Chapter 79 Chapter 79 Beio/Happy New Year. (Second update...
"It seems we shouldn't disturb them."
On the second-floor terrace, Audrey leaned on the railing to watch her sister, and was rarely willing to show some tolerance to her brother-in-law.
Hermann followed her gaze downwards, his face calm.
On a snowy night, they witnessed a frank confession.
Looking at Audrey holding her face and laughing happily, the silver-haired man rubbed his fingers unconsciously.
The dance music in the ballroom changed to a gentle waltz, and Audrey swayed her head to the melody.
The alcohol made her face flushed, and her water-blue eyes sparkled in the soft light.
"Hermann." Just as she was about to speak, a cold wind blew and Audrey shrank her neck.
Hermann said nothing, turned and walked into the house, and quickly took out a scarf and put it on Audrey.
"What?" he asked.
Audrey hiccuped, staggered a few steps, and fell backward into Herman's arms.
Herman looked down at her, and she didn't shy away, just staring at him.
"Are you drunk? Let me ask you what you wanted to say just now." Herman held her with one hand, fearing that she would slip.
Audrey, however, stretched out her arms and tightly embraced his waist, burying her head in his neck. Her voice was muffled, but with a hint of laughter: "Hiccup... I was just trying to say... Hiccup, your waist is so thin."
“…” Herman was sure that she was really drunk.
"Go back and rest?" Hermann asked.
Audrey shook her head, and her hair tickled Hermann's chin.
"No." Audrey paused, then raised her head and smiled. "Hermann."
He raised his eyebrows and looked down at her: "What's wrong?"
Audrey shook her head.
Drunks have no logic.
Hermann chuckled and let her shout back and forth until this boring question and answer session lasted five minutes.
Audrey buried her head for a long time this time. Suddenly, she said, "Hermann."
Thinking it was another unconscious exchange, Herman was about to reply when he heard her say, "I think you're different from before."
Herman's eyes flickered slightly, "What's the difference?"
She hiccuped, her brow furrowed, and she seemed to be struggling with what to say.
"You gave me your shares. I know... you protected my interests. I feel like... you're willing to share your compassion with others. You're also willing to understand the villagers and workers. You've become soft and kind."
Snowflakes fell outside the railings, and Hermann was silent for a long time.
"I'm not as great as you say, Bella." His voice was soft and slightly hoarse.
Audrey looked up at him.
Herman looked into those clear eyes and said slowly, "I still can't completely agree with what you said. I'm just... imitating you."
Audrey: "Imitate me?"
"Yes, I'm trying to imitate your softness and your compassion." Herman forced a smile, "I'm trying to see the world differently from your perspective."
The alcohol slowed Audrey's brain down a bit. She paused for a moment and suddenly laughed, "But why are you willing to imitate?!"
The excitement in her tone was something Herman had not expected.
He thought Audrey would focus on why a person's compassion needed to be simulated.
But she always finds new ways to explore different perspectives.
Just like now, Audrey looked at him without blinking, even her voice slowed down, but her expression was full of hope.
She asked carefully: "Is it because... you like me?"
Hermann was slightly startled.
"Because you like me, because you love me, you're willing to stand in my shoes and sympathize with the people I care about?" Audrey stared at him. "Are you willing to imitate my emotions, my perspective, love what I love, and cherish everything I cherish? Is that right?"
Hermann was silent for a long time. Snowflakes fell on the tips of his hair, but he seemed not to notice.
This girl is always so kind and sincere, just like Heinrich in the confession just now, she would offer her straightforward emotions without any concealment.
Hermann thought that such sincere expression seemed to be a privilege, and it seemed difficult for him to do it easily.
He thought of his past self - he was used to calculating, and even his liking for Audrey was subconsciously mixed with the tactic of "retreating to advance".
Pretending to be weak and gaining sympathy, those dark possessive desires are hidden under the mask of gentleness.
