Odalisque - Chapter 47

Liv instinctively turned toward the sound and widened her eyes. Her busy legs came to an abrupt stop when she spotted a black carriage that had been hard to see in the dark.

The coachman, who met Liv’s eyes, tilted his hat as if to greet her.

…So this coachman was someone she knew, the one who usually took her to the Marquis.

“How… ?”

How could they run into each other in such a place by chance?

As Liv looked at the coachman in bewilderment, he motioned for her to come over. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Liv cautiously approached the carriage.

“Why are you here… ?”

Instead of answering, the coachman gestured toward the carriage.

Liv looked around again. There were a few passersby, but none seemed to take any interest in her.

After all, it was just an ordinary black carriage. Anyone who saw this scene would probably assume she had called for it herself.

After some hesitation, Liv carefully grabbed the carriage door handle.

Click.

Did the Marquis really instruct them to pick her up at this late hour? Wouldn’t it be better to meet tomorrow?

“……!”

Habitually sitting down, Liv hadn’t fully closed the door when she froze in place. She had assumed the carriage would be empty, but someone was sitting inside.

“…Marquis?”

The person sitting with his legs crossed, leaning back, was undoubtedly the Marquis. Seeing Liv’s startled expression, he gestured toward the door.

“Close the door first. There’s a small lamp on the ceiling that you can turn on.”

“Ah, yes.”

Hurriedly, Liv closed the door and lit the lamp. As the carriage brightened, the Marquis’s face became even clearer.

Taking a pocket watch out of his pocket, he checked the time and frowned slightly.

“You finished later than expected.”

His words made it sound as though he had been intentionally waiting for her.

“How did you end up here, Marquis?”

“I heard you were going out at the invitation of Baron Pendence.”

Perhaps he had sent the carriage to her home to call for her today. But even so, it didn’t explain why the Marquis was here in this black carriage near the Pendence estate.

“Was there something urgent?”

Unless it was extra work, there wasn’t really anything that could require her urgently. Seeing Liv’s bewildered expression, the Marquis spoke indifferently.

“I heard you were afraid of the dark streets, so after extra work, you were always taken home by carriage.”

Liv’s bewildered expression subtly changed. She understood he was referring to her journeys home after their extra work sessions.

“How were you planning to get home today?”

“I was going to take a shared carriage…”

“A shared carriage wouldn’t take you all the way to your doorstep.”

That was true. Even with a shared carriage, she would still have to walk from the station to her house. Though the distance wasn’t far, it was still worrying.

However, that was a concern Liv had to deal with herself—not something for the Marquis to interfere with.

Seeing the confusion on Liv’s face, the Marquis let out a faint scoff. He picked up the cane that was beside him and tapped it against the window to the coachman’s seat.

“Do you still see me as someone who doesn’t know how to escort a lady?”

“…Did you come to escort me?”

“What else would I be doing here, wasting time unnecessarily?”

Liv’s mouth opened involuntarily. It was hard to believe, but it was happening right before her eyes—there was no way not to believe it.

Meanwhile, the carriage started moving slowly at the Marquis’s signal. The destination was Liv’s home.

“Accepting a dinner invitation when you’re scared of dark streets—you’re more reckless than I thought.”

Liv, who had been sitting blankly, finally snapped back to her senses at his words.

“Meeting with parents informally is part of my job. Since it was the Pendence estate, I assumed you’d understand. I can make up for the missed extra work tomorrow if you’d like.”

“That’s for me to decide when I feel like it.”

Rejected outright, Liv unknowingly let her shoulders drop.

Come to think of it, the condition for extra work was always at the Marquis’s discretion.

She worried that avoiding the Marquis emotionally might jeopardize her extra work opportunities.

Lost in such worries, Liv naturally recalled why she had wanted to avoid the Marquis in the first place.

The kiss with the Marquis.

The memory made her face flush. Her earlier confusion at the Marquis’s sudden appearance gradually dissipated, replaced by a rising thrill.

