Chapter 52
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Love.
What a sweet word.
Isn’t love something blessed and happy, enough to create the illusion of angels blowing trumpets? But for some reason, from the moment Asha’s one-sided love began, Harriet’s mood also steadily sank. Neither the summer weather that brought a sense of vitality nor the gold coins flowing in like water could relax his stiff face. Those sacrificed to his icy aura were the aides waiting for document approval.
Tap, tap.
Harriet’s finger slowly tapped on the documents. It was a slow rhythm, but as the sound continued, the aides’ shoulders stiffened with tension. Who was Harriet? He was a superior who froze people to the point that they almost missed their previous boss, who had been sensitive and violent. With the atmosphere like this, it wouldn’t be strange if the nervous aides made a huge mistake.
With the atmosphere showing no sign of loosening, the chief aide, Klein, finally handed over a document and spoke up awkwardly.
“Count, is there something bothering you?”
“Bothering me?”
There was something. A big something.
Was it because he had pushed her at the opera house, or was it because he had burst into laughter at her seductive expression?
Recently, Asha’s behavior had become strange. It mainly consisted of actions like being excessively surprised upon seeing him or awkwardly avoiding his gaze.
Even yesterday, didn’t she almost fall, startled by seeing Harriet come out of the bathroom? It was lucky that Harriet caught her by the waist; otherwise, she would have hit her head hard. Harriet, frowning at her careless behavior, raised his voice for once.
‘Asha!’
‘Hieek!’
Was it because she was scared of the loud voice? Instead of a thank you, Asha struggled to get out of Harriet’s arms. It was such a violent movement that even the strong Harriet was on the verge of falling over. In the end, Harriet had no choice but to let Asha go.
Until just a few days ago, she had been anxious because she couldn’t press her body against his, so what was this now? At Asha’s unpredictable mood, a desire to catch her and interrogate her immediately surged. But her skill in dodging him here and there was no joke.
Whenever he opened his mouth….
‘Asha.’
‘Yawn—Harriet, I’m sorry. I’m s—so sleepy….’
Even if he just called her name, she would pretend to be sleepy, or she would boldly pretend she hadn’t heard. Her methods of avoiding him were diverse. He had let it go to see how far she would take it, but now she had begun to think of other things while right in front of him.
Just what should he do with this cute wife?
A sudden anxiety blew into Harriet, who had been living a fairly peaceful life thanks to his relaxed and monotonous temperament. He had looked down on those who restlessly shook their legs as pathetic, yet the way he tapped the desk was no different from such people.
Considering the burning heat he felt when he grabbed Asha’s cheek, she might still have a lingering cold. Was she sick somewhere, or did she have another scheme? In their year and a half of marriage, this was the first time he had been unable to understand Asha’s inner thoughts.
As these days continued, the hunting instinct and obsession he had barely suppressed began to slowly seethe.
Tap, tap.
“If she keeps running away, should I catch her? Or should I wait and see….”
“Are you talking about… hunting?”
“Hunting? Yes. Perhaps it is hunting.”
The aide’s eyes fell on his thick arms. The noble capital aristocrats might not know, but the aide, who was born and raised in Harriet’s hometown of Brutus, knew well how those thick muscles were built. And the identity of the faint scars as well.
The aide continued, trying to shake off the chilling sensation.
“I-If it’s hunting… shouldn’t you drive them into a corner and catch them? Because if you miss the prey, there are many cases where you won’t see its tail again.”
“Missing it, you say.”
Tap.
The movement of his finger stopped.
The aide, who swallowed once with a dry throat, added more words.
“Isn’t the taste of hunting originally in the close pursuit?”
At the aide’s advice, Harriet weighed it in his mind. Whether to turn a blind eye and pretend not to know, or to dig through every single thing she was thinking. As if making the act of adding weights one by one meaningless, the scale quickly collapsed to one side.
Leaving a situation to something he couldn’t control was not Harriet’s nature.
“Tell Asha to come to the office.”
“To the Madam?”
“Yes. Add that there are cookies, too.”
The Countess isn’t a child—would she really be tempted by cookies? The aide showed an awkward smile but soon stiffened his lips. Harriet’s appearance resembled a hunter setting a trap, so he could no longer think of it as a joke.
The aide relayed Harriet’s words to the maid waiting in front of the door.
“Bring the Madam…. Make sure to add that cookies have been prepared.”
“Cookies?”
The word was so modest and cute for Harriet to have requested it that the maid tilted her head, but she moved her steps to relay the command.
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