My Former Lover Didn't Die And Came Back - Chapter 33

“My house is stuffy… Is that it? Townhouses… aren’t spacious.”

The adjective uttered by the woman seemed to strike a chord with the man.

The townhouses in the city center boasted exorbitant prices, but no matter how much money one spent, they could not be as spacious as the estates on the outskirts.

“……Should I buy a house for you?”

“……What?”

She was taken aback.

…He didn’t understand. Why was he acting like this?

“I find it more comfortable to sleep in my house. I’ve recovered, so there’s no reason for me to stay at your place anymore.”

Blair said. With that statement, Cedric couldn’t use the excuse that his townhouse was closer to the clinic.

“I’m fully recovered now. You heard what the doctor said.”

“……”

Indeed, both of them had heard what the doctor said when he visited the estate yesterday.

“……”

The man silently sliced the meat with his cutlery. He repeatedly cut the meat into very small pieces as if he were going to mince it even though it was already cut into sufficient sizes.

With Cedric silent, Blair also closed her mouth.

“……”

Silence is akin to consent. For some reason, she felt that the man would accommodate her request to sleep in her bedroom at Cavendish Manor.

* * *

Clang—

The gilded carriage stopped in an alley next to the opera house.

The grand opera house, resembling stacked orange pieces, was Eleanor’s landmark. With the sea spread out right in front of the theater, it looked as if oranges were floating on the sea.

Blair got off the carriage with Cedric’s escort.

“Be careful.”

When she stepped onto the ground, Cedric said,

“The snow has melted and turned into mud.”

A little mud splattered on the hem of her long dress.

“It’s okay.”

Blair said, covering her face with a veil draped in front of her hat. Although it had gotten slightly darker than during the day, she was concerned that someone might see her walking with a strange man.

Ah, she suddenly realized. The hat with a veil prepared for Blair was deliberately given to her for her sake.

“……It’s fine.”

As Blair fidgeted with the veil, Cedric said,

“It’s an opera where people wear masks. No one will know who we are.”

As he said, there were staff members at the entrance distributing masks. They covered their faces with elegant masks and watched the play from the best seats on the second floor.

* * *

When they came out after watching the play, the sky was a deep indigo-purple. Cedric peeled off Blair’s mask and overlapped it with his own.

“Shall we take a walk?”

He asked. The promenade in front of the opera house, with a view of the sea, was a popular dating course in Eleanor.

Blair carefully lifted her dress to avoid getting more mud on it. She liked her dress and hoped it wouldn’t get dirty. The salty sea air flowed into her nostrils.

Creak-creak-

Against the backdrop of the fading seagull cries, he spoke.

“……Did you say you wanted to work again?”

She stopped in her tracks.

“……I do!”

Blair turned towards him, without leaving a moment’s gap, and answered.

“Do it. I’ll support you.”

The man looked at her and said.

“……Why are you like this?”

……Did he change the way he’s tormenting me? I couldn’t believe everything this man said today.

“Am I hearing this right? You’re saying it’s okay for me to work again?”

Blair furrowed her brows and asked.

“……Why are you acting like this? When I said I wanted to work before, you clearly told me that time……”

「Do what you do best.」

The words Blair swallowed seemed to darken the man’s expression. ……He couldn’t not know what he had said.

As if his reaction wasn’t her concern, Blair grabbed Cedric’s jacket and said.

“Cedric.”

“Yeah.”

“Then…… can you release an article? Our company’s reputation is somewhat,”

Then the man interrupted her.

“There’s a condition.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t like that you’re doing business under the Cavendish name.”

“Ah, it’s the business my husband left me……”

“……”

“……Well, can’t help it. I am Blair Cavendish.”

Blair said as she shrugged her shoulders.

A moment of silence passed between the man and woman facing each other. Cedric suddenly closed his mouth, and Blair was puzzled but remained quiet.

Swoosh, only the sound of distant waves crashing could be heard.

As Cedric straightened up, his already upright posture became even more rigid.

“……Blair.”

“……Yes?”

Suddenly feeling a tightness in her back at the man’s solemn voice.

“I’ll release Cavendish from prison.”

“……”

Ah.

When the man spoke more seriously, uttering astonishing words, Blair let out a small moan. The crumpled jacket lapel fell from her hand, stiff as stone.

“So.”

“……”

“Divorce him.”

“……”

“And start over with me.”

……What? What did I just hear?

Blair furrowed her brows and asked.

“……Why are you like this?”

“Why do you think?”

“Do you, by any chance, have feelings for me?”

