Emerald

“Uncle, this is… way too much.”

Leila peered into the box with wide, startled eyes and spoke in a trembling voice. Bill was every bit as stunned and could not find a suitable retort.

“How much did you even spend on this?”

She was looking at him now as if scolding him.

“No. Well… I only spent what needed spending! You sure do fuss over everything.”

Bill finally collected himself and answered.

The dress Mrs. Mona had prepared for Leila arrived at the cabin on the day of the party. He had expected the postman, but a young man who looked like staff from the dressmaker’s shop delivered it in person.

A shop with employees dressed that well—Mrs. Mona must have taken real care. Yet when they opened the box, it was more than that. Even to Bill, who knew nothing of women’s clothes or jewelry, the white dress trimmed in gold thread looked thoroughly luxurious and beautiful. The shoes, the gloves, and the necklace were the same.

How much had he given Mrs. Mona again?

Bill counted on his fingers, tallying it up.

Had that woman charged him for the necklace too?

While Bill, puzzled, ran the numbers once more, Leila firmly closed the lid of the box.

“Why? Don’t you like it?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why?”

“We’re returning it. I can’t let you spend this kind of money on a party where I’ll only show my face for a short while, just one day.”

Contrary to Mrs. Mona’s confident assurance that she would be delighted, Leila’s face was full of worry.

“Leila, if you don’t wear this and go to the party, I’ll never look at you again.”

Bill’s expression turned cold in an instant.

“You’re always afraid of being indebted. I understand that feeling, but Leila—you don’t draw lines that sharp between people.”

He rose slowly from his seat.

“They only look the part. They’re all fakes and cheap goods. You know perfectly well that even if I wanted to give you every fine thing in the world, I can’t afford it.”

“Uncle…”

“If you won’t take them, I’ll just use the lot for kindling. And I’ll never look at you again, Leila.”

Face flushed scarlet, Bill fled out the front door as if escaping. After pacing in front of the flower beds and smoking cigarette after cigarette, belated regret washed over him for saying something so cruel to the child. No matter what, he should never have said he would never look at her again.

He was still debating whether to go back inside when Kyle came striding up the road in a tailcoat. Bill had always thought of him as a little boy play-acting at adulthood, but seeing him dressed so handsomely, he almost seemed a man already.

“Uncle, where’s Leila?”

Excited Kyle asked with a bright grin.

“Well. I don’t know.”

“What? Leila’s not home? The party’s about to start.”

“It’s not that, exactly, but…”

While Bill hesitated, unsure how to explain the situation, the front door creaked open. Both men turned their heads without thinking and drew in the same sharp breath.

A stranger who was Leila stood there.

“Kyle, don’t I look strange?”

Leila asked with a frown.

“These clothes feel so awkward on me…”

“You’re beautiful.”

Kyle, who could finally find his voice, cut her off firmly.

“You’re beautiful, Leila. I mean it.”

He said it again, full of conviction. The excited, boyish smile had vanished from his face, which was faintly flushed. He had known beforehand that Uncle Bill was preparing a gift for Leila, but he had never imagined anything like this.

He had been rather worried about the uncle’s taste—the man who picked things like country straw hats—but this was truly…

“Snap out of it, Kyle Etman.”

Bill Remmer clicked his tongue and gave the flustered Kyle a hard clap on the back.

“Today you’re standing in for me.”

Bill looked at him with quite a serious gaze.

“That means you take responsibility and protect Leila. You can do that, right?”

“Of course, Uncle.”

Kyle, matching his seriousness, answered with force.

“I’ll protect her for sure!”

Bill watched the boy swear it with a red face, then burst into a hearty laugh. In the meantime Leila had carefully stepped forward and come to Kyle’s side.

After several deep breaths to steady his heart, Kyle held out his hand with a reasonably dignified air.

“What are you doing?”

Leila asked in puzzlement, but Kyle did not withdraw.

“Today’s a party. We’re partners.”

“Yeah.”

“So.”

Mustering every scrap of courage he possessed, Kyle guided the hand he held onto his own arm.

“This is how it is for party partners.”

He was so nervous he almost stammered.

Leila considered for a moment, then nodded as if accepting it and lightly linked her arm through his.

“Let’s go, Kyle.”

In the instant Leila smiled as brightly as sunlight, Kyle thought: I will never forget this moment for the rest of my life.

Leila Lewellin appeared with the doctor’s son.

When Matthias, who had been greeting guests, suddenly turned his gaze, Leila was entering under Kyle Etman’s escort.

That Hessen was a perfect butler in every particular was proven by Leila’s appearance. Adorned with the things he had provided, Leila Lewellin was beautiful. In truth there was nothing elaborate about the adornment—she had merely put the gifts on a little awkwardly—yet it was unmistakably so.

Matthias’s gaze traveled carefully upward from her shoes and the hem of the dress and stopped on the necklace resting against her white, slender throat. It was a beautiful piece of pearls and emeralds together.

Hessen had prepared everything else, but that necklace Matthias had chosen himself. It had not been intentional. He had an appointment and went to the hotel; on the way there, in a shop window along the street, he saw that necklace. The clear green light of the delicately cut emerald had been quite striking. On the carriage ride back to the estate that same day, Matthias instructed Hessen to purchase it.

