Andrie lowered his spoon and fork and looked at her. He didn’t break eye contact until she herself turned away. She smirked. “It’s strange that you treat me well. When I first came here, you were such a heartless man. Why now? What happened?”
“You don’t like being treated like a human?”
She glanced back at him, raising her eyebrows. She tried to read his thoughts but couldn’t decipher them. His gaze was too cold towards her. She just looked away. “Where’s Esma? Where is everyone else?”
“You don’t want to eat?” he asked.
She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth in annoyance. “I know you’re up to something,” she added, keeping her eyes on Andrie’s face.
He shrugged irritably and lowered his gaze to his own plate. “I won’t force you if you don’t want to eat. You’ve been fasting these past days, and you might die sooner.”
She didn’t know if it was because of his threat that she forced herself to pick up the spoon and fork and take a bite. From then on, she continued eating, savoring the delicious food in her mouth. She didn’t notice the passing of time, and when she was full, that was when she finally looked up again. She jumped when her eyes met Andrie’s gaze. It seemed he had been watching her all this time. Or maybe he had just been staring at her while she ate earlier?
“Quit staring,” she scolded, annoyed by the kind of look she couldn’t read from him.
She saw a faint smile appear on Andrie’s lips, and that was the first time she really looked at his face while he was smiling. Andrie was handsome, probably because he looked just like Anthony. But there was something different in his demeanor that she couldn’t quite name.
“And it’s you who keeps on staring at me now,” Andrie suddenly remarked. The faint smile on his lips earlier was gone.
Azora looked away. She must have been as red as a tomato. First, she was embarrassed by how she behaved while eating, and even though Andrie didn’t say it, she knew she looked like someone starving by the speed of her eating and chewing. She forgot the etiquette her father always taught her. But she was hungry earlier, and she didn’t care what people would think of her eating like that.
She blew out a breath and stood up. She smirked and glanced briefly at Andrie who was still looking at her. “I’ll go back to my room,” she said. Even though she didn’t want to and was embarrassed in front of him, she still knew how to appreciate people. He fed her and let her devour everything on the table, and he didn’t even get angry when she almost finished all the food on the large and long dining table.
The corner of his lips only raised and he gestured for her to leave. That was her cue to leave that dining table. She left the dining hall and went back upstairs. There she saw some servants chatting. It looked like a break from work.
When they saw Azora climbing the stairs, the servants went down and some even went up. She didn’t ask and just quietly headed to the room upstairs. And because she was still wearing a white dress, she paused when she passed a large mirror in the hallway and stared at her reflection. Her cheeks and skin were starting to flush. It looked like her color was returning to normal after eating and drinking water.
She hadn’t seen that big mirror earlier. It looked like it had just been put there. And she was right when two servants approached the mirror, gave her a slight smile, and lifted the thing down the stairs.
“That’s the mirror of the late lady.”
She startled when someone spoke behind her. Turning around, she saw Esma. She smiled at the old woman who returned it with a slight smile. She glanced at the two servants who were leaving the mirror. “That mirror is too big.”
“Yes.” There was a hint of a smile on Esma’s lips. It seemed like she was reminiscing about the past. “The lady liked mirrors so much that the lord bought her a large mirror.”
She swallowed. “Is Anthony’s father kind?” she asked.
Esma was silent for a few seconds and then laughed awkwardly. “He’s kind. But since the lady died, the lord has changed.”
She looked at Esma. “Is Anthony’s relationship with his father okay?”
That’s something she didn’t ask Anthony before. She didn’t know anything about his family, except that Anthony was among the Clasisos. Rich, elegant, and kind. In the person of her former boyfriend, she thought his parents were kind and raised in a good family. She didn’t ask if he was okay with Narciso. She regretted not knowing her former boyfriend well.
“Sir Anthony is kind and loves his father.” Esma sighed. “But they have things they always argue about.”
“Is it about inheritance?”
Esma’s eyes narrowed, trying to remember what happened in the past few months. “I heard about inheritance, but that’s not really the root of their arguments.”
She stared at Esma and pondered. Was there something else she didn’t know? She blew out a breath. Maybe she really didn’t know much.
“If not about inheritance, then what?” she asked.
But she heard a loud cough that made her jump in surprise. Her eyes widened as she looked at Andrie standing not far away. He had his hands in his pockets and the expression on his face was still cold. She smiled slightly at Esma. “Let’s talk again later,” she whispered before continuing to walk towards the room.
She listened if there was a shadow following her, but she didn’t hear anything. It just meant that Andrie and Esma didn’t follow her. Were the two talking next to her earlier?
If he heard it, he would probably tell Esma and next time he asked the old man, he wouldn’t answer. She frowned.