Cry, Or Better Yet Beg
chapter 49. Like Wings

“This hair style does not suit you.”

Matthias immediately said as their eyes met.

His words surprised Layla. Confused for a moment, he pondered his words, comprehending his mocking nature in an instant.

'This guy! Is he trying to fight again?'

"I knew. My hair is a little.. is not neat.”

Leyla said sharply, in response to her unsought criticism.

"A little bit?"

Matthias snorted, his eyes watching him from top to bottom. Under her disdainful gaze, Leyla squeezed the handle of her bike, against the urge to run away. Her inability to withstand the strange emotions that appeared in her heart as she stood in front of him had already upset her.—Leyla refused to look like a soft target, her face flushed red just from looking at a man.

“Why don't you untie your hair?”

“I want to do it, but they say I won't look like a good teacher.”

"Who?" He asked, his forehead wrinkled with suspicion.

“Head of School,” replied Leyla. As her eyes were fixed on him, she averted her gaze, her cheeks heating up to a reddish red.

“She said that if I look too young, I will not look like an authoritative teacher.” He continued hesitantly, afraid that the deep silence between them would make things even more awkward. “So the Headmaster advised me not to have a 'like student' hairstyle.”

Matthias laughed out loud as he stopped talking, a small laugh that sounded like a soothing breeze. His ears were on fire, he kept his eyes off, feeling like a fool.

While mocking, Matthias looked at the petite woman standing before him.

“So the hair tied up and blown in the wind was a symbol of the authority of a teacher..” he said, full of sarcasm. A wounded pride flashed across his face, and he drank a timid yet funny expression.

“I train a lot, so I will soon be better at styling my hair.” His quick reply, filled with the same pride he had seen, left him stunned for a moment.

'This woman was never willing to give up even if it killed her, right?'

Amused by his persistence, Matthias grinned once more.

“Then, let's see.”

“I'm very sure I can do this. And if my ability does not get better.I will shorten it.”.

"Cut it?"

A spotlight of light fell from Matthias' face because of his words. When she saw Leyla nodding, deep in thought, her eyes narrowed as if she was witnessing something truly terrifying.

"Yes. I'll look much more mature, and..”.

“Do not cut.”

Surprisingly, his request was gentle and calm.

Confused and annoyed, Leyla looked at him. “Don't tell me, I need your permission to grow or cut my hair?” He grumbled.

“Your hair.. beautiful once.”.

It was an astonishing answer to an angry question that was almost impossible to believe.

Above everything…. Sounds ridiculous.

Doubting her ears, Leyla frowned at him. Matthias looked back at him, calmly facing his uneasiness.

“It's like wing.”

His tone was exactly the same as the one he used to insult and hurt him with just one statement in the past, a cold and gloomy tone that reminded him of winter.

Leyla still remembered how calm and unchanging the man's voice was, even as the man called it with a bad insult.

As he stood up angrily, his memories recalled back on the day of their first meeting. It was a summer day when he first saw Duke Herhardt at the top of a tree, his voice cold yet very calm even when he was about to shoot a small child.

His calming voice had been imprinted in his mind ever since.

Clear as a crystal, he remembered jumping down from the tree and running towards Uncle Bill's cottage, exclaiming to see such a human existence.

'The- There's a man in the woods! Tall guy!'

Struggling to catch his breath, those words came out of his mouth, full of admiration that only a child could have.

'She has black hair and blue eyes. And his voice was as light as a feather.'

At that moment, while struggling to explain the texture of the sound that fascinated her, the only picture that appeared in Leyla Little's mind was her most precious—the soft feather belonging to the river bird of the Schulter River, which he had accumulated with great difficulty, as long as he walked a lot along its edges. Other things will feel less when compared to his voice.

Confused by the man's outspoken attitude, Leyla hurriedly avoided his gaze. Cruel and aiming to hurt him, Matthias' words have made him the most feared and disliked person.Followingly, it was Duke Herhardt whom he knew.

However, no matter how long he waited, Matthias remained silent. There was not a word or insult coming from his lips.

Instead, he simply left, leaving Leyla in a daze. As the fall foliage fluttered to the ground, he was agitated, wondering if the man's strange praise was merely a hallucination, caused by the fall foliage gently falling to the ground.

Her hair was down to her shoulders, her strands fluttering in the cold autumn breeze. Eliminating her thoughts, Leyla combed her hair with her hands. He gasped as a gust of cold wind suddenly blew past him. Losing his grip on his handle, he tried to grab it—only to fall to the ground with his bike behind him.

“Akhh!”

His shout mixed with the bang of his bicycle hitting the pavement, the bustle of the streets deserted.

Matthias grimaced as he watched Leyla struggle to stop her own bike from bumping into him into pancakes on the dusty road, unaware that her lips turned into a laughing grin the longer she looked at him.

“It looks like you tripped and fell as usual.”

Leyla bit her lips in embarrassment to hear her laugh. Surprisingly, it made him feel relieved.

'Laughter, disturb me, and go.'

Full of hope, she waited for him to do so. As Matthias quietly pulled his bike and walked towards his bag, which landed far from where he had fallen, his hopes began to waver, and that hope was lost completely as he carried it towards him, kneeling beside him.

“Nnn...no-! No, it's mine!” Leyla snatched the bag away from Matthias in a panic as she tried to grab his scattered belongings. “I'll do it myself.”

Matthias's brows furrowed due to his blatant hostility.

“I….I'll do it,” Leyla murmured. Lowering his gaze, he began to gather his belongings with trembling hands, although Matthias did nothing to frighten him.

