Ch.5: The Duke Turned Around

Standing in front of Gillis Girls' School, Kyle Ettman looked as natural as the wall or the streetlamps in front of the school. He's back, thought the students as they glanced at him with casual interest.

Kyle grinned as he looked through the school's main gate. He saw a young lady in the distance, walking her bicycle in his direction. From her strong, elegant gait, he recognized her immediately.

Well, not just from her gait. Also from her expressive face, and her delicate movements. They all made it clear to him that this was Leyla. There were no other girls like Leyla. He had known this ever since the summer day when he had first approached that little girl sitting in the shade of a willow tree.

"Leyla!"

At the sound of someone calling her name, Leyla stopped walking. She squinted her eyes, then started walking again, a little more quickly than before. Kyle loved such moments. Moments when she started walking faster after seeing him, approaching him with a smiling face.

"Why did you come here?" she asked.
"Wouldn't it have been easier just to meet me at the cottage?”

"Well, the school is on my way home anyway," he replied. Of course, this was a lie. He had abandoned his friends from the tennis club so that he could walk Leyla home from school. Even though his superiors in the club would be waiting for him the next day, holding their rackets like weapons, he didn't worry about that right now. Tomorrow's problems can be dealt with tomorrow. Let the chips fall as they may.

The two of them walked side by side down the busy street. As they passed through the shopping district, they bought ice cream cones that they enjoyed as they continued to walk. They checked out a bookstore, full of the vaguely sweet smell of dusty old books. Leyla laughed a lot. Other than Bill, Kyle was the only person in the world who knew how much she laughed. Kyle knew this to be true, and it made him happy.

The breeze became much cooler after they turned onto the road leading into Arvis. When their conversation shifted to exams, Leyla's face grew serious. This seriousness became tinged with hopelessness when they started talking about geometry.

Kyle noticed these subtle changes in her expression of concern. Not yet. He stopped himself from saying the words that were itching to escape his lips. He didn't want to make things awkward between them by confessing his love for her too hastily. He wondered if it was even necessary for them to start dating. Why not just skip straight to marriage? Leyla Ettman. I like the sound of that.

"Why are you smiling?" Leyla asked. She had been grumbling about how her geometry grades weren't improving, when she had suddenly noticed that Kyle was grinning about something.

"Uh... Oh, yeah! So I hear that Duke Herhardt is coming back?" Kyle replied, trying to change the topic quickly. "It's been a really long time. When is he supposed to arrive?"

"I don't know."

"Everyone has been talking about him. Duke Herhardt this, Duke Herhardt that. But you don't seem interested at all."

Leyla gripped her bicycle's handlebars tighter. She had never had much contact with the duke, besides occasionally running into him in the woods or passing by him when Claudine invited her into the mansion. Seeing him made her uncomfortable, so she tried to avoid him whenever possible. When she did run into him, she would bow her head as low as possible, so that she wouldn't have to look at him.

She had felt this way ever since that evening back when she was young, when she had tripped and dropped the gold coin at his feet, and he had stepped on it to stop it spinning. It had been Claudine who had invited her into the mansion and then abandoned her, then given her the coin for her troubles. But it had been the duke who had made her feel just how worthless she was amid that strange, luxurious world.

That experience had left a different kind of scar in her heart than that of the scorn and persecution she had previously endured. She wanted to forget about the encounter, but she was reminded of it every time she saw Duke Herhardt. She hated him. She hated how he always reminded her of that day, of that memory, of that scar.

As she was catching her breath, a black car drove past. Since Dowager Herhardt, the duke's grandmother never rode in cars, it was probably Lady Herhardt, the duke's mother, returning from a social gathering.

"With the duke returning soon, Arvis must be really busy lately," Kyle remarked.

"Yep."

"Oh yeah. Leyla, do you think I should try becoming an officer too?" Kyle was now walking backwards, facing Leyla as they continued down the road. "I could become an officer like Duke Herhardt, and maybe I'd be awarded a medal. Captain Ettman, a brilliant sniper able to put a bullet straight through an enemy soldier's heart!" He laughed impishly as he mimed firing a sniper rifle.

"Excuse me, Mr. Ettman. You can't even kill a chicken," Layla replied, snickering.

