•••
It was not even dawn.
Eun-woo opened her eyes wearing white pajamas. The chilly dawn wind cooled the tip of her nose through the slightly opened window in the empty room.
She looked around because she needed a seat, but there was only an empty glass of water left in the middle of the night. She thought about pulling the rope at the bedside to call a maid, but it was still impossible for her.
She put on a red shawl, pushed a soft blanket with goose fur, and got up carefully and gently headed downstairs.
The mansion in the dark light clearly echoed the sound of her white clothes scratching and sweeping on the floor.
Eunwoo held her breath and went down to the kitchen on the first floor like a stray cat. After simply quenching her throat in a bucket of water filled with restaurant servants, she pointed at the stair railing to return to the bedroom, and a sparkling light reflected from somewhere hit her eye. It was the light coming through the opened kitchen window.
Imagining what light would illuminate the darkness in the middle of the night. Eunwoo headed to the back door behind the kitchen.
When she opened the door, the chilly wind blew her clothes. After closing the red shawl more tightly around herself, she looked around and pulled out her neck as if she was coming out of a burrow.
Someone was swinging a sword on the wet grass. The moonlight reflected here and there on the sharp blade of the long sword was cutting through the air and broke in all directions.
The grass under his feet was crushed and stepped on by the man's violent gestures. Sweat drops flowed and fell down from the man's forehead. There were soaked and crushed leaves where he stepped.
The man threw the sword with a sound. Perhaps he was out of breath, or the bare back of a man bending his back with both hands on his knee caught her figure.
His ivory hands which threw off his shirt and revealed his bare upper body, shone hazy at night. Sweats on the wide back flowed down along the grain of the big muscles.
Eun-woo watched it as if she had forgotten how to breathe.
Soon after, he straightened his back and stretched. Trying to bend down again to catch the sword he missed, he suddenly turned his head toward her.
Their eyes met in an instant.
Eun-woo's breath hitched as she watched Tashian's black pupils open wide for the first time.
It was as if roots had come out of their feet and her body had been lodged in the ground. Eun-woo couldn't move like a prey who was bitten to the nape of the neck, and only watched as Tashian blinked and closed his eyes.
His eyes narrowed as if they couldn't believe the sight in front of him. He seemed like he was looking at nothing.
Moments later, his eyes glanced at the back door and slowly scanned her slender wrists and platinum hair that ran down her shoulders, a piercing red shawl over them and the white hem of her robe near the ground.
Contrary to her thoughts that he would approach her right away, he didn't budge like a frozen statue. He just stared blankly at her like a person walking in a dream.
Only then did Eun-woo turn around and entered the door with a pale face. After locking the door with trembling hands,her back slipped against the wall and collapsed on the floor.
She felt like a large drum was sitting on her chest. Her whole body seemed to be pounding and trembling at the sound of a beating heart. It was not yet sunrise.
What in the world was he doing in the backyard of the castle, leaving a fine Lady like me shocked? Indeed, this Duke was not good for the body. I have to leave this Mansion as soon as possible.
She was thinking like that, but then she heard the sound of iron being dragged on the floor. Soon, someone knocked on the wooden door with a dull sound.
"… Eleanor?"
It was Tashian's voice. Eunwoo closed her eyes tightly.
Of course. There was no way he would let me go like this.
Once again, she heard a quick knock on the heavy wooden door. The heavy vibration seemed to shake her body together.
"Are you there?"
It was an anxious voice. She took a deep breath as if she were catching her breath.
She exhaled at once. Then, she stood up with a determined look and unlocked the door that was once closed.
As she opened the door a little, his hand slipped through the gap. A gentle but strong force opened the door. Without a second thought, he pushed through the wide open door.
He stood close to the door, ready to catch her as she tried to escape.
His wet upper body was visible from less than a span away. He wore a white shirt, but his bare chest moved up and down a little with every breath he took.
(TN: w(°ｏ°)w hehe~ I'm not complaining but… Aackk-!)
He put one arm against the wall of the narrow passage she was leaning against, as if trying to block her escape route altogether. In an instant, she was trapped under his big arms.
Her heart was pounding like it was going to explode.
His body smelled like sour sweat, the scent of grass leaves, and the cool night breeze of dawn. Her eyes quivered with her long eyelashes. A harsh breath escaped from his lips as he saw her.
"What were you doing here at night?"
He suddenly started asking her with anger. Eun-woo's eyes widened in embarrassment.
Was that something to hear from a man wielding a knife in the backyard where there is no one in the middle of the night?
She managed to answer with her lips clapped.
"What were you doing, then?"
"I usually train by myself at this time every day. It's closer than the gym, and I don't want to have the sleeping servants light the annex."
"I'm also thirsty… I didn't want to wake the maids."
There was a terrible silence.
Eun-woo was trapped under his arm and wiggled to glance up at his face.
He looked strangely desolate. He looked worried about whether to say something or not.
Soon after, he brought it up as if he were chewing on the words one after another.
"… Down here is the dormitory of the knights. No big guy in my land dares to do disgraceful things to my guests, but I can't believe they're bloody bastards who stand up for hard training. Don't go around alone. Especially at night. That is advice."
He threatened her like a child as if he was scolding her. Eun-woo looked up at his face as if she was embarrassed.