Although she was agitated by Leyla's actions and her trembling tone, Matthias decided to watch her patiently. Looking at her flushed cheeks and neck, she got enlightenment—just the shame and embarrassment that made her shy away from him, nothing more.

Standing in front of him, Matthias' towering figure cast a shadow on Leyla's fallen belongings. He looked extremely desperate, his observation, even gathering leaves and rocks by the roadside into his bag while desperately trying to gather his belongings. Surprisingly, the oddity eased Matthias' anger.

“I know it's rude, but Duke..”.

His eyes switched between Matthias and the entrance of the mansion located across the street. Confused, he wondered what to do next.

“If it is impolite for me to precede you, I will wait for you to leave first.”

His words were bold, as if he no longer wanted to walk with her, but Matthias could see the uneasiness in his eyes. He had a nosy demeanor, but this time he tolerated it, knowing that he would not be able to walk beside him after passing through the entrance of the mansion.

"Continue."

His permission surprised him.

“I first?” He asked, full of confusion.

Matthias clicked his tongue as a sign of reply. Leyla's face was beaming, and she quickly lowered her head.

“Thank you, Duke.”

Matthias seemed offended by his excessive politeness, as if it was an insult to himself.

Leyla walked to the entrance. Before riding his bike, he stopped his steps, looked back at the man with a frown, eyes full of suspicion. It was obvious that Matthias was being nice to her, but she still did not believe him. After taking a quick look, he tilted his head and turned his back, driving down the highway.

“Should I make her cry?”

Matthias' regret came too late. Maintaining a relatively pleasant expression on his face, he continued walking until something sparkling on the ground caught his attention.

It was a pen.

A pen belonged to a woman who had fallen and lost her possessions easily.

Quickly, Matthias took it. As he continued to stare at the woman in question, his grip on the pen grew even tighter. For a moment, he considered stopping her.

Leyla was close enough that she could hear him if he called, but Matthias remained silent instead.

He turned the pen with his long fingers as he walked along the road. Meanwhile, Leyla who diligently pedaled her bicycle shortly afterwards disappeared from view behind the Arvis gate.

“The cage is coming again.”

With a smile, Mark Evers told the man sitting facing away from the window.

Despite the lack of explanation, Matthias understood. He didn't even bother looking at the window. He does not need to do it, not when it has happened so often that it has become part of his daily routine.

It's time for a 'Phoebe' visit; a pigeon that's much softer and smarter than its owner.

Leaning back in a chair by the fireplace, Matthias signed the final document he requested for the day, and handed it to his aide. After his aide walked out of the room carrying the paper, he was left alone in the living room.

Closing the pen, Matthias glanced out the window. Phoebe, as usual, sat on the fence, engrossed in a gulp of her food with gusto.

He looked away from the bird, his gaze fixed on the thin pen in his hand. He inspected it closely, noticing the name of the owner of the pen engraved in gold on the lid.

'Leyla Lewellin's.'

The pen looks new. It seemed that he did not buy it with his own money, so it was most likely a gift from the gardener.

Matthias hoped so. He was sure Leyla would do everything she could to get it back if it was a gift from Bill Remmer.

'Did he realize it now?'

Matthias stared at the pen with a slanted smile. He opened the pen. Being polite to a woman who praised her didn't seem like a bad idea. After all, it was time for the pigeons to pay for their own food.

Matthias walked to the balcony while folding a letter containing one short sentence. Chuckling at the thought of the bird's owner fleeing on his bike, he tied the letter to the bird's ankle, which leaned his body obediently towards him.

After Matthias makes sure that the record is safe, he launches Phoebe into the sky.

And the post pigeons began to fly excitedly towards the gardener's lodge.

As soon as the sun, sparkling like copper, set behind the horizon, night came, along with the return of Phoebe.

Leyla was sitting and staring thoughtlessly at the empty table when the pecking sound in the window startled her. Turning his head, he called out to the bird with a reprimanding tone.

“Febes!”

Leyla hurriedly wrapped the shawl over her shoulder, then stood up from her chair. A cold wind blew into the room as he opened the window.

"Are you hungry? Wait a minute.. yeah?”

His eyes widened in astonishment as he looked at the letter bound at Phoebe's feet. He rubbed his eyes, sure he saw something, but the letter remained at the feet of the bird.

“...Kyle?”

Without a second thought, the name came from his lips, but he knew it was not him.

‘No, Kyle is gone. There can be no one else to tie the letter to Phoebe's feet.'

Leyla stared blankly at Phoebe. With trembling hands, he opened the letter. As he read the short sentence written on the letter, his face quickly changed from curious to anxious.

He jerks. The letter slipped from his fingers as he took a step back instinctively, gently drifting to the floor under the window.

Staring at the letter, her eyes flickered quickly, Leyla took a step back, then took a step back until her back slammed into the closet, making her aware.

“I-That's impossible!”

Leyla muttered shakily while rummaging through her bag in a hurry. The pen he was looking for was not found. What was even more confusing was the rocks and leaves inside his bag—he had absolutely no idea how those things could fit into his bag.

Leyla frowned and staggered back to the window, the letter held in a hand that was now pale and faded like moonlight.

'[Where is the host, Leyla?]'

Hugging his head, he read the note that Phoebe had brought once again.

He sighed.

'Imust.'

No matter how many times she muttered those words, Leyla knew there would be no change.

Ms. Guuu…

Under the pale white moonlight of the autumn night, Phoebe, the pigeon fed by the Duke to the point of becoming fat, exclaimed calmly.