Chapter 5.1
Emma faltered and retreated as the spacious leather sofa in the middle of the room caught her eye. Then she almost bumped into the man standing behind her.
She heard a sharp breath from him; he must have been startled as she. She stepped back as if to run away and the man’s blue-gray eyes narrowed. “What?”
“I am so clumsy…” Emma muttered helplessly, her eyes on the floor. The atmosphere was positively discomforting.
She had been running in the woods, so she must look like a mess to him. Her dress had remnants of her descent down the slope under the heavy rain, not to mention the mud that clung to the edge of her skirts. Realizing how dirty she must be, the man’s sharp intake of breath was deeply troubling and embarrassing.
‘I stink!’’ Emma didn’t even realize that her nostrils were flaring.‘What is that wretched smell?’
She secretly tried smelling herself, worried that the man might regret opening the door after seeing how messy and dirty she looked.
“Well, make yourself at home,” he said thoughtlessly, before he crossed the room with long strides and slumped down onto the sofa.
He comfortably spread his legs and sat down brazenly, announcing he was truly the owner of the place. He stared calmly at his new guest.
On the surface, he looked so arrogant and snobbish, and his aristocratic appearance was extraordinary, but however outstanding he appeared, he seemed to be a simple cabinkeeper.
A true noble would be accompanied by all his attendants, servants, and maids, but the man was thoroughly alone. Glancing around the room, there was no sign of life, let alone any servants. On top of that, the stable had clearly been empty. There were no horses, luxurious carriages, or expensive harnesses unique to nobility.
As a cabinkeeper, it’d be safe to pretend to be the owner when the family wasn’t using the space. Even while doing this, there would be no one keeping an eye on him.
“Are you planning to stand there forever?” The man snapped as he made eye contact with Emma, who was constantly squirming.
It’s true that if a stranger walks around looking like a beggar, they’ll be bothersome tot he homeowner.
“N-n-no.” Emma was hesitating when she started looking around the cabin.
Among the simple objects, an antique wooden chair in the corner caught her eye. It was a sleek wooden chair that was not covered with fabric. Even if it gets smeared because of her wet clothes, she could wipe it with a clean cloth later.
“I will sit over there.”
“Go ahead.”
Emma went to the chair and sat down, her spine as stiff as a tree. “If you’ll excuse me then.” It felt much better to be sitting down after having stood like a block of wood.
She was still nervous because she was in front of a strange man in a foreign environment, but when she sat on the chair and rested her back, the fatigue that had accumulated from the soles of her feet seemed to ease at once.
But different from his somewhat comfortable position on the sofa, the man was still maintaining an invisible barrier around himself.
There was an uncomfortable silence between them.
As Emma was indebted to the man, she was nervous about what she was supposed to say next, so she couldn’t help but open her mouth.
“I am Emma… Emma Herman. Thank you for saving me from that crisis back there.”
Emma, who was sitting in a rigid position, introduced herself awkwardly and offered her gratitude. The man merely nodded as if to say, “All right.”
She waited for him to speak more, but he just tapped a finger on the sofa’s armrest with an annoyed look on his face. After that, another awkward silence settled between the two.
Since Emma had introduced herself first, she thought that it was the man’s turn to do the same, but she must have been mistaken. Or maybe he didn’t know the first thing about good manners. Perhaps the man thought that he didn’t need to show good manners in front of a poor little woman he just saved.
Emma had heard from servants back at Herman-Sumemrville’s largest apothecary that this happened often. They turn weak and servile in front of those in high positions, and tough to those in a lower position than them, and do not hesitate to speak ill of them.
While the man kept his silence, sitting still like a stiff wooden doll, Emma shuddered slightly.
When her completely soaked clothes started to cling to her skin, she felt a bitter coldness down to her bones like she was surrounded by a lump of ice. The stabbing cold permeated her chest. Small pieces of crushed ice, not warm blood, seemed to be running through her veins.