Garden of May - Chapter 126
“Two of them have already gone out of business. Two others are ignoring my letters entirely. One company did reply, though. They warned me that if I contacted them one more time, they would notify my legal guardian.”
Benjamin looked at her with deepening eyes.
Saying something like Then why not visit them in person? would have been meaningless. Would anyone seriously deal with a barely-of-age young woman? They were already reacting this harshly to simple letters.
And if, by some chance, the Count of Somerset had arranged something separately for his daughter, then the fact that no one had contacted her all this time pointed to only one conclusion.
Whatever the truth was, the people involved feared it becoming known and might even be working together to keep it buried.
‘Perhaps her uncle is the one blocking everything behind the scenes.’
Lost in thought, Benjamin watched Vanessa quietly.
Even in a place like this—one that must have made her deeply uncomfortable—she maintained perfectly straight posture without the slightest sign of collapse. Her fists trembled violently beneath the table, clenched so tightly they nearly shook, yet everything visible above the table remained composed and calm.
Among the younger generation, she was unusually sensible.
She seemed to understand that one should never reveal every card in hand while negotiating, though her lack of life experience showed in one small flaw: her emotions had not yet learned to obey that lesson.
“…”
If Lady Vanessa had been truly cunning, she would have hidden herself behind vague smiles and feigned ignorance.
If she had been foolish, he would have dismissed her outright. But it was difficult to turn away from someone so desperate, so sincere and so upright despite the loneliness she must have endured.
With a quiet sigh, Benjamin pulled the napkin closer to himself.
“Very well. Let’s see how this goes.”
* * *
Vanessa stepped out onto the deck, pressing the backs of her hands against her burning cheeks to cool them.
Only after the cold river wind brushed across her skin did reality slowly begin to settle back in.
She had thought persuading Benjamin Dawson would make her feel nothing but happiness.
Instead, the first thing that overwhelmed her was a strange kind of fear. Because from this point onward, there would truly be no turning back with her uncle anymore.
Whether he had misunderstood her or not no longer mattered. That was the nature of suspicion. Once it entered a relationship, it left wounds that could never fully heal.
“Miss.”
Vanessa had been lightly gripping the ship’s railing when she turned at the sound of Mary’s voice behind her.
The maid had somehow fought her way through the impossibly crowded deck and now held out a small plate she had clearly protected with her life. On it sat neatly prepared bite-sized fruit, cookies, and chocolates.
“I brought you something to eat.”
“Thank you, Mary. Everything’s been so overwhelming that I didn’t even think about food.”
“I could’ve come sooner, but the navy officers were blocking the stairs to the deck completely.”
Vanessa had just been about to bite into a grape when Mary’s words made her pause.
“…Navy officers?”
“Apparently they’re the heroes who led the victory at Potsdam. I heard the Santal Company invited them personally.”
At that, Vanessa instinctively turned toward the staircase. If they were the heroes of Potsdam… could River Ross be here too?
According to the rumors she had heard, River Ross served directly under the famous Duke of Battenberg as one of his officers.
“If you’re not planning to attend the dance, you should return to your cabin and rest now. Lady Rosalyn left the key with me.”
Apparently Vanessa’s expression while lost in thought had looked worse than she realized. To Mary, it must have seemed like exhaustion. The maid hurriedly placed a hand against Vanessa’s forehead to check for fever.
“Thankfully, it doesn’t seem too high.”
Ever since childhood, Vanessa had suffered terrible motion sickness whenever she spent too long aboard anything that swayed.
Fevers, nausea—those were common enough. Sometimes she would even end up bedridden for days afterward as though she had caught an illness.
But compared to that, today was one of the rare occasions where she felt surprisingly fine. Aside from a faint fever, her body almost felt lighter than usual, as though her constitution itself had changed.
“Mary. What about you?”
“I… should stay by your side, Miss.”
Despite the dutiful answer, Mary’s pale gaze had drifted elsewhere.
As though, she had spotted a face she recognized somewhere in this crowded space.
- Protected: Garden of May Chapter 152 - Jun 16, 2026
- Protected: Garden of May Chapter 151 - Jun 16, 2026
- Protected: Garden of May Chapter 150 - Jun 16, 2026
