Ch.98: I Learn It From You

"Please, have a sip, Mr. Remmer," Matthias said, noticing that Bill hadn't touched his tea.

Still unaware of why he had been summoned, Bill looked nervous, but he immediately followed the duke's order and picked up his teacup.

"You've done excellent work for us for a long time. Thank you," Matthias said.

"N-not at all, Your Grace," Bill replied, shaking his head at the unexpected compliment. "I should be thanking you for giving me a chance to restore the greenhouse after I caused the accident that destroyed it. And I'm not just saying that. I'm sincerely grateful."

He bowed his head once again to show his thanks to the duke. The simple fact that Duke Herhardt had saved him from prison by dropping the charges against him already weighed heavily on Bill's mind. As far as he was concerned, the duke was his savior, and he would feel deep gratitude for him for the rest of his life.

Delaying no further. Matthias proceeded to get right to the point. "Once the restoration of Arvis's greenhouse is complete, what would you say to working at the Herhardt mansion in the capital?"

It was a decision the duke had come to after long deliberation. He knew that Leylavalued Bill Remmer over her own life. If Bill were to move to Ratse, there was no doubt that she would go with him.

"Because of the accident?" Bill asked, looking flustered. "I knew that it was ridiculous for me to expect to be able to keep living and working here at Arvis after I caused that accident, even though you dropped the charges against me. But still..."

"It's not just because of the accident." Matthias set down his teacup and sat up in his chair. "The garden here at Arvis is so large. I think it will soon be more than a man your age can manage."

"But..." Bill wanted to disagree, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. The duke wasn't wrong, after all. Bill was getting on in years, and the vastness of Arvis's garden made it a challenge for any gardener.

"The Ratse mansion's garden is more modestly sized, so it will be easier for you to take care of. I trust that you will be able to make the garden there just as beautiful as the one here at Arvis."

"I don't know how to respond to such incredible generosity, Your Grace," Bill said, his face turning red. "But I couldn't accept your offer, as moving as it is."

"Then, would you like to continue working at Arvis?"

"Oh, no, I already knew that would be impossible the day that you dropped the charges against me. What I've been thinking is, I'll help restore the greenhouse, and then once that's complete, I'll resign, and Leyla and I will leave Arvis. It's the only honorable thing to do."

"I didn't offer you mercy for no reason," the duke said in a colder tone of voice.

Bill awkwardly set down his teacup and looked at the young, handsome lord of Arvis.

"I dropped the charges against you because you deserved to have them dropped. You needn't feel indebted to me for that. Likewise, I'm offering you the position at the Ratse mansion out of recognition of your immense skill and experience, Mr. Remmer."

"Well I'm incredibly grateful, Your Grace, but I could never move to the capital and leave Leyla behind."

"Miss Llewellyn can go with you."

"She can?!" Bill asked, looking ready to faint from surprise.

The duke, however, remained calm. His words seemed not to have been impulsive. "The Herhardt family would like to become Miss Llewellyn's sponsor."

"Her s-sponsor...? You mean you'll pay for her to go to college?"

"That's right," the duke replied, nodding. "After the unfortunate theft that you suffered last year, my grandmother made it clear that she wanted to pay for Miss Llewellyn's tuition. Things were too chaotic at the time, so nothing came of it last year, but if she can pass the entrance examination again, we will formally sponsor her. It's my grandmother's wish, and I fully support it."

Bill was in utter shock. He couldn't believe that only a few months after he had caused a huge accident and barely avoided prison, he was now being showered with good fortune. He felt like he was dreaming. The duke's face remained cold. "What do you say, Mr. Remmer?"

"Uncle Bill!" Leyla shouted, running excitedly up to Bill.

Bill smiled warmly back at her, in the way that an adult smiles at an over- excited child. He patted her head just as warmly and said, "Why'd you follow me all the way here? I told you to wait for me at the cottage."

Leyla let out a long sigh of relief.

The two of them walked side-by-side to the cottage. After they sat down at the dinner table, he started telling her why the duke had summoned him.

"So, Leyla, His Grace made me a very appealing offer."

"An... offer?"

"Yeah. He said that before this summer rolls around, he'd like me to move to Ratse and start doing the gardening for his mansion there. And he says that you can come along with me." He had a very excited expression on his face as he said this. "He had me come see him just so he could make the offer in person, can

you believe it? Oh, and there's another thing having to do with you. He says that the Herhardt family wants to become your sponsor!"

"My sponsor...?"

"Yeah, he said that if you pass this year's college entrance exam in the capital, he'll pay for your tuition. He said it was his grandmother's idea. Leyla, you're such a smart girl, even the Herhardt family knows it." He gazed at her with a face full of pride. "So what do you say, should we accept the offer?"

