CH 28

Chapter 28: Caught You

“This……”

Longhorn’s mansion was located on the outskirts of the capital. In the vast garden that is jaw-dropping, I almost got lost over and over again.

I expected it when I received the expensive dress, but by the time I got to the mansion, I was already exhausted. Then I looked at the magnificent mansion with the bright milky-white exterior walls.

Wasn’t it their historic aristocratic family’s ancestors who ordered this mansion to be built? Although it was a story long in the past. With such fleeting thoughts, I entered the mansion.

“He is waiting.”

The whole time I followed the servant to the drawing room, my mind was all over the place. With thoughts about whether he is a stalker or not, or such an abrupt visit—Although, of course, I came here after receiving a reply saying it was okay to come— but also I was regretting it.

When I faced Longhorn again, I had no idea what to say. Thanks to Tobias, I’m a little used to talking to men normally, but that was only when the other person was Toby. I still needed a lot of courage.

However, the parlour is usually located not far from the main entrance.

“Ah…”

As I was swimming in the swamp of thoughts, I was suddenly in front of Mr. Longhorn.

“Hello, Miss Collins.”

“…..Hello, Mr. Longhorn.”

I hurriedly greeted him with a polite courtesy.

Malcolm Longhorn, dressed in a dark blue coat, looked a little different from the night I met him on the national theater terrace.

He had become thinner than I remembered. His face had prominent cheekbones, and his cheeks were hollow. As expected, it was different to see him properly in the daylight. I wonder if he is about the same age as Tobias.

Anyway, how did I mistake this person for Alan? Even thinking about it now, it was absurd.

They were of similar height but his bent posture was different, and his hair, though dark, was a chestnut brown. Compared to Alan’s pitch black hair they were as different as night and day.

“……so, I’m here to say thank you. Thank you once again.”

“Ah…”

By the way, he was a little strange.

Oh, it doesn’t mean that he feels like a stalker. Rather, he had completely dispelled my suspicions that he was a stalker.

Although I am not an expert yet, as a person who has written novels for quite a long time, I am quite precise in my ability to observe people.

His gaze at me contained no other intentions, not something like an intentional made-up indifference—to make me believe he was not a stalker—Rather, his attitude was natural because it was a mixture of appropriate manners and awkwardness.

Above all, this is not the gaze of a person who has been watching me steadily. That night, the terrace was dark, so he also seemed to be eagerly comparing me in the daylight to the Melissa Collins in his memory. Like I am doing. So I couldn’t help but know.

“Y, You didn’t have to do that, Miss Collins…….”

Longhorn’s reply was strange, he was bizarrely sweating in front of me.

“No, I think it will make my heart feel more comfortable if I say thank you like this.”

“… That, um…….”

Looking back, on the day I first met Toby, his voice had been trembling too.  But Mr. Longhorn’s trembling was clearly different from that.

What should I say about this feeling… I feel like he is afraid of something.

Why?

“Miss Collins.”

“Yes, Mr. Longhorn.”

“I hope there’s no misunderstanding… I couldn’t turn down a lady’s earnest request, and it was a scheme…… If it was to express your gratitude for my favor, even more so…….”

(T/N: it’s not clearly mentioned but I guess someone played a prank)

“…….”

His gibberish sounded absurd, I couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was saying. Could this person be in a state where proper thinking is impossible for him right now? For example, he didn’t sleep a wink last night, or he was actually drunk…. but he didn’t smell like alcohol.

The person he is facing is not a high-nosed royal family or the great Leopold, but an ordinary girl without any background. Isn’t it natural to think like this?

“To be thanked is plenty…… I think my position has been conveyed…… No, I believe so, but I’ll make it clear. Miss Collins.”

“Yes, Mr. Longhorn.”

“The dress I sent you is really simple from my point of view, so please forget that you got it from me.”

“…..What?”

I asked back with an awkward face like a broken machine. I couldn’t understand his words and attitude now.

“If possible……The name of Longhorn…… Please don’t put it in your mouth. Ah, that might not be possible, certainly…….”

I was offended but frowned with embarrassment.

There must be something firmly misunderstood. His words sound as if I’ve been shooting all over Florin and bragging that I’ve been given a dress from Malcolm Longhorn…….

I have confirmed that Mr. Longhorn is not my stalker. So, in reality, further conversations are meaningless to me.

However, I couldn’t leave the ridiculous situation as it was.

“Why?”

“That’s, Al….”

Longhorn abruptly stopped speaking and closed his eyes tightly with a complicated expression.

“…… No. I’d better not even say this. I’m at a very important crossroads.…. Don’t bother me at all.….”

“…….”

He muttered strange repeating unknown sounds in an anxious manner. His words still offended me.

