Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 112

“My husband says that for someone whose spirit has been worn down by experiencing the ups and downs of life all at once, like Miss Lisanne, even meeting someone new can be exhausting. So instead of a formal introduction, he suggests just a light encounter. Something one-time.”

“That might actually be better. Less pressure.”

For Lisanne, who kept a certain distance even from those she was close to, a completely unfamiliar stranger might indeed be easier.

“But my husband says he’s not sure what kind of effect he might have on Miss Lisanne.”

“Better than doing nothing. As long as it brings some sort of change to her, it’s fine.”

Arranging an encounter disguised as a coincidence was no difficult task.

If only they could obtain a clue to break through the current deadlock.

“Lisanne, sit for a bit. I’ll bring lunch.”

No matter how tangled his thoughts became, Ezekiel only felt at ease when he prepared Lisanne’s meals himself. Now she ate without fussing over the type of food, but when he had first brought her to the mansion, she had been so injured inside that she could only swallow small amounts of thin soup. That image still lingered painfully in him. Ezekiel seated Lisanne in the armchair and returned with a tray of lunch from a servant.

As he unfolded the small table and went to set the food, her body was tilted awkwardly in the chair. He realized why. The chair was placed in too bright a spot. On that unusually sunny day, the sunlight poured down directly, dazzling her eyes.

Without thinking, Ezekiel pushed the table aside, loosened the buttons of his sleeve, and approached.

“Shall I move you over here?”

He lifted the chair with Lisanne still in it. As his muscles flexed, the sleeve rolled up, baring his forearm.

“…Is this better?”

Even after seeing the long scars slashed across his arm, Lisanne showed no reaction. Ezekiel set her chair down, pulled down his sleeve, and buttoned it casually.

He adjusted the armchair’s backrest, then carefully laid the food on the table. It was originally the servants’ duty, but strangers had long been restricted from entering this room.

They were tasks Lisanne herself had done at the villa in Derosa. There was no reason Ezekiel couldn’t do them.

He cut the meat into generous pieces and placed them on her plate, pushed the plate of bread sliced into bite-sized pieces toward her, and peeled the shrimp and clams from the seafood stew before adding them as well. Lisanne looked at him with an expression that she couldn’t possibly finish it all.

“Eat as much as you can and leave the rest. I’ll eat what’s left.”

Watching her eat slowly, he spoke steadily.

“Lisanne, don’t you miss your family these days?”

Her family had nearly recovered their health. The doctor had said all they needed now was good care and rest. He had suggested they could dine together if she wished, or even have a picnic in one of the mansion’s pleasant spots. But Lisanne now visited them even less than before. She didn’t seem eager.

Had there been some conflict with her family?

He wanted to ask, but he knew even if he did, Lisanne would not answer.

As the meal wound down, Anna arrived, cradling knitting yarn, and knocked on the door.

It was time for him to step aside.

Ezekiel reluctantly gathered the tray and rose.

Anna bowed her head as she entered. She was teaching Lisanne to knit and had already finished half a sweater for her family back home. Lisanne, however, was still clumsy, repeatedly threading and unraveling stitches without much progress.

Until the moment he left the bedroom, Ezekiel couldn’t take his eyes off Lisanne as she moved the long needles. Looping the yarn through her fingers and tightening the stitches—at least now her hands seemed to have grown accustomed to the work.

He wanted to watch longer, but it would be awkward for him to just stand and stare at two women knitting.

Not for him, but for Anna and Lisanne.

In truth, Ezekiel could lose track of time simply watching Lisanne sleep. Just having her alive and breathing before him was like a miracle.

After yielding her to Anna for a while, he walked aimlessly and soon found himself near the annex. By chance, Lisanne’s parents were standing outside.

“Ah, young master.”

Upon spotting Ezekiel, they bowed deeply like the other servants. Even though they were no longer employees of Valdemaira, the middle-aged couple still addressed him as master.

“The doctor said walking a little would help with recovery.”

Though Ezekiel hadn’t said anything, Lisanne’s mother immediately began to explain. It seemed that because of their guilt, even taking a light stroll near the annex made them self-conscious.

Ezekiel looked them over with an indifferent gaze and asked bluntly, “Did something happen with Lisanne?”

Lisanne’s parents exchanged wide-eyed glances.

“No, nothing at all…”

“Really?”

So the faint awkwardness he had felt was just his imagination?

As Ezekiel once more examined their faces, Lisanne’s father cautiously opened his mouth.

“It’s just that, as her parents, we can’t help but worry a little.”

“What about?”

“Because of her disability. In such an incomplete state, it would be difficult for her to find proper work anywhere. And as you can see, we are getting older and don’t have the means to care for Lisanne well, so the future that awaits us is frightening…”

Lisanne’s mother added, “We wonder if our Lissy will ever manage to marry safely, and even if a partner were to appear, in the past perhaps, but in her current state, we can’t hope for anyone decent. On top of that, her face has become known everywhere for such a shameful reason… Unless she moves down to some rural village, she will live her whole life under people’s watchful eyes, and so we couldn’t help but talk about what will become of her.”

Though he had always accompanied Lisanne, he had never heard such talk, so it must have been a conversation that had come out the other day when he briefly left her side. Ezekiel recalled Lisanne running out of the bedroom and crouching in the parlor waiting for him, and narrowed his brows coldly.

Already bewildered by the mysterious disability she had gained, to have her parents openly say that her body had problems and no one would accept her anywhere—no matter if it was based on worry—it was only natural for Lisanne to want to avoid them.

He knew well what that felt like. Even if Akenaus’s intention in casting him aside had been to protect his life from jealousy and rivalry, Valdemaira had still treated him as a halfwit incapable of standing on his own and had sought to cut him off.

Still, in his case, he had returned with his sight restored and fought loudly with his father, but Lisanne was not the type to quarrel with her family who had survived illness, nor could she even communicate properly with her illiterate family. All she could do was reduce the times she met them until her feelings settled.

“Are you trying to protest to me? Or are you just testing me?”

“Pardon?”

“Otherwise, why waste time with such pointless worries?”

Ezekiel cut them off sharply.

“Lisanne will live enjoying all the splendor the most prosperous household in Astrie has to offer.”

The couple’s eyes widened at the first words spoken by a man who had the authority to actually fulfill such a promise.

He declared firmly, “Lisanne will never have to worry about finding a job under someone else. From now on, she will be the one to hire others. Did you say you fear her face is too well known? Well, I wonder just how many would dare gossip rudely about the lady of House Valdemaira.”

“La, lady?”

“Our Lissy……?”

The couple’s faces brightened.

***

They said there were birds in Valdemaira’s garden.

Unlike the overgrown garden of the Derosa villa, the garden of Valdemaira was so elegant that even in winter Anna would make a fuss about its beauty. Lisanne had come down to the garden for a moment because of Anna’s fuss, and in this chance moment while Anna was away, she heard the approaching tap of a cane on the stepping stones and lifted her head.

She wasn’t surprised.

She had thought it might happen soon.

Because the man approaching with the cane was a familiar face.