IDBYBF | Chapter 10
"Sienna. Are you really going?”
Daisy suddenly asked me as I was getting ready for the tour. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest in surprise. It was so quiet for a while that I forgot she was there.
I was sitting in front of the mirror while Nancy was primping my hair, so I turned my head slightly to the side and looked at Daisy. She sat in a velvet settee in the middle of the room, staring at me. She was sitting with her arms crossed and looking displeased.
Was she upset because I will leave her behind and go out by myself? I'm not sure if she dislikes the idea about me going together with the Duke. Either way, she hated the fact of being left out whether she liked Logan or not.
If it's not the combination of 'Daisy and the Duke', it will be 'Sienna and the Duke'. I sighed.
"Yes. Would you like to come with me today?" I asked her apathetically.
"Well..."
If she answered yes, I would have to make a supreme effort to handle the distribution along with taking care of this spoiled girl, who always prattle and fuss about anything. But Daisy's expression at the moment seems to be conflicted. She looks annoyed, perhaps because she had to waste hours on her tight schedule of merriments if she went out with me.
After Daisy with her long internal struggle, she smiled bitterly as she shook her head.
"As expected, I'm not going. You can go without me."
It was a cumbersome victory. Indeed, she should rest inside the castle. There's no reason for me to persuade her to come with me. She'll just become a burden again and weighing everyone down at the workplace.
After I finished all the preparations, I went out and left Daisy alone inside the room without saying a word.
The thing that we have to deliver to the people of Marquisate and that we could use throughout the winter was firewood. There was already a train of carts at our disposal as we headed toward the stable with the butler, Paul.
Now, how should I go about this? Do I have to order each servant to carry them once we reached the destination? Or would they act accordingly without being told? Aside from that, there was a lot of firewood in each cart. Unlike ordinary carriages where you can comfortably sit inside, the cart wasn't anything dandy, with no place to sit adequately at the front or anywhere else for that matter.
I've never seen a cart before. I felt like I was born yesterday, trying to gain experiences for the first time. Also, working with the servants would be a first as well.
Logan approached me while I'm still mulling over things. However, I was a bit surprised at the look on his face without a trace of his usual indifference, only pure excitement. Why is he so excited?
"Will you join me, my lady?" He asked while offering his hand, masking the cart next to him.
Oh, my God. With the weathered-looking cart as a backdrop, his striking appearance shone even more. At that moment, I experienced an optical illusion in which the cart appeared to be a royal carriage.
Never would have thought I'll be enthralled from just the presence of this incredibly handsome man. I smiled brightly and held Logan's hand, saying, "Of course."
Today's task was simple. All I have to do was go around the assigned areas and supervising the servants to deliver the piles of lumber.
However... Isn't Logan working too hard than I presumed?
I glanced at Logan, who's diligently moving and carrying firewood alongside the other servants.
Even though you're a Duke... Why are you more enthusiastic than our servants? If we go back to the capital, we will meet as a Duke and a Marquis's daughter. So I don't have the foggiest idea why you're trying so hard.
I immediately get ahold of Logan when happened to pass by our cart.
"Don't overdo it. You're still injured.”
"I'm alright," Logan replied curtly and proceeded to work again.
I sighed, feeling helpless. It's the first time I've ever done anything like this, but the hostess didn't show any signs of hardship than the guest himself. After that, I asked him to rest several times, but he didn't listen.
And finally, there was only one house left.
"The last place to go is.....”
Sitting on the coachman's seat, Logan muttered under his breath while opening the map.
The farther away the castle is, the fewer houses there are, and all of them spread out, so we have to deliver the firewood separately in order to finish the work effectively. It ended up between the Duke and me alone.
"It's on the top of that hill."
Logan put down the map after saying so. The sweat beading on his forehead was an indication of how hard he worked.
Feeling some sort of self-blame, I took out my handkerchief and calmly dabbed it on his forehead. Before I could wipe it all off, Logan instantaneously pulls back with a surprised look upon his face. No, not just surprised, but more like extremely astounded.
"Stay still. I'll just wipe this off quickly." I said, raising the handkerchief again.
