Nighttime Encounters - Chapter 1
Gripping the edge of late winter, the night wind that blew in was rather chilly. The moonlight piercing the darkness was unusually sparse tonight.
“You’ve gone too far.”
Amidst the cold, the woman’s sobbing voice resonated against the oppressive silence that filled the massive mansion.
“Do you know what day it is today?”
The man removed his coat and handed it to the butler, briefly glancing at his wife.
Disheveled hair, a tear-streaked face, and clothing in disarray.
As he observed his wife, staggering as if she were about to collapse, the man withdrew his gaze as if he had grown weary.
“And just what kind of day is it for you to hold up an exhausted person who has just gotten home from work?”
The man’s biting cold question clearly carried resentment and blame. His wife let out a sigh of disappointment, looking dejected.
“It’s my birthday.”
“Hmm.”
It was only then that the man seemed to recall and let out a small sigh.
“Didn’t I mention it a few days ago?”
His wife, struggling to suppress her rising sorrow, managed to speak.
“I didn’t ask for anything grand, did I? Just join me for dinner, please.”
Recalling the evening mealtime that had felt as desolate as a house struck by calamity, the wife eventually burst into tears.
“This birthday,” she said, “Our relatives are here. I simply asked that you join us for dinner, please.”
She only wanted to show her family that she was doing well.
To dispel the rumors floating around, that they were contentedly living together as a family.
Even if it was just for show, she wanted to prove to her family that she was running a peaceful household.
However, her husband didn’t appear until after dessert when they were having tea.
The sympathy and pity of her family, and the time she had to spend trying to smile through it all, crushed her heart miserably.
“But how could you refuse to honor that request?”
Even as she poured out her heart, he didn’t once think to approach her and comfort her.
He simply furrowed his brow in annoyance and curtly replied.
“It’s because I’m busy with business. You must understand.”
The wife’s tearful gaze shifted to his desk. On the desk, there was an ornate wooden box adorned with a luxurious gilt trim.
“…So, are you going all the way to the Andalus region to buy that woman’s gift?”
Seeing the box she had only heard about from the servants with her own eyes made her heart sink.
The wife poured out all the long-kept bitterness that had been brewing deep within her chest.
“How is it that you are so willing to spend so much time traveling to distant provinces to buy gifts for the government, but you are unwilling to spend even one hour on me?”
Unnerved by the talk that came out of his wife’s mouth, the man loosened his tie.
“You waited until this late at night to complain about that? I’m tired, let’s call it a day.”
“How can you be so cold? I didn’t ask for much.”
“If you don’t like it, then leave.”
His wife, stunned by his dismissive attitude, stood frozen like a statue.
She secretly hoped for him to leave, or maybe even die.
“You, how could you…”
Seeing his wife struggling to find words, choking on her own breath, the man perhaps realized his mistake.
“Not getting involved in outside matters is the duty of a lady of the house. We will overlook tonight’s indiscretion, so please, return to your room.”
The man averted his gaze from his bewildered wife and ordered the butler, “Escort the lady to her room immediately.”
As the butler approached, the wife lowered her head with a weary sigh. The uncontrollable sobs grew more frantic.
“My lady, please allow me to escort you to your room.”
At the butler’s urging, she finally turned and left the office with a faltering steps.
The man watched her retreating figure and shook his head in disgust.
“I thought she was a modest woman, but she’s such a nuisance.”
When she was gone, the man carefully picked up the wooden jewelry box.
“She said she’d leave if I didn’t give her this. What choice do I have?”
Remembering the soft-spoken voice of his discreet lover, the man’s previously stern expression softened.
It was a selection of pearls meticulously chosen and inspected for his discerning lover.
“I’ll have to personally deliver it to her tomorrow.”
After carefully hiding the box somewhere deep within his study, the man left the room. With his departure, the study, which was now seemingly empty, was engulfed in darkness as the lights were extinguished one by one.
She was once more enveloped in pure shadow.
“Tsk, tsk, how foolish.”
In the pitch-black darkness where no light reached, the sound of a tongue clicking resounded faintly.
It was the last place anyone would expect a person to be.
Stepping through the crevices of the stones decorating the outer wall of the building, a solitary figure cautiously peered into the study.
“If they had been faithful to their wife, there wouldn’t have been a need to bring that dreadful thing into the house.”
The softly muttered words came from a woman, her entire body shrouded in black.
Her black attire allowed for ease of movement, revealing her slender frame.
Not only that, but her upper face was concealed with black fabric, and her hands were covered with black gloves, making her appear as though she were a part of the darkness.
Among the garments that enveloped her, the only thing not black was a purple ribbon, which held her hair up high.
“Well, with him being so foolish, he’ll probably indulge in extravagance and squander all their wealth.”
Grumbling, the woman stretched out her hand to the air.
Strands of wind, flowing freely, gathered to her command as if recognizing their master.
Black hair fluttered in the breeze, along with a purple ribbon.
