Chapter 1
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“Am I going to be the good memory of Countess of Brierton?”
A smile slowly spread across Enoch’s beautiful face. It was a youthful smile.
“This feels good.”
“…..”
Enoch, who said so, seemed really happy.
Ines felt her heart beating fast. Just then, Enoch took a step closer to Ines.
‘Why do I feel this way?’
His blue eyes looked straight down at her.
Ines met the gaze as if possessed.
As if trapped in those lake-like eyes, she couldn’t take her eyes off of it.
That moment.
‘Is His Excellency…. looking at me with reason?’
Unknowingly, Ines stiffened her shoulders at the sudden rise of doubt.
In fact, Ines wasn’t terribly ignorant of relationships.
Before she married Ryan, she lived as the best heiress in the kingdom, and she had the experience of being courted by many men.
Although it was not yet known whether the Duke was aware of his own feelings or not.
But… .
Ines swallowed her dry saliva.
‘Then what about me?’
Ines, who reflexively questioned herself, felt terrified at the same time.
‘Did I really treat the Duke only with respect?’
She couldn’t possibly answer that question.
Ines felt her heart pounding.
‘….I had been dealing with the Duke with reasons.’
But how could she be in front of a perfect man like Enoch without being conscious of the opposite sex? Enoch was a very nice and handsome man. Rather, because of his overwhelming beauty, Enoch’s characteristic sweet and thoughtful personality was overshadowed.
That’s why.
In order not to harm the Duke’s reputation, she had to somehow treat him as a ‘respectful patron’.
Because Enoch was such a good person… …
‘No.’
In an instant, Ines bit her lip tightly.
‘I respect the Duke. It has to be.’
The Duke of Sussex discovered, recognized and helped her in every way.
It was by far Elton who made the biggest contribution to her divorce from Ryan this time.
The suspicions about Ryan’s painting and the affair between Ryan and Charlotte.
It was all reported by Elton.
And it was Enoch who owned the Elton.
In such a situation, at this point, not long after the divorce was over.
If anyone ever doubts the relationship between Enoch and Ines.
‘It may harm the honor of His Excellency.’
As soon as she thought of that, Ines felt a terrifying feeling as if she had cut her heart thinly with a sharp dagger.
‘The Duke of Sussex is a person I am grateful to for giving me decisive help.’
Furthermore.
‘I’m afraid.’
Ines reflexively took a step back. Enoch called out to Ines worriedly.
“The Countess of Brierton?”
Ines, not knowing what to do, looked at Enoch.
Enoch tried to get closer to her.
“Your complexion is not good. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. I’m okay!”
A sharp cry reflexively erupted.
Enoch stopped.
Unable to overcome her nervousness, Ines chewed the soft flesh in her mouth.
‘Now I must look strange.’
Ines kept flinching.
Because her memories of being betrayed by Ryan were still vivid.
Even if she looked at her life before and after regression, no one was better than Enoch.
He helped her seize her freedom and even brought back her lost life. So, if she deepened her feelings for Enoch and then fell apart….
‘It’s going to end in a relationship where we can’t even see our faces at all.’
Ines clenched her fists tightly.
Her manicured nails pierced her palms painfully, but her mind was so complex that she felt no pain.
‘I don’t like that either.’
In the end, there was only one way to overcome the current situation.
Both of them hadn’t properly expressed their feelings yet.
At this time, when one was not clearly aware of one’s feelings.
‘I have to completely cut off the possibility of any progress in the relationship.’
“Thanks for your concern, I think it was because I was a little tired from concentrating on the sketch.”
Ines tried to look as normal as possible, with an innocent face. Enoch smiled.
“Then, shall we go back to the house soon? Coloring will be done later.”
“Yes….”
Then, Enoch glanced down at his watch, then looked at Ines.
“It’s lunch time, so I’d like to treat you to a meal. Also to congratulate the Countess on her divorce. How is it?”
“No.”
But Ines resolutely shook her head.
“I am a little tired today. I’m going to go early and rest.”
“… Ah, you had a fever just yesterday.”
Enoch meekly nodded his head, but he could not hide his regretful face.
“How do you plan to get back to the house?”
“The carriage is waiting outside.”
Ines was only stubbornly drawing the line.
“Alright.”
Enoch eventually took a step back.
**
So that was how the two left the studio.
She left the house early in the morning, and now it was midday when the sun was high in the sky.
‘Somehow, because of me…… I think the atmosphere has become a bit awkward.’
But she didn’t want to harm the Duke, so she had to draw the line.
Ines, who felt embarrassed for no reason, apologized to Enoch.
“I’m sorry I took your busy time.”
“No, no need to be sorry.”
Enoch shook his head resolutely. “It was because I wanted to find you in the first place.”
“… Duke.”
“I wanted to meet the Countess of Brierton.”
Enoch concluded in a calm voice.
“That’s why I came.”
“…”
For a moment, Ines’ expression shook slightly.
But only for a moment.
“Then go back carefully.”
Ines, who was smiling brightly, tried to get into the carriage without any regrets. At the same time, Enoch called for Ines.
“Countess.”
“Yes?”
Ines glanced back.
After talking a moment, Enoch opened his mouth again.
“The Countess will shine brightly as an artist and as the head of a family in the future.”
At the unexpected words, Ines stared blankly at Enoch.
Enoch spoke in a calm voice.
“And I am honored to see you spread your wings and soar.”
“…”
Ines was somehow choked up. No one whom she cherished had ever said such a thing to her. A husband she once loved passionately, a close friend she trusted.
However, this man in front of her believed in her potential. When she looked into his eyes, she felt the sincerity of his words. Enoch really thought so.
“…… thank you.”
Ines, whose lips quivered as if to say something, finally opened her mouth with only a thank you message.
Enoch smiled and took a step back.
“Don’t overdo it today and get a good rest. It’s a promise.”
“Okay. The Duke, do not stand still like this, and get on the carriage.”
At Ines’ worried words, Enoch shook his head.
“No, I am going to watch the Countess depart.”
Ines clenched her lips tightly.
Perhaps Enoch was not doing this to win Ines’ favor.
It must be just the consideration that was ingrained in his body.
And for Ines, Enoch’s behavior shook her endlessly.
‘My heart keeps beating.’
That was why she wanted to turn a blind eye to how she felt about Enoch. Ines struggled to get on the carriage pretending there was nothing.
“Then I’ll go first.”
Leaving only those words behind, Ines set off the carriage as if to run away.
The studio moved away in an instant.
And the whole time the carriage was running, Ines didn’t look back on purpose. It was because she didn’t want Enoch to see her wretched expression on her face.
“…It’s okay, that’s a good thing.”
Thump. Thump.
Pressing her pounding chest with her hand, Ines exhorted herself like that.
“Good job, Ines.”
Ines, who was muttering like a spell, leaned her head against the window.
Like a tangled thread, her mind was all messed up.
She thought back to what she had done earlier.
If Enoch has no feelings for her, then she has drawn an excessive line.
‘I was sensitive.’
Ines lowered her eyes.
‘His Excellency is just being polite to me, I’m just mistaken.’
And as soon as she made that assumption.
Ines felt her heart cool as if she had swallowed a large piece of ice.