Chapter 23. I like you, too.
****
Susan, who didn't understand what was going on, looked back and forth between me and Bordeaux. I couldn't say anything to her.
"Honey, is that what he called you, Renee?"
"Well, just ignore him."
I tugged on Susan's sleeve.
But at that moment, I saw the man running toward us.
His legs were so long, and every time I blinked, he was surprisingly close.
The distance quickly closed.
"Renee doesn’t know him?"
"No, I don't know ......."
As I answered, the man who had called me "honey" was right in front of me.
It seemed wrong to run away.
Looking up closer, I realized it was Bordeaux.
His beautiful face was one you have to try to forget.
Before I could say anything, Bordeaux jumped up and said,
"Honey, I was wrong, I know you don't eat bell peppers as well as carrots............. I'm sorry for sneaking bell peppers into your dish. That's why you moved out of our house, huh?"
This crazy guy was turning me into a picky eater again.
***
"You have a lot of flowers in your house."
Bordeaux's observation of the house Eddie and I were going to live in. True to his word, there were many beautiful flowers throughout the house. It didn't matter what species they were, as long as they were pretty, readily available, and didn't wilt easily. I wanted Eddie, who loved flowers, to be born into a house full of them. Bordeaux gently touched one petal and it swayed slightly.
It reminded me of Eddie's tiny hands gently touching the petals. Eddie's innocent wish to be a flower because he was happy to see me. But he died without ever seeing my happy smile. If I ever saw him again, I wanted to give him nothing but smiles.
"Renee, do you like flowers?"
Bordeaux stood casually across from me.
His eyes locked on mine, questioning, unsure of what he was thinking.
"I like them."
"I like you, too."
"...."
I was speechless, not expecting this kind of response.
Bordeaux, on the other hand, just smiled like a confessed crush.
It was so beautiful that I was mesmerized for a while. Bordeaux's eyes widened when he realized how stupid I was.
He was still smiling, but there was a twinkle in his eye, as if he was holding water. For a moment, I thought he really liked me.
No, I felt like he knew me.
He seemed to know everything I'd been through, and he whispered to me that he would love me through my scars.
Not with words, but with his eyes. Flashes of my past, full of failure, flashed before my eyes. I cringed and turned away.
"Enough of the living room, let's go to the parlor. You're still a guest, and I'll serve you tea."
"You're not going to answer my confession?"
I ignored him and said what I wanted to say.
"The parlor is the first room on the right after you walk straight down the hall."
"That's too much."
He said bluntly, but without further questioning, he walked in the direction I told him.
I took advantage of Bordeaux's back to me and wiped the unshed tears from my eyes.
‘Why does he have that all-knowing look on his face?’
Strange man.
I watched Bordeaux enter the parlor and then walked to the kitchen.
As I prepared tea, I suddenly remembered Susan, who was actually going to make me tea today.
I wondered what she would think of us.
Bordeaux had turned me into 'honey who left home for a quick meal' the moment we met in the meadow.
Then, before I could make my excuses, he begged me with a theater actor's crying voice.
"Honey, please don't leave me."
"I've been thinking about it, and I'm going to be really good this time."
This embarrassed not only me but also Susan.
I left with Bordeaux, telling her I would explain later.
I knew that if I stayed there, I would fall prey to Bordeaux's eloquence and make things even more confusing for Susan.
So I ended up bringing him to my house.
I let him in, but I was worried.
Should I tell him where I live, or should I move again?
I knew Bordeaux was not a bad person.
But that was just my assumption, and I didn't know if he was actually a good person. I had only known him for a few days.
‘First, I need to find out how he got here, and how he recognized me in the hood at once.’
I figured I could think about that later.
But at that moment I had a strange feeling that, whatever his circumstances, he wouldn't mind knowing where I was.
Maybe it was the way Bordeaux looked at me that made me like him. I took my tea and went into the parlor, where I found him sitting lazily on the sofa, as if he were at home. I set my teacup noisily on the table in front of the couch.
"Anyone would think this was your house."
"My house is your house, honey, and your house is my house."
I glared at him silently at his playful reply.
Whether I did or not, Bordeaux just shrugged. Like he hadn't done anything wrong.
The problem was, I didn't hate him for being a smartass.
On the contrary, I found him a little.................. about as welcome as a flea's liver.
Maybe it was because he was the first person to help me in an unfamiliar place full of strangers.
Bordeaux, who helped me without expecting anything in return. Bordeaux, who had no knowledge of background as a princess, cared for me purely without seeing my face.
Apart from my gratitude, I was curious about his true intentions.
"Enough with the jokes, I want to know why you were there. Were you following me?"
I sat down on the couch across from Bordeaux.
He seemed to read the serious vibe I was giving off, and he was no longer joking around.
"I didn't follow you, I promised I wouldn't. I'm playful, but I don't lie."
"So you're saying our meeting was a mere coincidence?"
"Of course. A fateful coincidence."
"..."
I thought I would never believe in fate again. I thought briefly of Henderson, the man who had instilled that in me. The man I thought I was meant to be with.
"Renee, you. That meadow, it was so familiar, wasn't it?"
Bordeaux was right.
I had a vision of the meadow where we met.
The meadow resembled the background of a painting that hung in an inn Bordeaux owned. I couldn't deny it.
"I can tell by your inability to answer that you know. That meadow is the location of the painting that hangs in my inn."
"That's..................."
"I travel all over the Remzi Empire on business. There are few places I haven't been, and this is no different."
"..."
"I fell in love with that meadow I found, and I sometimes paint pictures of it."
"..................Really?"
"Well, if you don't believe me, I'll take you to the inn in Carson Village where I regularly stay. Jean, the owner, will attest to that, for she will never forget the face of such a handsome male guest."
The man's bravado was still there, as if he didn't live for his own good taste.
"Of course, I never expected Renee to be here."
"Then how did you recognize me from so far away?"
"A hooded beauty in the middle of the day on a nice day. Who else but you?"
"How do you know I'm beautiful?"
Bordeaux laughed out loud.
"Haha! You admit you're a beauty too? I'm even more curious about your face."
"..."
Damn. As a princess, I'd been told I was beautiful so many times that I took it for granted. I was in no position to laugh at Bordeaux's bravado.
"Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"
"I don't know."
"Renee. It's really a coincidence this time. Our paths have crossed. Please believe me."
***
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