Until that day he heard Caroline apologize to Audrey.
Yes, when the sun appears, the shadows dare not even show their heads.
She didn't need to be smart enough to see through the calculations at a glance, nor did she need to guess people's hearts and get caught up in the struggle. She just needed to stand there and make his heart ache - for the dark means in the past, even if it was called love and possession.
But darkness is darkness, and disguise is disguise.
In the past, Hermann did not shy away from these things; on the contrary, they were his weapons of survival.
But looking into Audrey's clear eyes at this moment, he wanted to surrender and discard all his disguises.
The snow was still falling, drifting down on the breeze.
Herman reached out and brushed the snow off Audrey's head.
After a long pause, he slowly spoke: "Yes, because I like you and I love you, so I try to be you."
Audrey was stunned.
"And before that, I loved you too. But all my actions, words, and even emotions... were calculated." He was frank, and his voice no longer had the defensiveness of the past.
Audrey recalled the quarrel after she fell into the water, during which Herman confessed his dark side.
Herman seemed to have guessed what she was thinking and chuckled, "I will use your kindness to forcefully pull your heart over. I know that if I reveal some of my dark side, you won't hate me, but instead feel pity for me."
"Even now, as I said just now, I can't completely empathize with those workers. I'm doing this just because I think it will make you happy." Herman's dark gray eyes were like the fog in Haddonfield. "I even know that even so, you still won't blame me. Because you probably like me too, at least you can forgive my harmless calculations."
He was like a terrifying mind-reading machine, stating all the results of his deductions in plain words.
"But now..." He suddenly sighed softly, his eyes filled with a helpless smile, like a captive surrendering himself, "I don't want to hide anything, at least where the sun shines."
Audrey's eyes were filled with tears, but she quickly lowered her head to wipe them away.
"I'm not a good person. Some bad qualities are hard to change." Herman stroked her face, "But I hope that when I face you, I will always be honest and truthful, even the ugly side."
He kissed her fingertips gently, and her silver-gray hair fell down, gently lifted by the wind.
Audrey stared at Hermann blankly, feeling the hair stirring her fingers.
Suddenly she remembered the first time she gave Hermann a gift, she helped him tie his hair, and the touch was so smooth and tempting.
Thinking his wife was drunk, Hermann curled the corners of his lips slightly, not caring whether she would remember his heartfelt words.
Just as he was about to take her back, a pair of hands suddenly hugged his waist.
Herman Whitten.
Audrey's face pressed against his warm dress, rubbing against it again and again, with infinite dependence.
"You can't blow the wind for too long when you're drunk. I'll take you back." Herman hugged his wife.
A sly laugh came from her chest. Audrey suddenly raised her head, her eyes full of clarity, without any sign of drunkenness.
"You must have been fooled. I'm not drunk."
Herman slowly raised his eyebrows and chuckled: "So?"
"So..." Audrey stared at him with her aqua-blue eyes, "How do you know if I'm plotting against you, too?"
She paused, lowered her eyes, and said in an ambiguous tone: "I may have also concealed something very important from you."
Herman actually thought about it carefully.
He couldn't help but laugh. "I don't think your acting skills can fool me. Although at first I did suspect you were pretending to be innocent."
Audrey raised her chin to hide her fleeting emotion and smiled proudly, "But I used my innocence to successfully scheme against you, didn't I?"
Herman was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted.
"Just like tonight, if I hadn't pretended to be drunk, how could the reserved Mr. White have told me his innermost thoughts so clearly?" Audrey smiled proudly and looked at her husband seriously. "Admit it, I know you will take action to implement your changes, but I also want to hear your true feelings from time to time."
"Sir, I've earned your sincerity with my own. How can honesty not be a tactic?" Audrey smiled and whispered, "I'm very skilled at using this weapon, just like your disguise."
Hermann was silent for a long time. He found it difficult to describe his feelings at the moment.
