Chapter 29

A few days later, Herietta did not find Edwin. Rather, it wasn’t that she just didn’t look for him, but she blatantly avoided him. Whenever she spots him walking in her direction, she would either turn back the way she went, or wander around a random room, and whenever he knocks on her door, she would be as quiet as a rat.

It was as if they were water and oil which could not coexist in one place or spring and autumn that could never exist at the same time.

When was the last time he talked with Herietta with a smile?

Edwin was very nervous. She unilaterally refused to communicate with him, and there was nothing he could do in that situation.

No matter how close they were, their relationship was firm. She was the master’s daughter, and he was just a slave. He didn’t dare go against what she wanted to do. It was a moment when he felt his own powerlessness.

Edwin took a deep breath. It was not that he could not guess why Herietta, who always showed great interest and affection to him, suddenly changed and kept trying to distance herself away from him.

Vivianne. It must be because of her.

Edwin’s eyes darkened.

His ex-fiance, Vivianne, who he met by chance in town. And Herietta, who seemed to have realized who she was only later. When the past and the present collided together, he, who did not easily lose his composure in most matters, was also bewildered.

Herietta looked at him and Vivianne with bewildered faces. It was only for a moment that his expression darkened noticeably. The temperature he felt on his face dropped sharply. His spine grew cold, and his head turned as white as a blank sheet of paper.

Even though he thought he had to make an excuse, nothing came out of his mouth.

He vaguely noticed what kind of feelings Herietta had for him. Although she did not speak directly, she always expressed her feelings without hiding it and acted recklessly, so it was more strange to not know what she was thinking.

At first, he was indifferent to her emotions, so he believed that if he kept ignoring it, she was bound to stop, so he just passed over it casually.

But her heart was much harder than he thought, and as time went on, it took on a more and more firm form.

‘Edwin.’

Herietta would always call his name in a loving voice.

‘Edwin. Did you know that meeting you is the greatest luck of my life?’

There was heat in Herietta’s eyes whenever she looked at him. And the heat was so intense that it could no longer be dismissed as just a crush from the girl’s youthful heart.

Yes, it’s just a useless, useless heart.

Despite his negative thoughts, Edwin’s eyes followed Herietta, and he wandered in search of that heat in her eyes. Unbeknownst to him, there was also a little heat rising inside him, but he did not realize it for a very long time.

‘Maybe you’re tired of me…’

Edwin ground his molars tightly at the thought of his heart breaking.

But at the same time, he felt sad as Herietta tried to keep away from him after approaching him like that.

Originally, he was quite indifferent to the extent that he didn’t care whether others liked him or not, but now, just imagining Herietta’s eyes turning cold as she looks at him made him breathless.

If Herietta decides to leave him, will he be able to stand it? Will he ever be able to return to his former self, when he was blunt to everything, as if nothing happened?

Edwin lifted his head and looked up at the window of Herietta’s room on the second floor of the mansion. She was still awake, and a faint light was seeping through the closed curtains.

Like there was no relationship from the very beginning

Snap. Something inside of him broke. Edwin’s energy, which had been running wildly here and there, froze. His eyes looking upwards became cold.

* * *

Knock, knock

There was a knock on the door. Herietta, who was lying on her bed and trying to extinguish the lamp on the night table, raised her head. Who is it at this time? She glanced at the clock on the wall and it was already late enough for most people to fall asleep.

“Who is it?”

“…”

She tilted her head, wondering if she had heard anything wrong, and once again heard a loud knock on the door.

“Who’s there?”

“…”

Again, she was met with silence.

What’s going on?

She had a feeling that something was not quite right. But they knocked twice and she couldn’t keep ignoring it. Besides, seeing that they came so late, it must have been for some important reason.

Herietta got out of bed and put on the gown she had hung in the closet. She then walked towards the door slowly, with a lamp in one hand.

“Heather? Is it you, Heather?”

Suddenly, she remembered that the old maid, who had been taking care of her room for several days, had very bad ears. Did she suddenly think of something to bring to her late at night?

Herietta unlocked the door and opened it slightly. Through the gap in the doorway, she could see that the corridor was covered in pitch-black darkness. She felt a chill in the eerie atmosphere.

“Heather?”

Tak! A large hand came unannounced through the crack in the door, and it grabbed the edge of the door to keep it from closing.

“!”

Startled, Herietta almost dropped the lamp she was holding. It was an uneasy atmosphere. She was about to start screaming as she sensed the danger.

The intruder who had been hiding quietly in the dark came forward. Under the dim light, his figure was slowly revealed.

“Ed, Edwin?”

With a look of surprise, Herietta called out Edwin’s name. Although he was currently a slave, he was originally a man born into a high-ranking noble family. She didn’t expect him to come to her room this late at night.

Edwin, who had his head bowed down, slightly raised his eyes and looked at Herietta.

“Are you disappointed? It’s not Heather.”

He asked in a low, growling voice. His gaze towards her was not gentle.

“In the future, never open the door blindly like this. You never know who will be standing outside it.”

Edwin quietly scolded Herietta and applied force to his hold on the door, opening the gap between them.

Realizing that he was about to enter her room, she hurried to the door and applied force in the opposite direction to keep him from entering.

Edwin saw it and frowned, but soon, a cold smile spread across his handsome face.

“What useless effort.”

He murmured as if he were talking to himself, and in an instant, applied a tremendous amount of force that could not be compared with before. No matter how hard she tried, Herietta alone was not enough to stop him. Her body pushed back helplessly and the door opened wide. Then, as if he were waiting for this moment, Edwin strode into the room and closed the door so she couldn’t escape outside.

Clank. The locking of the door was particularly loud.

“What is this now?”

Herietta asked, trying to hide her trembling voice as much as possible.

“Go back, Edwin. If you go back now, I’ll pretend nothing happened tonight.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

Edwin said, tilting his head to one side.

“I have no intention of taking a single step out of this room until I solve the problem that came to me.”

“A problem?”

“I want to have a conversation, Miss Herietta. About what happened that day.”

That day. Herietta knew immediately what Edwin was talking about. At the same time, bad memories came flooding in. Her expression darkened.

“We’ll talk later. I am so tired right now.”

Hearing her answer, Edwin snorted as if he was expecting that answer.

“When is this later?”

“Edwin, it’s not important enough to come here this late at night.”

“It’s important to me.”

Edwin corrected Herietta.

“No matter how many times I come, you don’t meet me, so I couldn’t wait until Miss Herietta will find me first.”

“Then wait a little longer.”

“I came here because it was impossible. Because I ran out of patience.”

The tone of his voice became even lower.

“Besides, no matter how long I wait, it doesn’t seem like you will find me.”

Edwin took a step closer to Herietta. At that, Herrietta almost unconsciously took a step back and maintained the distance between them.

“D-don’t come any closer.”

“… Do you think I will do anything for you?”

Edwin asked. Herietta didn’t say anything, she just stared at him. It felt like it was scratching his silent heart. His expression darkened a little.

“Don’t worry. No matter how crazy I am, I’m not crazy enough to harm Miss Herietta.”

“Why are you doing this, Edwin? This isn’t like you.”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

My patience ran out.

He swallowed the next word and strode towards Herietta. She tried to step back again, but she soon hit the wall behind her back, unable to move any further and he came closer.

Herietta flinched and closed her eyes. She didn’t think he would harm her, but she still didn’t know what was going to happen especially since he was in such an unstable state.

However, contrary to Herietta’s thoughts, nothing happened. She thought he would reach out to her straight away, but he didn’t lay a single finger on her.

In the stillness of the room, only the sound of her rough breathing could be heard.