"What does that have to do with anything..?" she croaked out.
Her back was slowly getting soaked with sweat. She couldn't tell if it was because of the warm weather or due to nervousness.
"Answer me. Am I not needed anymore?"
"I never said that."
"Then why are you trying to make me quit?"
"Because once you get the Baron title-"
"What if I don't want it?" he uttered.
"...Why?" she slowly asked, unable to fathom his reasoning. He told her before that he would like to be a noble and now he says he doesn't want it?
She was trying to help him. Protect him in case the real Elenor ever came back and tried to abuse him again.
"What if I said I want to be by your side for the rest of my life?" Alec said, his voice and face showed no signs of him jesting around.
Elenor couldn't reply. She wasn't ready for this sudden confession. She was still trying to find a way to confront him about it but she didn't expect it to be now. Especially in such a position. Alec didn't mind her silence and spoke again.
"What if I told you I never want to leave your side?"
"I..I"
"Hyejin."
"..." This was the first time he ever said her name. It sounded slightly weird since he didn't have any sense of this language that name was in.
"I like you, Hyejin."
"...."
Alec's face drew closer to hers. His eyes only looked at her and nothing else. It gave her shivers down her spine. Familiar yet unfamiliar eyes. She felt like a prey that got caught under his hold.
"It's just like you said, even if she did ever come back I can easily get rid of her. I'll find you, even if you disappear from this world, I would do whatever it takes to find for you." he whispered ever so softly but the underlying message caused shivers down her back.
Elenor's mouth went dry. She tried to open her mouth to speak but Alec was faster.
"If you try to speak right now I won't be able to control myself."
Hearing his warning, she didn't speak. Only looking at him with wide eyes. A smile bloomed on his face as he stared at her.
"Seeing you like this is weird. Ah, in a good way." he muttered, staring at her with such eyes she couldn't dare to describe.
Elenor thought he would try to caress her face but he didn't. He instead removed himself from her and kept a proper amount of distance between the two of them. Alec placed his hand inside his coat pocket before taking out a pocket watch.
"Milady your hand please."
Elenor nodded, awkwardly extending her hand out. She still didn't dare to speak, her voice might crack or she might say something foolish.
He placed the pocket watch in her hand before taking away his hands from her. Like a switch, he returned back to his usual self as if he wasn't very demanding and possessive before this.
"That pocket watch is from my father. It has our last name engraved on it." he explained.
Elenor looked at the watch before back up at Alec. "...Weren't you the one who kept asking if I didn't need you anymore?"
He cleared his throat before looking away, "I'm afraid I do not recall such an event happening."
She opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water before she decided to drop the topic. She had to think of a good and nice way of rejecting him.
They headed back to where the carriage was still waiting for them, leaving the ruined household. Elenor was kinda bummed out since she didn't get to explore inside the household but she didn't voice it out and continued walking back.
The two sat inside the carriage and departed back to the estate. Elenor tried to keep her eyes out of the window carriage. She was still trying to come up with ways to reject Alec but she still hadn't had the slightest clue.
"Milady." he abruptly spoke causing her to flinch in surprise.
She turned to him and smiled as if she wasn't thinking of ways to reject him. "Yes?"
His facial expression was stoic but a small slight smirk made its way onto his face as he spoke, "I'll only say this once."
Without warning, he leaned forward, inches away from her face. Elenor's breath hitched for a moment. He glanced down at her lips before looking back up at her eyes.
"Even if you reject me, I have no intentions of letting you go." he started, taking a small piece of her hair, twirling it around his finger.
"You don't need to answer my confession. I will wait for you no matter how long it takes. I only have my eyes on you, no one else." he pressed a kiss on her hair.
Usually Elenor could hide her flusteredness very well and often pretend as if she didn't notice but this time she couldn't hide it well. Her cheeks felt hot especially under Alec's intensive stare. Not only that, he was really close that she could feel his breath on her neck. It brought goosebumps and shivers.
She quickly looked away and moved herself as far as she could inside a carriage. Alec's chuckle rang through her ears. She glared at him who seemed to be very amused by her reaction to his moves.
"You really don't want your title back?" Elenor mumbled, looking down at her hands instead of his eyes.
"No."
"But weren't you the one who said you would like to be a noble?" she countered.
"If it means not being able to be by your side then I will decline it." he immediately answered back.
"Your words are so…!" she whipped her head up, pointing at Alec unable to properly say what she wanted.
Alec smirked, leaning his chin on his hand. Elenor shut her mouth and turned away. How on earth was she going to survive now? He had the looks that could rival Lloyd! She's already used to looking at Alec but every now and then she would still get mesmerized by his looks.
Elenor softly sighed to herself. She wondered how everything would be now once they reached the marquess estate.
-
Alec watched as Elenor didn't dare look at him after he confessed to her. He wasn't in the slightest sad about it, in fact he was delighted. Now in her eyes, he was a man not just a butler.
He admitted, he wasn't really thinking straight when he flipped her around and she was under him but when he saw how her eyes only reflected him and nobody else, it brought him joy and he was barely able to restrain himself. His mind trailed back to her lips. If he had inched closer to her, they would have kissed.
'How unfortunate..' he thought to himself when he remembered Jill calling out to him before he could have kissed her.
It's alright regardless, he still has plenty of time to make her fall for him.