"No, I can do it myself." He continued to back away with a slightly flustered face.
"It'll be over soon.”
I was adamant, still trying to reach out. Not for long did Logan reluctantly acquiesced and only stared at me intently while I was wiping his forehead.
Why was he staring so hard? He's allowed to look elsewhere, and yet his eyes were persistently fixed on me. It was embarrassing to look at him directly in the eye, and I'm afraid if I happen to met his piercing red gaze, I would turn to dust.
So let's not mind him and just keep wiping. I pretended to be oblivious and turned away from him immediately after I'm done.
"Oh, thank you very much!"
The last house turned out to be the one where the woodcutter lives. As we trekked upwards, we met countless stacks of lumber on the side of the road. I paused for a brief moment and stared defeatedly at the mountain piles of wood. I came here to do a good deed, but I felt a sense of injustice.
On the way down the hill, Logan kept silent. By any chance, does he think all his hard work at this last mission wasn't worthy? To liven up the atmosphere, I let out a joke.
"I need to talk to my grandmother after this. Since it's the woodcutter's house, I don't think we have to go next time?”
"I think we should." He gave a quick reply with a straight face.
"Ah, yes. Of course, in—AH!"
I was startled, caught unprepared by the sudden collapsing of the ground I stepped on. My body leaned forward before I could think things over.
"Ah!"
What I stumbled upon was like a sunken pit, and worse, I got my foot stuck. Why did I step on it of all places! I lost my balance and floundered my arms.
"My lady!"
Logan quickly reached out. But it was like I dodged his extended hand when I was swinging my arms to balance myself. Soon my field of vision fell significantly. I closed my eyes tightly in anticipation of the pain that was coming.
However, rather than pain, I felt something was enveloping me from behind. It cocooned my whole body, hugging me tightly as though it were protecting me.
"AHHH!"
I screamed as if my life depended on it. I don't know what's happening, but even without opening my eyes, I could tell that my body was rolling over and over. I was tumbling down too many times that I couldn't count how many laps it was.
"Uhh..."
Only did the rolling stopped after reaching the base of the slope. It was only for a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity to me. What the hell is this? I groaned as I sprawled on the ground, facing the sky.
"Are you all right?"
Then, I heard Logan's voice from the side.
Ah, as expected, it was Duke Harrison who protected me, immediately wrapping me entirely with his body at the sign of danger. I felt extremely apologetic as I looked at him guiltily.
"Oh, my God, Logan!"
Where we fell was a slope cleared of trees and rocks, so I anticipated we'll only receive a few bruises and back pains, but his condition was worse than I thought.
My disheveled appearance was nothing compared to his current state. His white shirt had torn that I could even see scratches on his body underneath, and blood was leaking from his long grazed forearm.
Anyone could tell that it's a severe wound! I woke up from a daze and shouted.
"You shouldn't worry about me right now! Are you all right? Is there anything broken?"
It was me who tripped over that pit unnoticed, and I turned out fine except for the dirty clothes. And it's all thanks to Logan protecting me.
Why would he hurt himself...... I was fidgeting and looking at Logan with mixed feelings.
He sat up with minor difficulty, then shook the dust off his clothes. Were it not for the fact that he looks like a wreck, I would have believed that he's okay because he appeared too calm.
"I'm fine. It's already quite fortunate that we are left unscathed after that fall."
"Really?...... But haven't you realized you're bleeding right now?" I said while pointing to Logan's right forearm.
"Oh, this is nothing."
He looks at it briefly as if it was nothing. I was worried that he might be overdoing it, but he hasn't shown any signs of pain on his face once.
Before we headed back to the cart, I tied a handkerchief on Logan's wound. It seemed he would just leave it as it is if I didn't tend to it right away.
I was filled with remorse. I followed behind Logan, hiding my flushed cheeks due to embarrassment. The Duke took his precious time to visit the territory, however not once, but twice he met an accident. What's going on?
The first one was not my fault, but the second one... I'm partly to blame. I was also feeling sorry that I might leave an unfavorable impression for the Marquisate.
But that wasn't the end of our ordeal.
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August 03, 2020
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