Chapter 10: RMTOP

Chapter 10

The highlight of the party could be said to begin from midnight. The hall was still busy with events, while outside was nearly deserted.

The corridor, lit by orange lamps, was quiet, dark, and somehow intimate. She thought she had followed him out immediately, but there was no sign of where the gentleman had gone.

Now and then, she unintentionally came across couples tangled in the darkness, stealing secret meetings, and she had to flee from those scenes more than once.

Half running, half walking in a completely disoriented state, Diane ended up encountering a maid in the corridor. The maid, thinking the young lady was lost, tried to help her return to the party hall.

Diane naturally refused the help. A confused expression followed her from behind.

How long had she been chasing, being chased, and wandering?

Rubbing her fingertips along the corridor railing, Diane frowned slightly. Walking through an unfamiliar mansion in shoes that squeezed her feet was quite exhausting.

“Should I just grab any passing footman…?”

Just as her aching legs forced her to stop while holding onto the railing—

The clouds covering the moon drifted away, and the full moon briefly revealed itself, casting light into the square garden surrounded by the corridor.

When Diane absentmindedly looked toward the garden, someone passed through the opposite corridor and disappeared into a dark passage on the left.

It happened in an instant, but it was clearly a blond man.

Found him.

Feeling hope well up again, Diane moved forward as if possessed.

Passing through the dark corridor, she paused at a fork. Through a glass door, she could see a terrace connected to the back garden.

There, she spotted the man standing with his back against the terrace railing.

Beyond the railing lay a garden lit by orange lights, and a thin trail of white smoke from the man’s fingertips cut through the black night.

Diane pushed open the glass door and carefully approached him, one step, then another.

Even though he must have sensed her presence, the man did not turn around.

Trying to steady her breath, Diane called out to him.

“Hey, excuse me.”

Only then did the man straighten his upper body and slowly turn around.

“You asked me to dance earlier, didn’t you?”

Diane tried to say the words she had carefully prepared while searching for him.

But the moment his face was revealed under the terrace light, she froze completely.

“W-why…”

Why was that man here again?

Diane blinked in disbelief. But his face did not change.

The blond man she had finally found after wandering the mansion… was not the Tate family’s second son, but Julian Haver.

On his shoulders were epaulettes, and medals and decorations on his chest gleamed proudly. What she had taken for a simple back view in formal attire had been a complete misunderstanding.

A long silence fell between them.

Julian was just as bewildered.

Until he turned around, he had no intention of being kind to the uninvited guest who had followed him this far.

The moment the terrace glass door opened, he cursed inwardly. The moment he heard her breathless voice, he cursed himself for not leaving Brit in the first place.

And then, the moment he turned around and confirmed who it was—

‘Why is it that woman again?’

His first emotion was surprise.

In the ballroom, Diane had clearly been avoiding his gaze. He had no hobby of approaching women who clearly disliked him.

So he had respected her wish and looked away.

The chance of it was slim, but a thought had briefly crossed his mind—that perhaps she might recognize him from when he had been a miserable seventeen-year-old Julian Haver.

But what was this situation?

Wasn’t Lady Rockwood supposed to be an obedient young lady? One who could smile politely even at an arranged marriage with a foreign man thirty years older?

Julian studied Diane as if she were an unsolvable puzzle.

Diane, meanwhile, looked as if she was the one being followed rather than the one following him.

She was truly an incomprehensible young lady.

Then Diane spoke.

“I’m sorry. I think I took the wrong path.”

Julian stepped forward and instinctively stopped her as she turned to leave.

“Lady Rockwood, wait a moment.”

Diane froze suddenly.

“…H-how do you know my name?”

He had called her name without thinking, but it seemed to shock her.

Worried she might become frightened like in Martenley, Julian answered calmly and carefully.

“I heard it. You seem quite popular at the party.”

“Oh…”

Whatever she had been thinking, she now looked relieved. And as expected, she had been afraid of him.

The image of her trembling blue eyes came to mind. Whatever his circumstances were, there was no excuse.

Julian bowed his head.

“I sincerely apologize for my rudeness that day.”

Diane flinched a beat late at the sudden apology.

“…That day?”

“That day, in the Hotel Blenheim lobby. You seemed frightened because of me. You looked very pale, so I was worried. Did you return home safely…?”

“No, Captain. I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Julian, who had been speaking in a formal tone, was abruptly cut off and momentarily flustered, but quickly regained his composure.

“Ah, I mean in Martenley, I—”

But Diane cut him off again, clearly and firmly.

“I have never been to Martenley.”

And only then did Julian realize.

“…You’ve never been there.”

“…No. It seems you mistook me for someone else.”

An awkward silence fell between them.

It seemed Diane wanted to erase everything that had happened between them. Julian blinked a few times, assessing the situation, then decided to follow her lead.

“…I see. I must have been mistaken, Lady Rockwood. I apologize for my grave rudeness. How may I earn your forgiveness?”

But what he received was only a wary stare. Not knowing what to do with that, Julian let out a small, tired laugh.

At that, Diane quickly averted her eyes and muttered,

“No, I’m fine. I should be the one apologizing for disturbing you. Then I’ll… take my leave.”

Julian did not respond.

Taking his silence as permission, Diane turned away—

Just then, a light, teasing laugh came from beyond the door. Both of them turned their heads sharply.

Through the glass, a couple entwined affectionately was approaching the terrace.

Julian sighed at the uninvited interruption.

The decision was quick.

“Lady Rockwood.”

Before she could react, he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.

“Ah!”

Diane let out a small gasp.

In the next moment, she found herself pressed back against the railing, trapped within his arms. His face was far too close, but the fact that she was in his embrace felt strangely less shocking than it should have been.

Diane stammered in alarm.

“W-what are you doing again?”

Julian replied calmly, as if to steady her.

“‘Again’? This is the first time we’ve met properly.”

“I knew you’d do something like this.”

“Lady Rockwood. Didn’t you say you took the wrong path?”

Diane frowned as if that had nothing to do with this.

Julian added kindly,

“I’m helping you.”

“Helping…?”

She looked as if she had never heard the word before.

Julian continued lightly,

“Before rumors spread that you were alone with me on the terrace.”

“Rumors?”

“Isn’t there an important marriage arrangement going on?”

“Ah…”

Diane’s stiff body slowly relaxed.

Only now did she remember something.

“Of course I absolutely despise a libertine who doesn’t refuse any woman who comes or goes.”

Come to think of it, the man in front of her was Julian Haver—the rumored libertine who didn’t refuse any woman.

She had been too busy avoiding him in fear that he might have discovered her secret to remember that.

And at this moment, Diane decided that as long as she could preserve her “purity,” anyone would do.