Ch.7: Something Scarier Than That

At first, Leyla thought that she was seeing things. This happened to her sometimes. Since her eyesight was so poor, she would occasionally see a piece of fruit that had fallen on the forest path and mistake it for a squirrel or would be startled by a log floating in the water that she mistook for a person.

But in this case, the form she saw in the water was unmistakably human. She could tell it was a man. A tall man without any clothes on. Once his wet, black hair came into her view, she had to abandon the idea that she was seeing things.

There was no mistaking it. What she saw floating in the river was not an object, it was Duke Matthias von Herhardt.

She dropped the newspaper in shock. It fluttered down to the ground below. If she hadn't instinctively held onto the trunk of the tree, she would have followed right behind the newspaper. An inner voice started to guide her. Close your eyes. No, get down from the tree and go home. Or at the very least, scream. But all she could do was stare in shock at the naked man.

It was the same with Duke Herhardt as well. Making no attempt to hide his naked body, he was staring back at Leyla as he continued to float on the water.

Can't he at least float downstream?! Leyla thought. Just then, the duke suddenly turned his body over in the water and started swimming toward the edge of the river near where Leyla was.
"N-no!" she shouted, her clear voice reverberating far and wide. "Don't! Don't come this way! You can't!" She hurriedly shuffled down the tree in a panic. She forgot proper etiquette and made no formal greeting to the duke. She also forgot her hat and her basket. She just ran. Her legs carried her down the forest path at an incredible pace. When she had made it about halfway back to the cottage, someone shouted, "Leyla!"

Without slowing down, she looked and saw that it was Kyle. Having taken her eyes off the path, she started to stumble. Kyle rushed to catch her before she fell down. "Where have you been?" he asked. "You weren't at the cottage, so I've been looking for you all over."

"Kyle, Kyle, what should I do?" she muttered in a half-crazed voice as she struggled to breathe.

"Why? What's going on? Did you come across a wild animal or something?"

She shook her head vigorously. Even more puzzled, Kyle looked far down the path in the direction from which she had just come. There was nothing there. The forest was calm and serene as always. "What is it, then?" he asked. "Why are you in such a shock?"

"What should I do...?" she asked. Her eyes started to well up with tears, and she flopped down to sit on the ground. Lifting her apron to cover her face, she shook her head several times in distress. Her mind kept flashing back to what she had seen, even though she didn't want it to. Now clutching her hair, she asked, "What should I do? What should I do, Kyle?"

"I can't answer that until you tell me what happened. So what happened?" he asked, furrowing his brow as he stooped down towards her.

After a moment, she looked up at him. Her face was as red as a well-ripened raspberry. Her lip twitched as if she was about to say something, then more tears formed in her eyes and she buried her face in her apron again.

At this point, Kyle couldn't help but start giggling. "Hey, what the heck did you see? Was it a ghost or something?"

No, it was something scarier than that, she wanted to answer. But when she tried to speak, all that came out of her mouth were hot gasps of air.

Matthias burst into laughter at the scene he had just seen unfold before him. Water dripped from his hair to the bridge of his nose, where it continued flowing downwards. He swam back to the dock by his cabin, put on his clothes, and then returned to the tree. All the things Leyla had had with her were strewn on the ground.

He looked closely at all the items. At the foot of the tree, there was a large basket and a hat. Nearby, there was a newspaper and a wet handkerchief. He chuckled when he saw how many raspberries were in the basket. Was she trying to wipe out the raspberry species from Arvis? He couldn't believe that such a petite young lady had been carrying such a large basket around.

It then occurred to him that this tree seemed to be the same tree she had been perched in all those years ago, when he had mistaken her for a bird and almost shot her. He looked up at the broad-trunked tree's upper branches. He could still remember the sight of her little face staring at him from up there. He let out another laugh.

Don't tell me she still climbs trees for fun.

He thought about chasing after her, but then changed his mind and started heading back towards the mansion.

That afternoon he had to meet with the family company's board of directors. He wasn't yet directly involved in managing the company, but he would be taking on that responsibility after he was discharged from the military. Therefore, it was important that he gain as full an understanding of the structure and functioning of the company as possible.

Building on their existing land assets, the Herhardt family had greatly expanded the scope of their business dealings, both in terms of trade and natural resources. The immense wealth the family now possessed had been amassed mostly by Matthias's grandfather, who had made the bold choice to invest in oil in the New World.

All the honor and power that the family had gained since that time would now fall to Matthias. Fully aware of this, he considered upholding this honor and properly wielding this power to be his most important duty as duke. He was confident that he could fulfill that duty better than anyone else. This was a conviction that he had never doubted, even for a moment.

After arriving back at the mansion, he went straight to his bedroom, where he changed his clothes and combed his messy hair. Once he had finished getting ready, he lounged in the chair by the window on the west side of the bedroom. There was still about an hour left before the meeting. Deciding that an hour was too long a time to waste away doing nothing, he was about to rise from the chair and leave the room, when he heard a chirping sound.

