“David.”

Suddenly, the sound of a stone fragment scraping underfoot broke the silence.

“Get up now. We should head back,” Catherine said. David jerked his head up quickly. She spoke with absolute certainty that he would return with her. Her demeanor remained composed, showing no sign of noticing David’s emotional state. Or perhaps she simply didn’t care enough to notice.

David saw Catherine hunch her shoulders. After the commotion they’d experienced with no movement since, she seemed to finally feel winter’s chill. He reflexively stood up, removed his coat, and draped it over her shoulders. Feeling its weight, Catherine turned her gaze toward him.

In the pitch darkness, her equally dark eyes stared directly at him.

David knew those eyes shone like beautiful deep green jewels when touched by sunlight. He recognized when they darkened with worry and concern, and when they sparkled with clear light full of affection.

Yet none of those expressions belonged to him. They shouldn’t become his, nor could they ever be.

Catherine’s eyes looking at David possessed a resilient light like sharp leaves that never withered even in winter’s chill.

A firmly closed door stood before him—one that couldn’t be peered through unless it was knocked upon and answered in return.

For a fleeting moment, David saw that closed door again. Despite their intimate exchange of breath moments ago, Catherine remained unchanged. David found this endearing, yet he couldn’t trust these feelings within himself, so he stepped back.

After retreating, he hesitated as he tried to step forward again. He wavered, conflicted between wanting to be discovered and wanting to remain hidden. He felt like strangling himself.

“Thank you,” Catherine said after briefly observing David’s rigid face, then lowered her gaze. The day was cold, and the coat warmed by his body heat felt comforting.

She dismissed David’s kindness in offering his coat as mere courtesy since their return journey wasn’t far.

While Catherine felt the cold of the winter air, David experienced an unquenchable dryness. The two misaligned souls walked along the winding path bordered by broom shrubs.

David matched his pace to Catherine’s somewhat slower than usual, tired steps. Their synchronized footfalls quietly broke the frozen air.

After passing the winding path lined with broom shrubs, the stretched colonnade soon came into view.

David expected Catherine to head in that direction, but she paused briefly. Turning to face him, she spoke as though suddenly remembering something.

“Earlier, I spoke with the gamekeeper.”

Catherine’s gaze rested on David, lingering to gauge his reaction or expecting him to share something. The low wind rustled the bare, skeletal branches of the leafless broom shrubs, cascading sounds around their feet.

“He said you two were close brothers when you were young.”

Then Catherine turned and walked away, her attitude suggesting she had merely wanted to say those words without any attachment.

David watched her jet-black hair flutter in the wind before hastily quickening his pace to close the distance between them. Soon both entered the shade cast by the colonnade.

Though he hadn’t been running, his heart pounded. He felt shallow, short breaths brushing past the tip of his nose. Unable to wait for his breathing to normalize, David hastily spoke.

“We were.”

After composing his labored breathing, he continued, “When we were young. It’s an old story.”

“Until the accident?”

“Yes… well. Until then…”

David answered absently, but upon meeting Catherine’s gaze, he belatedly realized his carelessness. He immediately closed his mouth, but it was already too late.

“So there was an accident,” Catherine said, looking at him.

Of all people, Saul and David themselves would know best about what happened to the Cavendish brothers that day. And David had mentioned an accident, not a fight.

Catherine wanted to ask David more, but his closed expression told her instinctively that he wouldn’t elaborate.

Unlike moments before when he seemed lost in thought, David’s gaze was now clear and alert. This left her feeling somewhat disappointed.

Nevertheless, Catherine didn’t show it and continued walking. Her effort hadn’t been entirely fruitless. Judging by David’s flustered reaction when mentioning the “accident,” he clearly had no intention of revealing anything about it to Catherine.

What kind of accident could it have been?

Now apparently fully composed, David offered no further comment. Catherine deliberately refrained from asking more. There would be other opportunities.

She pulled the coat closer, thinking. As she absently lowered her hand along the edge she was fastening, her fingers caught on something, causing her to hesitate.

“Wait a moment.”

Fortunately, as David spoke these words while blocking her path, he didn’t seem to notice her hesitation. Regardless, Catherine blinked in confusion at his sudden restraining gesture. 

Standing in the entrance leading to the main building’s corridor, David gently pushed back on Catherine’s shoulders.

“I’ll go in first. Please wait here for a moment.”

“Why suddenly…”

Catherine began to question his unexpected request but stopped when she noticed David’s gaze sweeping over her appearance.

Following his eyes, her own gaze dropped then slowly rose again. Though the dirt had been brushed off, she now noticed her disheveled appearance and hair.

Catherine lifted her head. Seeing David standing there in a similar state, she finally understood his reasoning, yet simultaneously blinked in confusion.

“Go straight to your room,” he said.

Seemingly uninterested in addressing her confusion, David tossed out these words before Catherine could respond, then turned away. With quick steps, he disappeared into the main building.

A brief commotion could be felt inside as David, who had been absent nearly the entire day, reappeared. Catherine stood there momentarily as instructed, puzzled by his inexplicable consideration.

While waiting, she slipped her hand inside David’s coat. In the inner pocket, her fingers touched something hard and elongated. It felt similar to the glass vial David had given her earlier.

Watching the still-bustling interior, Catherine carefully removed the object from the pocket. Looking at what she held, it was indeed a glass vial as expected. However, unlike what she had anticipated, it didn’t contain water.

It appeared to be some kind of powder. Catherine held the vial up toward the light leaking from inside.

* * *

Light slid along the silhouette of the glass vial.

Catherine gently moved her fingertips to shake the vial. The contents inside the small container shifted.

What first caught her eye looked like dried plants broken into coarse powder-like particles. Between them, fine intermingled powders became visible.

Holding the neck of the bottle, Catherine rubbed the decorated portion of the lid while deep in thought. This powder, made from at least two or three dried and ground plants, emitted that sharp scent she had found nauseating the previous night.

Other intertwined fragrances pierced her nostrils like sharp jabs. Due to the mixture of various scents, she couldn’t identify which plants had been dried.

Suddenly, a knock sounded. Her hand stopped rubbing the decoration. Catherine looked up. Through the half-open door, the figure of an extremely tired-looking man appeared.

“My lady. Did you call for me?”

It was Samuel. A quick-witted young girl approached the doorway and hastily opened the door completely. Catherine waited for Samuel to enter following the girl’s guidance, then offered him a seat.

While Samuel took the seat Catherine offered, the girl brought in warm tea. She then set out dried fruits and a few simple baked pastries before quietly leaving.

Neither person spoke until the soft click of the closing door. Samuel slowly massaged his neck, seemingly trying to shake off drowsiness, but when Catherine turned her gaze to him, he lowered his hand and straightened his posture. Samuel asked:

“Are you feeling unwell?”

Since this was the first time Catherine had summoned Samuel to her private reception room, he appeared somewhat tense.

At the same time, his attentive gaze carefully examined Catherine’s complexion. She lightly shook her head.

“No. I called you because I wanted to ask something.”

“What sort of…?”

Watching Samuel’s hazelnut-like eyes roll slightly, Catherine once again fingered the decoration on the vial. Observing him closely without breaking her gaze, she placed the glass vial on the table.

“Do you know what this is?” Catherine asked, pushing the vial toward Samuel.

“May I take a closer look?”

Samuel requested, squinting at the contents of the bottle. After Catherine nodded in permission, Samuel carefully picked up the vial, raised it to eye level, gently shook it, and then opened the lid.