TAHR 02

Chapter 02

Ethan appeared in Elisa Leslie’s world when she was ten years old.

The nanny who had taken care of Elisa since she was born had to quit because of unavoidable circumstances, so they hired a new nanny. The person chosen for the job was Mrs. Grace, Ethan’s mother.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lady Elisa. My name is Ethan.”

Elisa still clearly remembered the moment she first met Ethan.

His shoes were worn at the toes but had been cleaned carefully. His pants were not badly torn, but they were too short, leaving his ankles exposed. His vest looked neat at first glance, but some of the threads were coming loose.

He seemed to have dressed up as best as he could, but ironically, it only made his shabby appearance stand out more.

His hair was also so messy that it nearly covered his eyes.

A shabby and unimpressive boy.

If she had to give him a score, Ethan would have gotten zero.

That changed when Elisa saw his gray eyes.

They were exactly like the eyes of the wolf she had seen at the zoo a few days earlier.

“Nice to meet you, Ethan.”

Elisa liked the fact that his eyes had a slightly bluish tint when seen under warm sunlight, so she smiled brightly and took his hand.

Once he changed into decent clothes and his messy hair was trimmed, the handsome features of the boy hidden underneath were revealed.

She could swear that Ethan was the most handsome boy Elisa had ever seen.

I made a good choice.

Young Elisa smiled proudly.

The two were the same age, and they also had similar interests, so they quickly became close.

After a year had passed, they had become inseparable best friends. It was no exaggeration to say that they were always together except when they were bathing or sleeping.

“Lady Elisa!”

Then, one day, Ethan willingly threw himself forward to save his lady from being bitten by a mad dog.

He nearly died because of it, but he did not blame Elisa in the slightest.

“……Are you all right, Lady Elisa?”

Even when he finally opened his eyes after hovering between life and death, those were the first words he said.

His arms and legs were tightly wrapped in bandages, yet he was worried about Elisa, who had only a single bandage on her.

That was when it began.

Ethan started to look like a man to Elisa, rather than simply a playmate or a friend.

At the same time that Elisa realized her feelings for Ethan, she also realized that those feelings could never come true, and she fell into despair.

The daughter of a count and the son of a nanny.

There was no way it could work.

So she tried to give up on her feelings.

But even that was not easy.

Instead, her feelings only grew bigger and bigger, driving her almost crazy.

“I like you, Ethan.”

Then one day, when someone told her that she was an adult now and should probably start thinking about marriage, Elisa drank heavily and confessed while drunk.

“I’ve…… liked you as a man for a long time.”

If it had ended there, it would have remained an embarrassing memory that made her kick off the blankets in shame whenever she thought about it.

But the problem was that Ethan confessed his feelings to her as well.

“I also…… like you, Elisa.”

It was only natural that the two men and women who had finally confirmed the feelings they had hidden for so long would give in to their passion.

After spending the entire night together, Elisa eventually fell asleep as if she had fainted. When she opened her eyes again, the space beside her was empty.

She was disappointed, but she understood.

If someone discovered them together, both Ethan and Elisa would be put in a difficult position.

I should call him separately later and talk about what we should do from now on.

Now that she knew their feelings were mutual, Elisa had no intention of ending things here.

She firmly decided that she would somehow persuade her parents to accept her relationship with Ethan.

But perhaps Ethan had different thoughts, because he suddenly disappeared.

He left the estate without telling Elisa, the butler, the head maid, or even the servants she was usually close to.

“No. That can’t be. There’s no way. Ethan…… there’s no way he would leave me.”

Hadn’t they confirmed that they felt the same way about each other?

So Elisa firmly believed that Ethan could not have left her.

He had probably just gone out for a while.

But the longer he stayed away without returning, the weaker her belief became.

“How could he…… leave me behind?”

Anger filled the empty space.

The more she loved Ethan, the more fiercely her anger burned.

At the same time, Elisa understood how burdensome their difference in status must have been for him. That only made her sorrow rise even more, and she cried until her pillowcase became damp with tears.

Then she would become angry, only to cry again.

Her chest felt tight and her stomach felt sick, so she could not even eat properly.

So this is how painful and difficult it is to be betrayed by the person you love.

Elisa thought that losing control of her emotions was entirely because of that.

She would realize two months later that it was not the only reason.