The word 'I can't trust you even more' filled her throat, but she didn't spit them out.
Instead, she felt an unknown resentment that had been suppressed for a long time boiling from the inside, along with a feeling of emotion that she didn't even know at the moment while seeing his face so close.
Eun-woo did not look at his face, turned her head to the side, and spoke nervously.
"… Then I'll give you a piece of advice as well. The next time you bring guests into your home, it would be better if you invited them after you made sure the guest rooms weren't burned down by fire."
It was something that should have been discussed a long time ago, but it was a topic that could not be brought up unexpectedly as he tried to avoid the eyes of the servants of the mansion. Using this as an excuse, Eun-woo rebuked him, not able to stand being reprimanded by him.
"You know how ashamed I am to see the faces of the maids?"
"What do you mean?"
He frowned and tilted his head closer to her face due to her rambling criticism. The breath from his lips touched her skin. Her heart was tightening with tension, but Eun-woo stubbornly refused to move her lips avoiding his gaze.
"I'm talking about my room. Why didn't you tell me that it was the bedroom of the previous Duchess? If someone who knows the arrangement is like this, I'll be in trouble as well too. There are several people who keep a keen eye on the Duke's Residence…"
"Wait, what are you talking about?"
He shouted urgently. Tashian bent his back completely and put his arms on the walls on both sides of her head.
He had a wrinkle on his forehead that she was saying something he didn't understand.
"Are you protesting that I let you stay next to my bedroom? That is why I've been staying in the Office so far. I haven't even been on the third floor since you arrived here, including eating, sleeping, and washing."
"What?"
Eun-woo opened her big eyes like a rabbit and asked.
He lowered one hand from the wall and wrapped it around his forehead.
"You didn't know until now, did you? So you thought I'd be able to sleep in my bedroom intact even though I knew you were sleeping quietly in the next room? No matter how bad I am, I have that much manners. Eyes and ears are walking everywhere. Would I have done any harm to your honor with my own hands?"
Eun-woo blinked like a goldfish. Watching that, Tashian sighed deeply.
"Whew… On the first day you came to my house, I called all the servants and instructed them to assign you the entire floor."
"I- I didn't know."
Eunwoo whispered sulkily. It felt like her neck was ripening red with shame.
She couldn't raise her head straight and could only avoid his gaze and murmured as if blaming him.
"It would have been better if you told me earlier."
A violent look popped up in his face. He hesitated to say something, and eventually he couldn't hold back that he had grown up violently, spitting out a rough breath.
"Then now you explain it, too. Why won't you call my name?"
"What… did you say?"
Eun-woo suddenly looked up at him with wide eyes like a person who was slapped. He put his nose close to her face and spit it out bluntly.
"I mean my name. I definitely asked you to call me by my name. But you always say, 'Hey, you there, Duke, and Lord'."
"When did I say 'Hey, and you there' to you? I'm sure…"
"I said Duke, or Lord. I've never heard you calling my name. Tell me. Is it that hard to pronounce my name? Or is it that you don't even want to say it?"
His voice became tense. At first glance, his face distorted as if he was holding back the pain. It was her first time seeing him so resentful.
Eun-woo was dumbfounded and grabbed the shawl's seam. Her face turned pale as if her blood had escaped from her veins. Looking down at her, he smiled and murmured as if laughing.
"True. What would you want from a woman who ran away avoiding me as her skirt fluttered and her mouth barely managed to say hello…"
"That's…"
Eun-woo was surprised and opened her mouth to refute. But he cut her off coldly.
"Don't think about denying it. On the day we met again, I didn't even want you to welcome me with open arms. But I didn't expect that you would hide among the maids because you were afraid of meeting me."
He burst into laughter bitterly. He bowed his upper body just before his head was buried on her shoulder.
The light breath he exhaled touched Eun-woo's neck. She could hear him swallowing a low swear word.
"… I wanted at least a feeling of favor from you. As soon as you encounter me, you'd tremble with fear as if you've met an animal in the mountains!"
At the end of the word, he turned vigorously as if he had not overcome his passion. A black shadow fell on his back, as he took a few steps back from her.
Shocked at his actions, Eun-woo looked at his back and frowned.
It felt like I was lost in a vortex of intense emotions I had never experienced before.
Weren't Eleanor and Tashian lovers?
Even if they had not yet developed into a loving relationship, they would have at least had a good feeling for the other person.
But now he was speaking as if he hadn't even seen her in a very long time, let alone experience affection from her.
She gently approached him and touched him on the back.
She felt his body flinching like a stone under his shirt.
"Duke…"
He didn't even move. My heart was pounding, wondering if I had done something wrong.
Eun-woo plucked up the courage and called his name.
"Tashian."
He slowly turned toward her. As if he couldn't believe it, his eyes were wide open. A wounded beast-like gaze was drawn down at her.
She chose a word in her head and asked a question carefully.
"How long has it been since we met?"
Perhaps it was an unexpected question, but his eyes got a little bigger.
Looking at those eyes, Eun-woo wondered how deep sea water shines on his eyes even in such pitch-like darkness. Maybe it was an illusion that only she could see.
He answered without hesitation.
"It has been 3 years. We met again after 3 long years."