IDIBC Chapter 45

Walter’s Empty Hands

“Ha, I never thought I’d find myself saying this again.”

“…….”

“At Count Enehaz’s evening party, I was standing there quietly when none other than you, Your Grace, came and bumped into me. So the fact that I fainted because of it is not my fault. And the matter of you arbitrarily taking me to your bedroom is something you should have apologized to me for.”

As if she had finished saying her piece, the woman tilted her head slightly in courtesy and turned around sharply, creating a gust of wind. For the first time in his life, Walter felt anxious about a woman who was turning her back on him.

“Wait, wait just a moment.”

And there wasn’t a single person in this world who wasn’t clumsy when facing an emotion they’d never felt before.

He reached out his arm to stop the departing woman, and in doing so, caught hold of the shawl draped over her shoulders.

The lace shawl made of delicate material couldn’t withstand the will of the woman trying to leave and the force of the man trying to stop her, and tore with a ripping sound right there.

The force made the woman’s body tip forward abruptly.

With an “oh no” feeling, Walter stretched out his long legs, pushed his knee between her legs, and firmly wrapped his arm around her waist.

He was someone who normally didn’t even ride horses much because he disliked getting out of breath. A gasp that sounded strange even to his own ears burst from his mouth.

The woman also seemed to finally grasp the situation and grabbed his arm, twisting her body this way and that.

“Let, let go of me!”

“Please stay still. You’re really going to fall if you keep that up.”

He was just trying to pull her toward him to stand her up properly. That’s when, from not too far away, a voice cold enough to freeze the entire early summer garden pierced Walter’s ears.

“What are you… doing right now, embracing my fiancée? Walter Shaw Chaplin.”

Walter’s and the woman’s faces simultaneously turned toward the direction of the voice. And the two discovered Ricardo standing there with a face like a messenger of death. In that instant, Walter realized for the first time: when you’re too shocked, no words come out at all.

“Who… did you say?”

“You’d better let go of her right now. Unless you want to wage all-out war with Rochester today.”

Perhaps his arms lost strength from shock, as the woman in his embrace escaped from him in one motion. Though she swayed briefly, the woman safely planted her feet on the ground. Walter had no time to feel dazed about the situation that had unfolded before seeing Ricardo approaching him while emanating an ominous aura.

No, “ominous” wasn’t the right word. Because there was no expression whatsoever on the face striding toward them with long legs.

In an instant, the woman who had been right in front of him quickly approached him.

“Rica, don’t.”

Walter’s teal eyes widened in shock.

He was startled once by the woman Ricardo had called his fiancée addressing the Young Duke of Rochester by a pet name, and startled again by the sight of him stopping firmly in place at what was practically her command.

Ricardo stared intently at Lienne as she walked toward him with dignified steps. Then he soon noticed that the lace shawl that should have been neatly draped over her shoulders was gone.

He slowly turned his head to look at Walter. More precisely, at Lienne’s shawl clutched in his hand, already turned into a rag.

Walter only then confirmed the existence of the shawl he hadn’t even realized he was holding.

“Ricardo, don’t misunderstand. This isn’t what you think it is.”

And he rattled off the pathetic excuses he never imagined in his life he’d be making.

Despite his excuses, Ricardo clenched his jaw tightly and stretched his neck this way and that until the veins bulged.

There was no way the heir of Rochester wouldn’t know that what Walter was saying was obvious truth. He would more than know that the current situation was an accidentally occurring mishap.

But Ricardo’s reaction was completely different from what Walter expected. He was heaving his chest and suppressing some kind of emotion.

Though the time he’d known Ricardo wasn’t very long, he thought he knew him to some degree…

“Yes, Walter. You’re not in a position to do anything I could misunderstand. Isn’t that right?”

Ricardo let out a scoffing laugh and then grabbed the wrist of the woman approaching him.

Walter already knew that Ricardo had noticed his condition. Even so, Ricardo hadn’t mentioned that issue even once until now. It would be more accurate to say he had no interest at all.

Ricardo didn’t shake people by grasping their weaknesses. That was something done between those in equal positions. Until now, Ricardo had no reason whatsoever to do such a thing.

