Chapter 32 – Go Ahead and Play as Much as You Want

“I feel bad for no reason. I had no idea you couldn’t play tennis, Miss Sasha.”

Christopher scratched the back of his head with an awkward look as he stared at Sasha’s retreating figure, already moving farther away.

“It’s a sport that’s recently become fashionable mainly in Laurent society. It probably hasn’t made its way down to a place like this yet.”

As though reproaching Christopher’s thoughtlessness, Eleonore spoke, then immediately turned to Robert.

“Robert, really, why spend your holiday in a place like this? If you like somewhere quiet, shall I recommend a nice resort to you?”

“I think this place seems all right too. It may be small, but it has the sea.”

Christopher whistled and objected.

“But there isn’t even a single tennis racket.”

At Eleonore’s complaint-laced reply, Robert, who had only been listening until then, opened his mouth.

“Do you want to play tennis that badly?”

“I only learned recently, so I’ve started to find it fun. If possible, I’d like to practice often. If I can get help from skilled gentlemen, I’m sure my ability will improve quickly.”

Eleonore said in a charming tone.

“But the numbers still don’t work.”

“Then couldn’t you and I be on one team? Of the three of us, Christopher is the most skilled, after all.”

Without giving up, Eleonore proposed it. Robert gave a light smile and, contrary to expectations, readily accepted.

“Wait here. I think I saw some rackets in the storage room, so I’ll go bring them.”

“You’re really going to play tennis?”

Christopher, who had assumed Robert would naturally refuse, asked in surprise instead. Before anyone could stop him, Robert turned around and disappeared in the direction of Hawthorn Mansion, following after Sasha.

While Eleonore and Christopher, left behind in the open lot, shared the water they had brought and waited with yawns, Robert returned soon enough. In the box he carried were three rackets and round balls. Pleased by the fact that the Duke would not even spare himself this trouble for her sake, Eleonore asked in an especially softened voice,

“Thank you for going all the way back to the mansion. If I had known I would put you to so much trouble, perhaps I should never have brought up tennis. By the way, what was Miss Sasha doing back at the mansion? I’m worried whether she might be having a hard time dealing with Leroy, since he’s a difficult child.”

Without much reaction, Robert only tested the grip of the tennis racket in his hand. Spiteful, Eleonore added one more thing.

“I don’t know why Leroy is like this. He absolutely refuses to talk with strangers, so even finding a tutor has been difficult. I wasn’t like that in my childhood, so perhaps he takes after his father. Were you perhaps like that when you were young too?”

Only Christopher, who could not understand what she meant, stood there blankly. At Eleonore’s bold, almost reckless words, Robert narrowed the space between his brows. Even so, Eleonore paid it no mind.

‘Now that your father, who ruined my life, is dead, you as his son should bear that responsibility, Robert de Guienne.’

“Your son is doing just fine and playing well enough. So don’t worry about that, and just go play the tennis match you wanted so much.”

Robert said it while bouncing the ball on the ground. And the first game they began was taken easily by Christopher. Not long after they started the second game, Robert began rapidly driving Christopher back.

The ball rose high over the net. Eleonore watched the green ball pass above like a cloud. In the brief moment her attention drifted, Robert came running in and swung his racket, smashing the ball down hard.

“Have you gone mad?”

Avoiding it with a flinch, Christopher asked with an incredulous look. The ball that had flown off was already rolling far away. Feeling at the ground, he found that the place where the ball had struck had been dented in.

“What is it? Surely you’re not angry?”

Eleonore asked, watching his mood, but Robert remained calm. With a face as if nothing were wrong, he made a show of rolling his shoulders a few times.

“I must have overdone it just now. I can’t play any more, so you two finish on your own.”

A fresh smile was resting at the corners of the man’s mouth as he said he would head back first.

“Let me see. Are you badly hurt? If you’re leaving, what sort of tennis are we supposed to play by ourselves? Let’s go back to the mansion together and call a doctor.”

With a worried face, Eleonore approached him. But Robert stepped back before her hand could touch him.

“No. You said you wanted to play tennis earlier. So the two of you go and play as much as you want.”

He spoke as though warning them. As though telling them not to make meaningless the trouble he had gone to in bringing the rackets. At that cold, firm tone, Eleonore struggled to hide how flustered and hurt she felt, and withdrew her hand. Before she could even try to stop him a second time, Robert had already gone back to the mansion.

“Madame, disappointing as it may be, I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with me today. In exchange, I’ll let you practice to your heart’s content.”

