Chapter 193
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
I was still angry with the man, so I treated him coldly.
In response, he spent the whole day watching me closely. Thinking he should feel some of the pain I’d been holding inside, I left him be. No matter what I did, I stayed cold and silent, and he grew noticeably anxious.
Was I really the devil? I felt comforted by his unease.
I couldn’t help it. Though he said I was everything to him, the man who always seemed so composed on the outside was the one I’d been worried about all along. Did he truly wanted me as desperately as he claimed?
I was someone who didn’t know satisfaction. Even when he showed how much he wanted me by protecting me now and then, I’d see his calm exterior return and start doubting again.
That calm man who seemed almost indifferent was now showing his anxiety outwardly these last few days. Seeing how restless he was about losing me finally put my mind at ease.
Until now, I’d been the one anxious over him, so the role reversal felt almost intoxicating. And above all, it made me happy to see how crazy he was about me.
There was one more good thing about my cold silence: after keeping my mouth shut for so long, whenever I finally opened it, no matter what I said, he would quickly answer me before I could shut up again.
‘But it’s still not the right time.’
Ignoring the man’s silent wish for me to stop being so cold, I just accepted the flowers and turned away abruptly. Standing in front of the fence, the man who had jumped over first reached out his hand.
With his help, I crossed the fence but then immediately walked on alone, coldly. He was a few steps behind, busy gathering the things I had set down, but soon caught up and fell into step beside me.
I stared straight ahead at the empty country road, while he walked without looking at his feet—only at my face.
He was watching me. It was thrilling.
Even a casual, accidental brush of his hand sent shivers through me. I could feel how desperately he wanted to hold my hand but couldn’t.
For the past few days, except when necessary, I’d always avoided his attempts to take my hand. So now, he hesitated between holding it or not, constantly reading my cues.
This time, his hand touched the back of mine. I didn’t pull away, and he gently hooked a finger around mine. When I didn’t pull it out, he smiled so brightly that it was a struggle to suppress it, carefully wrapping his hand around mine.
Peck.
His lips landed on the back of my hand, and that smile broke free—lifting wide and warm. The kisses he left there were so soft and reverent, more like worship than romantic affection.
Being treated like this, I felt like a knight’s princess. Well, maybe not a princess, but at least a noble lady. Feeling a little proud, I asked,
“Was I a noble?”
As expected, the man who was always happy to answer whatever I asked, smiled brightly and replied.
“No.”
“…No?”
Everyone had assumed I was upper class. I spoke Highlander with an aristocratic accent, and recently, with his help, I’d been relearning my mother tongue, which he said was also spoken in an upper-class accent.
So naturally, I had no doubt he would say I was noble. I looked at him in surprise, since I’d deliberately avoided giving him my full attention until now.
“You weren’t a noble, but a commoner. Though you’re a young lady from a well-known family that moves in high society.”
My father was a doctor who became the royal physician to the King, earning tremendous favor and honor. Thanks to that, our otherwise ordinary Loveridge family grew wealthy and entered high society.
“Then are you a commoner too?”
“No, I’m a noble.”
The Ackroyds are a landed gentry family. Though they don’t hold a hereditary title, their ancestors branched off from a Duke’s family, and a generation or two further back, they’re even connected to the royal family.
Even with my limited knowledge, I understood that meant his family was quite prestigious among nobles. So much so that as a commoner, I couldn’t stand beside him as an equal like I do now.
“I’m really embarrassed right now.”
“Why?”
“I thought I was of higher status than you.”
He smiled wryly, making me feel awkward.
“That’s because you always treated me like a knight serving a princess…”
“I am a knight.”
“…What?”
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