Chapter 9

“This manor is, how should I put it… rather dull.”

At dinner yesterday evening, Selena offered her honest impression after spending three or four days at the count’s house. Ever since finishing the opera libretto collection borrowed from the library, she had seemed restless.

Dwight immediately furrowed his brow, looking as though he were about to scold her. Worried the atmosphere might freeze over again, Elwin quickly intervened.

“Ahaha. It is, isn’t it?” Elwin forced a laugh. “Both my father and I never had much interest in anything besides reading and greenhouse work. Ah, we will soon be harvesting winter wheat seedlings from the greenhouse, so if you would like to see that…”

At the tentative suggestion, Selena’s face instantly conveyed she wanted nothing of the sort. Dwight, who had suffered over the mud last time, frowned even more deeply. He did not voice it outright, but he clearly found the manor lacking in entertainment as well.

Contrary to Elwin’s hope that Dwight would fall completely in love with the collection once he saw the library, the man would reluctantly pretend to turn a few pages, snap the book shut, and leave the drawing room with Isaac, his attendant.

Ever since the guests arrived, Elwin had spent his days in the drawing room attempting to converse with Dwight, but there had been zero progress. Even when he mustered all his courage to speak, the conversation would last one or two exchanges before dying entirely.

Even now, Elwin had no idea what topic might possibly interest Dwight. Just as his mouth went dry, Leon slipped smoothly into the conversation.

“What about a game of cards?”

It was a plausible idea. Social Etiquette also stated that card games were a refined trend originating in the capital. The problem was that the count’s household remained far removed from such trends.

“But we have no cards in our house,” Elwin admitted.

“I thought that might be the case.” Leon’s smile didn’t waver. “There should be cards in my room. When I crossed over by ship from Port Savar, all we did was play cards.”

At the familiar place name, Elwin’s ears perked up. Savar was the port city on the southern continent where his father had been conducting the mining business. Just as Elwin began wondering how that idler had traveled all the way there, Selena pouted.

“I do not know how to play cards.”

“Then you can learn.” Dwight didn’t even glance at her. “I have told you as much before, Miss Selena.”

Dwight, on the other hand, looked motivated for almost the first time since arriving at the manor. His usually indifferent eyes gleamed, a rare sight. Elwin instinctively realized that Dwight genuinely liked card games.

“I do not want to play cards. And Lord Dwight, you promised. From now on…”

“Selena.”

When Selena continued grumbling, Dwight finally cut her off coldly. Unlike last time, when she had immediately shrunk back, Selena now lifted her eyes and glared at him with resentment.

The air between them was unmistakably unusual. Elwin was blind when it came to romance, but even he could see that Selena’s sulky expression looked exactly like that of a young lady in a lovers’ quarrel.

A heavy silence fell before Leon spoke in his distinctive leisurely voice.

“Why not let the ladies spend time together tomorrow?”

“That is right, Miss Selena. Eleanor has been waiting for you to visit again.” Elwin quickly added his support, his head tangled with thoughts of what sort of relationship Dwight and Selena might have. Selena looked as if she might cry at any moment, and as a gentleman, he could not bear to see a lady weep before his eyes. “…Truly?”

“Of course.”

At his assurance, Selena seemed to feel better and nodded. Just as Elwin breathed a quiet sigh of relief, Leon picked a fight from beside him in that oily tone.

“Then the gentlemen will have to take up the cards. I wonder whether our Sir Elwin knows how to play.”

“Of course I do,” Elwin shot back, a flash of irritation breaking through his usual mildness.

Naturally, Elwin had zero interest in card games and did not know how to play them at all. Why did I keep ending up lying in front of that man?

“You know how? How unexpected.”

“It is hardly unexpected…”

“Indeed.” Leon smiled, his mocking tone barely concealed. “I look forward to seeing the young lord’s performance as a card-game expert.”

He spoke with easy charm, but the mockery was unmistakable. Unlike Elwin, who was growing more and more restless, Selena seemed to have recovered her spirits entirely. She even burst into laughter watching them bicker.

“You two gentlemen seem very close.”

“Me? With this man?” Elwin asked, unable to hide his horror.

Leon merely smiled all the more. “You have seen through us, Miss Selena. I am not usually someone who opens his heart to others easily, but before the special favor Sir Elwin has shown me, I had no way to resist.”

Why was the lightest-looking man alive saying something like that with a straight face?

Then Leon suddenly drew a handkerchief from his inner pocket and pretended to wipe his mouth. It was the very handkerchief Elwin had returned to him unscented. Elwin’s mouth fell open in disbelief. This man, honestly! I clearly told him to throw it away!

Elwin lifted his eyes sharply and glared at Leon, but with so many ears listening, he could not openly say anything for fear of creating a misunderstanding. If that rake started spouting nonsense about smelling Elwin’s scent on the handkerchief, matters would become impossible.

Infuriatingly, Leon seized that opportunity and fluttered the handkerchief in full view several more times throughout the meal. Elwin felt as though the limits of his patience were being tested, but to avoid ruining the atmosphere, he forced himself to pretend not to notice the provocation.

Because Dwight’s mood was unusually good—under ordinary circumstances, he might have found fault with anything once or twice—the dinner table remained peaceful for once. He seemed full of anticipation for tomorrow’s card game. Elwin decided he needed to somehow keep up too.

Late that night, after all the guests had returned to their rooms, Elwin tied back the hair Toby had spent so long combing and headed to the library. He carried the slimmest thread of hope that there might, by some miracle, be a book about card games.

Looking around with a hand lamp, he knew there was no reason for a book he had never bought or seen to be sitting in the library. Still, he had lied to Leon about knowing how to play, and he desperately needed to find a way out.

Perhaps the desperation of a drowning man clutching at straws shone through. As Elwin searched among the mathematics books, his eyes suddenly widened. Astonishingly, tucked into one corner of the shelves was a strategy book on card games.

Ah. Father must have bought this because it was written by a mathematician he liked.

When it came to books, both Elwin and his father had been fiercely possessive. As if competing with each other, they had thrown themselves into collecting volumes. Even books they would never read became objects of desire if they were written by a favored author. There had been times when they bickered, each scolding the other for hoarding books without purpose.

— “Why did you buy that book? Father, you are the one who will never read that book in your life.”

Memories of his father rose unbidden, and Elwin’s eyes reddened for a moment.

Then, cutting through the darkness, the library door creaked.

Creeeak.

Elwin’s heart lurched. He spun toward the entrance. In the wavering light of the lamp, a large silhouette appeared.

“Well, now. Who might this be? Sir Elwin, it seems.”

The person who entered the library was, absurdly, Leon. After startling Elwin half out of his wits, the man smiled that infuriating smile once again.

“Mr. Leon. What brings you here?”

“I could not sleep, so I thought I might read.” Leon raised his hands defensively. “Please do not look at me like that. You, the young lord, did grant permission, after all.”

Elwin had permitted the guests to enter the library in order to impress Dwight. Unfortunately, Dwight himself had no interest in the library, and all that permission seemed to have summoned was this roguish intruder. Since Leon was technically correct, Elwin could not refute him and simply grew sulky.

Then his gaze suddenly caught Leon’s attire. “Y-your robe!”