"Uncle Bill..."

"I'm the one who caused the accident, so you don't need to worry about me. I'm fine with any arrangement if it means that you'll be able to study to your heart's content."

Leyla's eyes started to sting, and her throat felt like it was closing up, so she hurriedly took a big gulp of water. She kept her head down for a long while, feeling too ashamed to look Bill in the face.

Her meeting with Claudine the previous day felt like the distant past. She could barely recall how she had managed to pull herself together and return to the cottage. All she remembered was writhing on the floor and crying after she had gotten home.

She had wailed loudly and shed tears for what felt like an eternity until she was finally too exhausted to continue. She had then lain lifelessly on the floor for a while until she was spurred to stand up by an urge to reject what Claudine had told her.

She had then headed to the Raynor residence. She didn't care about how awkward it might be to meet the man who had stolen her tuition money. If talking to Daniel Raynor could prove to her that Claudine had been lying about the duke, then she was more than willing to take the chance.

Without even thinking about what she was going to say, she had knocked on the door. As soon as Daniel had opened the door, a look of extreme shock had appeared on his face.

Before he could shut the door in her face, she had pleaded, "Just one thing. Please just tell me one thing! The day you stole the tuition money from my house, did you see the duke?"

She had instantly regretted asking the question, although she knew that regretting would do her no good.

"Yes, I did, "Daniel had replied with a bitter expression on his face. "Though I don't know why you would want to revisit that day. "He had then started blushing and had avoided making eye contact with her.

He had made a few more comments about how he was uncomfortable talking about the incident now that everything had been wrapped up, but she had already stopped listening.

After she staggered a few steps backward, he had quickly closed and locked the door. Rather than crying, she had let out a few bitter chuckles, and then had turned back onto the darkened road.

The police had said that after extensive investigations, they had failed to find a single witness from the day of the theft. Now the puzzle pieces were all coming together, and she could no longer deny it.

Claudine hadn't been lying. Leyla had already intuited that this was the case while she was listening to Claudine speak. After all, becoming the next Duchess Herhardt was Claudine's life goal. She wouldn't have risked it by doing something careless. She already knew that Leyla was the duke's mistress, so she wouldn't tell a lie knowing that Leyla could check its veracity with the duke himself.

"Leyla?"

She snapped out of her daze at the sound of Bill's voice.

"Sure, I know it can't be easy to make up your mind right away about something like this."

"What? Oh... yeah."

Luckily, Bill seemed to think that she was simply flustered by the duke's unexpected offer.

"But I want you to seriously consider it, Leyla. I saved up for your tuition because I wanted to give you wings so that you could fly off to happiness. Sadly, I couldn't do that for you. But now His Grace is giving you wings in my stead."

No, Uncle Bill, she thought, forcing a smile while internally, she felt like crying. The duke brutally clipped my wings.

"If you let the Herhardts give you those wings, you'll fly so high, I just know it. Higher than anyone else, man or woman. I'm sure of it." His face was bright with confidence.
She took another sip of water to wet her dry lips and smiled brightly back at her uncle.

After dinner, Bill and Leyla sat on the porch and drank coffee. The night breeze was still a bit chilly, but it was bearable.

Leyla tried her hardest to stay relaxed. Luckily, Bill was quite tired from traveling, so he went to bed early. As soon as he did, she was able to drop the painful smile that she had struggled to keep up for him. As soon as she went into her own room and shut the door, Phoebe showed up at the window with a note from the duke.

Leyla read the note with a calmness that surprised even herself. The duke's command was the same as always. However, she no longer felt scared or upset by it.

She was going to disappear before Duke and Duchess Herhardt were married. She decided this just as her tears had dried. However, she wasn't going to behave like she had up to now.

After thoroughly ripping up the duke's note, she walked over to the closet and put on the dress and shoes he had bought her. Then she unbraided her hair and carefully combed it, to make herself look very nice for him.

I'm not going to ask any questions,

She looked at herself in the mirror with cold, determined eyes.

I'm going to tear your heart to pieces, just like you did to me. I know how to do that. I learned it from you.

As she made this resolution, she felt a strange sort of excitement building in her chest.

It wasn't going to be hard. She knew more about destroying someone emotionally than anyone else. All she had to do was treat him the way he had treated her.
First, she would make him a promise that was impossible to keep, build up his expectations, and make him dream a beautiful dream. Then she would shatter his heart and stab him with the pieces of it.

She slowly closed and opened her eyes, then tiptoed out of the cottage.

The duke was going to writhe on the ground, crying in pain and misery, just like she had.

Chapter end