmuring crowd. Amid people chattering about how beautiful the lanterns would be, Edmund suddenly clasped Blair’s wrist gently, and she turned her steps to follow him.

Leaving the hall behind, the two reached a gallery filled with the sounds of insects. Passing through a corridor where it was hard to find even a single ant, they climbed a staircase. At last, they arrived at a small balcony.

“This place feels strangely familiar,” Blair murmured as she stepped onto the balcony and drew in the cool air.

Edmund, who had taken a cigarette from his trouser pocket and put it between his lips, asked a beat later, “Familiar?”

“The place where I first met you was a balcony like this, wasn’t it? Do you remember? It was wider than this one, though.”

“I suppose I can’t offer you a cigarette this time either.”

Letting out a soft chuckle in agreement, Edmund flicked his lighter on and set the tip of the cigarette alight. For an instant, a bright flame flared and cast sharp shadows across his face. Leaning her arms on the railing, Blair watched the man scatter smoke into the air.

“How did you find a place like this in Marquis Dorman’s house?”

“I saw it on my way back from the smoking room. To be honest, it’s a hobby of mine. Finding places where I can spend time without being disturbed.”

It was an incredibly tempting hobby. Swallowing the wish that she might someday join him in it, Blair blinked and asked, “You said you and the marquis’s son were classmates at a private academy. Are you close?”

“Well….”

Edmund walked over and stopped beside Blair. Bringing the cigarette held between his long fingers to his lips, he inhaled and exhaled slowly. A pale haze spread through the air.

“I’m curious how you define being close, Miss Blair.”

“Isn’t being close when you spend time alone together from time to time, and know each other well even without saying things aloud?”

“In that case, Lord Dorman and I aren’t particularly close.”

“I see.”

“On the other hand, I think I’m fairly close with you, Miss Blair.”

Edmund smiled faintly. Blair didn’t answer right away and instead looked up at him quietly. In contrast to his sharp facial features, his delicate eyelashes stretched long. His eyes, soaked in moonlight, gleamed a deeper blue than their original color. As she gazed into them, Blair asked, “Do you think you know me well?”

“It’s too early to say I know you well enough. I’m simply curious about the faces I haven’t seen yet.”

“Faces you haven’t seen?”

“Isn’t everyone like that? You’re different at a banquet, different in front of family, and different when you’re alone.”

The red ember at the tip of the cigarette glowed softly. Conscious of the way his Adam’s apple rose and fell, Blair asked again, “Which face of mine do you want to see?”

“The face you don’t even know yourself.”

The low voice settled against her ear.

“I’m curious about the face that only comes out when someone else draws it out.”

By choosing such layered words, Edmund left room for imagination. She wondered what he meant by it, but didn’t ask. She didn’t want to deliberately strip away the elegant wrapping offered by a man wearing the mask of a perfect gentleman.

From the garden below, sky lanterns filled with light began to rise gently. One by one, they floated up past the railing where the two stood and filled the deep blue night sky like stars.

Standing beside Edmund and watching the dense scattering of lights, Blair felt her heartbeat quicken again, pulsing at a different rhythm inside her chest. The presence of the man standing quietly next to her seemed to double. A sense of caution, blooming by instinct, moved Blair’s lips.

“I should go back now. I think I’ve been away for too long.”

“I agree.”

Edmund nodded as he finished the cigarette and tossed the butt into the ashtray. As always, his manner was refreshingly composed. Then he personally opened the balcony door, making space for Blair to pass through.

The way back to the banquet hall remained quiet. Descending the stairs alone with Edmund, Blair felt relieved that there was no risk of being seen by others and headed toward the corridor.

Just then, a strange sound drifting from nearby caught her by the ankle.

Blair frowned slightly and turned around. Edmund also stopped, but only watched her in silence.

‘It’s a sound I’ve heard somewhere before.’

A woman’s cloying voice. It wasn’t crying, but moaning. That obscene sound was the same one that had come from the parlor connected to that balcony back then…. And what had she witnessed at the time? Blair still didn’t know who they were.

“Lady Twyford.”

Blair moved toward the sound. Edmund called her name quietly from behind, but as if possessed, she quickened her steps.

Before long, she stopped in front of a wooden door. Even the narrow crack where the door stood ajar was the same as before. It felt unreal, as though a dream she’d once had was being replayed in reality.

“Ahh! Ah… ngh!”

“Ha, I love you, Nicole…. You know, right? You’re the only one for me….”

Blair stopped breathing without realizing it. Unable to believe it, she carefully reached out her hand. The door opened soundlessly, widening the gap.