Chapter 15
Teo tilted his head slightly.
“Actually, among Duke Drexton’s servants, there are a few who are quite close to His Grace. The coachman and the head maid are like that. They have served him since the day he was born.”
“…Yes.”
“When they subtly tried to sound out His Grace about marriage, he always brushed them off.”
“……”
“He just kept saying that until he could forget his first love from boyhood, he couldn’t marry.”
Julia’s hand, lifting the teacup, stopped.
A first love from boyhood. Curiosity swelled up in soft, billowing waves. At the same time, she absolutely didn’t want to confirm it.
But Teo was consistently oblivious.
Without being prompted, he spoke the name aloud.
“Sister Julia, that is.”
Julia nearly fainted at the fact that Teo knew the name exactly. What held her together was an unconscious compulsion, or stubborn insistence, that she must behave in a way befitting the situation. She barely managed to steady herself and put on a mechanical smile toward Teo.
“It must have been quite an impressive first love.”
“Even though it ended when he was only thirteen.”
Teo snickered.
Julia quickly changed the subject.
“Come to think of it, isn’t something going on with the large garden tree on the west side of the estate?”
It was the place Duke Drexton had pointed to before leaving earlier.
“Ah, before His Grace left, he said he saw a pair of robins over there. He told me to make a birdhouse out of wood and put some grain inside. So they can get through the winter.”
I see. Instructions to look after the robins.
A smile far more natural than before spread across Julia’s lips.
「 Sister, look over there. Robins. You said last time they were really cute, didn’t you? I remembered that you like them. 」
It was because Edgar came to mind, speaking proudly like that. Back then, the boy’s sky-blue eyes had shone, and his cheeks were flushed. The hand that grabbed Julia and pulled her along without hesitation had been warm.
The memories calmed Julia as much as a cup of tea. Whatever Teo was chattering about, Julia leaned back, almost buried in the backrest, recalling Edgar with a mellow feeling.
Then it happened.
There was a presence at the entrance of the glass greenhouse.
“Your Grace!”
Teo exclaimed happily.
Julia startled and rose from her seat.
“You’re back early.”
“Yes.”
The boy Edgar had grown and become a fine man of twenty-eight. He turned his deep gaze back and forth between Teo and Julia.
Julia’s hands trembled uncontrollably. Teo and Duke Drexton alike had grown beyond recognition from those she once knew. But they evoked entirely different impressions in Julia.
The adult Duke Drexton made Julia tense.
“I was attending to our guest. You gave special instructions to treat her well, didn’t you? So I showed her the greenhouse and served tea.”
“I see that you did. Well done. Go on inside.”
Duke Drexton spoke somewhat stiffly. Teo, who had been proudly showing off his hospitality, seemed to sense something odd in the atmosphere. Grabbing his hat, he vanished from the greenhouse like the wind.
In the end, only Julia and Duke Drexton remained inside the greenhouse.
Julia felt awkward and at a loss. She had never imagined she would run into him today. Hadn’t Mary said he would be out until dinner?
Dusk was beginning to fall, but judging by how bright it still was outside, it couldn’t yet be six in the evening.
“What did you talk about?”
Duke Drexton asked in a polite tone. Yet for some reason, Julia felt a sharp edge to his words. She couldn’t say why.
It felt uncomfortable to answer plainly that they had talked about him. After a few seconds of silence, Julia carefully lifted her eyes and met Duke Drexton’s gaze.
“We talked about robins.”
Her voice trailed off slightly.
“Robins?”
Duke Drexton’s eyes widened a little. The shadow cast by his eyelashes lifted slightly, clearly revealing eyes like a clear sky. A trace of the boy Edgar.
Julia felt shy for reasons she didn’t understand. She deliberately averted her gaze again.
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