Chapter 7

– Chapter 7 –

Erin stood by Aiden’s side in silence until he felt better.

She even stood about three steps away so that he wouldn’t feel pressured.

She kept an eye out for their surroundings just in case someone passed by. And when it seemed like someone was headed their way, she would send them away with a stare.

Erin kept watch so that no one would even think of intruding.

Even though Aiden had long stopped trembling, he had to stay still for quite a while before he could move.

It was then, he lifted his head and stared at Erin.

The expression that Erin saw on his face was inscrutable.

Seeing his tormented expression, Erin tried smiling gently.

It was at these moments that Erin’s fingertips felt empty.

She wanted to reach her hands out to console him whenever he looked like he was having a hard time.

After all, the warmth of a human’s touch was more consoling than words.

However, a human’s touch was anything but consolation to Aiden, it was poison.

Erin balled her hands into tight fists so she wouldn’t make that mistake.

In the end, Erin didn’t follow Aiden to the training hall.

Erin watched as Aiden trudged away before turning away.

Afterwards, Erin quietly called for the employee who bumped into Aiden.

This was to ensure she wouldn’t spread pointless rumours about Aiden’s hypersensitive reaction.

“Windy.”

“…… Yes, Young Miss.”

Although Erin spoke in a sweet tone, Windy shrank back in fear.

She looked terrified, as if she was expecting to receive a punishment.

“I think it’ll be good for you to be more careful from now on.”

“…… Yes.”

“Aiden could’ve gotten extremely hurt with the slightest mistake. If something like that were to happen, you would be in the most difficult situation.”

“I apol…… 0, gise ……”

Windy’s shoulders trembled with fear at Erin’s warning. She felt as if she could burst into tears at any moment.

“Luckily, nothing happened today. What a relief, don’t you think?”

“Yes.”

“Aiden and I are okay…… but, as you know Windy, there are people who are sensitive to even the smallest problems.”

There was no need to mention any names. As Erin spoke, Windy listened, and she knew who Erin was referring to.

If Aiden’s nanny, Whitney, or the Duke and Duchess, who are currently away from the estate, found out that Aiden was almost injured, the issue would have escalated and the responsibility would have fallen onto her.

The truth is, there was a completely different reason behind his oversensitive reaction.

But in the end, only the fact that he could’ve gotten hurt remained true.

Windy flicked her head up.

“P-Please save me……!”

Windy shook like a lead as she pleaded desperately.

If Whitney caught wind of this, she would definitely punish her harshly and nothing scared Windy more than that.

“If you’re careful, no one else will know.”

Erin grabbed Windy’s hand and smiled gently.

“Thank you, Young Miss! Thank you very much!”

Erin’s hand was only half the size of Windy’s, but she felt as if they embraced her whole being

Windy bowed multiple times before leaving the room.

In order to give Windy a sense of security, Erin’s smile remained bright until the door closed.

As soon as the door closed shut, the corners of Erin’s lips turned upwards.

“With this, Windy’s lips are sealed.’

For the sake of her safety, Windy would never reveal what happened today to anyone else. And there was no better safety net than that.

Next is……’

Erin turned her head to look at her nanny, Mona, who had been observing with interest.

Mona’s eyes widened and pointed to herself when she made eye contact with Erin.

“Me? Do you have something for me to do?”

The nanny noticed Erin’s intent just by the glint in her eye.

Erin’s eyes crinkled happily and she spoke with a lively tone.

“Yup!”

As expected of Erin’s reply, Mona’s eyes formed into crescents.

Was there anything she wouldn’t do for this girl? The one who she raised since birth; the one who still resembled her newborn self.

“Just say the word.”

Mona said cheerfully.

Without hesitation, Erin hooked her around Mona’s and went on with a list of requests.

After hearing everything Erin had to say, Mona’s eyes shined with determination and lightly lifted her hand above her chest.

“That is my specialty. Leave it to me.”

Erin nodded eagerly at her reliable words.

Three days have passed since the day of the small incident.

During those three days, Erin couldn’t see Aiden.

It wasn’t because Aiden was avoiding her.

It was simply because Erin was worried after that day.

It was a universal rule that reopening a wound that was thought to have healed was bound to escalate into something worse.

She was worried that Aiden’s trauma would worsen.

After thinking about it, she thought that there was a chance he had gotten a little better, but it was possible that he had returned to how he was before.

That was the reason why she couldn’t look for Aiden the immediate day after.

She was worried that he would be repulsed if she looked for him on purpose.

It wasn’t like Erin to be scared of something.

