Just as Eli had said, Count Noah visited soon after. Receiving a guest before the wound had fully healed was not easy. It was painful just to put on the dress, and since her face looked so terrible, she had to apply heavy makeup. Shioana covered her dark face with powder and added a touch of red to her cheeks.
“Are you okay?”
Count Noah, who had brought an abundance of flowers and gifts, gently embraced her as soon as he met her. Suddenly held, Shioana struggled not to let out a strange sound every time his hand brushed against her back. Gritting her teeth, Shioana kept her hands hanging down and maintained her composure.
"...Thank you for your concern."
"Seeing your face makes me feel a little relieved."
Watching the two from the side, Eli conveyed his gratitude to Count Noah.
"I am truly overwhelmed by your constant interest."
"Viscount Evgenia, aren't we already one family?"
Count Noah lightly patted the back of Eli's hand and responded with a smile. Soon, the three of them sat side by side and drank tea.
"Count, these are scones my younger sibling baked themselves."
Actually, Nancy from the kitchen made it, but Eli slyly lied.
"Since Shioana made it, I feel like it would be a waste to eat it."
On the surface, it was a very comfortable time, such as talking about the new cafe in Highbell or the circus troupe from Urcheka.
"By the way, you are quieter than usual today. Are you not fully recovered yet?"
In the middle of their conversation, Count Noah gazed intently at Shioana. She straightened her back to avoid revealing her current wretched state. Eli quickly chimed in.
"My younger sibling was so shocked by Father's passing that she even fell ill with a fever."
"It is understandable for a woman as sensitive and deeply devoted as Shioana. When Aunt was sick, she nursed her with great care in my place. They even praised her as a virtuous prospective bride, a rare find these days."
At Count Noah's praise, Eli smiled broadly and waved his hand dismissively.
"That is too much praise. My sibling still has much to learn."
"It is simply a pity that you, Viscount, who have raised such a wonderful pair of siblings, cannot be present at the wedding."
"Thank you sincerely for thinking of Father in this way."
There were clearly three teacups, but it felt like a space occupied only by two people. Shioana still felt out of place, and her opinion was of no importance to the two of them. In the past, she thought it couldn't be helped, but now she was angry.
'...But'
For Etienne, she could do nothing, and she shouldn't have.
Smiling with a face painted like a finely dressed doll was her role for today.
"Shioana, the weather outside is nice; would you like to take a walk in the garden with me? I know it is shameless of me, but I have been waiting all along for this time to be alone with you."
At Count Noah's aggressive display of affection, Eli signaled to his younger sibling. Shioana awkwardly stood up and grabbed Count Noah's arm. Eli, who had been watching the scene with a pleased expression, was about to call a servant.
"I will tell them to prepare the tea outside."
"I'm just going for a short walk, so I don't think I need to prepare anything."
***
Shioana went outside for the first time in a very long while. Perhaps because she had stayed indoors for so long, the scorching sun stung her skin as it touched it. With every step, her chemise brushed against her back, and it felt as if pus were oozing out.
She hadn't seen it herself, but the whip wounds were undoubtedly quite serious. After all, every time the wounds were disinfected, Martha would cover her mouth and look for Diana.
"Shioana, I thought you suited winter quite well, but now I see you suit summer better."
The red rose bloomed again this year, having overcome the barren soil. Its face was pale from the short time it had been, but its eyes had deepened, exuding an unmistakably alluring aura.
The green dress Shioana wore today highlighted her fresh beauty.
"It is so beautiful that saying it many times wouldn't be enough."
Although she was the woman he was about to marry, Count Noah was growing impatient because Shioana rarely gave him a glance.
By now, he would have easily hugged her first, but she was unusually unresponsive. He couldn't quite tell if it was because she was shy or if her personality was just a bit stiff.
"I can't take it anymore."
Count Noah stopped and gripped her shoulder tightly. Veins twitched on the back of his hand as he held her so forcefully, as if to say he would not forgive the refusal. His cold gaze landed on Shioana's gaunt face.
