Chapter 51
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***
Aubrey glanced at the man every now and then as she walked. His face was as expressionless as ever, but she wondered why it felt different.
"Why do you keep staring?"
The question cut like a knife, and Aubrey jerked forward, startled. The pounding footsteps continued for a moment.
"The Prime Theater."
She tried to play it off, but it was no use. Aubrey's stomach burned, wondering if this man was really interested in her idea.
"Are you really going to use it as a space for street performers?"
"I'll have to think about it."
It wasn't a bad answer. It wasn't a perfect affirmation, but the man was Khaled Karnus, and that was a pretty good answer coming from him. Aubrey pictured an empty open-air theater, brightly lit and inviting performers in free-spirited attire. For some reason, she couldn't help but smile, even though the theater wasn't hers.
"Maybe later."
Aubrey rhymed cautiously.
"If you ever do create such a space, will you invite me?"
The man's gaze snapped to hers. It was a chilling gaze, but Aubrey wasn't scared, her eyes focused on his straight lips. Khaled stared at her for quite a while. Her green eyes boring into his as if she desperately wanted an answer. It had been a long time since a woman had looked at him without hostility. Probably the first time.
"Who knows when that would be."
"That’s right..."
Aubrey was about to reply simply, when she suddenly remembered her predicament. The man seemed to have it in mind, too. Wasn’t she thinking of running away with the screenwriting fee? He seemed to be asking.
"Right. I knew when that would be. I shouldn't have said that."
Aubrey lowered her eyes obediently. For a moment, she thought she'd blurted out something that made her feel useful. In short, she was too excited.
"I hope to hear about it from afar later, I'll be quite pleased."
Aubrey said and quickened her pace, thinking how nice it would be to one day hear that the Prime theater in Lavonne had been transformed into a space for street performers.
"I will."
The man's voice caught her ankle with such ease.
"I'll let you know when the time is right."
With that, he strode over and stood beside her.
"Really?"
The corners of her mouth turned up in an arc, and Aubrey suddenly felt strange, wondering why he was being so nice.
"I don't lie."
He turned his head, staring down at her. Aubrey followed him, pacing as he stalked away.
***
The walk back to the hotel was like walking back the way she'd come. Aubrey, now completely relaxed, looked with a smile at the dazzling storefronts.
Even though it was nearly midnight, the streets were still filled with lively music and bright lights. Across the street, a group of touristy-looking couples walked up to her direction, chatting animatedly and laughing wildly as they passed by her. There were many such people in Lavonne. Unlike the people in the capital, who walked around with their backs to the wall, stiff with formality, they approached street food and street performers without hesitation.
Aubrey, who was smiling broadly at the happy couple, slowly turned her head. The man walking ahead of her had an unusually large back, and she could barely see over his shoulder, even with her armored heels raised high. Suddenly, she remembered the man she'd seen at the party at the Paddingham’s home: a physique and appearance that stood out among his peers. He had a certain aura about him that went well with those two things.
It was him who was in front of her now. But for some reason, Aubrey wasn't scared of him anymore. Not in the same way. She thought over every detail of his demeanor today. He hadn't said a word as he stood guard outside the store she'd entered. He even commented that the shrimp were particularly good when she bought skewers. He even asked her opinion on the future direction of the Prime Theater.
"Are you still walking?"
"Oh, yes. I'm walking diligently."
He glanced back, his gaze down. Aubrey quickened her pace and walked alongside him. But the pace soon slowed again. Aubrey wished she could enjoy this atmosphere a little longer. Lavonne, with its informal mingling, its generous merchants, its abundance of things she'd never seen before. And the man who made it. Aubrey glanced at the man in front of her again, then hurried to his side.
"You're amazing."
"What."
"Lavonne. From what I've heard, it was just an ordinary village. You've done something extraordinary."
Lavonne, after a full day of traveling, was a different place. It was hard to believe it was once an ordinary village. By the time they reached the hotel, Aubrey was still in awe of Lavonne.