“So, are you saying I bother you?”

Mr. Longhorn’s subsequent reply made me burst into a disheartened laughter.

“To be honest, you’re a nuisance to my business expansion, Miss Collins.”

“……I have nothing to do with your business.”

“I apologize if I have offended you.….”

It was absurd, but Longhorn’s face, which apologized to me, looked desperate and sincere, so I had no choice but to stop and bite my lips.

Then he continued to talk.

“But I can’t help it. I can’t go against his will……. I hope you understand.”

What do you mean “his”……? I don’t know who he is talking about, but I was just puzzled. It sounded like being associated with me was an act that went against the wishes of someone powerful.

Does the person who can control his business mean a royal power? Is it reasonable to mistake a person like me for having a contact point with the royal family….

“I’d appreciate it if you could go back now. I won’t see you in the future…but I sincerely hope for your health and happiness.”

If it comes out like this, I can’t do much.

“Oh… Yes, of course.”

His words were utterly confusing, but it seemed like me being around him and socializing with me would hurt his work. We didn’t know each other in the first place, and we didn’t have any acquaintances to mention.….

I abandoned my mind to try to correct his misunderstanding somehow, bent my knees to greet him quietly, and left the parlour.

“This way.”

Again, as I passed through the white marble pillars following the servant, I was deeply lost in thought.

I’m sure Mr. Longhorn is not a stalker. However, the problem was that there were no more predictable candidates left.

“…..He had said ‘Al’ before he cut himself off.”

I thought over the one syllable that Mr. Longhorn had leaked out. It is inevitable for me to think of Alan Leopold here.

In fact, I wanted to ask back earlier, but I managed to endure my inquiry because Longhorn was acting as if he wasn’t quite sane.

If, really, Alan was my stalker—I don’t know what key he holds to Longhorn’s business—but he was angry that Mr. Longhorn had sent me a dress and warned him that if he got involved with me, he would interfere with the business……….

Pfft… What am I saying?

I shrugged a strange shame and straightened my back for no reason. The assumption itself doesn’t make sense, but how does Alan know that Mr. Longhorn sent me a dress. He wouldn’t care even if I was alive or dead.

It’s not unreasonable to assume that if Alan was really watching me, he would have overheard Toby and I talking about Mr. Longhorn.….

Hold on.

I know it’s nonsense, but why am I reminded of the server’s statement that the Leopolds took over Antris?  It’s true that Antris was the place where Toby and I talked about dress.

Don’t tell me he’s really…….

“Then, get home safely.”

“… Oh, yes! T, thank you.”

I bid goodbye in a hurry and ran toward the carriage. I felt the heat on my face. I just wanted to escape from this endless delusion.

* * *

“Hik, gasp….”

It was definitely a bitter winter night, but I was all wet with hot sweat.

It felt like my lungs were being torn apart. It’s the limit. If this continues, I’ll definitely get caught…….

“Ah…..!”

Sure enough, my leg, which could not overcome the pain, gave up running away anymore. I just fell on the cold snowy field.

A biting cold. Would it be faster to freeze to death like this, or…….

“Caught you.”

At that moment, winter embraced me. My body was completely bound in tight arms.

He put his chin on my shoulder and whispered as he kissed my cheek.

“It’s okay now, Melissa.”

A whisper from heaven that almost melts my ears.  In Alan Leopold’s cozy arms, I realized that this was a dream without difficulty.

It was the first time in years that Alan appeared in my dream. Even when I ran into him in front of the bookstore or the night I danced with him at the ball, he didn’t come to my dream.

Did my consciousness—tormented by the stalker make Alan in my dreams chase me?

“…….”

Then, as his cloud-like lips landed on my cheek, I meekly closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, it was early in the morning. I had no power to move, but in fact, I was faintly blinking because I was sad and disappointed that I suddenly returned to reality.

The warmth of his chest and arms, the cold touch of his cheeks and lips that had touched my face remained faint. His voice that wet my ears was as deep as the deep sea. I shrugged my shoulders.

But strangely enough,

“……I couldn’t smell anything.”

That’s when I suddenly realized. The fact that I don’t know his scent.

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Looking back at the time I ran into him on the street, all I remembered was the smell of autumn that filled the air. Perhaps because I was too nervous at the ball, not only all senses but also my head did not work properly. There was no way I could smell his physique.

The only thing I remember is that his hands were as hot as fire, and my feet were precarious and anxious as if standing on a ledge.

“What kind of scent would he have….”

My dazed murmurs scattered in the quiet room. I pulled my thick, soft winter duvet together and hugged it like I was buried. I was going to go back to sleep like this.

With a desperate hope that I can see him in my dream once again.