<Chapter 4> The Day the Rain Poured

The day the Duchess collapsed was a sweltering summer day. On quiet nights, the chirping of grasshoppers sang lullabies, and on fresh mornings, the clear summer days were filled with the chirping of birds.

On that day, when no one dreamed that a misfortune would occur, Elizabeth and Kiern went to the valley to cool off.

In the scorching heat, fanning oneself became a busy task. Unlike Elizabeth, Kiern had already rolled up his pants and was half-submerged in the valley water.

As Elizabeth hesitated, putting her hand in and out of the water without daring to step in, Kiern approached her.

“Ellie, are you really not coming in?”

“It’s a bit embarrassing.”

Honestly, she might have already jumped into the water more than ten times. The coolness of the water touching her hands would blow away the current heat at once.

Nevertheless, she hesitated because her summer clothes were thin. She thought if she dipped her feet, she’d want to submerge her body too, and then she’d end up completely soaked. So she decided not to go into the water at all.

Kiern reached out his hand and said,

“We brought spare clothes anyway. At least dip your feet.”

Elizabeth quietly stared at his beckoning hand. The sunlight filtering through the tree leaves shattered like sparkles on his hand.

It seemed to be shining, and Elizabeth, as if enchanted, reached out her hand. And at that moment, the coolness rushed in at her toes.

The hem of her dress touched the water, turning a deep shade. At the same time, the stifling heat vanished in an instant. As Elizabeth flinched in surprise, Kiern wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“Oh, it’s cold.”

“How is it? Aren’t you glad you came in?”

He tilted his head to meet her eyes. His smiling face captivated her like a beauty in a famous painting.

As Elizabeth nodded absentmindedly, he slowly led her to deeper waters. Her initial resolve to just dip her feet lasted only a few minutes.

Elizabeth, already wet, made excuses that it couldn’t be helped and walked with him into the deeper part. His pants were also soaked in a deep color like hers.

There was no one around. Of course, this was because the forest was owned by the Agaphel family, and no one could enter without the family’s permission.

Thus, they could act more boldly. As the water reached their waists, the hem of her dress puffed up like a balloon.

Being a light summer dress, the chiffon shimmered like fish scales. It felt like she had become a mermaid, so she fearlessly let go of his hand and splashed around.

Kiern, who was watching her blankly, remarked,

“You said you wouldn’t come in.”

“I changed my mind once I got in.”

“Of course.”

Kiern snickered and began swimming along with her. Unlike her upright swimming, Kiern’s movements were unrestrained. He dove in and soaked his entire body, to the point where she watched him in a daze.

Swimming in clothes, in any manner, was quite enjoyable. Perhaps it was because he was there that she felt more at ease.

Because she believed he would save her if she fell into the water.

It was while they were splashing around for a while. Moving carelessly, she slipped on a slippery rock and fell backward.

“Elizabeth!”

Startled, she floundered in the water until someone grabbed her waist and pulled her up. Safely brought to the surface, Elizabeth clung to Kiern’s shoulder.

In the midst of struggling, she had ended up in quite a deep place. The fear of not being able to touch the bottom gradually subsided thanks to Kiern’s presence.

Elizabeth leaned against Kiern’s shoulder, coughing. Trying to swim with only her lower body to avoid getting wet had ironically left her completely drenched. She laughed at how foolish she thought she was. Kiern laughed aloud following her.

“Really, what are you laughing at? You almost gave me a heart attack.”

At his scolding, she pouted and tried to hold back her laughter, but couldn’t stop it from escaping.

Eventually, Elizabeth’s loud laughter rang clearly around them. How long had they laughed like that?

Elizabeth belatedly realized how close she was to him. The hand tightly gripping her waist gave a sense of security and a strange pressure at the same time.

Elizabeth, who occasionally felt a subtle intimidation from him, found it difficult to manage her expression. As the laughter gradually faded, tension filled the air.

Kiern’s gaze, looking up at her, also became somewhat awkward, just like Elizabeth.

His blue eyes shone as clearly as the sky reflected in the valley water. At the same time, she felt a heat emanating from him, akin to the scorching heat.

“Let me down now.”

Elizabeth whispered softly and pushed against his chest, then was startled. His bare skin visible through the wet shirt was too explicit. The realization that she had been touching it carelessly struck her belatedly.

“Hurry.”

Embarrassed, she awkwardly pushed with the back of her hand, causing Kiern to chuckle. Water dripped from his wet hair onto his cheeks. Somehow, he looked too dangerous, and Elizabeth struggled.

“Alright, just stay still, please.”

Kiern soothed her as if calming a child and began swimming to where their feet could touch. Somehow, his shoulders seemed a bit tense.

* * *

It was just as they were about to leave the valley. Torrential rain began to pour from the sky. As the valley water quickly swelled, the two headed for the carriage without even changing clothes.

Elizabeth and Kiern, both dripping wet, sat in the carriage, awkwardly clearing their throats due to the tension.

Elizabeth fiddled with her wet hair while wrapping a blanket around herself. Then she recalled what had just happened. The sensation of floating in the water, relying on him, wasn’t bad.

Compared to the cold water, his body was very warm. Especially since it was a body heated by the summer heat.

Elizabeth glanced at Kiern. He was sitting still, staring at the floor. She didn’t know why his ears were so red.

