Night of the Abandoned Duchess

Chapter 43

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She glanced down at the modest dress she was wearing.
She was in a light blue dress that fell simply without lace.
Every time the wind blew, it swayed like the water on a clear day, though it was too simple to be called an outing outfit.

‘You don’t have to answer me now.
You have plenty of time to think, so don’t rush to answer.
Think about it for a long time, and answer in a positive way as much as possible.’

Rosalind, who suddenly remembered his voice, gently rolled up the hem of her skirt.

Not long ago, despite her apparent refusal, Kyle sent her clothes and accessories.
They were all gorgeous and beautiful, but she did not touch the things he gave them because she didn’t want to feel indebted to him anymore.

She used to choose a dress that was a little revealing or more flashy than she liked because she wanted to look pretty to him… She wanted to be different from back then.

“Wow, that’s exciting! Mom, the wind is so cool.
I wish I could come every day!”

Leo burst out laughing and rolled over on the soft cloth.
Even though the cloth was wide enough for two or three adult men to lie down on, she cautioned Leo to sit down.

“Leo, what if you get hurt while rolling? Were you injured while playing last time?”

“Leave him.
He will grow up playing around and other things.”

At Kyle’s words, Rosalind closed her mouth slightly as if she didn’t like it.

The opinions of the husband and wife were bound to be slightly different when raising children, so she wondered if that was why they were talking about this.
While she was a bit overprotective, he was the one freeing Leo.

Nonetheless, there had not been a big difference of opinion so far, and since they even went out for a picnic today, she thought she would just let Leo do what he wanted.

It was an unwanted outing because Leo had been begging her to go on a picnic a few days ago, so she didn’t want to break the mood now that he had gotten out.
Since a long time ago, whenever the weather was good, Leo and her would use to go out often.

However, it was her first time coming with Kyle, so it was a little awkward and uncomfortable.

“Look at this, there are so many leaves!”

The child suddenly stood up from his seat, lifted his heel, and stretched out his hand toward the leaf.
The greens that had tickled his fingertips as if he could barely touch them came into Leo’s hands.

He stared curiously at the leaves in the palm of his hand.

“How many are there?”

“Well, how many? Probably too numerous to count.”

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Leo reached out his hand and started picking a few more leaves.

“Leo, you can’t keep picking it up.
Don’t bother it like that.
You should always be thankful for trees, flowers, fruits, and animals.
It is thanks to all these things that we can eat delicious food and live a healthy life.”

“Hmm,” said Leo, poking his mouth out, pretending to be picking a few more leaves, but then stopped.
Then, he gazed at Rosalind and asked.

“Then, can I see it?”

When she answered, Leo nodded his head and started looking around.

“There is a huge tree over there.”

As if interested in the distant tree, he sprinted away from the cloth.

She glanced at Leo with concern and turned her gaze away.
With a snap, a leaf fell on her head.
It must have been that Leo spilled it while running.

She touched her head to see if there were any more leaves attached to it.
Rosalind was worried that her hair would be messed up outdoors, as she was more meticulously groomed today, and because of that, she was especially careful with how she touched her hair.

She stopped lowering her hand when she saw nothing else.
In addition, it was also because Kyle was staring at her, to the extent that she thought that gaze was too blatant…

…Why was he staring at her like that?

But, she sat still without asking any questions or saying anything.
She didn’t want to bring it up.

After such an awkward atmosphere passed for a long time, he opened his mouth first.

“…You never wear the clothes I gave you.”

“I don’t have to look pretty anymore.”

Is that so…?

He muttered to himself, and Rosalind didn’t speak anymore.

“By the way, I mean.
Even if you don’t try to look pretty… You’re pretty.”

Her eyes widened slightly at his soft voice.
Kyle reached out his hand towards her head.

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“…Whatever you do, no matter what you do.”

‘…They are all pretty.’

Rosalind swallowed her breath unknowingly as his fingertips grazed her cheek.

As she was about to turn her head, wondering what he was doing, when she suddenly noticed that he had a flower at his fingertips.
It seemed that he had plucked a flower from her hair.

“…I didn’t know it was there.”

She muttered awkwardly.

‘You’re pretty no matter what you do.’ It was sweet, though it didn’t sound like he was just saying it to flirt.
His clear gaze and voice approached her in a strangely serious way.

Rosalind asked curiously, “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“It’s fascinating.”

He smiled faintly as if he was really curious.

