Chapter 23. Midnight

Enoch Bayern’s gaze, which had been fixed on my face, glanced out of the carriage window. Soon, his golden eyes gleamed sharply. It was a look that could kill whatever his gaze landed on.

“……Maxwell, that perverted bastard tried to lay a hand on you too?”

He seemed to have found Maxwell, who was still wandering around the garden looking for me. He looked quite displeased, as he usually didn’t like Maxwell, and I answered, watching his expression closely.

“I was on my way to the lounge when he started following me, so I ran from the hallway to here.”

“……”

He took his eyes off the window and looked down at my feet. I hurriedly tried to hide my bare feet by pulling down my dress, but I was startled when he suddenly stood up and approached me with long strides.

“……!”

I gasped in shock at what happened next. He lifted me up effortlessly, as if I were a feather-stuffed doll, and gently placed me on the seat. Then, sitting right next to me, he unceremoniously lifted my dress and tried to grab my ankle.

“Stay still.”

He scolded me in a slightly annoyed voice as I struggled in embarrassment, then placed my foot on his thigh and examined it closely. Seeing my dirt-covered foot dirtying his formal trousers, I felt like I was going to faint. It was unbearable to be exposing my leg from the calf to the toes in front of a strange man with my dress lifted.

“You’re injured.”

“Ah… It’s okay, it’s just a little scratch.”

“Is getting your feet hurt a hobby of yours?”

He clicked his tongue briefly and took out a white handkerchief from his jacket pocket, carefully wrapping it around my foot. The handkerchief was made of silk, an expensive material I had never touched before in my life. The burden of it all made it hard to breathe.

“Do you have a handkerchief?”

“Um, yes.”

“Take it out.”

In a daze, I took out a handkerchief from my small handbag and handed it to him. I was glad I hadn’t dropped the handbag while running around in a hurry. It contained the funds I had extracted from Father for this week’s social events.

“Here…”

He snatched the handkerchief from me quickly and wrapped it tightly around my foot as well. Despite his seemingly indifferent attitude, he didn’t forget to scold me as he administered first aid.

“Where did you lose your shoes?”

“I threw them off in the hallway and just came here.”

“Is losing your shoes a hobby too?”

“I didn’t know I had so many hobbies.”

I replied sarcastically without realizing it, and he raised one eyebrow. I broke out in a cold sweat and avoided his gaze. He let out a short laugh and then straightened me up, saying,

“I assume you don’t plan to return to the ballroom looking like that.”

“Yes, of course…”

“Then sit there quietly.”

When he opened the window to the coachman’s seat and gave an order, the carriage soon started moving. It seemed he intended to take me back to the Lopez estate, so I decided to follow without complaint.

The night-lit cityscape passed by outside the window. Apart from the sound of wheels rolling on the well-paved road, there was no other noise, making it excessively quiet.

In that uncomfortable silence, he sat across from me, resting his chin on his hand, looking out the window. His golden eyes, dimly lit, were serene like low-hanging stars.

At that moment, I sensed an atmosphere around him that I hadn’t expected to find. It was a calming presence, like the tranquility found at the border between day and night, dispelling nightmares and anxieties.

He glanced at me briefly. His gaze was partly indifferent, partly annoyed.

Strangely, I didn’t feel like I was sitting on pins and needles under his gaze. Maybe it was the familiarity brought by a few meetings and coincidences.

“……”

However, the prolonged silence and just staring at each other started to feel stifling. Feeling the pressure to say something, I silently opened my mouth and then…

“Your Highness the Grand Duke…”

I ended up asking a question that was almost self-destructive and nonsensical.

“Don’t you have an obsession for cleanliness?”

“……”

In other words, I was asking, ‘How could you touch my dirty feet if you have an obsession for cleanliness?’ I heard rumors about Grand Duke Bayern’s obsession for cleanliness while attending social events, but considering my experiences with him, I doubted their validity.

After all, he didn’t seem to mind being drenched in rain, and when he had contact with me or when he laid on the greenhouse bench, he didn’t appear to be someone who obsessively pursued cleanliness.

