chapter 16
Elizabeth felt flustered seeing Kieren standing right in front of her. His blue eyes seemed filled with dissatisfaction.
Most people were already seated, so his standing figure stood out even more.
“Kierren, come sit here.”
Austin tapped the seat beside him and spoke. Kieren glanced at it briefly, then looked back at Elizabeth.
“Why are you sitting there?”
“….”
“There are plenty of seats.”
It seemed he was questioning why Elizabeth was stuck with such an unremarkable seat.
Anything said here would only end up indirectly attacking Abigail, so Elizabeth stayed silent.
Then Kieren spoke in a flat voice.
“Stand up.”
“Huh?”
“I said stand up.”
He spoke in a commanding tone and even reached out as if he was about to pull her up himself. Abigail’s expression stiffened slightly.
Elizabeth, unable to refuse or comply properly, awkwardly got to her feet.
Kieren took the seat she had been sitting in and pointed to the seat Austin had indicated.
“You sit there.”
“No, I—”
“Didn’t you hear me? This is my seat now. Go to yours.”
He tilted his chin slightly and spoke coldly, sounding irritated. Elizabeth, unable to resist further, went and sat next to Austin.
“We keep meeting like this, don’t we?”
Austin greeted her casually.
The chair was soft and comfortable, but strangely, sitting next to Abigail had felt more at ease despite the discomfort.
Elizabeth looked around, sensing the awkward atmosphere. The table had fallen into a silence as if cold water had been poured over it.
Only occasional forced laughter broke through the rigid tension.
Then Abigail, having composed her expression, spoke to Kieren.
“Sir Kieren, if you wanted to sit next to me, you could have just said so.”
“…”
“Why take Lady Lua’s seat and embarrass her?”
“This seat just looked particularly appealing.”
Kieren gave a faint smile as he looked at her steadily. Abigail responded with a light, graceful smile.
To an outsider, they might have looked like a beautiful couple—but neither of their gazes was warm. Both looked at each other with cold detachment.
As if they were warning each other not to touch something that shouldn’t be touched.
Yet those unaware of this tension relaxed, assuming it was a friendly exchange, and resumed their chatter.
Elizabeth also failed to read the exchange between them. The fact that they were supposedly engaged clouded her judgment.
She moved as little as possible to avoid Kieren’s gaze, trying to be as invisible as she could.
But her efforts didn’t last long.
From across the table, James spoke to her.
“You got home safely that time?”
“…Pardon?”
“No, I mean—about that time.”
Elizabeth was stunned by how suddenly friendly he sounded.
And worse, his words were far too suggestive for someone who had just been publicly humiliated.
It sounded almost like they had spent the night together.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“Oh? Was that a secret? Hahaha!”
Has he lost his mind?
Elizabeth was incredulous at James’s insinuation. And the other ladies weren’t about to ignore such bait.
“Sir James, were you meeting Lady Lua privately?”
When one of the ladies asked curiously, James glanced at Elizabeth.
“Well…”
“No.”
“Apparently not.”
James echoed her denial, yet left his answer deliberately vague.
Elizabeth frowned, drawing a clear line.
“I’ve never met him privately.”
“Oh my, denying it so strongly makes it even more suspicious.”
“Both of you are members of the Ingrid Club, so you must have had many opportunities to meet.”
“You actually do look good together. Are there two couples forming here?”
“How enviable.”
Their reactions were suddenly enthusiastic—despite having ignored her moments earlier.
Elizabeth let out a hollow laugh, speechless. James irritated her for allowing such ridiculous misunderstandings to spread.
But she also resented her own inability to properly refute it.
James only smiled, unaware—or perhaps fully aware—of the trouble he was causing.
If she stayed any longer, the misunderstandings would only grow. But it would be improper for a guest to leave first.
Just as Elizabeth endured the situation—
Crash!
“Eek!”
“Sir Kieren!”
The sound of shattering glass and a startled scream rang out. Then Abigail’s voice calling Kieren followed.
Elizabeth turned toward the sound, forgetting James entirely.
“Oh dear.”
Kieren sighed lightly, speaking in a calm voice as if unrelated to the situation.
But it wasn’t.
Blood, redder than the roses on the table, dripped steadily from his hand.
“Ki—”
Elizabeth almost called out but swallowed the word.
Kieren refused help from a servant and took out a handkerchief himself.
He wiped his hand calmly, as if it were nothing, without even a groan. His composure made everyone fall silent, forgetting even what they had been discussing moments ago.
* * *
The gathering ended in chaos.
Kieren had accidentally shattered a flower vase, making it impossible to continue the event.
A shard of glass had pierced his hand deeply.
Yet he walked out of the ruined party as if he weren’t injured at all.
After receiving first aid, they were now in a carriage returning to the castle.
Elizabeth glanced at the silent Kieren.
They were sharing the same carriage because their destination was the same, but neither of them spoke.
The earlier commotion had prevented her from even speaking properly with Abigail. Yet instead of disappointment, her thoughts were consumed by Kieren’s injury.
The image of his bleeding hand and cold expression lingered in her mind.
Kieren sat with his injured hand bandaged in Abigail’s handkerchief, his fist clenched as he stared down at the floor.
With his elbow resting on his knee and his upper body slightly bent, his breathing came slow and steady—just like that rainy day inside the carriage.
But unlike then, the distance between them felt vast.
Elizabeth couldn’t read his expression. Only the blood-stained handkerchief kept drawing her attention.
The red seeping through his clenched fist kept catching her eye like a splinter.
Only the sound of hooves and wheels filled the silence before Kieren finally spoke.
“I didn’t know you met James separately.”
“That’s not what I said.”
But Kieren only let out a faint laugh, as if it didn’t matter.
As if he had said it just to provoke her.
His tone was resigned, as though the answer itself didn’t matter, and it stung.
After a moment, he looked at her directly.
“Why were you even there?”
He sounded genuinely surprised. As if he hadn’t expected her to be at that place.
It made sense—it was a high-society gathering mostly for noble ladies of count-level families and above. Elizabeth didn’t belong there.
But she hadn’t gone by choice.
It had been Abigail’s doing, to make her place painfully clear.
Her voice sharpened in response.
“I was invited by Lady Prairie.”
“You could have refused.”
“You can refuse because of your position. I can’t. I’m just the daughter of a maid, like you said.”
“So now you’re only the maid’s daughter when it suits you.”
Kieren gave a faint, dry laugh at her resigned tone, looking at her with a slightly irritated gaze.
Elizabeth didn’t know what had made him so angry. He hadn’t looked happy the entire evening.
He had worn a false smile the whole time.
A smile only Elizabeth recognized.
After watching him for so long, she knew immediately—it was a fake smile. The kind only someone who had seen the real one could recognize.
And maybe she would never see that real smile again.
“Do you even know what kind of place that was?”
“It was just an extra chair.”
“No. It just wasn’t a place where you belonged. It won’t be next time either.”
“….”
“It’s not your place anyway. Why did you even go? Idiot.”
He spat the words out coldly, then muttered another curse under his breath before slumping back in the carriage.
Everything about him seemed dissatisfied, deep lines forming between his brows.
Elizabeth pressed her lips together, unable to respond. His words left her with nowhere to go.
It was a one-sided conversation that didn’t allow her even a chance to answer.
For what sounded like a simple quarrel between a foolish man and a foolish girl, it felt strangely heavier than it should have.