Worried that her emotions might be visible on her face, Liv lowered her head and fixed her gaze on her lap. The Marquis didn’t seem inclined to speak to her further.

If she could just arrive home quietly and bid him a quick farewell, perhaps her emotions wouldn’t be discovered.

Fortunately, the distance between the Pendence estate and Liv’s home was short. What was usually a walking commute had been shortened further by the carriage ride.

As Liv felt the carriage gradually slow and come to a stop, she quickly spoke, “Thank you for bringing me home. Please take care getting back, and I’ll try not to schedule anything unexpectedly next time.”

Liv quickly said her piece and reached for the door handle. However, before she could open it, the Marquis suddenly asked a question.

“Did you review it well?”

The fingers gripping the door handle turned pale from the pressure.

Liv blinked in silence, then slowly turned to face the Marquis. He was still seated in the same upright position, watching her intently.

When Liv couldn’t answer, the Marquis narrowed his eyes. Tilting his head slightly, he gave her a faint smile before adding, “If you don’t remember, I can teach you again.”

His platinum hair, which always seemed to shine, shifted with the tilt of his head, and his blue eyes gleamed more mysteriously in the lamplight than usual.

But above all else, what drew her attention were his alluring lips.

Liv knew the feel of those lips.

“I…”

No.

A vivid warning blared in her mind. The bright red alarm told her to get out of the carriage immediately.

But she couldn’t move her hand from the door handle. All Liv could do was pant lightly, like a fish pulled out of water.

No!

The warning blared again, but a louder voice ignored it, whispering in her ear.

Why not?

“So…”

Liv, her lips trembling, swallowed dryly. She smelled the faint scent of a cigar, though there was no reason for it.

With her eyelashes fluttering, she managed to whisper a reply.

“…Teach me again.”

The Marquis’s faint smile deepened, and a hint of amusement appeared in his blue eyes.

“Correct answer.”

Liv finally released the pressure on the door handle.

***

The man was born on the streets.

His mother was an ordinary peasant woman. He had no father from birth, so it was natural that he lived alone with his mother. From a time the man couldn’t even remember, his mother had carried him around from place to place.

Their life, while unstable, wasn’t all that bad. After several failed attempts, mother and son settled in a neighborhood that wasn’t unkind to beautiful unmarried women. They managed to blend in relatively easily.

His mother was diligent and a loving parent who cared deeply for her son.

One vivid memory he had was of his mother praying in a small chapel in a rural village. She was one of the most devout believers in the village. Not only did she attend weekly services, but whenever she had time, she would take her son’s hand and visit the chapel’s prayer room.

For a young boy, it was an unbearably tedious time.

But he endured it. He liked watching his mother pray. She looked more peaceful and happy during those times than at any other. So he prayed to God to protect these peaceful days.

But God did not answer the young boy’s prayers.

When he turned seven, war broke out. Shells rained down on their village, destroying their home, and his mother was crushed under the rubble. Out running an errand for his mother, the boy narrowly escaped with his life and joined the other villagers fleeing in a panic.

Fortunately, they were able to return to the village soon after. Cries of anguish filled the air as people searched for their loved ones amidst the burned and collapsed remains.

The boy returned to his house as well. With his small frame, he couldn’t clear the wreckage, and it wasn’t until help arrived that he could properly see his mother’s body. Her once-beautiful platinum hair was scorched and tangled, her limbs covered in blood.

Yet, surprisingly, her face was peaceful.

It was as if she were still praying.

By the time all the bodies of the deceased villagers were recovered, clergy members were dispatched to the scene of sorrow. These were priests of quite high rank to be sent to such a rural area. They were there to recover the remains of the small chapel and the cleric who had served there, as well as to console the grieving villagers.

“Oh, Lord.”

“Guide these poor souls to your side!”

The priests gently patted the shoulders of the villagers, who were weeping and calling out to God.

Amidst them stood the boy, lost in a daze. He simply stayed beside his mother’s body, her eyes closed in peace.

One of the priests approached the boy. He was a young priest with striking blue eyes and a handsome face.