He barely covered himself with the blanket, leaving his wet chest exposed. She wanted to poke her eyes for continually glancing at his upper body. So she looked outside instead, and the coachman spoke.

“Young Master, it seems we’ll have to stay at the villa for a while. The sudden rain has made the road a mess, and the wheels aren’t cooperating.”

“Do so.”

With his permission, the carriage moved directly to the nearby villa. It seemed they would be stuck in the villa until the rain stopped.

As soon as they arrived at the villa, Elizabeth and Kiern each headed to a bathroom. When she came out, having warmed her body with hot water, the rain had stopped, and a rainbow appeared.

She let out a hollow laugh at the fickle monsoon rain and gazed out the window. The sky with the rainbow was so beautiful that she unconsciously thought of showing it to Kiern.

And before she could act on that thought, she saw Kiern outside the window, climbing into the carriage with a pale face. The carriage then began to speed away, leaving only Elizabeth behind at the villa.

Startled, she belatedly ran out to the lobby, but the carriage had already disappeared. As Elizabeth stood there dazed, the villa manager approached her.

He said the Duchess had suddenly collapsed.

Not long after hearing the bad news, it began to rain again. Elizabeth prayed that Kiern would safely reach the main castle.

The pouring rain showed no sign of stopping. Consequently, without a carriage or horse, Elizabeth was completely stranded at the villa. The swollen waters made it impossible to travel on foot.

Elizabeth waited quietly at the villa for Kiern to return. At the same time, she fervently prayed for the Duchess’s safety. Because that would be Kiern’s wish.

The Duchess was often frail and would frequently collapse. Remembering how anxious Kiern would get each time, she understood why he hurried back, leaving her behind.

She hoped it was nothing serious as usual. The Duchess would soon recover as if she had never collapsed.

Then Kiern would remember belatedly that he had left her at the villa and would send a carriage.

But contrary to Elizabeth’s thoughts, no carriage came to the villa even after three days.

The rain continued to fall tediously. Elizabeth thought the carriage couldn’t come because of the rain.

However, even after the rain subsided somewhat, no carriage came to the villa. As time passed, unease and anxiety crept in. She wondered if something had happened to the Duchess.

And when the rain completely stopped, leaving puddles everywhere. Elizabeth could no longer wait for the carriage and left the villa.

The fickle and warm summer weather, with the sun shining brightly as if it had never rained. Elizabeth walked and walked, trying hard to suppress her anxious heart.

The hem of her dress became a mess with mud, but she didn’t stop walking. The ominous feeling rose to her throat.

She kept brainwashing herself that it was just overthinking, that nothing was wrong, as she arrived at Agaphel Castle.

“Madam! Hoo hoo!”

The wailing heard from all around made Elizabeth’s heart sink. The servants were all crying loudly.

No one asked Elizabeth where she had been. Everyone seemed out of their minds.

‘No, it can’t be.’

Elizabeth pushed past the sobbing servants and headed to the Duchess’s room. That’s when someone grabbed her wrist.

“Ellie, where have you been?”

It was Stella. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying. Elizabeth, pushing aside her ominous feeling, grabbed Stella’s shoulders and asked.

“I was at the villa. I couldn’t come back right away because of the heavy rain and no carriage.”

“Oh my! So you walked all the way from there to here?”

It was only then that Stella noticed Elizabeth’s muddy shoes and hem and was startled. Elizabeth ignored it and asked what she was most curious about.

“More importantly, where is Madam? Where’s Kiern?”

At Elizabeth’s question, Stella pursed her lips, then began to sob with tear-filled eyes.

“Sniff, Ellie. Don’t be surprised. Madam…….”

“What’s wrong? Stop crying and tell me, Mom.”

“She passed away this morning. She suddenly collapsed the day it started pouring and just went like that.”

“What?”

“Yesterday, she briefly regained consciousness and spoke normally, so everyone was relieved, but this morning, suddenly…….”

Stella couldn’t continue and clung to her, sobbing. Elizabeth stood there in shock, unable to say anything.

“Yesterday, she asked me to take good care of the Duke. What should we do about our poor Madam?”

Stella spoke precariously, but at that moment, Elizabeth was most worried about Kiern.

“……Where’s Kiern? Mom, where’s Kiern?”

At her words, Stella, sobbing, pointed somewhere with her finger. It was the Duchess’s room.

After calming Stella down, Elizabeth cautiously entered the Duchess’s room. She entered without knocking because there was no response.

Kiern was sitting by the empty bed. The room was neatly organized, with nothing different except for the absence of the Duchess.

He didn’t react even though he heard her presence. It was as if his soul had left him.

His eyes were as dull as dimmed jewels. It was an unfamiliar gaze. The clear and warm gaze she had seen at the valley was nowhere to be found.

Despair, regret, remorse, sorrow, misery, bewilderment…….

All sorts of negative emotions that she couldn’t dare describe or feel seemed to swirl in his eyes.

Elizabeth couldn’t bring herself to offer comfort in the face of such a devastating sight. She didn’t know how to console the loss he had experienced.

Elizabeth closed the door again, reproaching herself for her arrogance in thinking she could easily comfort him.

The room was filled with such profound sadness that there was no space for her to squeeze in.