WBESFL 48

Chapter 48

Vanessa lifted her head and looked at the sky, thick with dark clouds.

The rain that had been falling continuously until yesterday had started to ease by early morning today. Though the day was still overcast, it no longer rained. It was a rare rain-free day, so she moved briskly.

It was best to get things done while it wasn’t raining, even for a little while.

Her task today was to check on the residents affected by the heavy rain.

Vanessa carried a list of residents and went from house to house to assess their conditions. Some houses, caught in the heavy downpour, had suffered flooding, so urgent support needed to be provided even before the monsoon ended.

Starting from the outskirts, she came across a familiar house—Yahin and Yasmin’s home.

Small and modest, yet filled with the warmth of a lived-in home.

Vanessa, familiar from several previous visits, asked about the damage. Yahin’s messy writing was carefully interpreted by Yasmin.

Even if Vanessa tried to interpret it herself, there were too many unclear parts, so Yasmin always helped her.

“Come to think of it, how do you understand it so quickly, Miss Eleanor?”

Yasmin, being her younger sister, was understandable, but Eleanor had only met them recently. It was impressive how she could quickly grasp the unusual phrasing and original meaning of the text.

After checking the supplies Yahin and Yasmin needed, Vanessa stood to go to the next house.

Yahin followed her to the door, hesitated, and then handed over a notebook.

• Elinore nim, how you doin’?

Nim…? Vanessa, unsure of the meaning, called Yasmin. The little flying-squirrel-like Yasmin hurried over and immediately translated it.

“Miss Eleanor wants to know how you’re doing!”

“Oh. She’s busy, with guests visiting as well.”

“Guests? Who are they?”

At that question, Vanessa naturally thought of the outsiders from Sinclair, frowning slightly. The men who had come to take Eleanor to the capital.

If Eleanor was the epitome of a noblewoman from the capital, those two were like the epitome of capital noblemen.

One was an extremely arrogant young nobleman, the other gentle and kind.

Of course, calling them noblemen wasn’t completely accurate—one was a viscount, the other a marquis.

“They’re friends of your younger sister. One is a viscount, the other a marquis. Be careful not to draw attention to them. They’re not like the Maxeil people.”

Especially Sinclair wouldn’t let it slide if he learned that Haitar people were illegally living in Oklama, as Eleanor had explained. So Yahin and Yasmin were warned to be cautious while the two stayed there.

• Why did your sister’s friends come?

“I heard they came to take Miss Eleanor to the capital…”

Vanessa stopped mid-sentence. Yahin’s face had hardened terrifyingly. She looked up at him—two heads taller than herself.

“Miss Eleanor will handle it herself. It’s not our concern.”

“……”

“Yahin, we are people who must clearly maintain boundaries, especially with the generosity she shows us.”

Eleanor had been kind and treated them without much regard for social rank, which allowed them to stay close. But that didn’t mean they could forget their own position.

‘If people forget, they end up harboring false hope.’

Vanessa herself had once let hope mislead her, forgetting her duty, despite the baron’s kindness.

If Eleanor hadn’t been generous and capable, she wouldn’t be where she was now.

“I don’t want to say anything harsh to you.”

“……”

Vanessa looked silently at Yahin clutching the notebook. She remembered the day the Maxeil siblings left, and how she had glimpsed Yahin watching Eleanor and Cain from the shaded side of the castle.

She had known Yahin liked Eleanor, but it was mixed with admiration, so she hadn’t taken it seriously. Many of the castle’s maids felt similarly.

But that day, Yahin’s gaze held a forbidden emotion—jealousy toward a noble. A commoner having such feelings toward a noble was unacceptable.

Yahin shouldn’t have those feelings. He was a runaway slave from Haitar, not an ordinary commoner. A man who couldn’t even lift his head in the sunlight, feeling that way toward someone like Eleanor…

“…And Miss Eleanor said she wouldn’t go to the capital. So don’t worry too much.”

Seeing Yahin frozen as if he couldn’t breathe, Vanessa wondered if she had been too harsh. But since Eleanor had expressed her intent not to go, they really didn’t need to worry.

After leaving greetings and departing from Yahin and Yasmin’s home, Vanessa felt extremely uneasy. But having once felt jealousy toward Eleanor herself, she hoped Yahin wouldn’t make the same mistake.

He was in no position to make mistakes either.

By the time Vanessa returned to the castle after the damage survey from morning to afternoon, the rain had started again.

Carefully tucking her papers into her bag to protect them, she hurried inside.

As she removed her rain hat and stepped into the central lobby, she came face-to-face with a man.

Despite the humid weather, his uniform was impeccable. A man more beautiful than any statue in a museum.

Sinclair leaned against the stair railing, coldly looking down at her.

“……Hello, Viscount.”

Vanessa bowed her head in greeting.

It was the first time in a while seeing a proper noble, and she felt tense.

She knew he didn’t like her, which made it worse.

The sound of his heavy boots echoed on the carpet as he approached.

This was her first time meeting Sinclair alone.

“You’re Vanessa, right?”

“Yes, Viscount.”

“I have a question.”

His voice was both sweet and cold, like a heavily resonant instrument.

“I’ll answer properly.”

“I heard you were originally the heiress of the Pomfury baronial family. Is that true?”

Vanessa’s eyes widened.

Unconsciously, she lifted her head to look at Sinclair. How could that long-settled rumor come from the young noble in front of her?

Her mind rushed through the maids and servants who might have spread it. Was it the beautiful young nobleman influencing them, or could even the servants have repeated it?

“Why aren’t you answering?”

Sinclair narrowed his eyes. Vanessa quickly bowed her head.

