Cry, Even Better if you Beg

Chapter 11. Deep Water (1)

The annex, which had large windows attached in all directions, provided a panoramic view of the forest and the river. It was also a place where the wind could freely flow in and out.

The weather today was hotter than ever, so it was hard to feel any chills.

But Leyla felt shivers go down her spine. She was determined to quickly eat and leave, but the food in front of her didn’t seem to reduce in amount.

Leyla didn’t think she could swallow anything. She already had lunch and even ate a snack. And to count it off, she ran an errand under the sultry heat so she had lost her appetite. Matthias concentrated on his work with his head tilted, but Leyla still found it hard to breathe properly.

Is this like a punishment for my poor errand and flower arrangement?

Leyla pondered as she swallowed another bite of the sandwich. If so, Duke Herhardt had accomplished his goal. Leyla felt like she was being punished.

Leyla hurriedly drank the lemonade to beat the urge to spit out her sandwich. After she wiped the water droplets off her hands with her apron, she picked up the sandwich again. Leyla then lowered the hem of her hat to cover her face that filled with dread. It was at that moment when a long finger suddenly touched the tip of her chin.

“If you’re a lady, Leyla.”

His hand untied the ribbon knot that was tied under her chin.

“You’re supposed to take off this hat when you’re inside.”

Before Leyla could even reply, Matthias took off her straw hat. Surprised, Leyla reflexively leaped from the sofa. The sandwich fell because of her sudden movement and rolled over the floor. The corner of Matthias’s eyes slanted, but Leyla’s attention was only focused on her hat.

“Gi- give it back.”

Leyla’s voice was now quivering with anger, not fear.

“Give it back, please. I will take my leave now. I want to go home. Give it back.”

Matthias tightly clutched the hat he snitched. He had no intention of returning it. Leyla reacted as if she was stripped naked, even though it was just her hat that had been taken away. Leyla’s red blush that had traveled down her neck amused Matthias. Her sensitive skin had easily responded to her irritation.

“Eat.”

Matthias pointed to the sandwich that still had two slices left.

“Eat, get your hat, and go back. It’s easy.”

“No, I don’t want to.”

Leyla shook her head as she approached him.

“I don’t want to eat. I can’t anymore. I hate it.”

Leyla’s frightened eyes were shaking. She seemed like she had no idea what she was talking about.

Matthias rose from his chair as his grip on the hat tightened more. His figure had cast a shadow over her.

“……You hate it?”

“It’s all my fault, so please give it back.”

Leyla stretched out her hand. She looked as if she was about to burst into tears. Matthias looked at her face and slowly lifted her hat over his head. Leyla’s eyes moved along with his movement.

When their eyes met, Matthias threw the hat lightly over the window. The wind carried away the hat, and it gently flew over the river. Leyla gave him an icy glare and frantically ran out of the reception room.1

Matthias approached the front window that overlooked the dock and the river. Leyla, who soon appeared on the dock, started stamping her feet around in panic after looking at the hat that was floating on the water. She suddenly took off her apron and glasses and set them on the dock.

Are you going to jump into that river just to get that stupid hat?

Standing in front of the window, Matthias gave her a rather amused stare. Leyla was shaking. It seemed like she was afraid of the water.

Are you serious?

Matthias sneered as Leyla entered the river. She hesitated in the river for a moment, but then started to walk towards her hat. Leyla Lewellin didn’t stop when the water level reached her knees, her waist, and then her chest.

Matthias watched with his arms loosely folded.

Leyla reached out her hand to the fullest, but the river current had pushed her hat as it traveled farther away. When Matthias thought she was going to give up, Leyla suddenly took a bigger step closer to her hat.

The water level should be deeper than your height by now.

Leyla’s hand finally grasped the ribbon end of the hat while Matthias slowly tilted his head. At that same time, Leyla Lewellin’s figure disappeared below the surface.

“As expected.”

Matthias softly murmured and frowned. Leyla drowned exactly at the point he had predicted her to submerge in. Surprised by the sudden deepened water, Leyla struggled desperately. But the more she struggled, the deeper she was pulled into the river. She was grabbing onto her hat for dear life.

With his arms now unfolded, Matthias headed for the dock with wide steps. His other prediction was proved right. Leyla Lewellin had jumped into the river even though she didn’t know how to swim.

Stopping at the end of the dock, Matthias looked upon the floundering Leyla. Her screams gradually faded away as she repeatedly rose to the surface and sank.

Eat, get the hat, and go back.

What a fuss she created when she could have done that simple task.1

Sighing between his twisted lips, Matthias dived into the river.

The wooden panels on the dock that touched Leyla’s cheek were hot from the sun. When she felt the vividness of the heat, Leyla realized that she had safely come out of the river. Pain and fear soon followed the relief.

Leyla trembled as a deluge of coughs came out of her mouth. Even at that moment, she had refused to let go of the hat she held onto.

Leyla’s appearance was so absurd that Matthias lost his breath. She heard a mixture of weak breaths and a low laughter coming from the duke. Leyla Lewellin met eyes with him by the time the droplets of water from her wet body left a dark stain on the wooden floor.

“How….. Can you do… something like this….”

