Chapter 10
For someone as logical and rational as Edmund, there was no such thing as a feeling without a cause.
He was skilled at offering empathy and understanding. Recognizing others’ emotions and offering comfort were things he did naturally and with precision. To him, every feeling and every action had a reason, and he was always confident in knowing what that reason was.
Edmund’s eyebrows tensed slightly.
It would not take him long to find the cause of this discomfort. Just like always, he would find the correct answer.
He had never once been wrong, and that gave him certainty.
Edmund began walking again.
His grandmother was waiting for him in the glass conservatory. Keeping her waiting any longer would be rude.
＊ ＊ ＊
The moment Vivian recovered from her terrible fever, she headed straight to Grandpa Len’s bookshop.
“Grandpa! Grandpa!”
Her voice was bright and cheerful, like a lark calling out. She ran into the shop with the Tannic Sea behind her, and her voice woke Len from his sleepy haze.
The book he had been reading had already turned ten pages ahead without him noticing. His eyes, which had been gently closed as he leaned his chin on one hand, opened wide.
Len looked at the girl sitting in front of him, catching her breath.
“Vivian?”
“Grandpa!”
“What brings you here?”
She was an unexpected but welcome visitor. Though she often showed up unannounced, Len was especially surprised this time. The news of her illness had spread all over Faubert.
Luckily, there were no signs of a fever in the girl who had run into his shop so energetically.
Len let out a quiet sigh of relief and allowed himself to be pulled along by her small hands. She led him to the table, then sat across from him, nervously biting her lip.
“Is your cold completely gone?”
Len asked with a slightly grumpy tone. Vivian hesitated, then gave a small nod.
Even then, she stayed quiet for a while, her lips pressed together.
After a long pause that felt like waiting through two calm waves, Vivian finally spoke.
“Do you think it happened just because the weather was too hot?”
There were many people in Faubert who got sick during the summer, so Len nodded in agreement.
“You must have been outside for too long in the heat. That’s how people catch strong summer fevers.”
“But I didn’t go outside when it was hot.”
Len still thought they were talking about a simple summer cold. Vivian was curious and always full of questions. And the summer heat in Faubert was known to be intense, so it was not unusual for a child to get sick.
But something felt different this time.
Len noticed it in her expression. She looked more serious than ever before.
“So you’re saying it wasn’t from the heat?”
“I don’t think so.”
Vivian shook her head. She was sure now. The fever had not come from the summer heat alone.
Then what caused it?
She remembered the flowers in full bloom.
And the quiet voice she had heard among them.
Her legs, which had been gently swinging under the chair, came to a still stop.
Why did this keep happening?
Strange thoughts had been swirling in her mind for days.
The blue flowers, the friendly animals with wagging tails, the peaceful sound of the waves from the Tannic Sea. She loved all those things. But lately, an unwanted memory kept slipping in among them.
Vivian had reached a conclusion.
The memory that had been bothering her was somehow connected to the fever that had made her so sick.
“Usually, fevers come from sudden heat,” Grandpa Len said.
Vivian stayed quiet.
“But sometimes, they come from other causes too.”
Vivian’s ears perked up at his words.
“The moment you see someone, and time seems to slow down.”
Maybe this was the cause of her fever.
“They slip into your thoughts when you least expect it.”
Vivian’s eyes lost focus for a moment.
“Even thinking about them makes your chest feel tight.”
The way Grandpa Len described the symptoms matched everything she had experienced.
She swallowed hard as she looked at him, his eyes half-closed in thought.
“What is it?” she asked.
“It’s a secret,” he said.
“What?”
Vivian slammed the table and stood up with a start.
At that moment, Grandpa Len, calmly sipping his coffee and flipping through a book, seemed incredibly annoying.
“Why won’t you tell me?”
Len held back a laugh and pretended to keep reading, though the words didn’t even register.
The idea that this child had collapsed because of something like that was almost unbelievable.
He looked up at her puffed cheeks and round eyes.
