Night of the Abandoned Duchess

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Chapter 37

“Leo, is sword fighting fun? Mom is afraid of swords… You’re so brave.”

Leo shrugged his shoulders in response to Rosalind’s voice, trembling with a little sincerity.

“Yes! When a scary dragon appears later, Leo will protect mother.”

“When a scary dragon appears, Leo will not protect mother, but mother will protect Leo. Even though mom is afraid of the sword, it’s much more important to keep our Leo from getting hurt.”

As Rosalind brushed her son’s hair and talked softly, Kyle was watching her quietly.

“No! If you swing your sword like this, the bad guys will disappear quickly.”

Soon, Leo reached out his hand and pretended to wield his sword. He raised his hands high toward the sky and stirred them to and fro.

“Whoo!”

In the moment, he pretended to hit the table with a loud noise. Because of that, the teacup placed on it fell on the table.

“Leo…!”

In a gesture close to an instinct, Rosalind hugged him protectively, and steaming hot tea flowed down the table and poured into her arms. Even Kyle, who was surprised at the same time, jumped up from his spot, though the situation had already passed rapidly.

“Are you okay?”

“Mom!”

An urgent voice was heard at the same time, and instead of an answer, she examined the child’s tender skin.

It was only after confirming that Leo had not been injured that her face showed relief. The child’s face rose to the point of crying when he realized that his mother had been hurt because of him, and Rosalind made eye contact with the worried child and reassured him.

“Mom is fine. Really.”

“Rosalind, first see the doctor…”

“I wasn’t hurt very badly. I just need to change my clothes.”

She smiled as if to prove she was really okay. Then, she asked him to watch over Leo before walking into the castle.

“Somehow, I often use the dressing room here.”

With only a thin chemise on, Rosalind sighed softly as she stared at the clothes hanging.

She wasn’t seriously hurt, thanks to the thick fabric of her dress, which wrapped around her arms, although she could still feel a tingling sensation on her skin from the remaining heat.

Still, glad that Leo wasn’t hurt, she waited for the maid. She decided that the maid would bring something to cool her off, so she would give a rough first aid, and then she would go out again since the child’s face would be restless because he was worried for his mother.

Rosalind responded with a light voice to the sound of the audible knock.

“Yes.”

However, it was not the maid who entered.

“Rosalind.”

When Kyle’s low voice called out to her, the first thing that came to mind was that she was wearing a chemise.

Startled, she tried to cover her chest but she had already shown him all of her body. It was quite different from the dress she had just worn, thin and clearly revealing her body.

She looked like this to him…

As soon as she recognized that fact, the unknown tension and shame flooded her, and Rosalind swallowed her breath for nothing.

“I apologize if you were surprised.”

Since she looked so startled, Kyle gave an apology.

Rosalind bit her lips without an answer. Even though she had been naked in front of him countless times, why did she feel this way? Any woman must have felt embarrassed and awkward in front of any man, she comforted herself.

“How about your arm?”

Clasped her body clumsily, she was waiting for him to leave. But, Kyle stared at her as if betraying her expectations.

“Is it okay…? Are there any injuries?”

“Yes. It’s okay.”

Just as she was about to close her mouth, saying, “Please leave now,” he hurried over and grabbed her wrist.

“What are you doing now…”

A vivid look of embarrassment was on Rosalind’s face at the hand that grabbed her. However, he began to examine every nook and cranny of the injured body unilaterally.

“Look.”

“I’m fine—”

“What’s okay?”

‘I knew it.’

His voice became sharper as he discovered her skin that was burning hot. Kyle then looked down, down to the collarbone, following her red-tinted arms.

Although she was wearing a chemise, it was nothing more than a thin piece of clothing that rustled around her chest. Because he was holding her arm, she couldn’t even cover her chest… He must have seen all the exposed upper chest.

Rosalind struggled to maintain her composure.

“Where else?”

“It’s, it’s okay.”

When she answered awkwardly, the maid she had been waiting for came in.

Kyle accepted the things. A cold cloth and ice pressed against her white skin. Even though she was startled by the cold temperature, Rosalind liked the feeling that the place she had been feeling numb was getting cold.

