Chapter 4 – Part 8

“No! No, that’s it. I don’t know what kind of trouble I’ll face if I receive it… Let’s pretend it never happened. Everything.”

With this hasty addition, Count Smith turned on his heel.

“We must be on our way, and if, by any chance, His Excellency is looking for us, please tell him so that there is no misunderstanding.”

Liese nodded thoughtfully.

“I promise.”

As soon as he finished speaking, they turned and fled, panting like men chased by something. Even on the way, they glanced back at Liese, clearly terrified.

This was the way to end things, without even mentioning the Duke’s name. She can’t let her guard down, so for the time being, she’ll continue to curry favor with Ian and accompany her brother to school.

Watching Count Smith walk away, Liese realized her predicament and hastened her pace. It didn’t take long for them to talk, but she needed to hurry back before getting entangled in unnecessary matters.

As she ascended the stairs at a brisk pace, she reached the building’s entrance.

Her unaccustomed shoes hit a puddle of water on the marble floor and she slid forward, off balance. She didn’t have time to regain her footing before she fell to the hard stone floor.

“Ah…!”

Her knees, inner arms, and finally, the back of her head, hit the ground. The impact reverberated through her bones, causing her vision to blur and her ears to ring.

Foolishly tripping like this as an adult. Yet, seeing the heel of her fallen shoe, she found it oddly miraculous that it didn’t slip on the wet ground.

Her limbs didn’t move as she wanted. Since bumping her head, she has felt dizzy to an unusual degree.

When she managed to lift her head, her blurry vision showed a tall man approaching with great strides.

Her unfocused eyes couldn’t make out his features. But she could make out whose blond hair glistened in the room’s light.

The last thing she wanted to see was the man who’d fallen on her as$. Realizing it was a beat too late, Liese wriggled to her feet, knowing it was useless.

Marcus knelt before her, looking oddly surprised. Though it seemed he was about to say something, her ears, still ringing, couldn’t make out his words.

“Liselotte!”

Her eyelids fluttered shut as the echoing voice hit her in the ear.

***
Her head, dark as if black paint had been spilled, lit up. Lying on the couch, Liese blinked her eyelids slowly. Through foggy eyes, she took in her surroundings.

It was an unfamiliar room, dimly lit, with a coffee table and couch in the foreground and a vase on a long console. It appeared to be a break room.

The rain pounded against the curtained windows with increasing intensity. She wondered what time it was and how long she’d been out. Her nanny would be worried if she was late getting home. ….

She remembered leaving the house with Ian, fabricating a lie about finding a client to supply apples with. Liese snapped back to reality, confronted once again with the harsh truth.

She slowly sat up, and the clothes covering her slouched body slipped down her thighs. It was Marcus’s coat.

Fragments of memories flooded her mind as she gradually regained consciousness.

The back of a nobleman, a strange old man standing by the door, a voice dismissing her fainting as a minor concussion, mixed memories of reassurance.

“You’re even worse than I expected, woman.”

A low bass voice from out of sight cut through the rain. The tone was so casual that she didn’t immediately recognize the insult in the words.

“You’re not even capable of staying still like a doll. You can’t do anything properly.”

Marcus strode over and bent down to crush his cigarette in the ashtray on the low table. Liese watched him with nervous anticipation. Displeasure flickered across his sharp-lined face.

“You should have seen how you sprawled in the doorway. It’s a good thing I found you before anyone else did. I thought you’d been attacked out of nowhere.”

“I apologize, Duke. I tripped and…”

“Funny?”

Marcus asked, turning his head to make eye contact. He repeated the question without a smile.

“Does this all seem like a joke to you?”

“It’s not; please don’t get the wrong idea.”

Liese shook her head hastily. Marcus made an exasperated sound.

“No, it isn’t. I should be the one having fun, not you.”

“…….”

“And I’m not having much fun right now.”

