Chapter 52
* * *
Kate, pretending to sweep the entrance, craned her neck out.
“He should be here by now…”
And not long after, just as she had said, someone rode into the estate on a bicycle.
It was a freckled young man who had only just begun to lose his boyish looks.
“Hans! Long time no see!”
At the sight of Kate greeting him at the entrance, Hans awkwardly climbed off his bicycle, his face flushing.
“Kate, what are you doing out here? You even came to meet me.”
At Hans’s words, which had clearly missed the mark, Kate snorted.
“Meet you, my foot! What other business would I have with a mail carrier besides letters?”
At Kate’s prim response, Hans looked deflated.
“R-Right? Here, these are today’s letters addressed to the Baldomer estate.”
With that, Hans took a neatly tied bundle of letters from his bag and held it out.
After taking the thick stack of letters, Kate glanced around, then pulled Juliana’s letter from inside her clothes.
“Please make sure this letter gets delivered.”
Hans took the letter from Kate, checked the front of the envelope, and looked puzzled.
“There’s no sender written on it.”
“That’s why I’m asking you to take care of it.”
At Kate’s exasperated reply, Hans quickly let the matter go and slipped the letter into his mailbag.
It wasn’t particularly unusual, since some people occasionally sent letters without writing the sender’s name.
“Then I’m counting on you!”
Leaving only those words behind, Kate hurried away, and Hans smacked his lips regretfully.
His business at the estate was done, so he was just about to climb back onto his bicycle.
That was when an unfamiliar woman’s voice stopped him.
“You there.”
Thinking she was calling him, Hans turned around in confusion and saw a graceful-looking woman with glossy brown hair approaching.
Ah, he’d seen her a few times.
Wasn’t she the secretary of this estate?
“Me…?”
“Yes, you.”
At the woman’s somewhat stiff voice, Hans awkwardly climbed off his bicycle again.
Usually, lower-ranking maids came out to receive the mail, so this was his first time speaking directly with Layla, the secretary.
“What did you need me for…”
Unlike when he was speaking with Kate, Hans looked completely intimidated as he cautiously watched her expression. Layla arrogantly raised her chin and pointed toward his mailbag.
“Could I check the letter that maid just gave you?”
“Yes… but that’s a bit…”
“I’m the secretary who serves the master of this estate. Is there some problem with me checking a letter being sent from this estate?”
When Hans continued hesitating awkwardly, Layla frowned.
“Everything that happens here is reported through me anyway. If a maid were leaking Baldomer’s secrets, could you take responsibility for that?”
Frightened by Layla’s threat, Hans hurriedly took out the letter and handed it over.
Layla accepted it and stared down at the envelope with no sender listed.
As expected, the recipient was Lloyd de Silverstel.
Taking a letter opener from her pocket, Layla carefully removed only the wax sealing the envelope and checked the contents of the letter.
Then, as though nothing had happened, she resealed the letter and handed it back.
“There’s no problem. Then please make sure it reaches Silverstel.”
* * *
When I saw Lloyd already seated at the coffee shop where we had agreed to meet, I let out a faint sigh and stepped inside.
Whether then or now, he had never once made me wait for him.
Even though that past no longer existed, I walked toward him with complicated feelings as I looked at him, unchanged from my memories.
“You arrived first.”
The moment he saw me, he called my name happily.
“Juliana.”
Ignoring the joy on his face, I sat across from him and spoke stiffly.
“The reason I asked to see you today is because I want to clarify our relationship again, the one you talked about before.”
At my stiff words, I saw his expression harden as well.
But I had already made up my mind, so I looked him directly in the eyes and spoke firmly.
“I can’t be friends with you. So I’d also like you to stop sending me letters.”
At my firm words, he seemed frozen for a moment before giving an awkward smile.
“That’s why you asked to see me?”
“I thought it would be polite to tell you face-to-face.”
And I also thought I’d have to say it directly before he’d understand.
Contrary to my worries, he didn’t argue and merely gave me a bitter smile.
“If that’s what you want, I’ll respect it. No relationship works when only one side pushes for it. Love or friendship.”
The fact that he accepted it more easily than I’d expected somehow made my heart feel heavier.
“I’m sorry, Lloyd.”
“But, Juliana.”
His blue eyes were steady and unwavering.
At the sight of his serious expression, completely devoid of a smile, I went blank for a moment.
Had he ever made an expression like that before?
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