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I Hid the Duke’s Daughter (Web Novel) - Chapter 4: Despite many expectations and disappointments
Chapter 4: Despite many expectations and disappointments
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
The coffee was soon ready. Evelyn turned around with the cup of coffee, set it down with a click, and spoke.
“Mr. Jones, you must be busy. You do not need to come so often.”
“Of course I’m busy, but I can’t change my mind when I see such a beautiful woman.”
Kevin shrugged, looking Evelyn up and down. She bit her lip, frustrated.
Ugh.
Evelyn pushed the cup of coffee towards Kevin in a somewhat nervous manner. Kevin reached out, which at first seemed like an attempt to grab the cup of coffee, but then he grabbed her hand.
Goosebumps spread down her spine, and Evelyn pulled her hand away.
“What are you…! ”
“Why are you being so sensitive? I only touched your hand.”
Kevin shook his head and laughed. That didn’t seem to be enough for him, as he began to speak.
“More importantly, Ms. Martinez, isn’t it difficult to raise a child alone?”
Evelyn barely held back a sigh.
“Are you not tired? Don’t think you can fool my eyes with your bluff.”
Instead of answering his questions, Evelyn glanced at the clock. Only thirty minutes had passed. It would be awhile before she picked up Bianca, and Kevin obviously had no intentions of leaving.
“Bibi is such a pretty child, and it would be really nice if she had a father…” Kevin deliberately trailed off, taking a glance at Evelyn’s face. An unpleasant smile spread across his lips.
“And I am confident that I can raise Bibi like my own daughter.”
“I don’t need it.”
“Ms. Martinise. If you keep insisting like that, you’ll eventually have nothing left.” Kevin spoke as if he knew everything.
As he was about to continue, the bell on the door rang as a someone entered.
“Welcome!”
Relieved, Evelyn hurriedly stood up to greet the customer. Narrowing his eyes, Kevin clicked his tongue.
Well, no rush. Isn’t it just a single mother raising a child by herself?
Although she was prideful now as she rejected him, he was sure that she would soon miss the presence of a man. Kevin drank the remaining coffee in one gulp and then grinned broadly.
Annette was a small town in the western region of the empire.
The town was so small it would only take an hour to tour its busiest streets. In addition, there was only one place in town that could be called a “hotel.”
Dantel Hotel.
“Yes, we finished the last check in the morning,” the tense employees nodded their heads and said.
A flamboyantly dressed man turned his head and asked.
“The trees have all been pruned? And naturally, you’ve pulled out all the weeds in the garden?”
“Yes, manager.”
The man who was asking questions was the manager of the hotel. Today, unlike his usually laid back attitude, he had been keeping watch since the first morning breeze. But all the employees of the Dantel Hotel understood their manager.
Of course he would be like this when the guest who was visiting today was such a high noble. For the upteenth time, the manager smoothed out his suit with a restless look.
Good heavens, that the Duke of Neidhart was coming…
Islay Neidhart, the sole duke of the empire. The manager still remembered when the duke’s secretary had visited the hotel. He had booked the best room for a month, paying the exact amount in advance. Yet even though the price was a huge number, the secretary who wrote the check without batting an eye. They absolutely couldn’t serve the duke half-heartedly.
The manager had even worn his best attire, a fancy tailcoat that had been carefully ironed, to look his best for the duke. The manager turned around.
“Make sure to stay focused, everyone.”
“Yes sir!” The employees shouted.
Right then, a hotel employee rushed into the lobby, exclaiming, “the carriage has arrived!”
“Alright, got it!” The manager hurriedly exited the hotel doors to the outside. The edge of his tailcoat fluttered as he walked.
A lavish carriage soon appeared, gently stopping in front of the hotel.
Nervously, the manager waited for the carriage door to be opened.
A servant approached the carriage, preparing to open the door, and the manager and the employees lowered their heads in respect.
“We have arrived, Sir Neidhart.” At the servant’s announcement, Islay, who was sitting languidly in the carriage, lifted his eyes.
His black eyes were empty, holding no emotions. His pale face and sharp gaze gave others an intense pressure. As the door opened, he stepped out of the wagon without a reply.
“Welcome, Sir Duke.” The manager quickly greeted Islay. As soon as their eyes meet, the manager bent his back.
“It is an honor to have you with us.” The manager looked up once more as he finished his greeting.
The duke was a handsome man, as beautiful as a sculpture, as exquisite as a sharpened blade. Under the gorgeous blond hair, the black eyes glowed arrogantly.
Islay spoke curtly, “Thank you for your hospitality.”
The manager trying to grasp Islay’s mood, began to speak.
“We have a room ready for you, would you like to go and take a rest-”
“No, don’t pay so much attention to me and just go about your business,” Islay coldly spoke.
The manager left with a sullen face.
Unconcerned about the manager, Islay stepped forward and looked around. It was an extremely rural town. In fact, rather than a small town, it was more like the countryside.
Islay wiped his face with his hand.
Lay.
Evelyn’s calm voice suddenly echoed in his mind. During one of the nights he had spent with Evelyn, she had leaned on his shoulder, her amber eyes warm in the night.
***
“Actually, my mother’s hometown is Annette.”
“Annette Town?”
