Chapter 2

There was no room to shrink back from that open appraisal or to feel hurt by it. Melian only hoped that this rude, uninvited guest would not be turned away at the gate without even being given a chance to see the young lady.

Fortunately, the servant did not drive away at once the young man claiming to be Lady Helena’s classmate. He opened the gate and stepped aside.

“Come in.”

“Thank you.”

Melian did not refuse. He quickly went inside. After shutting the gate again, the servant examined Melian with the same sharp eyes. His gaze lingered on the mud-stained boots, then traveled upward over his passably neat clothes, and finally settled on the uninvited guest’s face.

“I will show you to the annex first. If you wait there, I will send word to the young lady.”

“Where is the young lady now?”

“She stepped out into the forest for a while. I do not know when she will return.”

“I understand.”

When the servant started walking first, Melian quietly followed behind. As he had explained beforehand, the servant led him to the manor’s annex. After passing through several corridors and doors, the servant showed him into a room. It was a cozy place that looked like a sitting room. Beyond the open window, a garden bloomed with white summer flowers.

“Please wait here.”

“Yes.”

The servant closed the door at once and left. Left alone, Melian looked out the window for a moment before sitting awkwardly on the sofa. He neatly folded his clasped hands on his knees, lowered his eyes, and took deep breaths one after another. He was trying to stay calm, if only by doing that. Even so, his heart was still beating unpleasantly fast.

How much time had passed like that? It felt like he had waited about ten minutes. The door opened, and the person he had been waiting for entered. Melian froze for a moment, then hastily got to his feet.

“Mr. Raison.”

Helena Millium looked exactly as Melian remembered her.

Her long black hair fell in abundant waves, and her round, large eyes shone with a sweetness like melted caramel. The dark crimson riding outfit clinging to her body revealed her slender curves.

“It has been a long time.”

Her voice, too, had not changed at all from his memory. For an instant, Melian was seized by distant memories so strongly that he could hardly breathe.

The past he had deliberately buried in the bottom of his unconscious after leaving school, vowing never to look back on it again, came back piece by piece and overwhelmed him.

Melian barely shook them off. This was not the time to sink into old regrets, lose his center, and be tossed about by them.

He thought of his father waiting for him at home and his elder brother being held far away in the northern region. For his family, he struggled to remain composed. He trampled down his memories and focused on the present.

“……Yes, it has been a long time.”

Somehow, he managed to speak in a normal voice. Then he placed a hand over his chest and bowed deeply toward the young lady. At once, it was proper etiquette and a way to avoid meeting her eyes.

Helena Millium did not respond. She merely stood there, staring down at the back of Melian’s head. Quietly, he tensed. Cold sweat formed on his forehead as he stared at the floor.

‘Surely I am not going to be thrown out like this?’

Even now, Melian wavered inwardly, unable to decide whether he should begin offering lengthy apologies for appearing like an uninvited guest, or whether continuing to remain silent would be better than moving his mouth uselessly.

The young lady remained silent. At this point, it felt even ruder for him to stay quiet as well. Melian squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth to begin apologizing. Right then, the young lady spoke.

“Please sit.”

It was a polite tone. Excessively polite.

Secretly, Melian felt hurt. And then he realized how absurd it was for him to feel hurt at all.

“……Thank you.”

Melian sat back down on the sofa. Then he suddenly remembered that there was only one sofa in this room and hesitated. The young lady was still standing; was it all right for him alone to sit?

The young lady herself did not seem to care. She brought over the stool standing by itself in the corner of the room, sat on it, and faced Melian. Melian said hurriedly,

“I will sit there. Please, do sit on the sofa.”

“I’m fine, so just speak. Why have you come?”

The young lady answered calmly. Melian faltered. Was it only his imagination that those words sounded like, ‘Say whatever business you have and then leave at once’? Or was it simply his own inferiority speaking?

Melian steadied his wavering heart. He pushed down the weak part of himself that wanted to run away because he was afraid of being hurt even more than he already was. Thinking of his father and his brother, he forced himself with difficulty to speak.

“First of all, I am sorry for coming without sending word. My sudden appearance must have startled you greatly.”

“It’s all right. I’m sure you had your reasons. So what exactly is the matter?”

“……I have suddenly found myself in need of money. I am trying to gather what money there is at home and solve it as best I can, but I cannot promise that the amount will be enough.”

Melian continued in a halting voice. Seeing the young lady’s already round eyes grow even wider, he felt as though he wanted to die on the spot. Holding back his shame, he spoke in as steady a voice as possible.

“So if perhaps, if it is possible, I wondered whether you might be able to help me a little. I will repay the money somehow. You may take as much interest as you wish. Even if it takes my whole life, I will repay it, so if you would help me just this once…….”

Melian, who had thrown away his pride, swallowed his self-contempt, and pleaded desperately, let the end of his sentence trail off when he saw the young lady’s face harden. At the sight of that expression, hope vanished. He gave up the vain dream.

‘Yes, it was absurd from the start.’

Why would a young lady who is not even close to me lend me money, and on what grounds?

In truth, he had known from the beginning. He knew perfectly well that there was no way this would work, coming to her suddenly without sending word in advance, relying only on an old acquaintance, and abruptly asking to borrow money.

Even knowing all of that, he had been so desperate, with his only brother now in trouble and no idea whom he should ask for help, that the person who came to his half-dazed mind was, of all people, Lady Millium.

This was the first time he had ever done such a thing. Trusting in the fact that the young lady was wealthy, trusting in the fact that she did not send away those who sought her help empty-handed, he had shamelessly come to ask to borrow money.

But his shameless expectation had failed. The young lady’s expression now was not benevolent at all. Rather, she simply stared at him quietly with a cold, hardened face. Melian felt his heart drop.

‘How pitiful must I look?’

His cheeks flared hot. It even felt as if the rims of his ears were burning. Melian gave up his false bravado and clenched his fists. Bowing his head and looking down at his knees, he spoke in a dispirited voice.

“I have made far too difficult a request. I am sorry. Please forget it.”

Since he had been an uninvited guest from beginning to end, he had not expected to remain at ease and be served tea. Melian sensed that it was time for him to leave. But then, Lady Millium suddenly asked,

“How much money do you need?”

“Pardon?”

“Tell me the exact amount. Only then can I decide whether I will help you or not.”

Hearing her calm words, Melian doubted his ears. He examined her expression, wondering if perhaps she was testing him, but she only seemed serious.