'...It's like a snake.'
He said it was beautiful and acted passionate, claiming he couldn't stand it, but her cold face rarely changed.
Although she was starting to feel nauseous, Shioana could not refuse Count Noah today. From the moment she began her walk, she could feel eyes staring at her from all over the garden.
"Shioana. If you have any useless thoughts, your precious slave might die. Surely you don't want that to happen, do you? You must show mercy to the poor slave who is hovering between life and death because of you."
Eli forced her to act submissively by holding Etienne's life hostage.
"...Shioana"
Count Noah's cold lips touched her lips.
Shioana almost turned her head away at the sudden feeling of nausea, but she managed to hold it in.
"As expected, your lips are sweeter than I imagined."
Count Noah's voice was light, as if pleased with the compliant response today.
"If we get married, we'll be able to kiss and hold hands like this every day. I wish autumn would come soon. I find it hard to stay awake at night, thinking about how much I want to fill the Highbell mansion with the sound of a child's laughter."
It was the first time in her life she had such a terrible walk.
Because she shared a kiss with a man she didn't want, and had to listen to his plans for children until she was sick of it.
'If I marry this person, I probably won't be able to live for even a single day.'
To Count Noah, marrying her seemed no different from buying a purebred dog and taming it.
***
Regbell's barn, where darkness had fallen thickly.
Eli stood behind Joseph, who was holding a torch, with a deeply furrowed brow.
The red-eyed slave was as filthy and unsightly as when he first arrived here. His pitch-black hair almost completely covered his face, and a foul odor emanated from his clothes stained with filth and blood.
If it hadn't been confirmed that he was breathing, he would have looked like trash buried in a haystack.
"Joseph, tie that guy to the pillar."
Eli had no intention of letting a slave lie there so arrogantly to listen to him. After all, there were established rules in the world, and an insurmountable wall existed between nobles and slaves.
"...Ugh."
When he set the opponent, whose body was in such a terrible state it was a miracle he was still alive, against the pillar, he cried out in pain.
As he could not properly support his waist and his head kept tilting forward, he had Joseph wrap a rope around his chest to secure him.
"You must have seen it clearly during the day, right?"
Etienne Bernhard finally realized just how childish and pathetic he had been. When his brother died, and his family faced tragedy after tragedy, he believed it was the worst moment. But the real worst hadn't even begun.
Living in a state of despair in a strange land, he met the one he loved by fate. He knew very well that he was not worthy of dreaming of a happy future, but nevertheless, he wanted to be with Shioana. He vowed to repay her trust.
'What happened earlier was probably not her will.'
Joseph, who had come during the day, put him on a cart and roughly covered him with a pile of grass. It was a humiliating moment, but since he could not move even a single finger at that moment, there was nothing he could do. Carried away like that without knowing why, he ended up standing in a corner of the garden.
Shortly after, he heard laughter and saw a beautiful young man and woman taking a walk.
'...Shioana.'
The woman who had thrown herself to protect him was with Count Noah. Had he had the strength, he probably would have called out her name, Shioana. Forgetting that Joseph was by his side, he stared intently at her.
'...Ah.'
A moment later, when Etienne witnessed Count Noah kissing, he felt as if all the blood in his body had run cold.
He did not consider the possibility that his lover might have betrayed him. However, he found it unbearable to endure his pathetic plight of having to just watch it while being loaded onto a cart.
'I trust her.'
"Shioana will marry Count Noah in the fall as planned. Unless something unexpected happens, you will stay here until then, too."
Eli smiled with satisfaction at the perfect plan he had devised. Just as he was about to run his hand through his hair with his gloved hand, he met the gaze of red eyes glaring at him.
"...What? You still haven't gotten rid of that delusion?"
The slave acted as if he didn't believe Eli in the slightest. Eli had hated him terribly ever since he first arrived here. He was like this to the very end.
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