“……That’s nonsense. I was merely fortunate to have the baron’s support and get a chance to work for Oklama and the baron.”

“I heard Eleanor fought with you over the barony when you came here.”

Sinclair said this with a mocking tone, as if dismissing her explanation.

Vanessa felt like biting her tongue.

She never imagined the mistake of appearing careless would come back like this. She wanted to find out who had spilled the baron’s matters so easily.

Even if they were Eleanor’s guests, there were things one should and shouldn’t say!

“I was the one who acted rudely toward Miss Eleanor.”

She calmly corrected herself.

The quarrel had been triggered by her own words, so it was accurate.

“Because of the barony?”

“Absolutely not.”

“I see.”

Vanessa hesitated to answer.

Revealing the depths of her feelings to someone else was shameful.

But Sinclair gestured as if he needed an answer, so she had no choice but to speak.

“I was jealous of Miss Eleanor.”

“Jealous?”

“……Yes.”

Her face instantly flushed. She felt the embarrassment of exposing a part of the inferiority she once had.

Even if she had reflected and Eleanor had forgiven her, that shame didn’t disappear.

Sinclair’s expression didn’t change as he looked down at her, a child under his patronage, admitting jealousy toward a noblewoman.

“Not because of the barony?”

“No. I’ve never desired such an exalted position.”

His gaze scanned her as if assessing the truth.

The intense, noble-like stare made her muscles tense.

Vanessa hoped her answer satisfied Sinclair, so he wouldn’t pick a fight.

Sinclair placed his hands in his pockets and leaned slightly forward.

Vanessa shrank her shoulders. Meeting Ernst would have been easier.

“Don’t you want to become a baron?”

“……Pardon?”

“I can help you.”

Sinclair smiled lazily.

Vanessa, momentarily lost in his beauty, quickly regained composure.

Help her become a baron? Nonsense.

She bit her lip and stepped back.

Sinclair raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“I don’t want the barony. That belongs to Miss Eleanor.”

“With my help, you could achieve it.”

“I appreciate your kindness, Viscount, but I don’t want to overstep.”

Vanessa was resolute.

Sinclair stroked his chin.

Commoners close to nobles often struggled to resist the temptation of social elevation.

But Vanessa’s firm refusal surprised him.

A sponsored child cherished by nobles, sitting at the same table as them… He thought she had ambition enough to claim that position.

Or maybe not.

‘Perhaps she knows her place, which is why she maintains it.’

In Oklama, Vanessa was caught between commoners and nobles.

Too respected to be just a commoner, too lacking in title to be a noble.

Such ambiguity meant one’s ambition greatly influenced their path. More ambition, and she would either become fully noble or be cast back to commoner life.

‘That might help Eleanor, but it doesn’t help Sinclair.’

He furrowed his brow. He had planned to make Vanessa the baroness heir, frustrate Eleanor, and bring her to the capital.

His kindness and slight smile contrasted sharply with the maids’ and servants’ exaggerated testimony.

Even though a rivalry had been rumored over the barony, Vanessa turned out to be different, shutting down his manipulations from the start.

“Ha……”

He exhaled in frustration. Things weren’t going as planned.

When he heard Vanessa’s story, he thought he had found a proper tool.

Seeing Sinclair displeased, Vanessa suddenly wondered: Why is he so determined to take Eleanor to the capital? Even if it’s for his sister, isn’t this excessive?

Why go to such lengths for someone she finds uncomfortable?

“Viscount. I apologize for asking, but may I ask why you want to take Miss Eleanor so badly?”

Vanessa couldn’t hold back her question.

“Why ask knowing it’s rude?”

Sinclair’s piercing gaze brushed her trembling shoulders.

Seeing her clearly confused, he chuckled.

Would Eleanor be just as confused as this child?

‘Then I should tell her.’

He smirked coldly.

‘Because Eleanor is trying to abandon Lydia.’

“Because Eleanor is trying to abandon us…”

Sinclair spoke coldly, then faltered, covering his mouth with his hand. His words came out opposite to what he meant.

A slow, shocked expression spread across his face.

“……?”

Vanessa, puzzled, watched him.

Why was he like that?

After saying something incomprehensible, he just covered his mouth and froze. She waited quietly.

After a long pause, Sinclair lowered his hand and spoke slowly.

…Anyway,

“She has a duty to act like an older sister to her younger sibling.”

Vanessa found it hard to respond.

Sinclair continued, seemingly not expecting an answer:

“It’s absurd for an older sister to abandon her sibling. It’s absurd for her to treat me this way.”

“……”

“So she must return to the capital. Paradise, once fled, cannot last forever.”

Every pause in Sinclair’s speech carried dense emotion.

Even quick-witted Vanessa couldn’t fully grasp it.

What kind of feelings drive a man to say this?

Sinclair looked at Vanessa with ice-cold eyes, tilting his head slightly.

“You’ll tell Eleanor I said this, won’t you?”

Vanessa, sensing he had seen straight through her, pressed her lips together.

She had intended to tell Eleanor everything right after meeting Sinclair anyway.

Was he trying to threaten her not to?

His tone wasn’t threatening, rather almost… expectant.

“When you tell her, make sure she follows my words, remembering the Academy days.”

“……”

“Not every moment in life can be as easily dropped as the Academy. She needs to know that.”

Strangely, Sinclair’s smile carried a scent of hurt.

Vanessa remained silent as he slowly turned.

“Convey every word exactly as I said it.”

Despite suggesting she betray Eleanor, he spoke confidently.

Vanessa watched silently as Sinclair ascended the stairs.

The monsoon’s outsiders were all unfamiliar, and she couldn’t make sense of anything.