# 17
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Evelyn stopped briefly by her room to put away the books she'd borrowed. She had to carefully hide the books in her arms so that Dyffryn would not see them.
She couldn't tell him she'd borrowed basic books on social dancing.
The book titles were very intuitive, such as “First Steps in Social Dancing” and “Understanding the Waltz.” If Defrin saw her, he'd know she couldn't dance at all.
‘…Although he would surely know that anyway.’
She couldn't back out of training now.
Evelin looked at the wall, imagining Dyffrin waiting for her.
It's been a long time and she's lost in thought.
“Okay…….let’s try.”
This body will probably remember the dance steps, and it will move as if under the influence of magic.
With her confidence, she headed to Devrin's room. He was sitting by the window, reading a newspaper.
Evelyn apologized to Devrin, who had probably been waiting for a while.
“I'm sorry, it took me a little longer to change into more comfortable clothes.”
In fact, she was hesitant but Dyffrin didn't seem to mind. He approached quietly and stood in front of Evelin.
“If you have nothing else to say, let's get started.”
Dyffrin extended his hand.
Evelin silently looked at his outstretched hand. When he saw her hesitation, Dyffrin spoke again.
“You have to hold my hand to start training.”
“Oh, right.”
Evelin finally placed her hand in his palm. Devrin wrapped his other arm around her waist.
When their bodies got closer, the stunned Evelin gasped involuntarily. The warmth of his solid chest made her neck flush.
On the other hand, despite his general dislike of physical contact, Defrin didn't seem to mind it while dancing.
While Evelin was still nervous, Devrin started playing music.
Nice dance tunes started playing.
Defren moved first. Evelyn tried to follow his lead but soon reached her limit.
"Yes…!"
In her haste to match his steps, she missed the steps, causing her to stagger.
As she stumbled, Defrin quickly supported her waist.
"What do you do…!"
Defrin looked completely shocked. This was the first time Evelin had seen his usually indifferent face distorted by such emotions.
But Evelyn had no time to wonder, as a sharp pain struck her sprained ankle.
“Ah…”
Her swollen ankle throbbed.
"I think I sprained my ankle."
She even found it ridiculous – even before trying to dance, this had happened. Defrin must have been equally upset.
“Evelyn.”
To her surprise, his voice had a worried tone as he sighed.
"Is your ankle badly sprained? I'll call the doctor if it's serious."
After hearing his unexpectedly gentle voice, Evelin looked up. Devrin had relaxed his frowning eyebrows and was looking at her.
He actually looked rather worried.
“Huh...”
Evelin stared at Dyfrin expressionlessly without answering, then he asked her again.
“Can you walk?”
Evelin carefully placed her sprained ankle on the ground. Her ankle was still throbbing.
“This is bad...”
She thought she should ask him to call a doctor because it was difficult for her to move now.
Just as she was about to ask him, Evelin suddenly found herf lifted off the ground. Devrin's face was now uncomfortably close.
He held her in his arms and hugged her like a princess. Evelin's face turned red in an instant.
A confused voice came out of her.
“I can walk on my own...!”
“You're obviously going to have trouble walking. You can't keep standing here.”
Devrin spoke softly as he carried Evelin. Head towards the bed.
“If you're going to take me somewhere, at least put me in my bed!”
“This is closer, so stay here for now.”
But Evelin could only close her eyes in astonishment, unable to say anything else to Devren.
Devrin gently placed Evelin on the bed. Contrary to her expectations that he would throw her violently, his movements were surprisingly gentle.
"Lie down for a while. I'll tell them to call a doctor."
Evelin could only nod. Defren then left the bedroom.
After being left alone, Evelin had to calm down the heat that rose inside her because of him.
A lot of unexpected things happened today.
'Well, that's what social dancing is like...'
When Evelin’s body was pressed close to Devrin’s body, she could clearly feel his strong body. She also remembered the sensation when he lifted her earlier.
Evelyn tried to forget the well-shaped body that kept popping up in her mind by looking around the bedroom.
The room was perfectly tidy, just like Devrin's character. There was plain white silk wallpaper, mahogany furniture, and few decorations.
The only decoration was a picture hanging next to the window.
The picture was of a beautiful woman. Evelyn knew who she was.
“She is Chloe Leonuk, Differin’s biological mother.”
She died when he was young.
After Chloe's death, Duke Leonoc of Dunswell married Amelia, the current Duchess, who was very strict with Dyffryn.
Because of this, Defrin had confused memories of his biological mother, yet often longed for the good mother he remembered.
Not only did Defrin love Chloe, who was kind and beautiful, everyone loved her. Her husband Dunswell was so devastated by her death that he could not pull himf together for a while.
So in a way, it was a bit unfortunate. If Chloe had raised Defrin, he would have grown up to be someone who could feel love and express sadness as naturally as others.