“Yes. I’ve never been there, but…”
He opened his arms to her, and Evelyn’s small body snuggled into his chest. He rained down kisses of love on her lips, cheeks, and eyes when he felt her heart beat against his chest.
“I’ve heard that the Seine Forest next to Annette Town is a pretty sight.” Evelyn wrapped her arms around his neck. Gazing at Islay, she smiled as she searched for her next words.
“I’d like to go to that forest with you someday.”
She spoke in a desperate voice, as if wishing for a dream that would never be fulfilled.
Evelyn continued. “And if possible, I hope to bury my mother in her hometown.”
“Your mother…?” She nodded at Islay’s remark. Evelyn seldom spoke about her family. At first glance, Islay could tell it had not been a very happy one. Evelyn slowly spoke.
“You see, when my mother was on her deathbed, she wished to see her hometown very much.”
“Seine Forest…I’ll have to remember it.” Evelyn had never been sure about her future with Islay.
***
When he thought about it now, that was the only moment that she talked with him about the future. And so that was why, when he swept across the country in search of her, he decided to visit Annette. Because of this very old memory.
Seven years had passed since Evelyn disappeared, but Islay could still see her face in his mind.
Raven hair reaching to the waist, softly glowing amber eyes. Fair, white skin that looked so fragile that every time he touched it with his lips, red marks remained.
Islay used to touch her skin in every which way, wanting to leave his mark on her. Every time he ended up leaving marks on her skin, she glared at him, but without any malice. When she was in his arms, he had been so happy, feeling like he owned the world.
[t/n: yeah you kinda do own a lot in the world, oNLy dUkE oF tHe eMpiRe]
“Evelyn.”
He said her name, and his heart felt like it was being squeezed.
After she disappeared without a trace, Islay had endured, trying to live without her for far too long.
I tried everything to find her.
Clutching at what seemed like his last hope, he had searched for the whereabouts of the money his grandmother had given to Evelyn. But the money remained in the bank account, with not a single sign of a withdrawal.
“Where on earth are you?”
The man asked urgently, and received no answer to his question. Islay bit his lips until they bled. Longing hung over him like a monster with open jaws. As he repeatedly experienced countless expectations and disappointments, this monster had been slowly eating him from head to toe.
Nevertheless, Islay hadn’t given up all hope on finding Evelyn yet.
If my affection for you was something I could sort out at my will and disposal…
He would actually be living rather comfortably without her.
Despite spending almost three years together, based on how she had left, it seems that Evelyn still didn’t know much about Islay and his feelings. Or perhaps she had left because she wanted to push him into hell.
At any rate, Evelyn had perfectly imprinted herself onto Islay, because he didn’t feel like he could live much longer without her.
Rather than letting go of his feelings, it was better to sink and die with them.
Islay closed his eyes shut. And then he opened them.
His eyes, like dark, empty holes, became increasingly sharp. He impulsively threw questions at his secretary.
“Where is the Seine Forest?” The forest that Evelyn had spoke of.
Islay’s secretary stood at his side like a shadow.
“It is not far from here. Should the carriage be prepared once more?”
Islay nodded. Soon, he climbed into the carriage, and they set off.
As he looked out the window, he could see the panoramic view of the small town slowly flowing by.
He clenched his fist.
Although this time I am going alone…
The next time he visited this forest, he would have Evelyn by his side.
He swore it.
**
After about 15 minutes, a small forest appeared in the distance.
Seine Forest.
The secretary quickly approached the duke.
“I will accompany you.”
“No, I’ll be going alone.”
The suffocating feeling in his chest slightly subsided as he looked at the green forest.
As he walked a bit into the woods, he could see why Evelyn had called this place a “pretty sight.” Rather than a lush forest, Seine Forest was like a park. A small stream flowed, and a couple of birds chirped. As he slowly walked on the forest trail, he heard a cheerful voice.
“You must promise to play where your friends and teachers can see you. Alright?”
It looked like a kindergarten picnic. A teacher led the eager children through the forest.
Small children, no older than ten years old, answered yes, opening and closing their mouths like little chicks. A faint smile formed on Islay’s lips as he watched them. Like young birds chasing their mother, the children chased after the teacher. Then at some point, a child from among them turned her head.
“…Eve?” Islay stopped in his tracks.
The dazzlingly pretty girl strangely resembled Evelyn.
Her bright blond hair was braided into two pigtails, and her amber eyes sparkled. When he saw the amber colored eyes that so closely resembled Evelyn’s, his heart felt like it would leap out of his chest.
However.
“No, it’s no use wondering.” Islay quickly calmed down and organized his thoughts.
He had realized over the years that the combination of blond hair and amber eyes was not that rare.
He had experienced too many moments of expectations and disappointment to continue to hope just because of that combination.
“…”
At that moment. The girl and Islay’s eyes met.
The child cheerfully smiled and waved her hand at him. Without thinking, he greeted the child with a similarly bright smile.
At that time, someone who looked like a schoolteacher called to the child.
“Come here, Bibi!”
“Okay!”
At the call, the child ran off, fluttering like a butterfly.
Islay reached out without thinking.
“E-!” Eve.
Islay swallowed his words and slowly dropped his hand.
He couldn’t figure out why the child and Evelyn kept overlapping in his mind. He slowly continued on his walk, but continued to think of the child, his heart lingering.
