Maylily - Chapter 22

Skaard Hotel was preparing to open a new branch this coming July in Lurollei, a resort town in the south of Riverton. Hugh’s business trip to Lurollei was to ensure that preparations were proceeding without issue.

Skaard Hotel had established a stable and solid management system over two generations, and each branch was operated by general managers appointed by Hugh and the board of directors.

Although the Lurollei branch had not yet opened, it too was under that system, and thus Hugh completed this trip smoothly by reviewing in person the matters he had received in writing, issuing additional instructions, and making several major decisions.

The schedule concluded earlier than originally planned, leaving him with two extra days.

David suggested that they take the opportunity to visit the Everscourt estate, located an hour’s carriage ride from Lurollei. The reason was that Hugh’s aunt, Deborah Skaard, the de facto mistress of the Everscourt household, was anxiously waiting for him.

It was easy to guess that since Hugh had returned to Riverton but not yet visited the estate, David had been harassed by Deborah’s incessant requests.

Even so, Hugh knew well the reason for Deborah’s anxious waiting, and he refused without hesitation. Since the death of Hugh’s father, Deborah had devoted herself, as if it were her mission, to Hugh’s marriage and succession, and Hugh had no intention of offering up his precious time to his aunt’s urgings and nagging.

Thus, upon returning straight to Roden, what awaited him was unwelcome news.

“Victor Heywood seems to have found the third house Maylily Aile lived in, about a week ago.”

Victor Heywood, who had reportedly arrived in Purdshire some time ago, had taken a step closer to Maylily in the meantime. Still, a reunion between father and daughter seemed far off, but Hugh judged it was necessary to widen the gap just as much on his side.

Hugh instructed preparations to be made in case Victor Heywood attempted to visit Maylily’s alma mater or the Purdshire Opera Company. Then, confirming that Maylily had no performance scheduled that evening, he headed to her home.

His plan to spend a leisurely afternoon swimming and reading in the warm spring sunshine was disrupted. Yet in truth, this seemed the more fitting way to shake off the weariness of a week-long trip. These days, nothing entertained him as much as Maylily Aile did.

By the time the carriage passed out of Aberque and entered the bridge over the Fez River leading to Cryer, cherry trees lining the river scattered pink petals across the view through the carriage window.

Above it unfolded the memory of that evening reception where petals of the same color had fluttered. While quietly recalling Maylily’s voice and touch in that scene, the carriage arrived at its destination.

Though gentle and obedient, Maylily was curiously a woman who slipped little by little beyond expectations and control.

That very trait, which had always brought Hugh unexpected amusement, worked in a slightly different way today. For when he arrived at her doorstep and gripped the knocker, a deep male voice could be heard from beyond the door. It was unmistakably a man’s.

“……”

Hugh quietly released the knocker without bothering to wonder at the man’s identity, and instead slipped the key from his coat pocket into the lock. A dull heat spread around his chest. He imagined how he might punish Maylily’s audacity for admitting a man into the house against his orders, as he opened the door.

In the hall leading from the entrance to the sitting room, unfamiliar heads all turned at once toward where Hugh stood. Under the heated stares, Hugh calmly shifted his gaze until he found Maylily, her face that of someone caught in the act of theft.

Though his expectation had been mistaken, Hugh quickly recognized that it was still a situation from which he could extract something from her. His tightly set mouth loosened, the corner of his lips lifting slightly.

“Maylily.”

“…Yes,” Maylily answered faintly, her voice catching in her throat.

“You ought to introduce your guests to me.”

Hugh stepped leisurely inward on polished shoes, speaking smoothly.

“Ah…”

Finally snapping out of her daze, Maylily quickly moved forward, placing herself between Hugh and the others.

“This is my aunt, Diane Brooks. And this is my uncle, Jace Brooks…”

In a slightly trembling voice, Maylily introduced her family one by one. In turn, they each bowed stiffly to Hugh, overwhelmed by his lofty bearing and presence.

In contrast, Hugh returned their greetings with casual nods of composure, until at last it was his turn to be introduced.