The Rosalind in his dreams had always had a pretty face.
With a casual smile on her face, she strode out with her back to him.
In the past year of being with her, she had always been at his side, and oddly enough, it seemed so easy for her to turn her back.

At first, he thought that it was simply a pity that the woman next to him had disappeared, although the emptiness after waking up was too terrible for that.
He was as angry and worried about her, and yet he seemed crazy…

After Rosalind disappeared, he had always had wine instead of water on the table.
Because if he didn’t drink, he couldn’t sleep easily.

However, as he touched her cheek like this, it was only the warmth that made him realize that it was not a dream.

“What are you fascinated about?”

“That it is a reality now.”

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“…And, I’m glad.”

‘That it is reality…’

Even though his eyes deepened, she couldn’t understand the meaning, so she just stared blankly.
No, perhaps, she didn’t want to understand… Though her head knew she had to turn away from him, she couldn’t easily turn her eyes away.

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Rosalind felt as if she was possessed by him.

“Mom, when can we eat snacks? I’m hungry.”

For a moment, Leo’s voice cut through them.
Rosalind, who turned her head away from him, calmed the sullen Leo and responded affectionately.

“…Then, shall we eat the snack we brought?”

The snacks that had been in the basket began to be laid out one by one on the clean cloth.
Some fresh fruits, tarts, and puddings were the child’s favorite desserts.
Leo took hold of the fork, took a slice of tart, and handed it to Kyle.

“Here, ah.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Kyle smiled slightly and opened his lips.
It was a sweet dessert topped with fruit jam.
He didn’t like sweets, yet he ate them right away.
It was funny and strange to see him forcing himself to eat sweets.

Leo took another slice of tart with a fork, this time offering it to Rosalind.
The child’s actions and the sweet taste in his mouth were lovely and made him smile.

Just as she swallowed her tart, Leo’s resolute voice was heard.

“Now, feed each other.”

What? Each other…?

As soon as Leo’s voice fell, the smile disappeared from Rosalind’s lips.
Kyle held out the fork towards her, but she only glanced and turned her head.

Was it because of embarrassment? Her ears were dyed redder than before.
With an innocent face, unaware of the difficulty of being forced to get involved with her ex-husband, Leo quickly began to eat the tart.

 

* * *

 

“Leo couldn’t come with me because he was tired.
Thank you so much for the invitation.”

Hearing Rosalind’s voice, Albert smiled.

Today was the day she responded to the ‘dinner invitation’ that he had mentioned earlier.
When he said he wanted to serve her dinner at a relative’s house where he was staying, she couldn’t resist.

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Although she thought it was just a simple meal, the table was much more luxurious than expected.
Apart from the variety of food, it showed the carefully prepared high-quality meat, flavorful and luxurious drinks, and even exotic foods that were hard to come by.

In a place where the mansion was not large, and there were not many people, she wondered if they would be a bit overworked to bring out food like this.

Rosalind smiled with a bit of pressure and regret.

“Did you say Rosalind? I heard a lot from Albert.
You are, as I heard, a very beautiful woman.
Albert praised you so much…”

Sevina, who introduced herself as Albert’s relative, spoke softly to her.
Her eyes were filled with joy as she gazed at Rosalind and Albert alternately.

“You are too much.
The Baron must have said only good things about me because he was such a good person.”

“I’m just talking about a beautiful woman.
What is to be exaggerated?”

“The Madam is also so beautiful.”

Oh, really? Raised her voice, she laughed.
Sevina rolled her eyes playfully at Albert.
The two of them were so friendly that just looking at them made her smile.

“I said I would prepare it, but I don’t know if it will suit your taste.
I don’t know exactly what you like…”

“You worked so hard to prepare, how could it not be good? All the food is delicious.”

As soon as Rosalind finished speaking, Albert, unable to hide his joyous face, placed a chunk of meat on her plate.

“I was wondering if it would be difficult to eat.”

His words made her feel his consideration for her, and she swallowed her smile a little.
Although she was originally taught the basic manners of a noble, she often did not care for anything more than that, though he was quite delicate and kind.

“Thank you,” said Rosalind, admiring the meat as she put it in her mouth.

“It is delicious.”

“I’m glad.
Oh right.
I have something to tell you…”

“Yes?”

“I think it’s better to do it after you’ve finished eating.”

Albert’s voice felt more serious than usual.
Seeing that, Rosaline nodded her head a little puzzled.