Chapter 40

The sun was already riding high in the heavens.

Having committed the very first reckless, impulsive blunder of his life, Elwin slept past dawn the following morning, breaking a strict, years-long habit of early rising. When he finally opened his eyes to the bright morning light spilling through the parting of the drapes, Echo, his pet parrot, was already chattering away from his perch, squawking in clear disapproval.

“Lazybones! Lazybones!”

“Oh, hush, Echo. Give me a moment’s peace.”

Elwin heaved his stiff frame from the mattress and set about replenishing the bird’s fresh water and seed. He had slept late, certainly, but his slumber had been neither deep nor restorative. Sleep had stubbornly eluded him until the early hours of the morning. And as for the reason behind his endless tossing and turning…

Ah, please, let it go!

Elwin whipped his head from side to side to banish the thought, then vigorously stung his own cheeks with the flats of his hands. Echo paused mid-sip, staring back at his master with wide, startled eyes.

Yet, even with his cheeks burning from the self-inflicted slaps, his thoughts refused to quiet. Since the previous night, his mind had remained utterly captive to the memory of the kiss he had shared with Leon inside the glass greenhouse. No matter how sternly he commanded himself to forget, the memory surged back to the surface. Even when he managed to latch onto some other subject, his thoughts inevitably drifted back to that secluded sanctuary.

Leon had even invaded his dreams.

It seemed the parting words Leon had spoken last night had engraved themselves indelibly upon Elwin’s soul.

— “I would like you to think about me as well. Much more. Much more deeply.”

How on earth was he supposed to look Leon in the eye now? He was in the middle of a heavy, troubled sigh when a soft knock rattled the door.

“Young Master, have you awakened? Oh…”

Toby, arriving to assist with his morning toilet, froze and stared intently at Elwin’s face. Feeling like a thief caught red-handed, Elwin flinched, instinctively bringing the back of his hand to cover his mouth.

“W-What is it? Is there something on my face?”

“Something on your face? Goodness, no. You simply look extraordinarily beautiful today, Young Master. Quite radiant, in fact.”

“What utter nonsense are you…”

Toby smiled affectionately at Elwin’s flushed cheeks and began drawing a brush through his hair. Then, with practiced ease, the valet casually lobbed the very question Elwin had been desperately hoping to avoid.

“So, what exactly transpired at the ball last night?”

Elwin’s gaze darted away, unable to meet Toby’s reflection in the glass. He could hardly confess to his loyal servant that he had been kissing an enigmatic commoner in the shadows, all while completely neglecting the baronial heir he had vowed to seduce into a marriage proposal within the month.

“Oh, nothing out of the ordinary. Really. I did not do anything of import…”

“Is that so? And yet, the village is already rife with gossip.”

At those words, Elwin’s heart plummeted into his stomach.

“What? Did Leon—!”

“Pardon? Why on earth would Lord Leon be involved? No, I was referring to the rumors surrounding Miss Selena.”

Elwin, who had bristled in a panic thinking Leon had gone about boasting of their secret embrace, blinked in sudden bewilderment.

“Miss Selena? What of her?”

Toby, who lived for the thrill of fresh scandal, lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“A parlor maid over at Mr. Hobson’s estate overheard it. Their young lady apparently whispered that Miss Selena might not be of noble blood at all. It seems all the highborn ladies who attended the ball yesterday reached the exact same conclusion.”

“What?”

“They’ve been suspicious ever since that tea party, doubting whether Miss Selena possessed even a modicum of proper etiquette. So, last night, they deliberately set a trap. They questioned her about a prominent noblewoman from the Moro family, and she gave an entirely incorrect response.”

Elwin recalled the hushed, critical whispers he had witnessed directed toward Selena the previous evening. If she had been cornered in such a manner, it was no wonder she had looked so close to tears.

“Heavens. If the rumor is true, whatever shall we do? It certainly explains why Mr. Alfred always looked so terribly distressed whenever he was near her. What is to become of us?”

Toby wrung his hands in a dramatic show of anxiety, but Elwin remained relatively calm. Hearing the news, Selena’s peculiar mannerisms and inconsistencies suddenly clicked into place.

“What do you mean, ‘what is to become of us’? For the time being, Miss Selena remains a guest under our roof. You are to treat her with the exact same courtesy as always. However…”

Elwin’s expression gradually sobered.

He was not a man who concerned himself with the trivialities of high or low birth. That was precisely why, upon learning that Leon was not Dwight’s wealthy schoolmate, he had accepted the truth without a second thought. This situation was no different.

What truly alarmed him was not Selena’s lack of a title, but rather the motive behind it. If Selena was a commoner, why had Dwight introduced her to society as a lady of the Moro family? A sudden, chilling realization flashed through his mind.

