#13. On a Night Like This, When the Stars Twinkle (15)

“It’s been a while, Julian.”

At the quiet greeting, his silver brows twitched slightly before he knew it.

Her voice was high and beautiful, yet utterly calm. No, rather than calm, she sounded almost uninterested. Like a casual greeting tossed to someone she saw every day, Eleonore returned Julian’s greeting that way.

After offering that brief, indifferent greeting, Eleonore carefully smoothed down the ivory-colored hair spilling over her white dress and past her thighs.

“Please forgive me for receiving you in this position. It seems she’s drunk, and no matter how much I try to wake her, she won’t get up. Honestly…”

After stroking the head of the maid using her lap as a pillow two or three times, she added, “Oh, honestly!” in mild irritation. But her gaze held nothing but warmth, not a trace of annoyance.

Julian cautiously slipped into Eleonore’s space beyond the balcony curtains, which were drawn halfway.

“Have things been well with you?”

“Nothing much has happened since you rescued me. I just stayed cooped up in the mansion all day, recuperating. Thank you for your concern.”

Even though a man had entered her balcony, Eleonore’s sky-blue eyes remained fixed on the maid resting on her thigh...