He gazed carefully at the red, swollen area and rubbed it carefully. Seeing his sincere concern, she suddenly recalled the distant past. When she was sick with flu, he forced water into her mouth.

“Why do you get hurt so often every time?”

Perhaps, she wasn’t the only one who remembered that time.

The air flowed gently between them. Instead of answering his question, Rosalind asked a completely different question.

“…Then, why did the Duke deceive me?”

“What?”

“My mother never said anything like that. Thanks to you, I got fooled.”

“Because you won’t tell me.”

He continued to speak without stopping the hand he was treating.

“…You don’t tell me the truth.”

Not just the truth, but anything else.

Even though his voice was calm, it sounded bitter because of the content. Did it feel that way because he was a man who was always good-looking?

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it either. If I hadn’t done this, you were going to hide it from me forever, were you?”

Rosalind didn’t answer.

“A woman who can’t lie like you is forced to lie, enough to hide the existence of my son…”

A small stillness passed through the gap between those words.

“…Did you hate me?”

“Yes. I do. I didn’t like it. It’s still embarrassing.”

“I’ll still see you, even if it’s embarrassing. I will keep seeing you.”

When their eyes met, a faint smile appeared on Kyle’s lips.

“I missed you…”

At the words that sounded quite sincere, Rosalind put on a puzzled face for a moment. He glanced down again and began to examine her wounds.

“Don’t say you’re okay every time.”

The feeling touching her arm was chilly, and the strangely ringing voice in the middle was a little warm.

“It’s your habit to say that it doesn’t hurt when it hurts, or that it’s okay when it’s not okay.”

He laughed.

A little affectionately, as if he knew everything.

“It’s a much worse habit than biting your nails or something else.”

“…I’ll show it to the doctor later.”

Rosalind, who had been staring at him, suddenly pulled her hand away from him, and she fled as though running away.

Before Kyle could catch her, she left the room wearing only a chemise.

After she left, he stared at his hand that was holding her. The sense of touching her revived, and he could feel the blood rushing underneath him unwittingly.

He was like a beast, whether before or now. He couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t control anything in front of her.

Rosalind, who had asked the maid to dress her up and went back to the garden, was talking to Leo.

“Is mom okay? Are you really okay?”

Leo was worried about Rosalind with a crying expression on his face, and she comforted the child, saying she was fine.

“Yes, I’m okay. Maybe, it’s because Leo is worried, it’ll get better sooner.”

Leo stared at her as if in disbelief when she tried to prove it.

Rosalind rolled up her sleeves and exposed her arms. Although it was the other arm, Leo didn’t notice, and then he smiled satisfactorily. Eventually, the child got up from his chair and started walking around the training ground like his own house.

He chased butterflies, peeped here and there, and tugged at the hem of her skirt.

“I want to take a look. Let’s go for a walk, Mom!”

“Let’s ask if we can take a walk when the Duke comes.”

She smiled brightly as she stroked the cheek of the boy who was overjoyed. There was a little dirt on his cheeks from where he buried himself. She also removed the leaves hanging from the curly hair. Just as she was cleaning his body, she saw Kyle coming from afar.

It was much later than when she came out of the castle.

“It’s your habit to say that it doesn’t hurt when it hurts, or that it’s okay when it’s not okay.”

It was embarrassment that made Rosalind run away.

At that time, his voice was still ringing in her ears. His voice reminded her of one night.

“If you say it’s okay once, it’s okay. And, if you say it’s okay twice, it’s really okay. Though if you say it’s okay three times… That’s not okay at all.”

Strangely, she felt like she was seeing him again at that time.

She had no pride.

In fact, it was true that she liked him so much that she had no pride because she never thought she would receive so much comfort from someone’s words.

“I hate talking about other people’s affairs, but violence, regardless of type and reason, cannot be justified under any circumstances. It’s not your fault.”

The words of a man who didn’t like to talk about other people’s affairs remained in her memory to the point that she would never forget it.

“Can we go for a walk?”

Leo asked, looking at Rosalind and Kyle in turn.

Now that this has happened, she has to tell Leo that Kyle is his father. Nonetheless, she was worried because she didn’t know how to say it.

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