Could Mr. Dwight also be…

[System Notification: If Dwight is not the second son of the baron’s family either.]

The sheer implication of that thought sent an icy shiver down Elwin’s spine.

Unlike Selena or Leon, Dwight’s true identity was not something Elwin could simply brush aside. The entire foundation of Dwight’s presence here, and Elwin’s desperate attempts to curry his favor, rested solely on the premise that Dwight was the rightful heir destined to inherit this very estate.

“Where is Mr. Dwight at this moment?”

At the urgent demand, Toby eagerly spilled the rest of his gathered intelligence.

“Well, perhaps owing to yesterday’s unpleasantness, Lord Dwight woke exceptionally early today and summoned Miss Selena to the gardens. No one dared venture close enough to eavesdrop, but we all watched from the upper windows. The atmosphere was incredibly tense. Some of the maids swear Miss Selena was weeping.”

“…”

“Miss Selena retreated straight to her bedchamber afterward, and Lord Dwight has been brooding over a cup of tea in the drawing room ever since. He must be utterly furious, don’t you think? To be deceived all this time into believing his own relative was a lady of high standing—how humiliating it must be for him.”

Elwin, however, viewed the matter through a different lens. Dwight had always treated Selena with a cold, underlying contempt. He had never once shown her the respect due to a lady, let alone the warmth expected toward a cousin of the prestigious Moro house. In light of Toby’s gossip, Dwight’s historical behavior made perfect, chilling sense.

Mr. Dwight knew exactly who she was from the very beginning. This entire affair is highly suspicious. I must have confirmation.

Elwin strode to his desk and unlocked the top drawer. Neatly arranged inside were the count’s most vital estate papers, and at the very back lay the documents pertaining to his late father’s inheritance proceedings.

Once these papers were finalized, Butler Alfred could hand over the official deed to the estate and the family head’s seal—both secured in the master safe—to the baron’s representative at any moment. Originally, Elwin had planned to drag this bureaucratic process out as long as humanly possible, keeping it as his absolute last line of defense.

But under these circumstances, it would serve as the perfect lure.

Elwin pulled the thick parchment envelope from the drawer, grabbed a stick of sealing wax, and stood up.

“He is still in the drawing room, then? I shall go speak with him.”

“An excellent plan, Young Master! Now that Lord Dwight has soured on Miss Selena, this is the perfect opportunity to make your move!”

At his valet’s naive encouragement, Elwin let out a silent, weary sigh. In a way, what he was about to do was indeed a gambit. Stepping into the quiet warmth of the drawing room, Elwin offered a polite, measured greeting.

“Mr. Dwight, I trust you slept well?”

Though he had rushed here, Elwin felt a knot of anxiety tighten in his chest. Dwight was notoriously temperamental; if he had indeed just endured a bitter row with Selena, his mood would likely be foul. Yet, to Elwin’s utter astonishment, the moment Dwight registered his presence, he rose from his armchair with an enthusiastic smile.

“Ah, Sir Elwin! Please, come join me. Let us share some tea.”

His eyes shone with an unusual, almost predatory brightness, showing none of the sullen resentment Elwin had anticipated. Puzzled by the warm reception, Elwin took the seat opposite him.

“I must apologize for my abrupt departure last night. I ought to have remained by your side until the conclusion of the ball, but unexpected circumstances arose.”

“Think nothing of it. Such things happen. Though I must admit, the evening lost all its charm the moment you departed.”

Despite surely knowing the humiliation Selena had suffered, Dwight feigned total ignorance. Furthermore, despite having been so engrossed in his card games that he hadn’t even noticed Elwin’s initial disappearance, he glibly offered flattery that rang entirely hollow.

Recalling how easily Dwight had dismissed him the day before when asked for a simple stroll, Elwin felt a prick of embarrassment. He quickly steered the conversation back to his true objective.

“You are too kind. If I might trouble you, there is a pressing matter regarding the inheritance documents that requires the confirmation of the baron’s house.”

“For you, Sir Elwin, I have all the time in the world.”

Elwin found the man’s sudden, honeyed behavior unsettling, but he kept his composure and laid the documents out on the low table. He turned the pages one by one, explaining the legalese until he reached the final sheet, where he pointed to the vacant space at the bottom.

“If you find the terms agreeable, you need only affix your seal here…”

Elwin’s eyes drifted to the ring gracing the pinky finger of Dwight’s left hand. It was a piece of jewelry Dwight never took off. Because noblemen typically wore their family’s signet rings on that finger, it would bear the official crest if Dwight was truly who he claimed to be.

“Do you happen to have the baronial seal on hand?”