Unlike the day she had angrily left the annex, the Leyla now looked like a gentle, precocious lady. Matthias stared at the 'gentle' Leyla while languidly leaning on the couch.
"I'm terribly sorry for this sudden discourtesy, your grace."
Leyla hesitatingly opened her mouth while she kept her head down in efforts to avoid his gaze. Her dense eyelashes were very long and straight. Her long eyelashes seemed to be a reason why she left a soft impression when she gently lowered her eyes.
"Pardon me, but I have a question."
Leyla, who had been licking her lips several times, finally managed to open her mouth. But at that moment, the phone started ringing.
Matthias slowly stood up to pass by Leyla as she retreated. He picked up the phone. It seemed to be a business call regarding a complicated contract he had to look over.
Leyla looked a little surprised when she saw Matthias on the phone. He skillfully led the conversation. Even with his brief smiles and polite way of talking, she could feel the power and dignity that overwhelmed the person on the phone. He looked like the perfect Duke of Arvis that everyone admired.
I mean, no way.
The suspicion that the man could have taken her glasses felt ridiculous at the moment.
I feel like I'm doing something useless….. Then was it the crow?
While judging how many crows' nests there might be in the forest, Leyla silently greeted the duke, who was on the phone, and was about to leave. He unexpectedly turned to Leyla while holding onto the telephone mouthpiece.
"Wait."
His short order sounded like someone else's. His voice was quite different from the perfect Duke of Arvis she heard while he was on the phone.
Leyla stopped at a strange position. Matthias was focused on his call again as if nothing had happened. Leyla realized another trait of Matthias while watching him.
Even at the moment of his social conversation, Duke Herhardt's eyes were calm. His smile was also calm. But his posture was uniformly straight and elegant. Despite the fact the phone caller wasn't able to see him, he didn't lose his posture. Leyla thought perhaps it was a trait that was embedded into his body.
After a few more minutes of his call, he went back to the front of the table and made a note of something. Leyla nervously grasped her wriggling hands from behind her back. By the time she suspected that he must have forgotten about her presence, Matthias's eyes finally turned to her.
"Tell me."
"What?"
"What you were going to say."
Leyla gently lowered her eyes when Matthias's stare made her uncomfortable.
"Ah….. The thing is, my glasses. On the day I jumped into the river…..I was wondering if you saw my glasses at the dock."
"Well. I don't think I've seen it...."
Matthias slowly stood up from the sofa and started approaching her.
"I might have I've hidden it."
"Uh….. What?"
Leyla was so shocked that she raised her head.
"My glasses. Did you really hide it?"
"What do you think?"
"I don't think you would've done such a thing."
Leyla answered with a slight frown.
"Why?"
Matthias tilted his head as if he was amused. His black hair that slightly shook on his forehead resembled the crow's feather.
"Because… that's… that's rude."
Leyla curled up her feet in order to not back away.
After days of searching the crows' nests with Kyle, she managed to muster up her courage and came here. Even though she didn't like Matthias, she could at least communicate with the duke, unlike the crows. She felt like it would be better to quickly eliminate either one of the two suspects, the crow or the duke. But she wasn't sure now. She wasn't sure if the duke, who only increased her confusion with his enigmatic words, was really a person who she can communicate with.
The two looked at each other's eyes without saying a word for some time. The moment would've lasted longer if the butler hadn't returned to the annex with an urgent telegram and mail.
Leyla headed towards the window with a little blush in her cheeks.
After a low conversation with the butler, Matthias obliquely looked at Leyla. His red lips seemed to be slightly tilted, although Leyla wasn't completely sure because of her glasses missing.
"I..."
With all the courage she had, she opened her mouth but Matthias cut her off by lifting the tip of chin towards the door.
It was a concise and cold gesture to announce that there was no room left for Leyla Lewellin.
"A bird. What's with your weird hobby all of a sudden?"
Riette looked at the cage with a puzzled look. In the beautiful golden cage, there was a golden bird.
"Are you now planning to raise a bird and shoot it yourself?"
Riette's jokes brought laughter to the people sitting around the mansion suite reception room. Matthias gave a small chuckle. But his answers weren't heard. While Riette added a few more silly words, the servants came in with the champagne.
A huge dinner was held at the Herhardt's place to celebrate the gathering of all the relatives who had spent the summer together. Matthias, Claudine, Riette, and other aristocrats of similar ages had moved to the reception room after finishing their dinner. By Claudine's special request, they were in the master suite reception room, the space that Matthias only used. Matthias, who rarely shared his own space, seemed quite generous to his fiance as gave her his chaste permission.
The engagement between Matthias and Claudine was pretty much confirmed by the relatives. It was obvious why Countess Brandt visited Arvis every year with her only daughter and how the Herhardt family gave their conspicuous welcome every time the Brandt household came to their estate.
This engagement surprised none of the relatives. It was as if natural things had come true. They would've been more shocked if Matthias had chosen a different woman.
"That bird doesn't seem to know what kind of person Duke Herhardt is."
When the bird flew out of the open cage, it sat on Matthias's shoulder. Riette broke into a jolly laughter.
"A bird in love with the bird hunting master. Should I call this foolish or pitiful?"
The bird moved over his finger when Matthias reached out his hand.
"Claudine, what do you think?"
Everyone's eyes were on Claudine after listening to the question Riette threw.
"Well. I don't know."
Claudine glanced at the singing bird sitting on Matthias's finger.
"You could call it a foolish but pitiful bird."
