About Your Pride and My Prejudice

Chapter 41: Hello

“Hello.”

It wasn’t even a very cold day, but my lips trembled helplessly.

“You…”

In the wind, it was impossible to say anything more. I felt that I was not in the condition to even speak properly.

Nevertheless, this situation…… It was totally incomprehensible.

Wearing a black bowler hat and a coat of the same color was similar to the day he came to my house. But he wasn’t wearing a mask, and this time he had long red hair.

The long hair, which was obvious to be a wig, was partially cast over his face, so he was not immediately recognized at first. Of course, it is also because he is quite tall.

I took a big step back, trembling with fear. And when I finally saw the stalker at a glance, I blamed my eyes.

His voice and body. Flawless and pale skin like wax, and two eyes resembling the dawn sky.

“…….”

Even today, I could smell his scent clearly. The same as the small, brilliant bottle on the living room shelf……. The scent of the misty rose garden trapped in it was clear.

Watching my face turn into astonishment, he moved his lips again.

“I thought I should come back in this form.”

“…….”

I couldn’t answer or run away. I was only standing there with a bewildered look on my face. I didn’t know that the moment when I would be sure of his true identity would come like this.

My heart was beating so painfully that it would destroy my entire chest, and I was silently enduring the pain. This certainly wasn’t the first time I felt it.

“It is the night that covers the waiting and sleeps.”

The man, who looked down at the cover with a cool gaze, said with a deep low voice. At that moment, a gust of wind blew, revealing his straight face, which had been covered with his hair.

For an instant, I was engulfed in very fearful and absurd thoughts. Even if I had to lose all my dreams, if I could just reverently kiss those eyelids…….

“…….”

……I’d rather lose my mind like this.

I bit my lips and tried to chase away my thoughts. Then he smiled strangely.

“Why is your face like that?”

The red hair that fell gently over the snow-white nose bridge, looked erotic.

“Didn’t you know everything?”

“…….”

At the moment when I was unable to answer anything as if my heart was crushed, many thoughts passed by me.

For example, it may be a crazy idea, but I suspect that this man is really Alan Leopold.

There is no way there are two men in the kingdom who look like this. But this person was definitely different from Alan I’ve observed so far.

It’s not just because of the simple reason that the impression looks different because of the red hair.  There was no way Alan would use such a friendly tone to me, such an unprofessional one.

I knew Alan Leopold was a cold person with no gaps since I watched him over my shoulders a long time ago. I realized that no matter what, even during the evening when I met with him, and when we danced together at night….…….

When I raised my head with that thought, I saw the cover of the book he had held out toward me.

<The Night that Covers the Waiting and Sleeps>

My trembling eyes met his cool eyes looking right at me.

A gaze so intense that made me hold my breath.  An unknown desire was read from those eyes in the red glow of the sunset.….

The moment I secretly shrugged my shoulders, his lips drew a graceful arc.

It felt like my heart was melting without end. There was a mixture of ecstasy and questions, and my head was all confused. Could this man really be Alan Leopold?

At that time, a man who turned his eyes somewhere kicked his tongue lightly.

“… I have to go.”

Then, forgetting to receive the book, he slipped it into my frozen arms.

“Here, take it.”

Seeing me pause with surprised eyes, he smiled slightly. A small, soft sound, whether it was laughter or the sound of the wind, brushed my ears, causing me to get goosebumps.

Soon after he took off his black bowler hat, he politely showed courtesy. As if we were about to part  ways for a very long time. His straight legs were slightly bent, and his long, shiny red hair fluttered down.

It was a very reverent greeting that felt enthusiastic. To the point where I automatically think that he is the knight who serves me, and that I am his one and only love…….

“…….”

I also suddenly greeted him with courtesy.  As if the two of us had just finished dancing. When I grabbed my old winter dress, my fingertips were naturally tense.

Even in the midst of this, I couldn’t stop following his elegant figure, which was close to perfection, with eager eyes. At that very moment, the questions that filled my mind were quickly washed away.

“Er,”

It was an impulse to call the name.

“Sir Alan…”

As he was about to turn his body and leave the seat, he looked back at me for a moment.

When the two eyes were intertwined again, I didn’t avoid his eyes. I just looked at him with a face that seemed to burst into tears at any moment.

I sincerely wanted to cry. His face was dyed in the golden sunset looking so distant and noble…….

When our eyes met, it was bizarre as if time had stopped. The moment came to an end as he turned around and disappeared toward the alley.

While standing opposite thay man, I wondered if it was only the two of us on the streets of Florin, but only after he disappeared I realized that I had been mistaken.

“…….”

I felt dreamy as if I woke up from a daydream. I shook my head and hugged the book in my arms, walking and weaving through the crowds to get home.

