Chapter 29
“Adeline is sharper than I thought.”
Noah heard every word the butler relayed in a perfectly calm voice. Yet his face remained dark. The night before, Noah had visited the Social Club and felt nothing but contempt there. The realization that he had sunk to the level of those filthy, base people left him sick with shame.
“How did this happen? I would have been better off knowing in advance.”
The butler was one of the few people Noah trusted completely. He had served Noah’s father, yet his silence had kept him in place all this time. And now he would soon serve Noah’s future dukedom. The butler possessed the sharp judgment to separate those who would aid him from those who would not. Noah rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“Ah…”
“That’s Albert, isn’t it?”
“Albert?”
“I kept him as my double. I had no idea Adeline would catch on.”
The butler’s mouth fell open. He had tried to squash the idea the moment it formed, but now he had to speak it aloud.
“Young Master, did you visit the Social Club again last night?”
“The dog stopped shitting.”
“……”
“But now I’m trying to stop.”
The butler let out a miserable groan and pressed a hand to his forehead. For Adeline, this revelation would have been horrifying. For Noah, it was simply another one of his whims.
“Lady Billett is worried. She summoned me, insisting that someone entered Young Master’s room. She looked terribly anxious.”
“What do I do about this?”
Noah clicked his tongue. The matter had grown far worse than he anticipated.
The night Noah had decided to return to the Social Club, what had seduced him? When he saw himself tailing Adeline, fear had gripped him. He had realized his own head had gone mad. Laughing at Adeline’s suspicions had meant nothing. He had simply wanted to be checked.
Yet in that club, he had shattered a friend’s head with a champagne bottle. Instead of seeking revenge, he had only confirmed his desire never to be discovered by Adeline.
Thud. Thud.
Still unable to uncover the true reason behind his own actions, Noah drummed his fingers on the desk. His thoughts seemed endless. But before long, his expression lightened. He leaned back in his chair.
“What’s there to worry about? It’s only one woman, Adeline. I just have to keep lying to her.”
Yes, just like the first time he had deceived her.
“Make a scapegoat.”
“Young Master!”
Albert stared at them with a face already laced with despair. He had overheard everything that had happened in the next room the night before. He knew exactly what was unfolding.
Even though he also understood that it was not desire driving Noah.
“How do you plan to cover your tracks? If Lady Billett learns the full truth!”
“There was a maid who said she would quit soon, wasn’t there? Just tell her she failed to steal the item. Give her enough compensation to retire to her hometown. Then how would the infamous Adeline ever find out?”
“But!”
Slap. Noah cut him off with a sharp clap against his own palm.
“I’ll take every last bit of responsibility. Even if I hadn’t made this mess, I was already finished, Albert.”
If it were revealed that Albert had been in Noah’s room and that Noah had hired a double to leave the mansion, Adeline’s suspicions would never die. And changing her mind would take time.
Noah had to crush Adeline’s unnaturally sharp instincts before they could strike. The sooner, the better. No matter the cost.
He would never allow his true self to be exposed.
“So that’s how it turned out.”
Noah’s second lie had unfolded smoothly. The script ran like this: the maid who had been promised a comfortable pension could not withstand the butler’s interrogation and broke down.
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Thanks to the maid’s flawless performance in front of Adeline, everything had gone without a hitch.
Adeline had accepted the explanation. She had witnessed enough to believe it. Noah simply sent the maid away, claiming he wanted to avoid making the whole thing bigger.
“Adeline, I can’t even describe how terrified I was when I heard.”
Noah had deliberately observed the scene from the living room alongside Adeline. He led her to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, pressing his face into her chest.
Adeline had a surprisingly lax side. If he whimpered about pain, she would rub his cheek against her breast or press his nose between her breasts without hesitation. Noah nuzzled her chest, sliding his lips across the lace of her undergarment, brushing the nipple beneath it.
“Hnn…”
The hand wrapped around his shoulder tightened. A sweet little moan pulled at his lower body. Noah exhaled a short, relieved breath. His breath brushed the fabric and met the warmth of her skin. Adeline’s waist trembled.
“There’s no one left I can trust. Adeline.”
“……You’re right.”
Her voice cracked with emotion as she swallowed hard. Noah pulled her waist closer and buried his nose in the valley of her breasts. The soft skin against his cheek filled his mind with filthy thoughts. How wonderful it would feel to slide his cock between those soft breasts. He shook his shoulders slightly, though the thought was anything but pure.
“I’m so scared. What if everyone I used to know turns on me…”
“No. Not everyone will.”
Adeline stroked his shoulder gently. Distracted by the endless fantasies he was spinning and the flawless lie he had prepared, Noah had missed the fact that her eyes were fixed on the empty air.
“The person in Noah’s room… that checks out. But what about Noah himself?”
She watched Noah nestled against her chest and felt a new suspicion bloom.
“What was that smell of alcohol?”
* * *
Several days had passed. The routine had quickly returned to normal. Adeline had been unable to identify the source of the suspicions swirling in her mind, so she had begun to doubt whether she was being too paranoid. Just as she was starting to relax, the letter arrived.
“Then spend today happily as well.”
While out for her walk, Adeline spotted the mail carrier. She approached him, intending to call the butler, only to receive the letter directly through the gate.
“Count Leyod?”
The sender was Count Leyod, the recipient Noah. Because of his shady connections in society, Adeline had never learned the count’s true nature. Still, she assumed he must be an acquaintance since he had sent the letter to Noah and entered the mansion.
The heat grew oppressive. Even standing still made one sweat. As the afternoon wore on and nerves grew raw, Noah was in the shower.
Sluuuursh.
The sound of running water drifting from Noah’s room made Adeline’s nape prickle. She stood outside the door connecting their rooms and hesitated. She had entered Noah’s room countless times, yet every time he showered, her heart tightened.
One thin door.
If she simply opened it, Noah would be standing there, naked. The image of his bare body flashed through her mind. She had never seen his form, but the hard muscles beneath his clothes suggested something lean and toned beneath the thin fabric.
Adeline swallowed hard.
“Leave the letter and go.”
She pressed the back of her hand to her flushed cheeks. Hot. Her entire body burned. Her hand, her face—everything felt scalding.
“Who is it?”
Adeline had been creeping toward the table when the voice from the bathroom startled her. Her heart raced as though she were a thief. The sound of Noah’s voice echoing strangely.
“Albert?”
Adeline coated her lips with spit. Holding her breath, she stopped in place.
“It’s me, Noah.”
No reply came. The water shut off. A moment passed in silence. Had she startled him? Or was he simply ignoring her? The lack of any sound suggested the former.
Adeline, unwilling to disturb him, lifted the letter. She had no intention of showing it to him.
“A letter arrived for you. I came to set it on your desk.”
“……”
“What a surprise. I thought you came to join me in the shower.”