The sky grew darker. The indigo-purple sky slowly filled with black. The man looked at her with an indescribable expression for a moment before saying.

“Yes.”

“……Did you forget my family sold you into slavery?”

The man pressed his lips tightly for a moment before answering in a low voice.

“……I forgave them.”

“……Even though I was deceived, I still participated. Did you forget I led you to the train station?”

At that, the man kept silent for a bit longer than before. Then, after moving his lips a few times, he answered.

“I’ll forgive you.”

The man said with a faint smile. But his lips were upturned but his eyes were not smiling.

“……”

Blair felt somehow suffocated.

Strange. Each syllable the man uttered seemed to be… seemed tinged with sorrow. As she looked at his face again, his golden eyes were as usual. A faintly elegant smile seemed painted on his lips.

Did he read some dating manual somewhere? Today, the man had been gentle all day long.

But it was strange. He was clearly smiling but…… why.

“Why……?”

Blair asked with a voice full of wonder. Why would he feel like forgiving me?

……I must be mistaken. Does ‘sorrow’ even suit this stone-like man? I must have heard wrong. Because of this place, because of this weather.

“Why else, Blair.”

The man said with a sigh mixed with laughter. Finally, a black-purple color shrouded his golden eyes.

“……Because I love you.”

The carriage he sent before the date, excellent fine dining, fully bloomed flowers, watching opera at sunset. The perfect date she had dreamed of since she was a girl.

The man who led a romantic date all day long concluded it with a confession of love.

“……”

It made me curious.

What kind of face do ordinary men make when they confess? What kind of expression do other women see on their partner’s face when receiving a proposal?

Because, the face of the man in front of me looked as if……

A man standing against the backdrop of the splendid opera house spoke.

“Because I love you. Because even if I try, I can’t let you go. Because I love you enough to want to cover even your faults.”

…He has a face as if he was standing on the edge of a sheer cliff.

4. Stormy Hill

The opera house, majestically built against the backdrop of the sea, was the pride of Blue Port City. In front of the orange-shaped building stood a picturesque man and woman. The man was dressed in the uniform of the Eleanor Imperial army. The woman was in a beautiful dress, which had a neckline too deep for the chilly weather, but it didn’t look bare thanks to the mink shawl wrapped around her shoulders.

A salty wind breezed past the two standing in front of the opera house, disturbing the silence.

“……”

Blair slowly raised a hand to tuck her disheveled bangs behind her ear. Her hand trembled, making even simple movements take time.

Her red lips, which had been pressed together for quite some time, parted.

“……Why are you suddenly acting like this, it doesn’t suit you.”

“……Blair.”

“If you’re teasing me, it’s best to stop.”

“It’s not teasing.”

“You might not know, but I’m a bit tired.”

“……!”

Cedric’s eyes noticeably shook when Blair said she was ‘tired.’

“……I do know.”

A desolate voice came from Cedric as he washed his face dry.

“So stop teasing me.”

“It’s not teasing.”

“If it’s not teasing, what then? Does it make sense? You love me? Do you want me to say it again? My parents sold you as a slave!”

“They did sell me into slavery……!”

Cedric’s voice rose, startling Blair. Not wanting to scare her anymore, he moderated his voice in response to her reaction.

“……Whether it’s you, your parents, or someone completely different doesn’t matter.”

He spoke again in his usual voice, trying his best not to mix emotions.

“……”

But the woman in front of him still looked bewildered.

“Don’t you understand what I’m saying, Blair?”

“……”

“It’s not a big problem for me. Even if you did something worse to me, it doesn’t matter.”

The man furrowed his brows and watched her intently as he spoke.

“……”

“Even if you did worse things to me, I can’t let you go now.”

“……I don’t understand what you’re saying at all. Why are you suddenly like this?”

Silence flowed between them for a while.

“……”

“……”

Cedric dropped his gaze to the floor, finding it hard to look into her eyes.

“……I just realized my feelings while you were lying sick in bed.”

…No, that’s a lie. I knew my heart much earlier than that. I just used what happened to Blair as an excuse to bring her to my house.

“……My parents did terrible things to you. Do you want to make such people your family?”

“To make them family and get along very well, …I want that.”

He raised his head again and met her eyes as he spoke. Blair swallowed at Cedric’s earnest answer.

“……I don’t understand……”

Blair shook her head, her long blonde hair fluttering in the wind.

Nothing about this man’s words or actions today made sense. Why he treated her this way. As if he truly……

…liked her……

Something suddenly hot surged up in her throat. Blair raised her hand to cover her mouth. It wasn’t out of happiness or being moved. Rather, it was a feeling closer to sorrow.