Kyle's self-confidence took a hit, but he couldn't dispute her point. She was referring to something that had happened around the same time the previous year. Kyle had insisted on paying for the meals he had eaten in the cottage by helping out with chores, so Bill had asked him to catch a chicken for them to cook for dinner. Kyle had boldly marched out to the chicken coop to catch one, but in the end, he hadn't managed to catch so much as a single feather. From that day forth, Bill had called Kyle by the degrading nickname "loafer."

"You're my kind friend Kyle Ettman. That's why I like you," Leyla said, giggling as she looked at Kyle's frowning face. "I'd prefer it if you used your hands to save people, rather than to shoot them."

"Well... of course. I'm going to become a doctor." Kyle awkwardly put his hand to his cheek. "Should I become a medical officer, then? Do they give medals to medical officers?

"They'd probably give you one if you saved a lot of people, right? That's a much better accomplishment than killing a lot of people."

"You think so?”

As they continued to talk playfully, they came to a fork in the road. The Ettman residence was at the end of the road on the left.

"Ah! I forgot to bring the geometry notes I told you I'd lend you," Kyle exclaimed.

"Then why don't you head home for now, and come to the cottage at dinner time? But don't forget the notes."

"Hey, will you be looking forward to seeing me, or the notes?"

"The notes," she boldly replied, before bursting into mischievous laughter. Also laughing, Kyle started running towards his home.

Layla yelled after him, "There's no need to rush! I've still got to make dinner!"

Kyle shouted even more loudly in response, saying, "Don't worry about it! I'll come over when I feel like it!" Layla shook her head, knowing that it was no use trying to change his mind. She then got on her bicycle and started riding towards Platanus Road, which led to the Arvis mansion.

Matthias had the car stop at the end of the mansion's driveway, far from the mansion. The chauffeur and the butler looked flustered.

Duke Herhardt's arrival had been sudden. After news had hit that he would be arriving a week earlier than originally scheduled, the Arvis staff had been busily working from dawn to dusk, preparing for his arrival. As a result, only two people had been sent out to pick him up. And now the duke had sprung this surprise on them.

Hessen, the butler, gulped nervously and said, "Master, there's still-"

"I'm going to walk around for a bit," Matthias calmly said, cutting Hessen off. The chauffeur wavered for a moment, then rushed to get out of the car and open the rear passenger door.

"No," Matthias said, shaking his head at Hessen, who had started to follow him out of the car. "I'll see you in the mansion." He smiled at Hessen and then turned and started walking away.

Hessen hesitated uncertainly for a moment, then followed his master's order and got back into the car. The chauffeur also hurried back into the driver's seat. After they drove off, the road was quiet again. Clutching his officer's cap loosely in one hand, Matthias sauntered around under the shade of the trees. The click of his boots blended pleasingly with sound of the leaves swaying in the breeze.

Matthias von Herhardt had been the perfect child, the perfect student, and had become the perfect officer. Now he would soon be marrying the perfect woman and would then become the perfect husband and the perfect father. This incessant series of perfections had come so naturally, that the whole process had started to bore him.

He slowed his pace a bit. A beam of light streaming through a gap in the leaves fell on his eyes, accentuating the slight redness at their edge. As he walked a little further, the beam descended and illuminated his golden belt buckle and the badges on the breast of his slate-gray uniform.

"You need to get engaged this summer."

Matthias had readily gone along with his mother's wishes. It was his duty to get married at the proper time and father an heir.

"I believe that Claudine is the most suitable candidate to be the next duchess."

He had also accepted his grandmother's opinion with good grace. Claudine von Brandt was a well-qualified prospective bride with an excellent pedigree. Matthias had never desired anything. He hadn't had the opportunity- before he ever had the chance to desire something, it had already been given to him. Desire itself was an alien concept to him. So was marriage.

He aimed for a perfect marriage. A marriage that served as a steppingstone to stabilize his world, without involving needless emotions. Claudine von Brandt seemed like the best fit for that kind of arrangement, and that was enough for him. He wasn't particularly interested in her in any other respect. He didn't feel the need to be.

He stopped walking for a moment in the middle of the road. He looked up, and rays of broken sunlight dazzled his eyes. It was then that he sensed the presence of another person nearby.

He looked around with narrowed eyes, and soon saw a young lady riding towards him on a bicycle. He remained standing in place, and soon she passed by him on his left. Her golden hair rippled in the breeze.

Leyla Llewellyn?