But since there were firsthand accounts, I had been curious about the truth…

Seeing him touch my feet, which must have been a mess of dirt and grass, I thought the rumors about his obsession for cleanliness might not be true after all.

“Is that what you’re curious about?”

After a long silence, he spoke with a hint of irritation in his voice. Realizing I might have annoyed him, I quickly decided to back down. Being abandoned alone on the street at night, in this state, without shoes, would be very dangerous.

Enoch Bayern didn’t say another word, but he looked as displeased as when he had seen Maxwell. I was sure I had stirred up a hornet’s nest for no reason.

‘I should keep my mouth shut until we reach the Lopez estate.’

I repeated that to myself, staring down at my foot wrapped in the white handkerchief.

Before long, the carriage came to a stop, and the man, who had stood up first, curtly ordered,

“Get out.”

“Ah, yes, thank you…”

I thought I was the only one who needed to get out, but I was surprised when he got out first and hesitated.

Standing in front of the open carriage door, he looked up at me intently. For some reason, his gaze seemed probing.

“Thank you…”

I mumbled my thanks in a slightly muffled voice and cautiously got out of the carriage. As I reached out into the empty air for support, someone grabbed my hand.

Startled for a moment, I realized it was Enoch Bayern’s large hand and widened my eyes.

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue in disapproval and then lifted me up with one arm. Yes, he easily supported my lower body and carried my weight with just one arm.

Before I could marvel at his inhuman strength, he was already striding somewhere with me in his arms. Realizing where we were, I gasped in surprise.

“This isn’t the Lopez estate.”

“You talk too much.”

“But why are we here…?”

The place he brought me to was a shoemaker’s workshop that hadn’t closed yet. It was surprising that it was open this late, but that wasn’t the important part. Why did this man bring me here?

“Your Highness, Grand Duke, just a moment…”

Ignoring all my words, he opened the door to the workshop and went inside. All I could do was cling tightly to his collar, afraid I might fall.

“Welcome… hmm?”

The shoemaker, who seemed to be working hard at the innermost workbench, looked up belatedly and widened his eyes when he saw us.

Soon, a look of shock spread across the shoemaker’s face.

“Y-Your Highness, Grand Duke Bayern?”

I buried my face in my hands, wanting to hide immediately. At this hour, in this state, an unmarried lady appearing in a man’s arms… Moreover, the fact that the man was the Grand Duke of Bayern posed numerous problems.

“Bring disinfectant and ointment.”

“Y-yes, I understand.”

The shoemaker, looking as if he couldn’t believe what was happening, obediently followed the Grand Duke’s orders.

I glanced at Enoch Bayern, who had set me down on a guest sofa. He still looked displeased, and whenever our eyes met, he glared at me so intensely that it sent chills down my spine. Was asking about his mysophobia really that offensive?

“Here… disinfectant and ointment.”

Enoch Bayern snatched the items from the shoemaker and tossed them to me.

I quickly caught them and mumbled a small “Thank you.” I was so relieved he didn’t intend to apply them himself. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to have any intention of being overly kind.

I applied the disinfectant first and waited for it to dry before applying the ointment on top. While doing so, I realized that my feet were covered in numerous cuts and scratches, likely from stones and grass.

For a noble lady’s feet to be in such a state, it seemed wise to wear thick stockings for a while to avoid anyone noticing.

Though there were already two witnesses…

The most uncomfortable of those witnesses stared at me intensely before turning his gaze to the shoemaker and giving an order.

“Bring several pairs of shoes that fit her feet.”

“Y-yes, of course!”

The shoemaker, clearly uncomfortable with the man before him, hurriedly went to fetch the shoes. Watching his retreating figure, I then looked up at Enoch Bayern and spoke cautiously.

“I only need to buy one pair.”

Losing my shoes was already a significant loss, and buying more than one pair would be too costly.

What I said seemed entirely reasonable to me, but Enoch Bayern’s expression turned strange. He looked both incredulous and as if he were seeing something bizarre.

Blinking and tilting my head slightly, he responded with a low chuckle.

“Are you planning to buy them with your own money?”

I frowned, puzzled by what the problem was, and replied.

“Yes, of course… I should buy them with my own money.”

* * *