Night of Eden 68

 Chapter 68

***

A gazebo was visible in the distance. Liana realized it was the first resting place.

As she approached, she saw the matting, as expected. It must have been the Duchess's idea to decorate each pillar with ribbons and reeds.

"Shall we take a break?"

Liana asked, and everyone nodded and dismounted.

The maids helped the young ladies dismount the horses and offered them water. It was their job to tend to their masters and their horses.

But Liana was alone.

She could have done the dismounting herself, but it felt a little less graceful to be the only one doing it. She'd also forgotten that she had water and snacks in Dana's saddlebags.

‘I should have told her to leave her bag behind.’

Fortunately, Rosa noticed Liana and poked her maid in the side.

"Go get Miss Liana for me."

"Oh, yes!"

Poppy replied cheerfully and walked over to Liana.

"You're thirsty, aren't you, Lady?"

She unscrewed the lid of a small water bottle and handed it to her. Dismounting, Liana smiled and accepted the water.

"Thank you."

"Huh? Miss....?"

Poppy's eyes suddenly widened.

"Your gown is loose, I'll tie it for you."

"Really?"

Liana turned around and Poppy skillfully began to tie the straps around her waist.

"Do you want me to tie it in a rondo?"

"What's that?"

"It's a ribbon knot that's all the rage these days. It's shaped like a flower, and it's very practical because it doesn't come undone."

"Uh, okay. Do that."

Liana felt Poppy strangely pretty.

"Rosa has been complimenting you a lot."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, to the point where I wish I had a maid like you around."

"Oh, my goodness, thank you! How nice it would be if I had two bodies!"

They both laughed out loud.

It didn't take more than a few minutes for Poppy to finish tying the waistband. Poppy's hands were quick, and the loose waistband was tightened in no time.

But in that brief moment, something happened.

Horses were so sensitive that sometimes their behavior was beyond comprehension. This was especially true of Liana's horse, Rothesandra.

Perhaps it was startled by a crawling insect or spooked by the sound of falling leaves.

Or perhaps it was just nervous because its real owner, Theodore, was gone.

Suddenly, the gentle, cautious horse threw his front hooves up high and started whinnying and rearing.

"Ahhhh!"

Poppy squealed and reared back. Liana ducked instinctively.

The action seemed to provoke Rothesandra even more. The horse's head swung wildly from side to side, and with a thud, it pounded the ground with its front hooves.

A more skillful trainer would have taken it by the reins and tied it up. But no one thought of that, and the excited horse ran off into the woods in the blink of an eye.

"....!"

There was no time to shout.

Liana stared, open-mouthed, as Rothesandra disappeared beyond the trail.

"No, now... What's going on?"

"What, what happened?"

"Liana, did your horse just run away?"

As they stared at each other in disbelief, someone spoke up quietly.

"But doesn’t that Rothesandra belong to young master Macmilan......."

Liana's heart sank.

Yes, not just any horse, but Rothesandra, Theodore's treasure horse.

She'd asked him to borrow the horse a few days ago, hoping to test her fiancé, who had been acting horribly indifferent. Theodore had graciously agreed, and Liana had been delighted.

Now.......

Liana quickly straightened the corners of her mouth that were about to fall off.

"Uhhh, really......."

She gave a small smile and shook her head a few times.

"Maybe I should have just ridden my own horse after all."

She muttered softly, then reached out to Poppy, who was still on the ground.

"You okay?"

"......Yeah, I was so surprised."

Poppy pressed her hand to her chest and took Liana's hand to pull herself up.

"The young master often lent me that Rothesandra. He said there would never be another horse so gentle, and he wanted me to ride it on our outing today... Who knew this would happen?"

Liana's nonchalant response must have helped. The stiffened expressions of the young ladies gradually loosened.

"Come on, let's sit down. I don't know how long it's been since I've been on a horse."

At Angie Miller's words, everyone sat down in a circle on the mats. The cookies and jellies that chef Bruges had carefully prepared were placed in the center.

The commotion quickly subsided. The breeze was cool and the evergreen trees were beautiful.