“……Elisa?”

At the sensation of a hand shaking her shoulder firmly, the consciousness that had been wandering through the old but still vivid memories of the past returned to the present.

Elisa slowly blinked and turned her head.

“Are you all right? You don’t look well.”

When her fiancé, Derek Grenville, asked worriedly, Elisa smiled bitterly and nodded.

“I’m fine.”

She was only flustered by the completely unexpected reunion.

She was not actually sick or anything.

The fact that Ethan was the ‘K’ from the rumors was extremely shocking.

And there was good reason for that.

The Ethan she knew had never learned swordsmanship.

He had even been such a coward that he could not kill a chicken.

Yet the rumored ‘K’ had not only defeated the Imperial Army with his outstanding swordsmanship, but had also made prisoners tremble through his brutally cruel interrogations.

Is that really Ethan?

He looked exactly the same, but the rumors surrounding him were so different that she could not help doubting it.

Perhaps he was simply another person who looked exactly like Ethan.

They said there were about three people in the world who looked exactly like you, after all.

I should have asked him when our eyes met earlier.

Elisa sighed deeply again and again, regretting that she had not done so.

Even then, her eyes busily followed the man who looked like Ethan.

“You seem quite interested in the rumored ‘K’ as well.”

At the sudden remark, Elisa shifted her gaze to her fiancé.

She wanted to say that it was not like that and tell him not to misunderstand her, but when she saw his harmless smile, she could not bring herself to do it.

Derek Grenville had no title, but both of his parents were nobles.

He had a handsome appearance, a gentle personality, and excellent business sense.

There was nothing lacking in Derek Grenville as a perfect fiancé.

People all agreed that if he married Elisa and became the next Count Leslie, the Leslie family would prosper even more.

Elisa agreed with them.

She also admitted that Derek Grenville would make a good husband and a good father.

But that was as far as it went.

Elisa could not imagine herself becoming his wife.

The thought of sharing a bed with Derek made her feel sick with rejection.

It was not because her partner was Derek.

The very idea of sharing her body with a man she did not love disgusted her.

What was worse, whenever she imagined it, she remembered the night she had spent with Ethan, their bare skin pressed against each other.

His hot hands, caressing her body as if he were playing a piano, were still vivid in her memory.

I’m such a pathetic woman who still cannot forget the man who abandoned me and left.

And with all these other flaws of mine, am I really allowed to marry such a good man?

The blue eyes looking at her fiancé trembled.

When Derek met her gaze, the corners of his eyes curved beautifully like crescent moons.

“It seems you’re quite interested in me as well.”

Elisa had not been looking at him with that meaning in mind, but for the same reason as before, she could not say anything and only smiled awkwardly.

“When did Count Leslie say he would be returning?”

Perhaps realizing that Elisa was uncomfortable, Derek Grenville changed the subject.

He really is a good person.

As that realization once again weighed heavily on her heart, Elisa tightly clasped both hands together.

“He said he would return next month. I suppose things aren’t going as smoothly as he expected.”

Count Leslie was currently abroad because of a business matter.

Elisa had attended the victory banquet in her father’s place.

“I see. The Count said he went to the Kingdom of Angora, didn’t he? I should contact him at least once.”

There was confidence in his voice when he added that he hoped he could be of help.

Knowing that his confidence was not unfounded, Elisa firmly replied that he would certainly be able to help.

That was when the soft music playing throughout the banquet hall disappeared.

It was a signal that a waltz would soon begin and that those who wanted to dance should get ready.

If Derek asked her to dance first and she rejected him, things would become awkward for both of them.

“I……”

She was about to say that she did not want to dance first when she heard the murmuring voices around them.

Elisa turned her head.

A man was walking steadily between the people who had parted to both sides.

The man who looked like Ethan.

The rumored ‘K.’

Before she could even process what was happening, Elisa found herself standing within his shadow and swallowed a breath.

A sense of pressure she had never once felt from Ethan weighed down on her shoulders.

Even so, Elisa did not shrink back or avert her gaze.

Instead, she straightened her back and faced him calmly.

At that, the corners of the man’s mouth relaxed into a smile.

“Lady Elisa Leslie.”

The man placed one hand over his chest and extended his other hand toward her.

“Would you grant me the honor of dancing with you, my lady?”