Chapter 39 She Can Do Archery!?
Anne was speechless. She thought she'd made everything clear when she left the Titan family, so why was Holden here now? Then it hit her—with his arrogant personality, he'd never come looking for her like this. This had to be the old lady's doing.
At this thought, she let out a cold laugh and lowered her head to continue handling the affairs on her desk. "Ignore him. If he wants to wait, let him wait. Just keep blocking him."
After the guard left, Elisa looked at Anne in confusion. "Miss, shouldn't we forcibly drive him away?"
"We can't drive him away, and I don't have time to deal with him anyway."
Anne didn't even look up. As the sole master of the Virlet family, she had way too much to handle. She had no time to waste on a knight commander who meant nothing to her anymore. "He's a knight commander who's been to the battlefield after all. If we use force, our people might get hurt too. Just ignore him."
Elisa acknowledged and said nothing more.
Holden stood outside the gates, looking at the manor still under repair. He'd heard about the Virlet family tragedy and how the castle had been burned to ruins. That was why he'd agreed to escort Anne back then—he'd thought she was vicious, so living in ruins seemed like fitting punishment.But now?
The place had somehow started rebuilding and was already mostly restored. Even the fountain pools on both sides of the manor gates were exactly as he remembered them.
The Titan family had spent a fortune just repairing their three-story house, let alone the Virlet family's castle.
Anne must have incredible wealth backing her...
Holden thought to himself, his gaze toward the manor growing more eager.
Of course he had no interest in Anne herself, but if she accepted his apology and helped his family through their difficulties, everyone would benefit.
For the Titan family, no one would have to worry about money anymore. For Holden and Candy, they could get married and go to war without worries. As for Anne...
Holden sighed. He could become her bed partner, but could never become her husband. This was his promise to Candy, and his loyalty to love.
But he waited and waited, from morning until dusk. The guards changed shifts twice in front of him, all looking at him with unfriendly faces, yet no one came to call him inside.
Was Anne still angry, deliberately making him wait?
Holden thought this seemed quite likely.
Normally, with Holden's temper, he would have turned and left long ago. But this time it was his mother's request, and he wasn't just carrying his own dignity on his shoulders, so he gritted his teeth and continued standing there waiting.
The wind picked up at night. He saw a shadow rapidly approaching in the distance. When it got closer, Holden saw it was someone galloping on horseback.
The person didn't even glance at Holden, dismounted and ran straight into Virlet manor. The surrounding guards didn't stop him either. Holden tried to follow, but after just a few steps, a guard's sword blocked his path.
"That person just walked right in, why are you stopping me!"
Holden looked at the guard before him, vaguely recognizing him from Titan manor. When Anne left, most of the servants and guards had followed her, including this one.
At this thought, Holden's expression became arrogant. He looked at the guard with disdain. "Changed locations and can't recognize your master anymore?"
The guard looked at him like he was looking at an idiot. "Open your eyes and look carefully. I accompanied the Miss to the Titan family. From beginning to end, my only master has been the Miss, our future Duke. What are you? Just some nobody who crawled out of a backwater little manor with hardly any military achievements. You're not even worth Duke Skoda's shoe sole. What right do you have to call yourself my master?"
Holden had never been humiliated like this before. His hands were shaking. "What are you then, just a doorkeeper servant!"
"You think being loud means you win? I was fighting wars before you were even born!"
Holden flew into a rage and reached for the sword at his waist. But before he could attack, an arrow suddenly flew out from inside the manor, hitting Holden's wrist with precision. Holden's hand immediately lost its grip, and the sword fell to the ground with a clang.
"Who!?"
Holden clutched his wrist and roared in fury.
The guard sneered. "The Miss is so good-tempered, she even wrapped the arrowhead in cloth. If it were me, I'd definitely skin you and hang you up to send back to your doghouse!"
But Holden paid no attention to his words, only asking in a daze, "You're saying Anne shot that arrow?"
"Impossible. A young lady like her, knowing a bit of swordsmanship is already good enough, how could she possibly..."
How could she possibly know archery too!
And at such a distance, to hit his hand so precisely—how accurate must that shot have been!
Just how much had Anne been hiding from him!?
The guard looked at him with contempt. "For a Virlet family daughter, nothing's impossible! If the Duke and young masters hadn't died in battle, someone with her abilities would never have married a toad like you!"
Holden immediately stumbled back two steps.
Right, the Virlet family.
Anne, whom he'd always looked down on, was the Miss of the Virlet family. Her father and brothers had all fought bloodily on the battlefield until their last moments. How could such a family raise the weak, ignorant daughter he'd imagined?
Compared to the Virlet family, what did the achievements he and Candy were so proud of amount to?
In the study, Anne breathed a sigh of relief and set down her longbow.
The guard blocking Holden at the gate was Kyle, the head guard. He'd been a soldier under Anne's father, and after being framed and kicked out of the army for his hot temper, Anne's father had taken him in. After her father's death, her mother had him go to the Titan family as part of Anne's dowry to protect her safety.
When they returned to Virlet manor, the nearly fifty-year-old soldier stood at the rebuilt gates and broke down crying. He became head guard, overseeing all the manor's servants and security.
But his temper...
Anne shook her head helplessly. "Uncle Kyle hasn't changed one bit."