About Your Pride and My Prejudice

Chapter 20: Alan Leopold

Clang, clang— The sound of the gate closing and the door knocker announcing the guests’ arrival.

[I thought it would be surreal if it was Alan that came so casually to my home. I know that thinking like this is more of an excess of self-consciousness, but I couldn’t help it.

The man who saved me is Alan Leopold.….

“Did someone arrive?”

“Go see who it is, Mrs. Kerney.”

At the urging of my mother, Mrs. Kerney rushed to the doorstep. We only followed her back with anxious eyes.

A cold outside breeze came through the slightly open door.

“How did you get here?”

“Is it the house where Miss Collins lives?”

I knew it. It was him. He came. My heart was pounding as if it was going to come out of my chest at any moment. I thought that my face, which had been heated up, might burst like this.

“I’m from the Longhorn family.”

The man outside the door opened his mouth.

“My young master told me that he caused trouble to the Miss on her way home. He said that you would know if I told you that it was Malcolm Longhorn.”

“Longhorn?”

My mother, who turned her head toward me, murmured with a puzzled look on her face.

“Ah, if it’s Longhorn……!”

It was only then that I remembered. He mistook me for another woman at the victory dance……. But why did he send someone to my house?

This question was answered shortly thereafter. The man had placed a large box in Kerney’s arms

“He is sending it as an apology, so take it. Then goodbye.”

“No, please, come on in and have some tea..…!”

Despite Mrs. Kearney’s [the spelling of her name here is different, which one is it?] urgent voice, the man had already disappeared. While holding the box, she shrugged her shoulders and pushed the door with her back to close it.

“What is it, ma’am?”

“I don’t know. It’s not too heavy for its size.”

A large wooden box was placed on one side of the table. I was somewhat perplexed. The young master of Longhorn went out of his way to get my name and promised to apologize for his rudeness, but I never thought he’d send anything home.

“I, I don’t know…….”

My voice trembled strangely because I felt the eyes on me.

“Lady, do you recognize the name?”

Julia asked with a very wary expression on her face. No matter how esteemed or one divulged their identity she was still cautious when the stalker matter was still afoot.

“…Yes, he made a small mistake at the victory ceremony. He asked for my name, saying he would apologize.….”

My mother urged me as if she was frustrated with my slow, hesitant response.

“Hurry up and open it, Melissa.”

“Yes.”

I quickly scraped off the remaining stew and drank it, then got up.

The wooden box that had been surrounded with outside air was cold. As I carefully lifted the lid of the box, the fierce eyes of the three women dug into the box at once.

“This is…”

“Oh my god.”

The identity of the object in the box was a gorgeous winter dress. There was a shiny glow over the red velvet fabric.

“What kind of mistake did he commit against you to give you something so expensive!”

“…….”

My mother’s fuss didn’t sound strange at all. At a glance, it was quite luxurious. He even sent a hat and gloves to match the dress.

“Huh?”

At that time, a small card was seen inserted between a pair of finely folded opera gloves.

I stretched my arms between the wrinkled hands of two ladies who were not interested in the card and picked it up because I was sweeping the fabric around.

“…….”

My lips opened in embarrassment. I don’t know how to accept such an expensive dress without any burden.

I was also puzzled because I had never heard of the word that red suits me well. To be exact, I rarely heard what color suits me.

“Melissa.”

My mother spoke with her eyes shining.

“This gentleman, is he single?”

“…….”

My mother looked more excited than the person who received the dress as a gift. He’s a man who sends such expensive things to make up for such a small mistake. He fits perfectly with the ideal son-in-law that my mother thinks of.

Even so, you don’t know how old this person is or what he looks like.…. It was so like my mother.

“…I don’t know about that, but even if he doesn’t have a wife, he sure has a lover. He mistook me for another woman at the ball.”

“Really? Well, there’s no way that such a wealthy man is left alone.”

My mother continued without a change in expression as if she had not expected much.

“Melissa, you can wear this and go see Mr. Leopold.”

“What?”

When I heard Leopold, I was startled as if I had committed a crime.

“What’s wrong? Shouldn’t you thank your savior?”

“Suddenly, you want me to say thank you……?”

“Yes!”

My mother, who began to collect empty plates on the table before I knew it, replied.

“I thought you’d be beaten and rejected from his  front door if you went looking shabby, but it should be okay if you wore this.”

“But he said he didn’t need thanks…….”

“Since he is a gentleman, of course he’ll say that! But were you really not going to express your gratitude?”

My mother continued to talk, crumpling her forehead as if she were frustrated.

“You will make a good impression in the morning—what! It’s not bad to be seen favorably by Leopold. Don’t you know people visit with less justification?”

“No, I—”

“Go and say hello and leave a good impression. It’s an incredible fate, so of course you have to catch it! You never know what relationship may arise!”

Then Mrs. Kerney took the hint to clean up the leftovers.

“Do you happen to know? He might become your husband.”

“Madam!”