Miss Norman proudly displayed her magic weapon - a beating heart and an incomparably beautiful soul.
They had been calculating their love for each other, and now it was finally equal.
Herman took a deep breath, tightened his arms, and wrapped her in his arms.
The heavy snow was still falling. Downstairs, Isabel and Heinrich came over at some point.
They watched the couple on the terrace with smiles on their faces.
Heinrich used his coat to shield his wife from the wind and lazily exclaimed, "Oh, what happiness!"
Audrey suddenly raised her head, met her sister's gaze, and immediately excitedly shook Herman: "I want to dance in the snow, too! I want to play in the snow!"
Hermann took her hand and walked down the terrace into the deep snow.
The music from the banquet hall just happened to float over. It was the same song they danced to at their wedding.
Hermann held her hand and danced slowly with her. Snowflakes fell on their hair and shoulders, like a layer of broken diamonds, beautiful and moving.
As they danced, Audrey smiled and waved to her sister, "Honey! Come and join me!"
"As you wish, although I'm a little tired." Isabel chuckled and pulled Heinrich over, and the two couples became a four-person dance.
The music in the banquet hall changed to a lively tune. Audrey spun in circles in the snow, laughing. Suddenly, she shook off Hermann and danced a Losen County country dance with Isabel.
The laughter fell on the snow, and Heinrich and Hermann looked at each other.
"Oh, don't tell me two men are going to tap dance together?"
Herman tacitly avoided the question: "This is not my wish either."
"Hahahaha!" Audrey couldn't help but laugh. She grabbed a snowball and threw it at the two men. "Let's have a snowball fight. We even make snowmen at home."
Isabel immediately moved away, pretending not to hear the words.
You see, Audrey was a master at snowball fights, and she never participated in getting hit. Usually, it was the silly Emily and Miss Lucas who suffered the consequences.
Heinrich was hit by a snowball. Apparently, he knew that the curly-haired girl did it on purpose. He immediately picked up the snowball and prepared to attack, but was hit again by Hermann.
"You want to do something too, right? That's perfect, let me have a sparring match with you." Heinrich narrowed his eyes and looked aggressive.
Herman threw away his gloves and without saying anything else, another snowball appeared.
Audrey laughed and attacked from behind.
"Come on, let's fight you!"
Isabel was busy building a snowman nearby, occasionally watching the battle on the other side.
Heinrich has a great advantage in fighting and can easily fight two people at the same time.
Of course, his main rival is Audrey, the snowball fight master at Norman Manor. Herman just accompanies his wife and shoots some cold shots from time to time.
Several people of high status had their heads and faces covered with snow, completely subverting their previous image.
The door of the banquet hall was suddenly pushed open, and all the guests in the hall, led by Charles and Caroline, rushed to the door at some point and saw this scene.
When the three saw them, they quickly shook off the snow on their heads. Only Isabel stood up calmly and gracefully and stuck a carrot on the snowman as a nose.
"Oh, where did these three old men from Shengyao come from?" Charles screamed.
"It just needs a few reindeer carriages to make it look more like the real thing," Caroline continued.
Greta laughed and called out, "Where are our gifts, Mr. and Ms. Messenger?"
Hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.
"Let's go play in the snow too!" Polly said excitedly.
“Good idea!”
"I'm going too!"
Everyone rushed to the snow, some joined in the snowball fight, and some even boldly called out, "Mr. Duke, let me join your team."
Heinrich raised his chin proudly: "Come on, welcome to join."
Charles was full of fighting spirit and patted Herman on the shoulder: "My loyal employer, I will always follow you. Kill!"
"..." Herman glanced at the old man, "You should go to the opposite side."
"Go! Charles!" Audrey gave the order.
Charles pretended not to hear his employer's disdain and bravely rushed over to the other side, "Yes, ma'am!"
Snowballs smashed into dust in the air, and laughter and screams echoed throughout Winston Manor.