As if she felt the gaze, Leila suddenly turned her head. Eyes the color of a summer forest stopped exactly on Matthias’s face. Without her glasses, Leila narrowed her eyes before she seemed to recognize him.

Unlike the unmoved Matthias, Leila flinched in surprise and looked away. She gripped the arm of the boy beside her and hid herself behind him as if seeking cover.

“It’s been some time, Duke Herhardt.”

At the greeting from a familiar smiling face that approached, Matthias turned away for the moment.

Wearing an appropriate smile, he welcomed the guest and exchanged brief courtesies. Even with every sense fixed elsewhere, Matthias could perform the duty perfectly.

When he looked again, Leila and the boy were moving away toward the far side of the hall. Kyle Etman led her with open pride. The woman wrapped entirely in what was his, as if she belonged to him.

“This is Leila. She’s my friend.”

Claudine led Leila over to yet another group of ladies.

“How do you do. I’m Leila Lewellin.”

And once more Leila performed her part with a polite greeting. Her manner was that of a doll emptied of will or feeling.

Claudine smiled even more radiantly and introduced Leila Lewellin with great sincerity—how pitiful she was, yet how kind, clever, and diligent, detail by careful detail.

“Leila is preparing to become a teacher. Isn’t that truly wonderful?”

At Claudine’s proud praise the ladies all agreed and offered compliments. Of course the admiration was directed at Miss Brandt for regarding as a friend the poor orphan raised by a servant. Even if they called each other friends, everyone knew the two could not truly be so, and therefore the fact did nothing to diminish Claudine’s dignity.

“By the way, Claudine, I hear you’re to be engaged soon.”

As if the orphan-who-would-be-a-teacher had been discussed quite enough, one lady elegantly changed the subject. From that moment everyone’s interest fixed on Miss Claudine Brandt’s engagement.

Claudine assumed a shy, modest air. Since the betrothal had not yet been formally announced, behaving already as if she were the mistress of Arvis would have been rather frivolous.

“Oh—here comes Duke Herhardt!”

A young lady standing opposite Claudine exclaimed with rather too much excitement.

Every gaze swung in the direction she indicated. Even Leila, who had worn only a formal smile the entire time Claudine dragged her about, looked that way with rounded eyes.

Matthias, having passed by Leila, came to stand naturally at Claudine’s side. And Claudine, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, linked her arm through his. The glance Leila stole showed a complexion far paler than before.

“These are my friends, Duke Herhardt.”

When Claudine made the introductions, Matthias greeted the ladies with elegant courtesy. His gaze moved from one to the next and came to rest on the face of Leila, who stood at the very end of the group.

“This is Leila.”

Claudine tightened her hold on Matthias’s arm a little more firmly.

“You don’t recognize her, do you? She’s so different from usual that even I nearly failed to know her.”

At the remark disguised as a joke, Leila flushed in confusion. The child who had remained like still water no matter what insult was offered now colored for no reason other than standing before Matthias.

“Excuse me.”

A warm voice slipped into the sudden silence. It belonged to the boy who had been hovering nearby with a look of clear displeasure from the moment Claudine led Leila away—Kyle Etman.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but would it be all right if I took my partner now?”

Kyle took Leila’s hand without hesitation. Though a little startled, she did not refuse the touch. Rather, her expression was one of relief, as if a lost child had found her parents.

“My friends are also eager to be introduced to Leila.”

For all his easy manner, the look Kyle gave Claudine was cold and hard.

“Then of course I must yield. We can’t keep Leila all to ourselves.”

Claudine nodded willingly and glanced at Matthias. He was watching Leila and Kyle with indifferent eyes.

“Thank you, Miss Brandt. And Your Grace.”

Kyle offered the most correct of bows.

“Let’s go, Leila.”

Only when he faced Leila did Kyle at last show a bright smile. That affectionate, fresh smile alone was enough to make it plain: the boy loved her.

Standing beside Kyle, who was nearly as tall as Matthias, Leila looked even smaller and more fragile. The boy treated her as carefully as if she were treasure.

And Leila?

Claudine studied her closely through narrowed eyes. She too was smiling at Kyle. Leila Lewellin always wore a smile even in front of Claudine, but this was the first time she had seen a face that smiled so freely and brightly. One might almost have called her a girl in love.

Not the Duke of Herhardt, but the doctor’s son?

While Claudine remained caught in that puzzling thought, Leila and Kyle turned away.

Then—had the someone who made Leila Lewellin into a princess been that boy as well?

“Ah, Leila!”

Still turning the question over, Claudine spoke on impulse. Chandelier light fell across Leila’s turned figure.

“You look truly lovely today. Especially that necklace.”

“Pardon? Ah… yes. Thank you, Miss.”

Flustered, Leila touched her own throat.

The necklace that hung long across her breast suited her remarkably well. The stones framing the emerald—the same color as the girl’s eyes—like petals were surely diamonds. The soft milky pearls were no different. All of it was far too fine and delicate to dismiss as counterfeit.

Could Kyle Etman—rich though he might be, yet only the son of a doctor’s household—really have placed that necklace around Leila’s neck?

“Don’t you think so, Duke Herhardt?”

Claudine smiled sweetly and turned to Matthias.

“It would seem so.”

Matthias answered without the slightest hesitation. His face was perfectly calm.