Riette could still remember the way Leyla looked at that moment. Her voluminous blonde hair bounced softly with every step, swaying as the wind fluttered through her. The sweat on her brow glistened, making her shine in the afterglow of the setting sun. She did greatly resemble a bird, whose wings were flapping so exquisitely.
( 'Are you possibly wanting to tell me that Matthias started to raise a canary because of her?')
He had asked Claudine in disbelief that day. She only looked at him meaningfully, all confident as she gave him a clandestine smile.
Yes, Claudine conveyed wordlessly. She was so certain, Riette couldn't help but believe her. She was always so rational, so logical, so he trusted that she wouldn't make such a decision lightly on a small coincidence. After all, he too had been a little apprehensive with Matthias' sudden change of heart in raising a bird.
Coupled with the fact he had overheard that Matthias had planned to create a rift between Leyla and Kyle Etman, it seemed more and more plausible that Claudine's assumptions were correct.
'But how can he act like this?' The more he pondered about it, Riette felt as if he had lost his way in a maze of increasingly complex questions.
How could he act so indifferent towards the woman he has strong feelings for? Sit across him and make jokes about the way his cousin acted so callously towards her, leading to injury? And if Claudine had indeed been right, what did that mean about their relationship with each other?
'Have they broken up already? But then why does Matthias still care for the canary, safely tucked in his bedroom?'
"Riette von Lindman." Matthias spoke up, blowing a drawn out puff of smoke, looking at his cousin now with indifferent eyes. Riette, who had been preoccupied with his growing questions, looked up at the sound of his name, schooling his expression immediately. "Why don't you create your scandals in your own estate and not mine?"
Though Matthias slightly quirked up the corner of his lips into a smile, his eyes told a different story. "Don't you remember? I'm willing to do anything to keep Arvis in order." He blew one last puff of smoke before disposing of his newly used cigarette to light up a new stick.
Both cousins locked eyes on one another, Matthias resolutely trailed on Riette, who still could not pick up any hint of his emotions. There was no tell of jealousy, anger or anything else, other than indifference. In fact, Matthias greatly resembled that of a mischievous child.
'Your cousin was a gentlemanly demon.'
Riette's mind flashed back to the officer he met not too long ago. He held quite the appalled expression as he had been describing how the Duke looked like while on the battlefield. Riette involuntarily swallowed his saliva, making his mouth feel dry. His hands lightly shook the longer they kept eye contact.
"I'm sure you know that better than anyone else." Matthias finished in a low tone, warning him slightly before breaking eye contact. At that moment, Riette could see his cousin looked a little worse for wear, a slight look of fatigue could be seen in his face.
'I don't understand him.' Riette thought, before sighing out, his smoke mixing with the growing fog in the room as both men continued to puff out their cigarettes. 'Perhaps a little more provocation is in order, though I do wonder...'
His thoughts trailed off as he regarded the growing embers at the end of his stick. He brought it to his mouth and took a long breath in, before blowing another drawn out puff into the office...
'I wonder if the answers I will find, prove useful to you, Claudine?' and so Riette swallowed back down his nervousness to calm his nerves.
*.·:·.✧.·:·.*