"Let's go see the snowman the Duchess built!" Jeshia brought Theresa closer to Isabel. "Oh, it's so cute. I think we can even draw some pretty eyes on it."
"Please feel free." Isabel shook the snow off her cloak and stood up with a smile.
She walked through the bustling crowd, slowly climbed the stairs, and stood on a high place to look out.
The orchestra's music floated in the air above the banquet. Amidst the flames of war, some people danced in the snow, some held hands and sang in a circle, and some built snowmen together.
The snow is still falling, but it is not cold at all, and the air is filled with joy.
"clang--"
When the last note fell, the clock suddenly struck midnight.
Everyone stopped what they were doing, the laughter and cheers fell silent, and they all looked towards the manor hall, in the direction of the clock.
On the steps, Isabel and Greta had already instructed the servants to bring out the decorated tree hung with gifts.
"Everyone..." Greta smiled at everyone, and under their expectant gazes, she slowly said, "Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year!" Audrey waved first and ran towards her sister.
"Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year!"
…
Blessings came one after another, the orchestra played New Year's songs, everyone exchanged gifts and gave each other sincere blessings.
Isabel also randomly picked a dark green gift box.
Heinrich suddenly came closer and stared at her inscrutable way as she opened it.
Isabel's eyes moved slightly, and she shook it: "Did you give it to me?"
Heinrich snorted, "Just open it and see."
Isabel chuckled and opened it.
This guy deliberately chose the color of the gift box she liked to create a coincidence.
"A qualified husband is always good at guessing his wife's preferences." Heinrich's eyes were full of pride. Just as he was about to continue, he saw Isabel take out a small model from the box.
"Wait? This isn't mine!" Heinrich frowned and was about to say something when Audrey pushed him away. Her excited voice almost deafened him.
"Oh! What a coincidence! You got the gift I prepared! Dear." Audrey hugged her sister.
Heinrich gritted his teeth. "You gave this to me? What about mine?"
Before Audrey could speak, she heard a familiar cold voice.
"It's with me." Herman said expressionlessly as he opened the gift box in his hand. Inside was a necklace. "So..."
He slowly looked at Audrey, "Where is my preparation?"
Audrey realized it later and opened the same dark green box. Inside were the matching earrings that matched the sapphire necklace. She recognized them immediately and looked at Isabel happily, "You gave it to me!"
Isabel smiled. "Yes, I chose dark green on purpose. I think you should have recognized our secret code."
Audrey smiled knowingly.
Since they were young, the two sisters would choose the same color so that they could draw each other's gifts.
However, the Duke secretly saw Isabel prepare a gift box of this color, so he followed suit, hoping that when Isabel picked her gift, he would also get his wife's. Over there, the silver-haired gentleman made the same mistake.
Heinrich maintained a cold expression and looked at the box in his hand.
When he opened it, he saw an exquisite pocket watch, the most sophisticated one currently on the market.
The two men, who had evil intentions and ended up exchanging gifts by accident, looked at each other and saw disgust in each other's eyes.
Audrey bit her lip to stifle a laugh, but still held up the gift box and shouted, "Happy New Year, my dear family."
Isabel smiled, raised the gift box and clinked it with hers: "Happy New Year."
Heinrich and Hermann reluctantly picked up the boxes and clinked them together. "Happy New Year."
"Bang!"
The New Year's fireworks prepared by Greta were lit at the right time, lighting up the night sky.
A big Happy New Year fills the sky, illuminating the smiles on everyone’s face.
Isabel looked at the sky, her eyes gentle: "New Year..."
"Always be steadfast, always be happy." Audrey smiled, clasped her hands together in understanding, closed her eyes and prayed, "I wish everyone peace and success, year after year."
Christmas Eve at Winston Manor came to a perfect end amidst the snow and the joy in the garden.
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The author has something to say: I wish everyone a happy new year in advance! (Although it’s a bit early hahahaha)
May everyone be safe and sound, and spend each year one after another!
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