Aubrey 35

Chapter 35

****

The pouring rain soothed her spinning head, but it wasn't until she entered the square that Aubrey realized what lay ahead. She'd made a plan and even left the house, but it all felt reckless. She wondered if Herbaldi would be happy to see her. 

On the day Aubrey first showed up at the Ravant mansion, Jeffrik had tried to get her to return to Herbaldi, but Barbara had been adamantly opposed. She must have had a good reason. Perhaps she'd left home for nothing, perhaps Barbara would accept everything, perhaps she'd gotten scared and done something irreparable on her own.

"No. It's good. It's right."

Aubrey muttered, trying to steady her weakening heart. But at the same time, a voice in the back of her mind kept nagging at her with fear. What if I go to Herbaldi and they kick me out?

"......You can do anything. You can do it. It's okay."

She tried to reassure herself as best she could with a shaky voice, but the more she tried, the more an unknown lump rose in her throat. It wasn't okay. It wasn't okay at all. Eventually, Aubrey stopped walking and swallowed back tears, unable to continue. Her soaking wet shoes spat out water at the slightest movement.

Just as Aubrey was thinking about taking them off, a pair of shoes stopped in front of her wet shoes. Aubrey looked up in surprise and bit her lip hard. The man with the cold blue eyes was holding an umbrella and staring at her wordlessly.

"I'm so sick of ......."

A hint of annoyance slipped between her lips. Khaled raised one eyebrow, then tilted the already tilted umbrella a little further toward her and asked, 

"What are you doing here?"

"...."

"What are you doing alone at this late hour?"

A pair of well-polished shoes took a step toward her. Aubrey stared at the rainwater splashing on his boots. Her heart sank when he stood before her like this, and when he spoke to her, she stuttered over and over again. Khaled Karnus always made her do that. 

But not this time. To Aubrey, Khaled Karnus was nothing but contempt. A low quality human being who preyed on the weaknesses of others and trampled them underfoot, that was all. Aubrey looked away, her eyes wet with rain.

"Get out of my way."

"I asked where you were going at this hour."

"I'm disappearing, like you said."

Khaled frowned in disbelief at Aubrey's answer.

"So get out of my way."

"What's that......."

"I hope you like it, because it's exactly what you wanted."

With that, Aubrey slapped his outstretched umbrella hand roughly away and started walking away.

"Wait."

"Let go!"

She raised her hands in frustration, but when she saw the frown in his eyes, all the emotions that had been subdued for a moment burst forth.

"You told me to disappear, so I did, and now you won’t let me go?”

"Miss Sandalwood."

"You said you were under no illusions, and I realized a little while ago that I was under a great deal of illusion, too, so just leave me alone......!"

The moment she said that, her vision blurred from the increased intraocular pressure. Even as she staggered, Khaled reached out for her, her eyes glaring as if she were going to bite his hand.

"Don't touch me."

"...."

She had once begged for his touch. The boy, dressed in clean clothes and staring out at the darkened sea with a grave look in his eyes that belied his age, had once been her salvation.

"It was a mistake."

Her lips, now beginning to wither, trembled, but she spat out the words with precision.

"I shouldn't have asked you to save me."

"..."

"I would have been better off dead."

It was the last word. The man blurred, then disappeared completely. 

"Boss!"

Lehman rushed over, just as Aubrey collapsed to the floor of the plaza in a pool of rainwater. He glanced at Khaled, who stood there, then hurried over to check on Aubrey. Her clothes were damp and cold, and her forehead and cheeks burned like fireballs.

"Miss Sandalwood, are you all right, please come to your senses.”

Khaled stood wordlessly as Lehman wiped Aubrey's eyes and cheeks with his handkerchief.

"Move."

After a moment of silence, he handed Lehman the umbrella and walked over to Aubrey, scooping up the soaked woman's body with ease. Lehman followed closely behind him, holding the umbrella high. Looking at his boss's broad shoulders, already blackened, Lehman swallowed a sigh. 

****

The servants of the townhouse were in a panic. Everyone kept quiet and shifted on the edge of their seats.

"She’d better get dressed."

Annie, the townhouse's housekeeper, said. She held up the clothes she had prepared for Aubrey.

"She’s going to catch a nasty cold if she stays like that."

"Leave it on."

Aubrey lay on the bed, her eyes closed, unmoving. A wheezing breath escaped her slightly open lips, but it wasn't too bad to hear. Khaled fumbled inside his jacket and asked.

"Where's the damned doctor?"

"He'll be here in a few minutes, who knows how many sick people at this hour of the morning."