“And this is…”

Turning back to her family, Maylily bit her lip and released it, clearly troubled. As though she had been caught hiding a forbidden secret. And indeed, that secret was Hugh himself—specifically, her relationship with him.

“The Count of Everscourt.”

At the word “Count,” her family’s eyes widened in shock. Turning his gaze from them back to Maylily, Hugh gave the faintest trace of a smile.

“I came to speak with you. Shall we talk here?”

“N-No! This way, please, this way.”

Maylily, startled by the sly provocation, hurriedly pulled at Hugh’s sleeve. So flustered was she that she even forgot the basic etiquette of never touching a noble’s body without permission.

Since the desperate tug of her delicate hand was not unpleasant, Hugh followed her obediently with a faint smile.

“Please wait in the sitting room first. I’ll just speak briefly with the Count and come back.”

Maylily must have intended to distance Hugh as much as possible from her family to avoid suspicion, but in the end, it was a poor choice. For no matter that she was not a noble lady, bringing an unrelated man into her bedroom was an act rife with misunderstanding.

Hugh didn’t point this out. To Maylily, who had no honor to be protected as a lady, there was no such courtesy owed.

After letting Hugh into the bedroom first, Maylily firmly shut the door leading to the corridor to prevent voices from leaking, and turned back.

“Um… just a moment, Count.”

Then, as if checking that nothing was amiss in the room, she glanced about, only to discover that the door connecting the sitting room and the bedroom was ajar. Alarmed, she hurried over. Hugh, removing the leather gloves from his hands, strode after her in long steps.

“Ah, you startled me…”

Turning from firmly shutting the second door, Maylily recoiled in surprise at finding Hugh right behind her. Before she could step back even two paces, her body struck the door.

Striding forward, Hugh stretched out his arms to brace both sides of her, leaning his head slightly toward her.

“Maylily.”

“Yes, Count.”

“Why are there guests I never invited in my house? Explain that first.”

Though he had never once thought of this small, shabby house as his own, and though he regarded it as Maylily’s space, Hugh spoke brazenly. Solely because Maylily’s face was marked with guilt. Only to drive her into a corner.

From beyond the door, faint voices murmured. Conscious of them, Maylily lowered her voice as much as possible, speaking in a near whisper.

“My aunt’s family came from Purdshire to see my performance in Roden, but they could not find a suitable place to stay… During the social season, every place is crowded. Since there was a spare room, I let them stay, but I never imagined you would come…”

Her cheeks flushed from tension, Maylily babbled without meeting Hugh’s eyes. Her face, still conscious of their last kiss, quietly heightened Hugh’s mood.

“Ah, so when I am absent, you bring people into my house as you please.”

“T-That is not what I meant… It all happened so suddenly, I didn’t have time to ask permission. I apologize. But, Count… could you please lower your voice a little? I fear the sound might carry to the sitting room.”

Though he resented her for sparing concern elsewhere in this moment, Hugh decided to grant her request. That way, he could focus all of her nerves on himself.

“Now, is this better?”

With their noses nearly touching, Hugh leaned in close and asked in a low voice. At the abrupt narrowing of distance, Maylily’s cheeks reddened further as she swallowed dryly and gave a small nod.

“…Yes, thank you.”

“What do you intend to do with those people?”

“They will watch my performance tomorrow and return to Purdshire the morning after. Could you permit them to stay here just until then?”

Her long, dense lashes, which had been lowered all this time, fluttered upward like a tiny fan.

When asking for something, the woman had a habit of carefully looking into the other’s eyes. Perhaps because of the gentle droop at the ends of her eyes, or perhaps because of the earnestness shining transparently in her large pupils, her face gave off a sorrowful air.

But Hugh was not so sentimental as to be swayed by that. Rather, he had something to extract from her.

“Very well, I permit it.”

“Thank you, Co—”

“Then what will you give me in return?”

Cutting off Maylily’s words of relief, Hugh pressed her for payment as though collecting a debt. Her lips parted slightly, her expression one of someone doused with cold water.

“What?”

“I promised my patronage to you, not to your relatives. Therefore, this is a separate matter from that. One gives, one receives. That’s the basic principle of a transaction.”

“……”

“Speak, Maylily. What will you give me?”