When I shouted without realizing it, madam humorously stuck out her tongue. After all, Mrs. Kerney must have noticed that I have a crush on Alan……

“You said you both danced together. This is fate! If coincidence overlaps, that’s fate! Don’t you think so? Mrs. Collins?

“If you go…..!”

I hurriedly intervened. Because once my mother starts to sympathize, this nonsensical conversation will never end.

“… It would be counterproductive.”

“You always give up even before you start. Who do you take after? Whoo.”

“Mom, I ran into Sir Alan twice. Both times he looked at me with contempt.….”

As soon as I remembered the moment when the cold-colored eyes looked down at me arrogantly, I got goosebumps all over my body. The problem is that I love even those cold eyes……. This is definitely serious.

“He wouldn’t want to waste his time on someone like me. I don’t think I’ll be able to meet him even if I’m visiting him.….”

“Your mother thinks—”

“I don’t want to insult my family for nothing, and I’m tired of getting hurt anymore.”

I rarely had firm eyes.

“So I’ll just be thankful with my heart.”

This love is one-sided and therefore it is harsh, so if I approach him, I will inevitably get hurt.  When I am able to look at him from afar, that’s when I’m the happiest. Every time.

Nevertheless, the fact that Alan saved me when I was lying in the snow may someday be the driving force behind my entire life, as Mrs. Kearney said.

Maybe already….

* * *

Wearing an expensive dress that I have never had in my life and going to the Leopold family’s residence intending to impress with a greeting. For someone like Melissa Collins, it was something unimaginable.

However, I couldn’t keep the innocent dress in the closet forever, so I decided to take it out for the first time on a casual outing.

Although my reflection in the mirror was somewhat awkward, a strange feeling of happiness tickled my toes. Because of the family circumstances, I naturally stopped paying attention to my appearance, and I was also an ordinary 20-year-old girl.

Of course, it’s embarrassing to suddenly wear colorful clothes, and I’m not strong enough to take out a dress like this for a casual outing.

It’s a different story if I’m meeting Tobias after a long time, who just came back from New Ditch.

“You’re so pretty, Miss Melissa……”

Toby immediately blushed when I, who had always looked modest, appeared in a colorful velvet dress like a rose. I felt good about the honest appreciation.

Maybe it was because of my bright outfit, I didn’t look like someone who had been ill for a few days. It’s true that I didn’t want him to worry about it, so I decided not to talk about how I had fainted in the snow.

Instead, I only explained how I got a dress.

“……That’s what happened. He’s a great person.”

Then praise continued for Longhorn, whose face now I can’t remember well.

I agreed with Toby. The mistake was not that great, and I received a polite apology right after, but he even sent a gift like this. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he is like Cinderella’s fairy godmother.

Then, the conversation about New Ditch continued for a long time. He included stories like how much Millers looked forward to people coming over to visit.

I could tell they were good people just by listening to Tobias. I haven’t met them yet, but I felt cozy as if I had a new family already.

I didn’t tell him that the reason I couldn’t go with him was because of the stalker’s threat, but I was already assuming that the stalker would disappear soon.

“If possible, I like spring.”

“Then let’s do it around April. A lot of flowers bloom around the lake.”

We discussed with excited faces when it would be good to go to New Ditch. It was an afternoon when everything seemed fine.

Yes. I’m sure the stalker will soon lose interest and fall apart. In the first place, it was difficult for me to understand that someone was chasing after my every move.

I leaned against the pillar and curved my eyes as I laughed.

“I can’t wait, Toby…….”

I meant it without any lies.

* * *

“Then do you eat potato dishes as soon as you arrive?”

The sound of a woman’s gentle laughter echoed through the room. An innocent smile, far from the gorgeous attire, spread across her cheek

It was that moment.

Behind the pillar where she leaned, a man sitting with his long legs crossed in front of a small round table pulled down his wig annoyedly. Then black hair like the night sky appeared.

A brilliant red wig covering his head was placed on the table. The attendant, who saw it, rushed with a paper bag and handed it over carefully with the wig he had put in

The man who received it with a cold face got up without hesitation and left the coffee shop.

“My sister, Miss Melissa—”

Tobias, who inadvertently shifted his gaze to the doorway at the sound of the bell, suddenly stopped talking.

‘…..Alan Leopold?’

In the sudden silence, Melissa also followed his gaze toward the door, but there was no one there.

“Toby? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, never mind. I must have seen it wrong.”

Tobias smiled kindly.

There was no way that Alan Leopold would be killing time alone in a coffee shop at this hour.

***

Comments from Korean readers:

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As she had been dragged by Longhorn in the first place, seeing that Alan appeared, it was an excuse to mistake that person, and I think he deliberately dragged the main character there after receiving Alan’s command. That dress, which was given as an apology, is actually probably sent by Alan. And isn’t Alan in a state of boiling up as he sees the protagonist wearing the dress he gave her and drawing the future with another man?

Then until now, red-haired man = stalker = Alan….

Argh! There’s no one to trust, so I’m going crazy…♪

There are a million question marks. The writing is pretty, so I keep reading it. The content is fun, too.

Longhorn, Toby, and alam. The female protagonist is buff! Oh!