Silent Heart

Chapter 5

Coralie was walking around the manor happily as she reminded herself of the gaze she saw from the Duke's Son. She couldn't help but feel flustered even though she was unaware that the gaze was fixated on Abelia instead of herself.

Without a second thought, she intends to do her very best to get on his best side and hopefully, it'll flourish into a relationship she now desires to have. But to do that, she had to find him first and ask the manor's servants about his whereabouts.

Once she heard that he was in the garden, she rushed her way there. She planned to walk there after she spotted Leo's silhouette by the garden's gazebo. Before she could call his name out, she stopped as she witnessed the Young Crawford cupping Abelia's chin and his face close to hers.

It froze her precious thoughts as she witnessed the Crawford Heir being close to her Mute of a Sister. She immediately hid herself behind the tall tree and stared at the two from the corner of her eye.

Eventually, her thoughts changed from sweet to hostile, for she felt irritated that a Duke's Son would pay more attention to her sister instead of her gracious self.

The Young Crawford, was far ahead of her, but he sensed her presence in the area and pulled away from Abelia's face, "My apologies, it seemed that I've made you uncomfortable for a moment there,"

Abelia suddenly acted all bashful and waved her hands to assure that it was fine. The Young Crawford saw this manner differently as he chucked and picked up the paper on the table.

He neatly folds the paper and puts it inside his vest pocket before grabbing the quill pen and offering it to her, "Here, I'd like you to keep this,"

Abelia stares at the quill pen, then gestures her refusal since she doesn't want to accept anything, especially when it's from the Duke's Son. However, the latter wholeheartedly insisted with the following words, "Don't be so modest, Lady Abelia. What I'm giving you is something I'd like to give freely. Besides, this is but a simple magic quill pen. I can always get another when I return home,"

That's just it, even a simple magic quill pen of that quality costs a lot more than the salary of five average servants, perhaps even ten. If she is caught holding this pen, they'll undoubtedly take it from her before she can do anything to stop them.

Any thoughts she had were disrupted by Leo playfully tickling her nose with the feather part of the pen and flinches away from it. She may try to push it away, but that would be rude considering her standing and her parents might scold her for refusing a gift from someone like Leo, even if that gift will be taken away one way or another.

Thus, she had no choice but to take the quill pen from his hands and keep it close to her chest, making Leo smile before offering one final request, "May I escort you inside?"

Abelia just stood from her chair, mildly shook her head to him, and then bowed before leaving the gazebo alone. She didn't turn back as Leo stayed and watched her go, though this would lead to her blissfully ignoring her sister, who hid behind the tree the entire time.

After she entered the manor, Leo let out a sigh as he leaned against the railing. Then he spoke clearly in the open, "I know that you're hiding there. I'd suggested you come out,"

Coralie finally revealed herself to the Duke's son and greeted him with a noble curtsy, "I humbly greet you, My Lord,"

"Save your formality, what I want to know is why were you spying on us earlier," Leo indifferently questioned,

"Well... I was worried that my sister may have done something rude to you, so I remained nearby, in case something were to happen," Coralie explained,

"You're worried about your sister's actions but not her well-being. Why is that?" Leo inquired and looked somewhat different from when she saw his gaze earlier,