CH 24

That night, Ashley curled up as usual on the bed in her bedroom as she wrapped herself in a blanket.

‘Ah, how calming.’

There was nothing but bliss in the dimly lit room as she was completely wrapped up in a blanket from head to toe. Her mother and sister would’ve been mortified, but she couldn’t even be happier.

As she was swimming in happiness, there were occasional little dry sounds that could be heard. Then,

“Miss Ashley? Are you there?” It was Rosalie’s voice.

Ashley reluctantly crawled out of her blanket. Rosalie, holding the clothes and towels, curled her eyes on the door. She probably brought her clothes that had just been washed and ironed.

“Oh, you were here. I apologize. I knocked on the door several times, but there was no response. The door was open, so I thought to just leave the laundry here.” Rosalie bowed down apologetically, while Ashley shook her head from the bed in embarrassment. 

The sounds that were faintly heard was the sound of knocking. She didn’t notice since she was completely wrapped up in her blanket, up to her head.

“I’m sorry too. I was just resting and――” It was hard to say that she enjoys staying in a quiet, dim, and narrow space. 

Ashley’s words faltered mid-way and Rosalie gave her a soft smile, “I understand. Miss Ashley likes to stay in this type of place, right?”

‘She knows.’

Now even the maids of the Sargent residence have found out her habits and the type of environment she has in the Wollett residence. Ashley looked into the distance as she wondered why.

Rosalie quickly placed the clothes into her closet then she smiled, “Well then, if you’ll excuse me. May you have a good rest.”

“Not yet! I’m not going to sleep yet. I  was just taking a small rest…!”  Only children would sleep at this hour. She loves to lay around, but she doesn’t want other people to think she’s always lying around. She often goes around, too. She desperately appealed to her from the bed.

“Yes. I understand what you mean.” Rosalie turned and smiled by the door and said, “I know you must be tired after being in the stables so much lately, so please rest yourself.”

‘I see. I understand.’  Once Ashley had a good justification, she wrapped herself in her blanket again as she watched Rosalie leave.

‘It’s still great, after all.’

As soon as she plopped into the warmth of her bed, she heard another knock on the door. It must be Rosalie. She’s probably bringing up the extra load of clean clothes to her room. Ashley can take it easy now since she had a good reason to be there.

“Come in.” She mumbled from inside the blanket. She heard the door open and the faint sound of footsteps on the carpet. She thought it was going towards the closet, but the blanket covering her face was suddenly lifted off.

“What are you doing?”

Ashley froze in surprise as she saw Clyde’s handsome face. His green eyes were a gentle hue, but his tone was clearly amused.

“…I’m not doing anything.” It wasn’t Rosalie.

Vexing at her own carelessness, she asked Clyde, “What is it?”

“It was because I was asked to do this.” Clyde held the edge of the blanket with his right hand as he showed her the handkerchief he was holding on his left. It has lace on the corners and small lilac flowers embroidered on it. It was Ashley’s.

“I just passed by Rosalie in the hallway earlier. She forgot to give this to you, so I told her that I’d bring it to you.”

Rosalie hopes that both Ashley and Clyde will get along. They’re engaged to be married, so it was only natural. That’s why she was delighted to give it to him. It can be further guessed that she mentioned to him that Ashley was happily wrapped up in her blanket. 

She felt unconvinced, but he did have gone out of his way to bring her handkerchief to her. Reluctantly, she thanked him, “…Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Ashley saw an opening and quickly reached up and with all her might, tugged on the blanket. However, the blanket did not budge since Clyde was holding onto it.

“…Could you let it go?” She asked ash she gripped on the edge of the blanket tightly.

Clyde didn’t answer, “What are you doing in such a dark place?”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“Is that so? It seems somewhat like a burrow, right? Similar to the black rabbit from your previous life.”

“…it’s quite…”

“Do you like staying in this sort of dark, quiet, narrow place?”

“…I don’t particularly like it.”

“Really?” Clyde sounded like he was having fun.

‘He’s just teasing me.’ Ashley frowned when she realized it. She quietly took in a breath and pulled the blanket as hard as she could. This time, she’ll take advantage of Clyde’s distraction and yet the blanket still didn’t budge. She looked up from the blanket with her eyebrows furrowed and saw Clyde looking at her curiously.

“Please let go of―” At the moment she opened her mouth, the blanket fell and draped itself over her. Seeing the dimness in her vision, she realized that Clyde had let go. Although she was pleased that he had let go, she had no way of knowing whether Clyde had left the room.

‘―he must’ve left already. Now I’m back to my own comfort. That’s good.’ She curled up in the blanket as she grabbed its four corners and tucked it under her body like a shelter. She listened carefully, but she didn’t hear any sound.

‘He left, right?’ With that in mind, she shut her eyes again.

―But.

‘I can’t sleep.’

No, she was drowsy, but didn’t feel like sleeping. She was restless since she was concerned about Clyde. She concentrated and listened again, but she still couldn’t hear any noise.

‘But, you don’t know.’ Thinking about it, she was getting more and more anxious, ‘This isn’t what Lord Clyde would have thought!’ He is definitely just teasing her.

Finally, unable to bear it, Ashley raised the blanket with her finger slightly from a different spot that Clyde had pulled over. She peered through it and she could see the dimly lit room and the chair’s legs that were beside the bed. She could see a human sitting there.

‘I knew it. He’s still here.’ It was just as she thought. She felt a little happy as if she had won although she doesn’t even know what she exactly had won.

She pulled up the blanket a little bit more, carefully not to be found out. She could see Clyde’s chest as he sat cross-legged on the chair.

‘It’d be troublesome if our eyes met.’

Just as she was about to pull the blanket back down with caution, Clyde’s upper body dropped as he rested his cheek on his knees. She glanced at his figure through the small open edge of the blanket.

‘…Huh?’ She thought that he’d be smiling amusedly, but it was different. 

The door was open, but the hallway was dark. There were no lights on in the room either. The only source of light was from the moonlight coming from outside the window across the bed. And that’s why Ashley is able to see Clyde’s face. However, Clyde wouldn’t be able to see Ashley’s eyes peeking through the blanket since the light was behind. Therefore, he did not think that Ashley was looking at him and had a natural expression.

He had a smile on his handsome face as he gazed at the mountainous blankets. He looked even more relaxed and loving.

‘…Why?’

It was different from his usual amused smile at her reactions, nor was it his beautiful gentle smile. It reminded her of the expression on his face that time when she peeked at him when she took the white rabbit of Count Reiter. For some reason, she felt a lump in her throat. Her swelling emotions made her feel restless. 

Ashley bit her lip as she quietly slipped back into the blanket. She held her breath in the darkness, waiting for her racing heart to calm down.

‘He’s the descendant of the brave hero…’

Unable to control her incomprehensible emotions, she closed her eyes.