But before she knew it, somehow three days had passed by

When she realised that time had passed by too quickly, Erin thought it was about time to head towards the general area of the training hall.

Since she couldn’t go all the way to the training hall, she found her strolling around the garden. This was when she recognised a familiar silhouette standing afar.

“Huh……?”

Erin stared intensely at it while blinking a couple times.

No matter what she thought, the person standing over there was Aiden.

“But……”

Aiden’s expression was conflicted.

Maybe she was mistaken, but it seemed like his hard-set was frowning a little.

While Erin was busy looking at Aiden’s face, she failed to notice when he strode up to

her.

“It’s been a while.”

She had no idea why his voice sounded upset.

Erin wasn’t aware of the small difference immediately.

The fact that Aiden approached her first to say hello was more important.

“What a relief. It seems like his trauma didn’t worsen.’

Her mood recovered knowing that Aiden didn’t avoid her, but instead approached her

first.

Erin’s lips parted slowly.

“I know right? I really wanted to see you.”

Erin, who was glad to see him, said the first thing that came to her mind.

Without even considering the meaning those words might convey.

His expression became strange and he stared from afar for a while before opening his lips with hesitation.

“……I was on the way to practice.”

“I see. But the way to the training hall is……?”

Erin nodded absently and wondered as she stared at the direction where Aiden came from.

The way to the training hall was the direction that Aiden just came from.

“I’m heading to the back of the mountain today.”

“Back of the mountain? Not the training hall?”

“It’s training for horseback riding. Although it’s referred to as a mountain, the land is actually quite flat. So it’s not going to be hard getting there.”

As Aiden spoke, he glanced at Erin.

Erin picked up on what he was inferring and her lips twitched before slowly forming a smile.

“Can I follow along?”

Of course, Erin’s eyes sparkled as she asked.

“…… Do you want to?”

Aiden might have tried to come off as nonchalant, but as soon as she uttered those words, his head turned and his eyes widened.

Aiden could never say those words directly, so he put in the extra effort and expressed it in a roundabout way.

Why does he seem so cute whenever he does things like this?

This was a big deal. She wasn’t supposed to like him, but Aiden was so cute that she couldn’t hold in her laughter.

‘I can’t, laugh pointlessly like this.’

Erin pinched both her cheeks and pressed her face firmly like she was kneading dough.

Despite doing this, she couldn’t calm down, so she lightly tapped her cheeks.

“……Aren’t you coming?”

Aiden’s voice resounded. He had already taken the lead.

And he had stopped walking and turned to face Erin.

“I’m coming!”

Erin stepped forward in a rush.

As she hurried to catch up, Aiden continued walking

However, compared to before, his pace was noticeably slower.

“Could it be… he’s being considerate towards me because I couldn’t keep up the previous time?

Though it did occur to her that there was no way this was true, Aiden turned back to look at her as soon as she stopped walking.

“……Is it difficult?”

Aiden asked carefully.

While it was slight, the road was still inclined. This led Aiden to think Erin might be having a hard time and stop frequently.

Aiden hesitated for a moment before approaching Erin. Then, he stood next to

her.

Aiden slowed his walking pace to match Erin’s.

It was only a few days ago when he avoided the mere sight of her. And yet, in no time, he was willing to slow down his pace and was even taking care of her.

This must be Aiden’s original personality.

‘He’s getting a little better.”

He is very shy, cute and has good manners. Erin thought as she looked at Aiden’s side profile with satisfaction.

Startled, she snapped out of it. These thoughts could cause a lot of trouble.

Erin stopped to shake her head to the left, sending the recent thought flying.

‘It’s okay as long as I don’t like him as a man.’

She could be like him as a friend, and plus, it’s natural for one person to like another in a friendly manner.

That was how Erin rationalised the thoughts to herself.

In the original novel, the issue was that her obsession with Aiden was borderline insanity.

This time, Erin’s feelings were far from that. At least this she can be sure of.

Phillip and a couple other knights had already begun preparations at the back of the mountain.

“Young Miss, come this way.”

“We’ve prepared a place for you to sit.”

As the knights directed her over to a table in a shady area that they prepared, it was as if they knew she was coming.

Although Aiden pretended that this was a coincidence, in actuality, he had been looking out for her.

As she looked at Aiden, Erin bit the inside of her lip firmly in order to hold in her laughter, but he had already turned away.

Thanks to him completely turning away, she could clearly see that he had turned red, from his ears all the way to his neck.

For three days, Erin thought that she was the only one worried.

Aiden must have thought about me a little as well.

With that thought, laughter slowly leaked out. And with that, Aiden’s neck turned an even brighter red.

– To Be Continued –