He looked in the direction the sound was coming from, and saw that the canary in the birdcage on the table was singing. Ever since that bird had been brought to his room, it had been so quiet, he had thought that it didn't know how to sing. But hearing its beautiful song now, he realized how wrong he had been.

He walked over to the cage and opened its door. The canary stopped singing, then flapped its clipped wings and managed to escape from the cage.

Deciding not to leave his bedroom after all, Matthias leaned against the windowsill and watched the bird. It was incredibly active for such a small thing. It tried to fly, then fell. Then it tried again and fell again. It continued bouncing around the room in this manner without rest for quite a while.

Eventually, it seemed to have tired itself out, and it gently perched on the armrest of the chair. Matthias picked it up so that he could put it back in its cage. Rather than struggling and shrieking as it had done previously, the canary obediently entrusted itself to his gentle grip.

Intrigued by this shift in the bird's attitude, Matthias tried placing it on his finger. To his surprise, it didn't try to fly away, but just sat up calmly and stared back at him, unafraid.

"I feel like I'm gazing into a new world," Leyla whispered in a daze.

The gray-haired optician let out a friendly chuckle. "Considering how bad your eyesight was, I can believe it. It must've been quite hard for you."

"No, it wasn't too bad, other than when I was trying to read," she cheerfully replied as she took off the glasses and put them on again. When she did so, the blurry world miraculously became clear. She still hadn't gotten over her amazement at this.

She had turned the heaps of raspberries she had gathered from the forest into jam, which she had then sold. As soon as she had saved up enough money to purchase eyeglasses, she had ridden her bicycle into the city. She had no trouble locating the optician's shop, because she had gazed longingly into its window many times before.

After chatting with the optician a bit more, she left the shop. The incredibly clear world around her seemed new and wondrous.

With each step she took, she discovered another detail of this new world. She was filled with love and gratitude for the wild raspberries growing in the Arvis forest that had enabled this. She also felt proud of herself for all the hard work she had put in, not only picking them, but also standing in front of a hot stove, stirring the jam until her arm felt like it was going to fall off.

But why, at such a wonderful time as this, do those indecent memories keep flashing into my mind? she thought, frowning as she tried to clear her mind of the memory of when she had unintentionally seen the duke's naked body.

She had been so flustered and frightened that day, she had waited until dusk to go fetch her basket. By that point in the evening, the forest was quiet, and the river was flowing calmly. The stillness of the area finally brought her relief, and she grabbed her hat and basket and went on her way. However, her cheeks still felt hot. She was so distracted, she didn't even feel the weight of the full basket in her arms. After that day, she had felt awkward around men, including even Bill and Kyle.

Even if it's his land, why would the duke swim naked in broad daylight?

She shook her head to try to rid herself of the unpleasant memory.

I'd better not go back to the river until the duke leaves Arvis again. Having made this resolution, she started walking again, when she heard a familiar voice.

"Leyla...?”
The loud, high-pitched voice sounded just like that of Claudine von Brandt.

Oh my. The time has come. Leyla paused for a moment to catch her breath, and, putting on a polite smile, she slowly turned around.

However, much to her surprise, the person she saw was none other than the man who had been causing her mind so much distress, Duke Herhardt.

He was standing right there, in the midst of this newly-clear world. She was so startled that it took her a moment to notice Claudine standing next to him. Claudine had stopped visiting Arvis while Duke Herhardt had been away serving in the military, so Leyla hadn't seen her in a long time. During that time, Claudine had transformed into a perfect noblewoman.

Leyla politely curtsied, and the other two gracefully nodded back at her. "Since when have you worn glasses? I almost didn't recognize you," Claudine said. Leyla had hoped that they would have simply walked on without saying anything, but now she had no choice but to continue smiling politely at Claudine, while being careful not to look at Duke Herhardt at all.

"Have you been well?" Claudine asked, looking closely at Leyla with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, Miss."

"We were just on our way to have some tea," Claudine said, smiling as she glanced over at the hotel across the street. Leyla deliberated over the proper response. Should I say, "Yes, Miss"...? Or maybe, "Is that so, Miss?"

Before Leyla had a chance to say anything, Claudine took mercy on her and said, "You should come along with us, Leyla."

"Pardon?"

"It's been so long since we've seen each other, I'd love to have a cup of tea with you. Is that all right with you, Duke Herhardt?"

Matthias smiled subtly to indicate his consent. Leyla noted to herself that Claudine hadn't asked if it was all right with her. This was nothing new, of course.

Matthias and Claudine continued walking. Their attendants, who had been waiting nearby, followed behind them. Leyla let out a sigh and turned her bicycle around. The creaking of her worn-out wheels blended with the clicking of the nobles' expensive shoes.

Chapter end