"Liana?"

Someone called out to her, still standing.

"Uh? Uh."

Liana smiled and turned around.

"Ah, this must be it. The one the Duchess insisted I try."

She popped one of the sugary jellies into her mouth. But she couldn't recognize any of the flavors.

Her trembling hand pressed repeatedly to her forehead, and her fluttering pupils drifted to the forest. Her mind was going blank.

What should I do?

That's brother Theodore's favorite horse.

What should I do?

Just then, through her unfocused vision, she saw a small figure moving toward her.

"Miss."

It was Dana. She had returned from Belvida with the medicine.

***

"Ouch,

I did not know what it was.

A faint spark of pleasure in the midst of a wave of rage,

I never knew."

A low, bass voice echoed softly through the smoke room. The flirtatious young men had turned serious for some reason, their eyes focused on the gentleman reading.

"Oh, the heart that wants to twist and break,

My blood, my soul, my everything, in pain and fury.

It was because of you.

You.

You who are not mine.

You who were not allowed.

My sweet pain."

Thick cigarette smoke and mournful piano music heightened the mood.

"Why didn't I know.

Why didn't I know that this flaming heart was yours, that you were all I had, that you were all I had.

In night and day, in joy and heartbreak

I howl.

It swallowed me up like the waves of Depiloa.

That which tore me like the hell of Hebron.

It is......."

The hand that had been raised high toward the ceiling slowly turned downward, the passionate melody rising and falling in a slow, steady crescendo.

Thunderous applause erupted.

"...Thank you."

The man bowed politely.

He was Baron Samuel Aldorov, a poet and orator who had come at Edwin's invitation, a recent Salon favorite.

Samuel wiped his sweaty brow and reached toward the piano.

"I salute you, Mr. Richter, for enriching and beautifying the reading."

Another round of applause erupted among the young men.

"And to my old friend, Edwin Laner Hastings, for organizing this marvelous experience of music and poetry coming together in this way."

Samuel raised his glass, and Edwin answered by holding his own forward.

"But, Lord Entworth, what is the 'it' in the last verse?"

Someone asked.

Poetry readings and discussions had been spreading like wildfire around the clubhouse lately.

"I don't know, would you care to interpret it?"

"Isn't it jealousy?"

Rob immediately replied.

"Given the phrase 'yours and not mine,' I'm thinking jealousy stemming from an affair or love triangle."

"Well, I don't know. Not necessarily."

Pearson interjected.

"There's a line that goes, 'Why didn't I know that you were all I had,' and the speaker didn't realize it was a love affair, and then he walked away, and I wonder if it's a case of hindsight and regret and remorse."

From that phrase, obsession, pining, unrequited love... All sorts of words related to love came out of the young men's mouths.

Theodore's gaze shifted to his drink. The amber-colored liquid rippled endlessly in the swirling glass.

"Thank you.”

"I've been thinking about it while I was in Pemburg, my feelings for the girl.”

“I can't get it out of my head. I can't stop thinking about her....”

Edwin's ramblings from last night stuck in his head.

What the hell was that?

Why had the hypocrite who lived in the public eye suddenly changed so positively?

Theodore gulped down his drink, unable to contain his boiling emotions. The alcohol scratched his throat and burned his stomach. Gritting his teeth, a shadow suddenly loomed over his head.

"What do you think?"

Theodore slowly raised his head to face Edwin.

"Jealousy, regret, obsession?"

Without waiting for an answer, Edwin continued.

"I think it's 'love that cannot be fulfilled,' you who are not mine, you who are not allowed, my sweet pain."

As he recited the poem verbatim, Edwin's eyes took on a misty, wistful glow.

"I'm so attracted, but reason says no, absolutely not, and keeps holding on."

Theodore felt a chill rise from the bottom of his stomach.

Edwin was talking about Dana again.

Thinking about her, wanting to have her, wanting to see her, desperate to....

In the presence of Edwin, who wore his feelings so openly, as if he had made a momentous decision, Theodore felt a fire burning in his chest.

The very flame Samuel had spoken of was right here, inside him.

***

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