While Evelin was spending time thinking about Devrin's life, there came a knock and the door opened.
It was Differin and the doctor.
Evelin sighed at how often she visited the doctor these days and greeted him. The doctor carefully took her ankle and moved it.
After a few tests and simple questions, the doctor gave his opinion.
“Your ankle is a little swollen from the sprain, but you don't need to worry too much. Some cold compresses should make you feel better.”
That was a relief. It was quite uncomfortable not being able to walk.
After the doctor left, Evelyn said to Defferin,
“Thank you for calling Dr. Differin. The pain has subsided, and I think I can go back to my room on my own.”
As Evelyn tried to get out of bed, Dyffrin pushed her shoulder down.
“Just stay. I'll give you a cold compress.”
Evelin blinked rapidly as if she heard something she shouldn't.
"What…?"
When I asked in surprise, Differin answered.
“The doctor said cold compresses would help you feel better, right?”
"Well, yes...but you don't need to do it yourf. I can ask Merlin to do it."
“Merlin seemed busy writing the palace books.”
“Then one of the other maids can...”
“They all seem busy.”
“This can't be...”
“Evelyn.”
Devrin's blue eyes turned to her.
"I mean, I can do this a lot. I'm not so heartless as to ignore someone who's hurt."
“So please, stay still.”
Evelin nodded reluctantly, sensing his slightly tired demeanor.
Defrin called a maid to bring ice and a towel. He skillfully wrapped Ice in the towel and pressed it against Evelin's ankle. The cold sensation made her shiver.
She felt a little embarrassed to show her bare feet to him.
Dyffrin spoke with a low look.
“Even if it's cold, bear with it for a while. You'll get used to it soon.”
As he said, the cold sensation gradually faded over time. Differin applied the cold compress more gently than expected.
He squeezed Evelyn's ankle with the right amount of force to reduce the swelling.
The awkward feeling gradually subsided at his serious expression. Oddly enough, this moment was comforting.
As she lay still while receiving the cold compress, Evelyn realized that her eyelids were slowly closing.
'...I shouldn't sleep here.'
This was Dyffryn's room. But contrary to her decision, Evelin was helpless to resist the intense sleepiness.
Her vision gradually faded to black.
* * *
Devrin watched Evelyn struggle to sleep.
For some time, she had been closing and opening her eyes repeatedly, apparently trying to fight off the drowsiness.
Eventually, she fell asleep as her regular breathing could be heard.
Dyffrin calmly continued to apply the cold compresses, and he thought that was enough for now, so he placed the towel on the table.
He looked back at the sleeping Evelyn.
Recently, while watching Evelin, he was overwhelmed with different emotions that he had never experienced before.
Sometimes, he felt so angry that his mouth would tremble, and his heart would beat rapidly as if he saw something dangerous.
Sometimes he felt a warm sensation like a spring breeze, making his heart beat stronger than usual.
These feelings were truly unfamiliar to him.
He always felt like there was a barrier around him. Therefore, he could not feel changes in his surroundings or his emotions like others.
He found it strange that, unlike the others, he reacted so dully to any emotion, but at some point, it became comforting to him.
After all, he could always just focus on his work.
He was responsible for the livelihood of tens of thousands of landowners who fell on his shoulders, and the honor of the noble Leonok family was at stake.
He would never tolerate making mistakes or falling.
He had heard these words so often since he was young that they had become ingrained in his mind.
He believed it himf and tried to conform to that life.
By always looking ahead, at some point, he stopped noticing the changing of the seasons and did not feel any excitement even as the flowers bloomed.
Maybe that's why Evelin's presence had such a strong impact on his foggy life. Seeing her bright face made him realize the flowers blooming around him, and that today was warmer than yesterday.
Whenever this happened, an instinctive feeling of unease would creep into him. He felt as if a huge hole had opened up in the steady path he had followed, and he was falling into a completely unknown world. This wasn't part of his plan.
But the problem was that he didn't quite hate this threat. Instead, he became increasingly curious.
He often wonders what would happen to him, if the life he so steadfastly maintained collapsed.
When he saw Evelin's lively face and heard her cheerful voice, he was thinking that maybe the future wouldn't be so bad.
But at the same time, seeing her made him feel tight in his chest.
Her vibrant appearance made her look like a caged canary that would fly away soon, unlike how she was before.
He didn't know why. Perhaps it was because her eyes, which had always followed him, were now often looking elsewhere.
In fact, breaking up cleanly with her was what he had been hoping for ever since the arranged marriage was decided upon. However, he felt heavy in his heart…….
Unable to overcome the irritation of these inexplicable, rebellious feelings, Dyffrin turned his gaze away.
The ice on the nightstand was melting and dripping.
Defrin sighed.
‘…. 'I think I should go down and drink a cup of cold water.'