Chapter 18

“…Duke?”

Rabiana’s eyes widened in surprise. Alberto let go of her hand and sighed softly.

“Compassion, when the situation doesn’t allow for it, is just meddling.”

“…”

Her chest tightened at the implication—that worrying about the nest despite being blind was overstepping. Rabiana barely swallowed the surge of emotion.

Alberto was right. Climbing a tree blindly could harm both her and the baby birds. She knew that, but still couldn’t bring herself to walk away from them. Her heart raced at the thought that the mother bird might abandon the chicks if they were touched.

“…I’m sorry.”

Alberto had intended only to scold her, but her visibly dispirited expression made him sigh again. With a wave of his hand, he sent Julia away. Once the maid had left the trail, Alberto picked up the fallen nest.

Without saying a word, he climbed the tree. He didn’t feel like announcing that he was putting the nest back.

But somehow, Rabiana noticed.

“Duke, did you climb up?”

She nervously reached toward the tree, looking unsettled. Alberto, adept at climbing, placed the nest securely on a sturdy branch, then climbed back down.

As he did, Rabiana stepped backward, missing a rock behind her foot and slipping.

“Ah!”

Alberto caught her by the waist, pulling her toward him. At the sudden closeness, Rabiana froze and held her breath.

“You really are a handful.”

“You have a talent for creating trouble where there need be none.”

Alberto’s tone was critical, but this time Rabiana didn’t feel hurt. Because that same criticism could just as easily apply to him.

It wasn’t his responsibility to care whether she wanted to return the nest or not. Yet instead of calling someone else, he did it himself.

Whatever the reason, his actions showed that he’d considered her feelings.

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t do it to hear your gratitude.”

“But still.”

Rabiana’s nose turned red as she looked at Alberto grumbling. He did everything for her yet scolded her afterward—just like someone she once knew.

Well. If that boy were still alive, would he act the same toward her now?

Strange.

Whenever she looked at Alberto, memories of Vel surfaced.

“You cry so often it’s hard to keep up.”

Cluck—Alberto clicked his tongue and withdrew his hand. He pressed gently beneath her eyes. A tear pooled and dropped.

“Why are you crying?”

“…It’s just… someone came to mind.”

Rabiana pressed down the weight in her chest. She missed Vel terribly. The loss she had tried hard to bury wrapped around her.

‘If you fall in the creek, just stand up. Why cry?’

‘If a dog looks like it’ll bite, shout at it.’

Yet Vel had always helped her—and Alberto resembled him. The absurd wish that Alberto were Vel crept into her heart. She wiped her tears.

She wiped and wiped, but the more she did, the more tears fell.

“The man you said I resemble?”

Alberto recalled what Rabiana had mentioned on their first night. A reasonable suspicion arose.

The memories that flashed when he found her in the woods, the burn scars on his back, and how she kept saying he reminded her of someone—

A strange thought came: that man might actually be himself. Impossible, and yet…

“What did you mean when you said you haven’t been able to meet him for a long time?”

Rabiana bit her trembling lips. She should say that Vel was dead, but the words wouldn’t come. More than ten years had passed. She ought to accept his death, yet she did not want to.

There’s no way… but still, she wished he were alive.

“He just… went far away.”

“Far?”

“By now, he’s probably doing well. Living the life he wanted.”

Though he was likely in the afterlife, Rabiana hoped that his dreams had come true.

She didn’t want to talk about this topic. Every word she uttered felt like slicing her heart with a razor-sharp blade.

Alberto gently touched her cheek, wiping her tears as he tried to sort through his thoughts.

There was no way the man she spoke of was him. It didn’t make sense. He was just someone who happened to share similarities. Yet, he wanted to believe so badly that he was that man—it was ridiculous. Alberto let out a quiet sigh.

“You cry whenever you speak about him.”

“…”

“Was it… something painful?”

Alberto found Rabiana’s crying both troublesome and impossible to ignore. Her throat burned as she swallowed, shaking her head. She finally managed to whisper:

“He was… my first love.”

“Ah.”

Alberto felt strangely empty. Just moments ago, he had entertained the foolish notion that he might be that man. How laughable.

Even if she were blind, a first love was unforgettable—his voice, his breath, his gait. She would have known.

He quickly lost interest. Rabiana’s first love didn’t matter much to him now. The only reason it had irritated him during their wedding night was that it seemed disrespectful to talk about another man in front of her new husband. That was all. Even now, he was only mildly surprised—nothing more.

“I’m sorry. I’m not usually like this…”

Rabiana quickly wiped her tears. It was as if her tear glands were broken. Alberto lowered his hand from her face. Feeling uneasy, Rabiana forced herself to stop crying and gave a small smile. She hadn’t cried in front of someone in so long—it embarrassed her.

“If this is your usual walking time, please go ahead. I’ll head back first.”

The last time they’d met on this path—when Julia had pushed her into that walk—Alberto had been angry, telling her not to appear during his walks ever again.

Of course, she had already checked with Julia before coming here, so Rabiana found Alberto’s sudden appearance a bit puzzling—but she assumed his schedule must’ve cleared up.

Rabiana never forgot her place as a guest.

She was a duchess in name only. All of this was temporary—borrowed. None of it belonged to her.

Alberto didn’t stop her when she turned away. Watching her walk off with her cane, looking ready to collapse at any moment, he thought bitterly:

So she’s going to keep going in that state.

“If you have nothing better to do,” Alberto said, making Rabiana pause mid-step,

“then spend your time in my office.”

“…Pardon?”

Rabiana turned slightly, surprised by the unexpected suggestion from a man who’d once barked at her to leave the walking path. A faint silhouette of him stood still in place.

“I don’t want you wandering around and getting lost again like last time. It’s a bother to others.”

“Oh… that won’t happen ag—” Rabiana began, but Alberto cut her off.

“I don’t have the time to keep worrying about you.”

“…”

“So just stay somewhere I can keep an eye on you.”

Only then did Rabiana realize it wasn’t a suggestion—it was an order. Still, even that felt like she was being a burden to him.

“I’ll just stay in my room.”

A nauseating wave hit her like motion sickness.

Alberto didn’t say anything in return. He simply resumed walking to exit the path.

Maybe he didn’t mean it. Maybe she had made things awkward for him.

But then she heard hurried footsteps coming up behind her.

“Excuse me a moment.”

“W-What?!”

Alberto hoisted Rabiana onto his shoulder. The sudden rush of blood to her head flustered her, and she panicked. He locked her legs in place and walked straight off the path.

“W-Where are we going?!”

“Where do you think? My room.”

Given their earlier conversation, it was clear that “his room” meant the office.

“Why… I’ll really just stay in my bedroom,” Rabiana insisted.

Alberto replied indifferently,

“Keeping you in front of me is the only way to keep you from causing trouble.”

Just look now—he had been working, and yet he ended up following her out to the walking path.

Even if she said she’d stay in her room, there was no telling where she might run off to.

More than anything, Alberto figured it was better for his own peace of mind to just keep her where he could see her.