MDIHC 29

〈029〉

The hand that gently grasped mine was completely different from the one that had yanked it earlier. He held my hand softly.

I could tell without trying—how large his hand was, how rough and calloused his palm felt, where the scars were, and surprisingly, how warm his body temperature was.

“This way.”

As Lord Winchester guided my hand, it moved like a puppet in a marionette show—his will directing my movement. His slippery fingers, still slick with ointment, touched around my collarbone.

It was my hand, my fingers. But the movement wasn’t mine.

Though it was my hand rubbing across my collarbone with that warm, slick touch, it didn’t feel like my own. I moved, but it wasn’t me doing it.

His hand was warm. I couldn’t tell whether it was the heat from the hand holding mine or the one being held.

I stared in a trance at the large hand that was guiding mine—the long fingers, the muscles of his grip, the knuckles that stood out, and the blue eyes visible just beyond his strong arm.

“……”

The moment our eyes met, I felt like I had to say something. But I didn’t know what to say. I was confused about what kind of expression I should wear.

Like a goldfish pulled out of water, my mouth gaped, and my eyes flailed like a deer caught in a flood.

“It’s done.”

The moment Lord Winchester let go of my hand, it was as though a spell had been broken. My stiff body relaxed, and my senses came rushing back.

“Thank you.”

The first thing I did after regaining my composure was to look away from his eyes—lest I get lost in that piercing blue gaze again.

Until now, I’d thought Lord Winchester simply looked at me with cold indifference. Even after our marriage, I believed he hadn’t changed. But I was wrong.

Today, I realized something very clearly—his gaze had changed.

It wasn’t the same cold stare he had the first time we met. It wasn’t the icy chill of a harsh winter.

The gaze that had once seen me as a stranger, as someone irrelevant, now held something else. Subtle enough that even he may not have noticed, but it was unmistakable.

There was warmth in the way he looked at me.

“I think I might be able to come to like him.”

The words I had forgotten came rushing back.

“He must be impotent.”

Alone in my room, I muttered quietly. It was the kind of thing no one else should hear.

“He has to be.”

There had definitely been a certain softness to that moment—a kind of pink, fluffy vibe I couldn’t quite name. He was the one who took my hand first. And even though he didn’t directly touch me, his hand guided mine to my collarbone. It’s not an explicitly sexual area, but it’s not entirely innocent either.

The atmosphere was undeniably romantic. Even if it hadn’t been my collarbone—even if I had been rubbing the nose of a stone statue—I’d still have felt my heart flutter. That’s how charged the moment was. That’s why I felt something.

“He’s definitely impotent!”

I slammed my hand on the desk to finalize my conclusion.

I was sure I had sensed it—that something in Lord Winchester’s demeanor had changed, even just a little. The way he looked at me had changed, if only slightly.

But was I just imagining things?

I had tried to keep the moment going, to extend the vibe and see what might happen next. But Lord Winchester had coldly and decisively cut things short, telling me I could leave since everything was done.

“Ugh! That’s not what was supposed to happen!”

The wall of reality was massive. And the charming little wall standing in front of it was named Daniel.

Lord Winchester was not impotent. Which meant there was only one reason he had been so calm and composed during that romantic moment.

“It must’ve all just been in my head.”

Even last night, Lord Winchester had gone to bed with all the innocence in the world. Thanks to that, I too had been able to sleep peacefully and untouched.

We’d been married for over a month. Officially, I was a married woman. And yet, like freshly fallen snow, I remained perfectly untouched.

“I mean… do I have to stay this pure? I am married…”

My energy drained from my body, and I slumped so far down the chair that I was practically lying down. I mumbled lazily, then suddenly snapped back to alertness.

“What am I saying?! Of course I should stay pure! It’s not like I even like Lord Winchester! I must be going crazy!”

I jumped upright and shouted at myself.

“This is all just from too much stress. That damned family yesterday triggered my brain so badly I’m trying to escape into fantasy. That’s it! That’s what this is!”

To push away my delusions, I began talking to myself rapidly like a machine gun, blaming everything on the Atley family. I didn’t feel the least bit guilty—they deserved the hate.

“At times like this, I need to give my brain some fresh air. Just see pretty, good things.”

I jumped to my feet, ready to go look at the prettiest and best thing I knew.

I waited until Miss Reynold and Daniel finished their lessons, then coaxed him into going on a picnic in the garden. I prepared sandwiches slathered with jam and a pitcher of cold lemonade, then set up under the big plane tree.

Thanks to its large leaves, the shade beneath the tree was deep and cool. The breeze was gentle and fresh, letting us enjoy the sunny day without any of the heat.

“What are you drawing?”

I asked Daniel as he nibbled on his jam sandwich and scribbled with colored pencils.

“It’s Tosooni!”

Daniel beamed happily as he replied. Now that I looked closely, Tosooni was indeed lying quietly right next to where Daniel was drawing.

“Lucky Tosooni! Getting to be a model!”

There were only a few circles drawn so far, so I couldn’t quite tell it was Tosooni. But I responded encouragingly anyway.

‘Maybe he’s got a knack for art?’

I tilted my head as I looked at his drawing. But I wasn’t much of a judge myself—I couldn’t tell whether it was good or not.

‘Should I show it to a real artist? Or maybe take him to an exhibition to see if he’s interested?’

As the circles and wobbly lines multiplied, my thoughts deepened.

I agreed with Lord Winchester that it was important to let Daniel pursue what he liked. But I still didn’t know what that was. We had tried all sorts of things, but nothing really seemed to excite him or show any special talent.

Despite being the daughter of a sword master, Daniel was nearly hopeless physically—and easily frightened.

She was scared of horses, so no horseback riding. Her coordination was poor, so fencing was out. She struggled with team sports because she couldn’t keep her eyes on the ball.

Dance was something she’d eventually need to learn for social reasons, but her footwork was a disaster… it would be better to leave that for later so she wouldn’t get too stressed.

Music wasn’t bad. She wasn’t tone-deaf or rhythmically challenged. She was diligent and quick to memorize scales and motions, but she didn’t seem to enjoy it.

So, I thought maybe art might be worth trying and bought her some paper and colored pencils.

‘Doesn’t seem like she’s got a genius-level gift…’

I glanced at the lopsided lines and long ears that were just enough to identify Tosooni and thought to myself.

“Wow! Daniel, you’re really good at drawing!”

But my mouth praised her almost automatically.

“Really?”

Daniel perked up at my compliment.

“Yup! Super well done! Anyone can tell this is Tosooni! Even if someone was doing a handstand on a moving carriage, they’d recognize it as Tosooni!”

It wasn’t even a lie. With ears that long, what else could it be but a rabbit? No other creature I knew had ears shaped like that.

Now that I looked again, Daniel had done a great job capturing the key features.

See? The long ears clearly marked it as a rabbit. The big round eyes were just right. Four legs in total. Even the gray color matched perfectly!

Wait—could Daniel actually be an art prodigy?!