He leaned closer, and she could smell the heavy odor of smoke. She glanced down at an angle and his gaze fell on Liese’s face. He was staring at the exact spot where Count Smith had struck her with the envelope of money.

Liese lifted a hand and mussed the tips of her eyebrows. A small band-aid was stuck to the wound, which was covered by makeup and hair.

“Duke, this is…”

“I know it’s not from a fall, and you’ve done an awfully good job of covering it up.”

Marcus pushed off Liese’s thigh and straddled the end of the couch. Liese froze, her knees folding slightly, but she couldn’t hide her wariness. He was too close.

“Tell me. Did you cut yourself pruning with that stiff body of yours?”

A large hand gripped her chin tightly. She glanced between his peculiarly colored eyes.

She’d never seen this man look good up close and personal before. She’d been forced to lie on her stomach with her arms restrained, frisked, kneeled, and shown nothing but a skimpy chemise.

“There was a small accident.”

Liese’s eyelashes fluttered as she answered vaguely.

“It happened so fast, I barely had time to stop it from hurting me.”

Marcus watched her shake with emotion, one corner of his mouth twitching in amusement.

“You got hurt without even putting up a fight.”

“…It was my fault.”

She didn’t want to disclose any further details to him. Revealing more would only serve as another source of mockery.

“Lieselotte, you need to value yourself more.”

Cool fingers brushed Liese’s cheek.

“The only thing redeeming about you is your pale face, and I can’t imagine how I’d feel if you came home with a scar on top of that.”

It wasn’t a tone of concern for Liese’s well-being; it was a tone of disapproval at a flaw in a seemingly perfect doll.

“It was my mistake. I will be more careful to avoid getting injured. I’m truly sorry.”

It was nothing new, Liese said quietly. Marcus tightened his grip on her chin. Her lips puffed out like a goldfish.

“If you want to continue business with me, you’d better get your act together, because your usefulness is wearing thin.”

“I will keep that in mind. I won’t disobey your orders anymore.”

“You’re good at giving responses.”

Marcus clicked his tongue and released his grip on Liese.

“Your limbs are bruised from your fall, but the doctor I hastily summoned says there are no injuries worth worrying about.”

Liese wiggled her coat-covered legs and arms a little. They were a little sore in places, but nothing painful or difficult to move.

“I’m fine. I don’t have any major discomfort.”

As if to gauge her sincerity, Marcus stared at her, his gaze sliding down her exposed shoulders and arms. Liese had to resist the urge to pull the robe that covered her lower body up to her hairline.

“Your family still knows nothing about our financial dealings, right?”

Liese stared at him, then nodded. How could she tell her family that?

“They have no idea, and I intend to keep them in the dark until the end.”

Viscount Brennan had no idea of her brief stint as the duke’s servant or that she was now pretending to be his lover.

Even now, he would think she was just volunteering at the workhouse. Neither did the nanny or Charlie.

“Then I can’t send the Duke’s physician to the orchard. I’ll send a carriage for you. Come up to the mansion and have a thorough examination. We need to see if there are any other injuries on your body.”

“…Thank you for your consideration, Your Grace.”

“Don’t make unnecessary moves and behave yourself from the start.”

“I will do my best.”

Liese blinked, answering like a machine. Marcus remained silent, not pleased to see her in her current state.

More concerned about other things than her invisible injuries for the moment, Liese slowly lowered her eyes to scan her arms.

Her shoulders and inner arms were stained with reddish bruises from where she’d hit the hard stone floor. The same would be true of her legs. She didn’t have the courage to lift her skirt in front of the Duke, so she left it at that.

Though she had concealed the wound above her eyebrow as best as she could, she knew that to wear an evening dress that revealed her skin, she needed to ensure there were no visible bruises on her arms and legs. It seemed Marcus was also thinking along those lines as he spoke.

“Thanks to you, plans have been disrupted. It’s unreasonable for you to stand in front of people with those bruises. It’s best for you to rest quietly until all the bruises disappear.”

“…….”

“That means I won’t be calling on you for a while.”