It seemed even the heat covering all of Faubert had reached this child.
What kind of future would someone like her create? It would certainly be bright and full of love.
Len didn’t know who had taken root in this child’s heart.
But he knew why he couldn’t give her the answer so easily.
There was happiness waiting for her in the moment she discovered it for herself. He didn’t want to take that away from her.
To a child just beginning to grow, the words of an old man would be nothing more than a dull story that spoiled the surprise.
Len loved this child more than anyone.
Despite her status, Vivian had the warmth to comfort others just by being herself. Anyone who met her would end up loving her.
He hoped that whoever held a place in her heart would return that love with the same warmth.
Len quietly let the sea breeze pass through the open window, sending his wish across the Tannic Sea.
＊ ＊ ＊
Something was wrong.
Madam Pourin realized it as soon as she saw Vivian.
Everyone in Faubert had heard that she had been bedridden with a fever for three days. But whatever that fever had done, it seemed to have changed something about her.
“Is this right, Madam?”
Vivian raised her teacup with round eyes and tried to pose like a noble lady, but the way she did it looked awkward, like she was mimicking someone else.
“You’re definitely acting strange,” Madam Pourin said.
“What?”
Vivian looked at her teacup in confusion. She lowered it quickly under Madam Pourin’s sharp gaze, but she still didn’t understand what she had done wrong.
“What do you mean by strange?”
“It’s your manner, of course.”
Vivian scratched her cheek awkwardly and tried to avoid eye contact, but she couldn’t ignore that piercing stare.
Eventually, she turned her head back and let out a deep sigh.
“Is it that obvious?”
“What is?”
“My awful manners.”
Madam Pourin could hear the quiet frustration in her voice.
She felt certain now that the cause of this change was one of the recent visitors to Faubert.
Vivian had always been stubborn, refusing to learn proper etiquette no matter how much Madam Pourin or the baroness insisted.
What else could explain why the troublemaking young lady had suddenly come to her, asking to be taught?
“At least you know what the problem is,” she replied.
Even so, Madam Pourin had no intention of stopping herself from teasing this young lady. She believed that if Vivian could truly become a proper young lady through this opportunity, it would be helpful for both of them.
Vivian lowered her head as she remembered the humiliating moment at the summer villa when she had gotten stuck in the door and met the young marquis.
Just thinking about her flustered, red-faced, rambling self, especially compared to the young marquis who had been perfectly composed, made her feel like she had never been more embarrassed in her life.
It was the first time she had ever felt true shame.
“To make up for how rude I was, I will take my etiquette lessons seriously from now on,” she declared.
“That is a fine promise,” Madam Pourin replied, sounding unimpressed.
Vivian stood up with a thump, clearly frustrated.
“Please believe me.”
“A true lady does not raise her voice like that,” Madam Pourin said calmly.
Vivian caught herself and quickly adjusted her tone. She sat back down and looked at Madam Pourin with sincere eyes.
“Please help me. I will not slack off ever again. I mean it.”
“You are begging so earnestly, I suppose I will believe you. But keep this in mind. Compared to the other young ladies, you are already far behind.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“But there is one thing you are already doing well.”
“What is that?”
“Recognizing your own weaknesses. That is something many other young ladies have not yet learned. So be confident, Vivian.”
Vivian’s face lit up with a bright smile. She nodded eagerly and grabbed Madam Pourin’s hand, shaking it firmly.
At that moment, Madam Pourin’s sharp gaze fell on her.
Vivian quickly realized her mistake. With an awkward smile, she let go and sat down again.
“You still have a very long way to go,” Madam Pourin said.
Vivian tried to ignore those words and instead strengthened her resolve.
The next time she met the young marquis, she would make up for her past behavior.
She believed that was the only way to ease this uncomfortable feeling in her heart.
The feeling that had been weighing on her was surely because of the shame and embarrassment she had felt that day.
If she could show him a better, more graceful version of herself, then everything would be fine.