Walter realized that Ricardo was cornering him right now for a different reason. Even going so far as to expose his vulnerable point.

Ricardo had noticed.

The fact that he wasn’t at all displeased by contact with the woman before his eyes.

Through Ricardo’s uncharacteristic reaction that he was experiencing for the first time, Walter came to understand something.

That this woman might possibly be the very first weakness in Ricardo’s life.

“Ha…”

Walter let out a laugh of disbelief. To think Ricardo Gardarelli Rochester would have a weakness. The human he thought was a mistake created by God. But why, exactly? Because she was the woman who helped trigger his manifestation?

“Freddy!”

That’s when Ricardo, still keeping his gaze on Walter, called out to the butler who was watching them from a distance with an anxious expression. At that, Freddy approached with quick steps.

“Go prepare the carriage. We’re going back.”

“B-but.”

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

With a troubled expression, he stamped his feet, then soon glanced at Lienne. The meaning of that glance was clear. It meant “help me.” Ha… this time too, laughter escaped involuntarily.

Who was Freddy Fordwan? He was the head of a vassal family that had served the Rochester ducal house for three generations, and was evaluated as the most capable among all the butlers in Rochester history.

He was a talent coveted even by other noble families, to the point where it was said that God had even prepared a butler in advance for Ricardo.

And such a person was now seeking help from this woman. This was like… wasn’t this behavior one would only show to the Duchess of Rochester?

“That’s right, Young Duke Chaplin only caught me when I was about to fall.”

Receiving Freddy’s signal, she moved quickly. She pulled off Ricardo’s hand that was gripping her wrist, then slipped beside him and linked arms, standing side by side. And she lightly expressed her gratitude to Walter.

“I’m in your debt, thank you so much.”

Then she pulled slightly on the arm holding Ricardo’s arm with some force. Conveying that she wanted to get away from here quickly.

What was even more surprising happened from that point on.

The man who had just moments ago sternly commanded Freddy to obey absolutely, moved his body obediently as the woman led.

Huh… Walter let out his third exasperated sigh.

“See you shortly.”

She spoke cheerfully and soon disappeared from before him. Walter watched the two people’s backs for a moment, then went to a nearby bench and plopped down.

What on earth had happened? She was definitely the woman who had come to his bedroom holding a yellow rose. Then, as she said, had she accidentally been caught up in his power and transported space with him, and had Ricardo pulled strings because he was concerned about unseemly rumors spreading about his fiancée?

“Ha…!”

Only after letting out his fourth absurd sigh could Walter grasp the situation to some degree. Of course, Julian Bow Paquin must have been involved in this affair as well.

Ricardo had dragged him to the Chaplin house, and had likely even dared to erase the memories of him, the Crown Prince, and even his close associates.

By the time Walter lifted his bowed head, the two had already disappeared from his sight.

Like a mirage he’d met after running like a madman, deceived by the tricks of the desert’s scorching sun.

Walter swept up the few strands of hair that had fallen. Only then did he realize he was still holding the woman’s lace shawl in his hand.

If it had belonged to any other woman, he would have long since thrown it on the ground.

He stared blankly at the shawl torn and fluttering in the breeze on his hand. Then he slowly brought the object to his nose.

Startled by his own action, he sprang up from the bench and threw the shawl he’d been holding to the ground.

“I’m crazy, I must be crazy.”

He glared at his empty hand with eyes full of disgust. Most of his doubts had been resolved, and if it was Ricardo’s doing, there was no worry about the family secret leaking out. Yet the dirty feeling, as if something he’d been holding in his hand had been stolen from him, wouldn’t easily fade.

****

“To the carriage, to the carriage!”

Once I was confident we’d gotten away from Walter, I practically dragged Ricardo along. The carriage was parked in a designated area within the imperial palace. Perhaps because word hadn’t reached him yet, the coachman was away from his post.

Since there were no onlookers, I climbed into the carriage without an escort. Even after seating Ricardo across from me and settling into my own seat, my startled heart wouldn’t easily calm down.

“I was really shocked.”

“…….”

“Didn’t Young Duke Paquin use his power a bit carelessly? Young Duke Chaplin remembers me, you know.”