How awkward.
She should not be able to notice him here. It will be awkward if she saw him here.
The moment he heard the wail, Ernest hid deeper in the shadows. Fortunately, he had not lit the lamps in the room, and the moonlight was very bright, casting the window and the room deeper in shadow.
Though he was sure that it would be hard to see into the room due to the bright moon, he thought it was best that he was cautious.
The person crying was a woman. She sounded very close by. Would she notice this room? If she did, it would be over. He would lose an important place of peace and tranquillity. Just imagining it filled him with despair.
His face paled and his heartbeat a fearful tattoo in his chest.
The heartbreaking wail filled Ernest's ears again, but fear of being found made his hand tremble.
'I hate Leticia! I hate Damian! Hate them all!' The loud wail echoed through the quiet garden. Just after, three dull sounds could be heard one after the other.
Why exactly was this person screaming?
The windows of his hidden room faced a usually deserted corner of the royal garden. It was not a well-traversed area even during the day. Why would this person come here to cry where there was no one?
It was rather dubious.
The possibility of such a fool was hard to contemplate. Ernest had never heard of anyone who would be like that.
Never before…
What had that person said? "I hate Leticia.", "I hate Damian."
The names Leticia or Damian were not particularly unusual nor were they common. But for both names to be said in conjunction…this could mean: Supposing this Leticia was the same, Matthias' wife. Damian – he was unlikely to identify the man's family by his first name. But Ernest suspected that this person crying out there in the night was the other Reinfeldt sister.
He only knew her from vague rumors about her; this woman named Amber.
He had heard that she was an evil woman who made her adorable older sister cry.
He was a bit nervous.
It was a woman; he got nauseated just by seeing one. Yet, he found himself worried about Lady Amber. He rather sympathized with her.
The foolish men maligned her; they called her a bad woman for making her sister cry.
On the first time hearing the comment, Ernest had been suspicious; how could men who were not the woman's husband know about the matter is the woman's home?
Matthias was his friend; he was a black-bellied man whose affection for his wife was a bit twisted, but he certainly was not the type of man who spoke of matters to undermine others. If the source of the rumors was not Matthias, it was Leticia. She was the only one to gain anything by sowing such seeds.
How did these foolish men not even realize this?
Ernest was disgusted by their gullibility when he had heard the rumors. Tonight, he was even more convinced that his deduction had been right.
But was it calculated or not…?
Ernest's sisters had used their tears to oppress Ernest.
But Leticia, who had been crying and blackening her sister's reputation, seemed not to be conscious of doing so.
He had to trust that Matthias would not be married to a woman who would be so manipulative.
In his sympathy, Ernest became curious about Lady Amber. He wanted to know what she looked like. So he stepped out of the open window and crept out into the garden.
In the bright glow of the full moon, he saw her sitting in the octagonal gazebo. She was wearing a pastel-colored dress of an unmarried lady.
Seeing her, she was without a doubt, the daughter of Marquess Reinfeldt. She had long dark feathery hair rather just like the late Marquess. She turned in his direction.
She would not see him, because he hid behind a pillar just beyond the open French windows, which was rather fortuitous because Ernest forgot about the possibility of her seeing him. He studied her deeply.
He put his hand under his jaw, watching.
Amber was breathtakingly beautiful.