Annie shut him up with a snide remark and moved toward Aubrey. Aubrey was a thin woman, wearing a brown dress that could only be worn as a housecoat. Annie couldn't make out the identity of the woman her master carried. 

She simply wiped her wet body with a dry towel. Just then, the door burst open and Ben, a gaunt, grizzled-looking doctor, walked in. Ben sucked in a deep breath, then swallowed hard as his eyes locked with Khaled's.

"Oh, it's been a while. Your Excellency."

Khaled jerked his chin in Aubrey's direction without speaking. Doctor Ben smoothed out his hastily changed clothes and approached her. Khaled leaned stiffly against the doorframe and watched him examine her. 

He had been his physician when he had entered the Duke's service, and he had cared deeply for his unruly body. He was now working in a small clinic in the plaza, and had been startled out of his reverie by a call in the middle of the night.

"She doesn't look particularly traumatized. She seems to be suffering from a cold, so why don't I just give her some fever reducers and see how it goes?"

Ben said as he finished examining Aubrey, and Khaled nodded.

"Leave it. Fever reducer."

"That...... I just jumped out of bed, so I don't have any on me."

"Then go get some."

A helpless Lehman forced a smile and said.

"You'll come back as soon as it's daylight."

"Yes, I will, and please change out of her wet clothes, just in case, and bring some cold towels, we need to get the fever down first."

Ben left the townhouse after giving a few precautions.

"There you go. I'm right, right?"

Annie snorted and walked over to Aubrey. As she gingerly placed a hand on her limp body, she glanced back, her eyes widening.

"Are you going to do it?"

"...."

"Your Excellency!"

Khaled blinked, finally coming to his senses.

"You want me to leave?"

"So you're staying?"

Annie was one of the few people young Khaled had known during his exile to the estate. She was also one of the few servants he'd known for so many years that he'd been able to treat her with respect.

"Ugh. Really."

Annie scrambled to her feet and pushed the large man's body away. With a thud, the door slammed shut in front of him. Khaled only then realized the presence of the wet robe he had been holding in his hand for a long time.

 ***

The next day. Aubrey opened her eyes with a throbbing headache and pulled the covers up, startled to see two faces staring at her with serious eyes.

"Uh, uh, who are you?"

"At ease, Miss Sandalwood."

One of the faces was familiar. A neatly combed blonde. It was the man from Café Borno.

"You collapsed in the square last night. Do you remember?"

Her panicked mind raced. She frowned as she recalled the moment she'd left the mansion, as if possessed by something, to her encounter with that horrible man in the rainy square. At the same time, a throbbing headache set in.

"This is Ben, your personal physician."

A middle-aged man with a slightly shaved head smiled at Lehman's introduction.

"I've brought you some medicine for your cold, and if you take some when you get up and go back to sleep, you'll feel much better."

Before she could figure out what the hell was going on, two pills were thrust in front of her. First things first, she popped them into her mouth and swallowed them down with water, knowing she had to get her throbbing headache under control.

"Stay right where you are. I'll notify His Excellency.”

"Uh, no. I'm......."

Before Aubrey could say anything else, the two men left the room, leaving her with a stylish interior: a black iron bed she was sitting on, a blue carpet on the floor, a similarly colored couch on top of it, and a large wardrobe to one side. The whole room had a cool vibe.

It wasn't long before another visit took place. Khaled Karnus was a man who fit in well with the room, not only because of the color of his deep blue eyes, but also because of his chilling aura. He had a swagger to his step that made it clear that he was the master of the house. He strode briskly across the room and stopped three or four steps from the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

Aubrey looked up at the grave question. The man's face brought back the events of the night before.

"What the hell were you thinking, running out that night?"

He asked, sitting down on the couch. Instead of answering, Aubrey slid her legs off the bed.

"I appreciate your help, but I'm going to go now."

"You're supposed to be resting, didn't you hear?"

Oh, come on, now, when you’re supposed to be telling me to get lost. It wasn't even funny. She was just about to stand up on her own two feet.

"What about that bruise on your thigh?"

Aubrey gasped and looked down at her thigh, realizing she was wearing different clothes.

"Don't worry. Annie changed your clothes, and we didn't want to make it worse."

She didn’t know who Annie was, but she knew she was not a man. But it didn't matter. If someone had changed her clothes, they would have seen the markings.

"I asked you what happened with the bruises."

It was strange. Surely she didn’t think he would care about it, but he was obsessed with the blood bruise on her thigh.

"Did Count Ravant hit you?"

Strangely insistent.

Aubrey slowly parted her lips, blue eyes boring into hers.

"I have a scar from you."

"..."

"Didn't I tell you I was pinching my thighs to keep from seeing you in my dreams?"

Khaled was speechless for a moment.

****

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