From the other side of the net, Christopher laughed playfully as he bounced the ball. Swallowing a sigh, Eleonore barely managed to grip the racket again.

* * *

Sasha was having trouble spending time with Leroy. Leroy had no interest at all in anything active. Even when she suggested playing badminton, he only glanced at her and ignored her as if he had not heard. He sat in a sunny spot, staring blankly at the sky or lost in his own thoughts.

That looked very peaceful. Sasha gave up on trying to play with Leroy and sat down beside him, looking at the clouds together. Not that doing so helped sort out the tangled thoughts in her head.

Leto, the black cat, came walking elegantly through the bushes and stretched out his body. Settling down beside Sasha, the cat licked its front paw and purred.

“Is this cat yours, Noona?”

Leroy, having spotted the cat, showed interest for the first time. Black hair and green eyes. When she had first seen him, his appearance had startled her because he looked so much like Mr. Robert. Sasha shook her head.

“Not exactly, but I feed him sometimes, so he recognizes me.”

Leroy made a meow sound and tried calling Leto. Without even glancing his way, the cat ignored him, scratched hard at the dirt with its front paw, then this time bit into a weed and tore at it.

“Do cats eat grass too?”

“I don’t think so. I think he’s just doing it because he’s bored.”

Sasha beckoned toward Leto. The picky cat again did not budge, only blinking its green eyes. After a short standoff, Sasha pretended not to care, dusted herself off, and stood up. Only when she showed signs of leaving did Leto start trotting after her. Delighted, Leroy followed behind as well.

With the child and the cat in tow, Sasha circled around the garden several times. At last, worn out, Leroy lay down on a beach chair in the garden and fell asleep. Even with his eyes closed, he did not let go of Sasha’s hand, which he was holding tightly. Giving him her hand, Sasha hummed a lullaby. Golden sunlight quietly settled down through the deep greenery. She was not sleepy, but she felt endlessly languid.

* * *

When Robert returned to the mansion and found Sasha and Leroy, the two were asleep side by side. Her prominent chest rose and fell.

It was his garden. He was the owner. Then why did he have to feel as though he were sneaking around and peeping? Robert did not like that fact.

He deliberately made his footsteps loud, and Sasha, waking at once, sprang up. She was clearly flustered, with a face that showed she had not expected him to return alone.

“This. I went to the bank with my grandmother yesterday. I was going to give it to you today, but your guests were here, so I couldn’t keep finding a chance.”

Sasha fumbled a little, then took an envelope out of her pocket and held it out. When he did not take it and only looked at it as if asking what it was, Sasha added an explanation.

“It’s the money for the hotel room you paid for in Laurent. I didn’t know the exact price of the art supplies, so I put in a little more than what they cost in Manolie.”

Robert did not take the paper envelope. He had never intended from the start to be repaid the money he had spent because of Sasha in Laurent.

“If I meant to get it back, I wouldn’t have paid it in the first place.”

Why did she not understand that. Did she really think he had returned to Manolie and would take money from her? A faint smile touched the ends of his lips.

“Why? Why won’t you take anything from me?”

“Because I don’t particularly want to.”

“Is it because you’re rich, Mr. Robert, and I’m not?”

Sasha looked straight at him. She wore a wounded, proud expression. Suddenly, he found himself thinking that he wanted to see that child’s face when she was not smiling. It felt as though he had never seen Sasha make such a face. Not even once since he had come to know her.

“Yes.”

Robert answered quietly. Sasha trembled. That face brimming with defiance felt unfamiliar.

Mr. Robert.

Since when had the form of address he had accepted as natural started to grate on him? Had it been from after he heard Sasha call Christopher by name during the badminton game? Ever since coming back, this place had been full of things that irritated him.

“Robert.”

“Hm?”

At his own name suddenly coming out of his mouth, Sasha blinked.

“Why am I ‘Mr. Robert’ like that? You called Christopher whatever you liked.”

“That was because we were in the middle of a game earlier. I was in a hurry, so I couldn’t exactly call out slowly.”

Sasha looked flustered. Even after hearing that explanation, which was hardly an explanation at all, Robert still could not understand. He liked Christopher. He thought highly of him as a friend as well. But that did not mean it was all right for him to grow close to Sasha Vinoche however he pleased.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Sasha asked in a shrinking voice. Robert fell into thought. This woman was someone only he should know. It might have been a possessive desire over the talent of an undiscovered artist he had found in the early days, but that was how he felt.

What meaning was there in something like hanging in the Salon exhibition? It would be fine even if Sasha never gained fame as a painter. No, rather, he felt that might even be better.