Chapter 285
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
I removed the pin bearing my boarding school’s crest from the collar of my uniform and tucked it into the book we used to exchange letters.
I attend Mulberry College. This should be enough proof that I’m your age. And that I’m a noble, shouldn’t it?
Among the noble boys staying at the estate that summer, there were three or four who attended the same school as I did. So you couldn’t be certain it was me. Part of me also hoped you might suspect, just a little, that it could be.
In any case, it worked. I received a reply.
I want you to appear in front of me and prove it yourself. This pin isn’t what I wanted to see.
—
I’ll come to you before the summer ends. I promise.
I was still stuck in place. I continued to fail every time I tried to speak to women. You wouldn’t know how many times I approached you, only to retreat without even managing a proper greeting.
At the time, I was seized by the fear that the moment I appeared before you, this dreamlike time would come to an end. And so the cowardly thought of putting it off as long as possible, wrapped around my ankles and kept me from moving toward you.
That’s too late. I’m already receiving proposals from all sides. I can’t keep turning down other suitors while waiting for a proposal you may or may not make.
You were trying to push me. To make me appear, to propose at once.
But I was clumsy with love and with people, and shamefully, those words only made me want to hide even more.
‘You’re being courted by so many men already…’
The first thought that struck me was that I might not be better than any of those unknown men. Why should you reject them all and choose to marry me?
Love?
You had never said you loved me. While I was shouting my love for you with every breath, you had never even said that you liked me. I only realized that then.
Dana… do you love me?
I asked impulsively, and immediately felt like a fool.
‘How could you love a man whose face and name you don’t even know?’
That was the answer I expected.
But what you gave me was something entirely different.
Are you curious? Open this, and you’ll know who the man I love is.
You had slipped a necklace with a silver locket into the book. The very necklace that now hangs at your neck.
I told you earlier how tense I had been, wondering whether it might contain another man’s photograph or portrait. What if this is how you reject me? My hand trembled as I held the silver locket until it warmed with my body heat, hesitating for a long time before finally opening it.
“…A mirror?”
It took me a moment to understand. And then, the instant I did, I cheered louder than when I received your very first reply.
Now I had a reason, one powerful enough, for you to choose me over all other suitors.
Because I was loved.
You had left another note, folded small and tucked inside the lid of the locket.
My love, I want to see the face reflected in this mirror too.
To me, love at that moment was the power to overcome any hardship. If you loved me, I believed you would accept me even if I were a boy who couldn’t speak.
Afraid my newfound confidence might cool, I rushed to my room to write back, asking to meet that very day. My heart had been soaring. But the instant I opened the door, it plunged straight down.
“Rupert? What are you doing in my room?”
Rupert was sitting on my bed, having entered without permission. In his hand was a sheet of paper I recognized at once. The letters scattered across the bed were familiar too. Your letters, which I had hidden beneath it. Rage and fear surged together, heat rushing to my face.
“Going through my things without permission, do you want to be thrown out?”
I snatched the letter from his hand, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him toward the door.
“If you want to throw me out, you’ll need to be king.”
Instead of being flustered at being caught, he smirked and mocked me.
“You don’t need to be a king to kick out a thief who rummages under another man’s bed.”
“A thief? I was just worried about you. Any man hides at least one filthy sock under his bed. If you didn’t, that would be the real problem.”
Rupert had been searching my room because he was uneasy about me having leverage over him, he wanted to find my weakness.
“And it looks like I did find proof that you’re finally acting like a man.”
As I shoved him toward the door, he struggled not to be pushed out, his mouth still running nonstop.
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