All the way home, breathing in the evening air that smelled of sunset, I couldn’t feel my feet.  I felt like I was floating in the air and flowing with the wind.

I told myself it was all a dream, meeting the stalker with the face of Alan Leopold and I almost believed it.

At the end of that obscure road, when I faced a two-story house built with red bricks.  I finally returned to reality when my eyes met my mother, who was looking out the window with a blank face.

* * *

“Is there really only one successor to Ian Leopold?”

My mother’s hand, who was eating cottage pie, stopped when I asked a random question. Mrs. Kerney opened her big eyes even wider, examining my intentions.

The two ladies of Collins felt that I had been so engrossed in writing the novel that I had not yet fully returned to reality.  Well, maybe it’s not wrong.

My mother asked,

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden, instead of eating?”

The eyes of the two even showed an indescribable pity. The probability that the academy will select my novel is infinitely close to zero, and I’m destined to not be able to write until I get married.

Whatever the reason, it must be bitter to be in the position of an adult who cannot support the dream of her one and only daughter.

“I wonder if he has only one child.  I heard that he had three wives.….”

After finishing my speech, when I drank the soup with a strange face as much as possible, the two ladies soon resumed eating. My mother opened her mouth.

“You’re not going to write a novel about a businessman, are you Melissa?”

“No! I’m just suddenly curious. I wonder if you’ve ever heard rumors or something.….”

“Rumors?”

“Sir Alan actually has a twin brother or something like that…..”

Then Mrs. Kearney burst into laughter.

“You’re young, Melissa.”

“What?”

“It will be difficult to form a relationship with that great heir, so you want to find someone who resembles you, right?”

At that, my mother added in a low voice.

“If that’s the case, you can.”

“No, it’s not like that…….”

I was somewhat embarrassed and blushed. For no reason, the inside of my neck tickled.

“I saw a person who looked like him in the city today. They look so alike that I believe they are twins…….”

Mrs. Kerney, who was scraping the mashed potatoes from the plate, said in a loud voice.

“Oh my, that’s probably something only you thought! If there was someone like that, there would be rumors in the capital!”

“…….”

“Sir Alan probably stays at home most of the time, right? You must be tired because people are watching wherever you go.”

As I listened to her words, I think I know the purpose of that red wig. A kind of disguise to be free from people’s eyes? The reason why he let his hair pour down naturally without brushing it back is to make his face invisible.

Moreover, it is rare in the Sourne Kingdom to have such a hair colour. Therefore, someone would probably think that Alan is a unique gentleman from abroad. Unless you stopped him and took a close look at him.

It is true that it is hard to even doubt that Leopold’s successor will make such a journey in the first place.

But what was the feeling of familiarity with me? And the unfamiliar atmosphere……. It never looked like Alan Leopold.

“Come to think of it, I heard something from your father about a decade ago.”

At that time, my mother suddenly spoke out and my thoughts were scattered like smoke. My mother continued with an indifferent face.

“A fellow who served in the military with Leopold when he was young…… He talked about his history with women.”

(T/N: like who he slept with)

“…history of women

“I heard that he often hung out with women on the street, and among them there was a woman with Leopold’s child or something.”

His mother, who was frowning and looking back on her dim memories, added as if she didn’t know anymore.

“It’s common for celebrities to be disparaged at will.  At that time, Leopold was already a family recognized by the royal family.”

(T/N: she’s says it is probably a false rumor/slander)

“That’s right, ma’am. If that’s true, how could you not have been caught?”

Mrs. Kerney agreed.

“Citizens are not fools, and there are only a few people who work for him. There can be no such thing as an eternal secret!”

“…….”

“As long as that great Mr. Leopold didn’t sinfully throw who knew the truth into the river. Then the truth lies at the bottom of the river……….”

(T/N: as long as he didn’t kill the woman and throw her into a river)

When the tableware was laid down in a creepy joke, Mrs. Kearney muttered awkwardly, putting the cottage pie on the plate.

“Isn’t it something to say during dinner time? Ho ho”

“…….”

In my head, I was just in a mess with a series of thoughts. All kinds of hypotheses and possibilities are colliding with power, and there was no way I could eat cottage pie or something.

“Thank you for the food.”

“Hey, Melissa! I mean, I was just joking……!”

Let her rest, leaving my mother’s voice behind, I came straight up to my room. Throwing myself into the bed, I lay down and said to myself.

Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World . Site Only

“Alan Leopold, my stalker?”

Even thinking about it again, today was a day with no sense of reality at all.  My head is full of clutter and it is impossible to think properly.  Maybe I really am still in the novel.  It might take some time to get back to reality…….

“Haaa…”

I closed my eyes with a slow sigh, and soon fell asleep.

The very next day, shocking news flew in.