"I didn't know such a place existed, even after all the walking I've done during the day."
"..."
"I read in books that writers travel the world for inspiration, and I think I know a little of what it's like."
Aubrey smiled, but suddenly found the man's gaze oddly comforting, perhaps because of the unexpected length of time, or perhaps because Lavonne's unique atmosphere made her feel at ease. He'd been looking at her like that since earlier. His eyes were unreadable.
"Oh, I should probably get going, it's getting late."
She couldn't stand the suddenly awkward atmosphere. He was acting strange and she also felt strange. He caught her hand as she fumbled to turn away. Her gaze flicked up to the back of his large, veined hand, and his dark blue eyes were sunken deep.
"Tomorrow we go to the library."
"What?"
"There's a library in Lavonne with a large collection of foreign books. Tomorrow we'll go there."
Now she really felt like he had lost his head. Aubrey looked back and forth between the man and her wrist, which he held with a dumbfounded expression.
"My, I have a breakfast appointment with Lord Hemburg tomorrow."
His grip loosened at her words.
"We'll be leaving right after that."
"...."
"I'm sorry."
He didn't say anything. But Aubrey felt like he had something to say. The hand that had been holding hers, barely through the lock of her hair, slipped away completely. The feel of his fingers against her flesh was unfamiliar.
"Okay."
The man's answer was short.
***
As soon as she returned to the hotel, Trin began to interrogate her about what had happened.
"I was just walking around the shops, it was nice."
Aubrey was still reeling. She couldn't get over the way he'd looked at her. The cool scent of his scent as they walked side by side, the way he waited for her without saying a word, the conversation they'd had in the darkened theater, all of it pounded into her mind.
"So the Count has given you a tour of Lavonne!"
Trin looked quite pleased. Gone was all the emphasis on not getting involved with the Count of Lavonne at any cost. When she caught the meaning of Aubrey's puzzled look, Trin scratched her head and said.
"As frightening as the Count is, he's a hundred times better than Count Hemburg."
Trin seemed to see every man around Aubrey as a potential husband for her.
"Besides, he took the time to show the lady around the estate himself."
"Yes..."
"I'm guessing your involvement in the work is bothering you."
From the sound of it, it was.
The man who had once been so desperate to get rid of her, but now that they were working together, he wanted to help. That was the only explanation for his behavior today.
"He's a little scary looking, but he's obviously a good man, seeing as how he's looking out for you."
Yeah. Maybe he had a little bit of a good side. Aubrey shook her head in disbelief. A good side. There was no way he had one. Even the screenwriting contract was something she'd had to beg for. He'd always had the upper hand, laughed at her, backed her into a corner. Maybe he was just drunk and docile.
"Oh, by the way, I brought you a present."
Aubrey, trying to change the subject, unwrapped what she was carrying in both hands, pulling from it a multi-colored silk and handing it to Trin.
"My goodness! What is this, my lady!"
"After what happened last time, I thought it would be nice for you, Trin, to have a good silk brush. This one came from the country of Delonique, where......."
“There's a guy there who's famous for his silk.”
The man’s voice that had been whispering quietly came suddenly. The scent that wafted past her nose as he moved, his deep voice, his face as he listened to her ridiculous opinion.
“Oh, well, it’s a good deal. Please accept it, even if it’s a small favor, Trin.”
Trin threw up her hands like windmills, protesting that she could never accept it, and then finally took the silk in her hands.
"I've never received a gift like this before!"
Trin wrapped it around her body and tried to wrap it around her neck. She even twisted it into a braid and put it up in her hair. Aubrey smiled at her childlike delight.
"By the way, did the Count say anything else?"
Aubrey hesitated as she organized the rest of the gifts.
"No. Nothing."
She tried to forget all about the man's strange behavior, his brief moment of gentleness, and the fact that he was just drunk.
"Nothing really happened."
Aubrey said once more and smiled wryly. But she realized that if he was still being sweet tomorrow, she would feel really weird about it.
***
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