Leyla asked while gasping for breath. She gave him a dirty look, but it was the tears in her eyes that caught his attention.

Sweeping his wet hair that covered his forehead, Matthias looked at her as if she was something entertaining. As Leyla’s breathing calmed down, his laughter grew louder.

Leyla lifted her upper body up with her trembling hands, touching the scorching wooden floor. Droplets of water poured down like rain from her wet head. Her eyes turned red, but Leyla didn’t cry. Instead, she continued to glare at Matthias. That wicked man with a pleasant smile.

Leyla, who changed her mind after trying to figure out what to say, stood up. Matthias sat on the wooden floor as if he was enjoying his sunbath. He then looked up at her. The thin, wet clothes starkly revealed the lines of her body.

While Matthias’s eyes focused on her trembling shoulders, Leyla suddenly shook off the water from her hat.

The cold droplets of water hit Matthias’s indifferent face. Although Leyla flinched a little, she didn’t stop her revenge. After wearing the hat that was still dripping with water, she now brushed off her skirt. Her eyes glistened provocatively at Matthias.

“Is it fun?”

Matthias slowly swept his face as if he were washing it and opened his mouth.

“I’m starting to get a little bored.”

His laughter quickly disappeared from his stony face. Although Leyla cowered instinctively, she didn’t avoid his gaze.

“How… What… Why… Are you doing this to me?”

“Leyla, your gratitude.”

Matthias slowly rolled up the sleeves of his wet shirt.

“Your gratitude towards your lifesaver.”

He nonchalantly teased Leyla, who looked back at him in astonishment.

“I don’t think any of this would have happened if you hadn’t thrown my hat into the river.”

“No.”

The gap between his eyebrows narrowed.

“If you’d patiently eaten your sandwich and left, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Leyla simply blinked. His tone was too calm for it to be a joke.

“Nor if you hadn’t made the pathetic decision to jump into the river, even though you don’t know how to swim.”

Matthias lightly brushed off the dripping water with the tip of his finger and tilted his head.

“…… Thank you for saving me, your grace.”

Leyla clenched her jaws and bowed. Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill. She once again started her incantation.

“Again.”

Matthias ordered as if he was checking the sincerity of her gratitude.

“Like a lady. Again.”

The duke didn’t smile or laugh.

“My apologizes, your grace, I’m not like the other aristocratic ladies. I’m not even a lady.”

Leyla’s angry words slipped out of her mouth. Matthias silently stared at her without any agitation.

“But you have to be a lady in front of me, Leyla.”

The droplets on the tips of his fingers bounced off Leyla’s foot.

“Whatever you are, I’m still a gentleman.”

The duke smiled while quietly staring at Leyla.

Leyla grasped her soaked skirt with her white, hardened hands. Just like the graceful lady the duke had wanted her to be, she gave a courteous bow. The droplets of water from the straw hat brim fell onto the wooden floor of the dock.

“Thank you very much for saving my life, your grace.”

Although her body trembled to the point her teeth collided against each other, Leyla lowered her head, enunciating her every word correctly. Matthias gave a pass for her ladylike gratitude with the nod of his chin.

Don’t cry, Leyla Lewellin.

Leyla tightened her fist.

Don’t cry over someone like that, please.

Comforting herself, Leyla then straightened her waist, which used to be bent towards the duke.

“Then, I’ll go back now. Goodbye, your grace.”

Leyla resolutely turned, leaving behind the silent Matthias. Behind the walking Leyla was a long trail of water droplets falling from the skirt.

Her legs were loose, and she nearly fell several times, but Leyla desperately tightened her leg muscles. She clenched her teeth and made her mind that she wouldn’t fall today. That she won’t be his plaything anymore. Never.

Once Leyla was out of Matthias’s sight, she now ran. The corners of her eyes were so red that even the hat’s shade couldn’t hide her eyes. Leyla ran faster and faster, increasing the speed of her running.

She saw it by chance one day. He was walking along the forest path with Claudine. The elegant gentleman escorting the alluring lady was just like a scene from a fairy tale or a court novel.

When they reached the end of the road, the wind blew off Claudine’s hat. Matthias slowly approached the hat and picked it up to give it back to Claudine. His non-urgent gesture was very graceful. By the time Leyla noticed how he always moved that gracefully, the two were out of Leyla’s sight.

With that non-urgent gesture as that day, he had insulted Leyla today. She stopped running after realizing the harsh difference between his attitude towards her and Claudine.

The pale-faced Leyla staggered to the grass to throw up the food she forcefully shoved in. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn’t cry.

When the nausea stopped, Leyla went to the shallow stream running through the forest and rinsed her mouth. She felt much better after taking a rest in the tree shade.

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Leyla wiped her lips with the back of her hand and returned to the path leading to the cabin. She had no more energy left to run, so she trudged her legs along. The damp stocking and skirt got dirtied, but she didn’t mind because her appearance was already messy.

When the cabin in sight, Leyla gathered up her last energy and kicked the hazel tree fruit off the side of the road. While she watched the fruit roll down, she suddenly realized the fatal mistake she had made.

“My glasses…”2

Her face crumpled up. The road she looked back on felt far away.

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