As the name popped into his mind, the young lady turned her head towards him. When she saw him, her green eyes widened. As she continued to ride while locking eyes with him, she lost her balance and the bicycle toppled over. The sound of her screams followed immediately. The front wheel of the upside-down bicycle continued to spin.

Matthias walked up to the young lady on the ground. Under his shadow, she lifted her head. There was no mistaking it, she was Leyla Llewellyn, the little girl who was crazy about birds.

"I'm sorry, Your Grace," she quickly said, bowing her head. She seemed to be waiting for him to go on his way. Matthias was about to leave when he changed his mind and casually looked down at Layla. Her school uniform was covered with dirt. Her stockings were ripped, and her knees were bleeding. Silence descended as the bicycle wheel slowed to a stop.

Layla looked up at Matthias with squinted eyes. She had her usual, plucky expression, and yet there was something gentle in her look.

Looks like that girl has grown up as well, he thought. While it was natural that she would have grown along with the passage of time, seeing her was giving him a strange feeling. In his mind, she had always remained a little girl. A little girl who had gotten on his nerves by always trying to avoid him. But the Layla Llewellyn he saw before him now didn't match the little girl he remembered at all.

The soft curve of her body underneath the thin fabric of her summer school uniform was nothing like that of the scrawny little girl. Nor were her bright lips and cheeks, or the soft scent being wafted by the breeze from her body.

This realization gave Matthias a strange sense of uneasiness as Layla struggled to get up. She took a step backward to fix her shoes, then brushed the dust off her uniform. Although she was now fully grown, she was still quite short, barely reaching his chin when she stood up straight.

"Layla Llewellyn," Matthias said impulsively.

Layla flinched and hunched her shoulders. Her head was still bowed. "I'm sorry, Your Grace," she said, then repeated the apology several more times as she crouched down to pick up her belongings, which were strewn about his feet-her bag, her books, her notebook.

Matthias's gaze followed her hands, which were soiled with dirt and blood until her finger brushed against a pen. He took a step forward and leisurely placed his foot on top of the pen. At this, Layla finally looked up at him. She looked irritated.

"Leyla Llewellyn," he said once again. "I'm talking to you." He was speaking in a relaxed manner, just like the relaxed way he had stepped on the pen.

She shut her eyes tightly and opened them again. "Yes, Your Grace?" She looked like she was waiting for the chance to snatch the pen back, but Matthias didn't move.

"Go ahead," she said. "I'm listening." Her voice was full of confidence even though her body was trembling. Her green eyes, which resembled the summer forest, twinkled with anger and embarrassment.

The memory of him smiling as he stepped on the gold coin, all those years ago, flashed into her mind. He had been looking at her with the same expression that day as he was now. Finally, he laughed quietly to himself and casually walked past her. He placed his cap on his head and started strolling down the road again as if nothing had happened.

She stared at his back as he walked away. Why was he acting that way if he didn't actually have anything to say? she wondered, squeezing the pen in her hand. Would the residents of Arvis believe that Duke Herhardt, the man they praise as the perfect nobleman, would do something like that? I'd bet all the money I've saved up for eyeglasses that they wouldn't. They'd call me crazy.

With her lips shut tight, she quickly set her bicycle upright again, then thoroughly wiped off the pen and placed it in her bag. She started walking her bicycle down the road, following behind Duke Herhardt, who was walking quite slowly. Her skinned knees stung. Even though she was sure that he wouldn't look back, she maintained a good posture as she walked. It hurt a lot to walk without limping, but she endured the pain.

I sure wish he'd put those long legs of his to good use and pick up the pace.

She was about to let out an irritated sigh when the duke turned around. A gentle breeze was blowing through the leaves, causing the broken sunbeams to slowly undulate on the summer road.

Startled, Layla froze, forgetting even to avert her eyes. Matthias's gaze slowly moved down her long, loose hair. It passed by her chest, which was gently rising and falling, and her white hands, which were gripping the handlebars of her bicycle. It came to rest on her amazingly slender ankles and her tiny feet.

It then returned to her eyes. He gazed tranquilly at those clear, green eyes for a long while. Layla Llewellyn was still an orphan living for free on his estate, but one key fact had changed everything. As time passed, the little girl had grown up. As this fact dawned on him, he finally saw Layla for who she was now.

She was no longer a little girl. She was now a young lady.

Chapter end