Another burst of laughter broke out at her compromise.
The atmosphere between the people in the reception room was intimate because they had seen each other for many years. The names everyone knew, the world everyone shared, the same interests everyone had. It was truly a society that only they could enter.
"That bird, what's its name?"
Claudine asked a friendly question.
"If you don't have a name for it yet, would you like me to name it for you?"
"It's not worth your effort, my lady."
When Matthias turned his eyes and looked at Claudine, he smiled. His smile seemed the same as before but it somehow felt subtly different.
"A bird is just a bird."
His answer was heartless in contrast to the soft gaze of the singing bird on his fingers.
"As expected, the stupid poor bird."
Riette tsked as he showed his sympathy for the bird.
"It loves a hunter who doesn't allow to have a name of its own!"
~~~~~~~~~~~
The group of people laughing and chatting over the champagne didn't leave the suite until it was late at night.
Passing by the servants who came in to clean up the reception room, Matthias left the mansion for a night walk alone. His face, no longer smiling, was as still as the night.
The trap was laid, so it was time to check.
It wasn't a fool so it would've noticed but he knew it wouldn't give up.
That's why he was sure it'll get caught.
Matthias walked through the rose garden. The wind got cooler as he got closer to the river and then through the forest. His steps stopped in front of the annex along the river. The moonlight was white.
Entering the annex's reception room, Matthias approached in front of the console table and opened the drawer. The neatly placed glasses glistened, reflecting the moonlight.
Holding the glasses as if it was his canary, Matthias laid his tired body on the sofa.
What do I want from the bait I set up?
Matthias thought while looking at the glasses. He had difficulty answering but he wasn't impatient. He believed he'll find out once he caught it.
The night grew deeper as he repeatedly threw the glasses up and down. It was a moonlit night.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was a crazy act.
Leyla was clearly aware. Sneaking into the duke's annex was something no one with the right sanity would do.
"Yeah. Let's get some sleep."
Leyla, who had been wandering around the room, threw herself onto the bed. She wrapped herself in a thin blanket and tightly closed her eyes.
"My glasses…"
But she couldn't fall asleep.
Leyla was sure of her decision. Although she knew she was acting ridiculous, she was determined.
She needed to get her glasses.
Leyla sprang to her feet. She predicted that Matthias couldn't have brought it to his mansion so she was sure that it was somewhere in the annex.
That place was remote and it was near midnight so Leyla thought it would be fine. The moon today was so bright that the darkness didn't scare her.
"Yes. It's all right."
Leyla opened the door with a convincing murmur. The cabin was filled with still darkness. Uncle Bill's snoring was the only disturbance.
While picking up a lace shawl that hanged on the door, Leyla hurried out of the cabin. Whenever she had second thoughts, she thought of the countless fruits she had collected and the jam she boiled in order to buy the glasses.
"It's my glasses anyways."
As the glittering Schulter River was seen in the distance, Leyla suppressed her anxiety by talking to herself. Her soft blonde hair that went down her waist rippled along to the fast-paced rhythm of her footsteps.
But the more I think about it, the duke is a strange man.
Leyla suddenly thought as she walked along the dock that was connected to the annex.
Does he like sparkly things like the crow?
In the midst of her questioning mixed with vexation, Leyla arrived in front of the annex where her glasses were hidden. She realized that she was on her pajamas but soon shrugged it off because it was the middle of the night and no one was there to see her.
Leyla took a deep breath as she took a step forward.
~~~~~~~~~~
As expected.
Leyla Lewellin's actions once again didn't go beyond Matthias's expectations.
When he heard the footsteps climbing up the stairs coming closer, Matthias's breathing became slower. Even though he had left the door open for easy access, Leyla eventually came in through the hallway window after wandering outside for a long time.
She was a girl who didn't deviate from his expectations, but she always gave a little impact.
Matthias lay still on the couch and listened to her approach. Leyla's sigh of relief was followed after the hardwood floor creaked smoothly.
Matthias silently sneered and lowered his gaze from the ceiling. It wasn't long before Leyla entered the reception room. She initally looked around her surroundings with a stiff stance, and finally took a cautious step forward. She started her searches by the window.
Matthias's eyes, already accustomed to the darkness, instantly captured Leyla's figure. The moonlight that flowed through the window shone upon Leyla, who stood in front of the table.
By the time Matthias narrowed his eyes, Leyla had moved to her next destination, the cabinet. The skirt wrapped around her slender calves shook along with her footsteps. The white dress made with thin material that distinctively revealed her body line clearly looked like she was in her nightwear.
What do I want from the bait I set up?
Matthias stroked the slender temple of the glasses with his fingers. The cold, smooth texture made his conscious clear. In the meanwhile, Leyla now moved to the front of the console table, which was placed right across the sofa where Matthias lay.
Matthias looked back towards Leyla's back, which was illuminated by the moonlight.
That woman.
Matthias acknowledged the answer to his question.
The reason why he endlessly waited while setting up this pathetic trap.
In order to have that woman. That woman, Leyla Lewellin, who was no longer a little girl.
"Are you looking for this?"
Matthias steadily shook the glasses in his hand and opened his lips.
Leyla, who was just about to touch the console table's drawer, quickly turned around. She looked like was about to faint. She staggered backwards while her trembling hands covered her mouth.
Matthias slowly raised himself up. As he sat, leaning against the sofa, the moonlight glistened over his face, which had been in the dark all along.
The two person's eyes met in the moonlit night.