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Chapter 5
“Why do you look like that?”
As if something about my face had offended him, Damian’s already vicious expression twisted even more fiercely.
He strode toward me and pointed at my shoulder.
“You—what is this?”
Damian suddenly reached out and snatched something from my shoulders.
What he tore away was the outer coat Shioden had given me.
“Why are you wearing this?”
Clearly furious, Damian shook the coat violently. The metal ornaments attached to the formal menswear clattered loudly against each other.
The sound, the sight, the situation—
There was not a single part of it that did not feel violent, and my body instinctively shrank.
“Ha… I was wondering why that Raslet bastard was here…”
Muttering darkly, Damian shoved a hand through his disheveled hair.
“You… were you with Raslet this whole time?”
His golden eyes—like Father’s and Iswen’s, yet far more emotionally volatile—bored into me.
“That bastard came onto your terrace? He was the one who helped you down from there too, wasn’t he? When the servant lit the lamps, they said no one was there but you. Did you hide him?”
The rapid-fire questioning began to feel humiliating.
Was taking a walk with someone truly such a crime that I deserved this kind of interrogation?
Of course, privately associating with the Duke of Raslet had been my mistake.
But right now, Damian did not seem angry because it was the Duke of Raslet specifically—
He seemed furious because I had spent improper time with any unknown man at all.
That much was obvious from what he was focusing on.
“Why aren’t you answering?! What happened?!”
At last, unable to control his temper, Damian shouted.
I squeezed my eyes shut and answered him.
“I-I said it was okay for me to be with him.”
My face began to burn.
Reflexively, tears welled in my eyes, and nausea churned in my stomach.
I did not understand why I had to make excuses like this—
And yet it felt unfair that I still had to.
“He came in without realizing I was there while the servant had gone to fetch drinks. He said he would leave, but I told him it was fine.”
My breathing grew faster.
I wiped hastily at my tears and continued,
“So he… he didn’t do anything wrong—”
“Shut up.”
Damian cut me off before I could even finish.
He grabbed my wrist hard.
Through gritted teeth, he snarled,
“I’m about to lose my mind, so don’t you dare defend that bastard.”
Damian dragged me back to the palace.
When we entered the corridor where the imperial family provided guest rooms, he opened the door to the room assigned to the Rowen family.
He shoved me inside and barked,
“The banquet is over for you. I’ll explain things to Father and Hyung, so you are not to move from this room.”
Then he handed Shioden’s coat to a nearby servant, who had been anxiously hovering.
“Burn it.”
The sheer audacity of ordering someone else’s borrowed coat burned was staggering—
But Damian’s face looked so terrifying that I could not bring myself to protest.
Once the servant disappeared with the coat, Damian turned back to me.
“Forget everything that happened today.”
He snapped the order like a whip.
“Whatever you said to Raslet, whatever that bastard said to you—forget it all completely. Understood?”
Before he could erupt any further, I nodded.
Only after seeing that did Damian finally turn away.
Bang.
The door slammed violently behind him.
Only when I heard his footsteps fade did all strength leave my legs.
Sliding down against the door, I collapsed to the floor and looked down at the thing still clenched in my hand.
“My name is Shioden Raslet.”
Just as he had said—
The blue gemstone brooch was engraved with a shield.
The crest of Raslet.
I have to return the brooch.
That thought kept me awake all night.
If I kept it, the attendants serving me would surely notice eventually.
And once they did, it would only be a matter of time before Damian or Iswen heard about it.
But I could not think of anyone trustworthy enough to return it for me either.
Every servant in the Rowen household was effectively my family’s eyes and ears.
There was only one person who truly cared about me first…
But she was at the Rowen estate, not the imperial palace.
If only I had more time to think carefully.
But I did not.
Shioden was unlikely to remain at the imperial palace for long.
The Harvest Festival banquet was meant to last seven days, but many guests from distant lands left early.
Shioden likely would too.
Raslet rarely came down from the North in the first place. If Shioden had not needed to inherit his house and swear loyalty, there was a good chance he would never have come to the capital at all.
The next evening, when the banquet began again, I was forced to remain in my room.
Damian had already claimed I was unwell, so I could not step outside.
Alone, curled on the bed after dismissing everyone, I faintly heard music drifting from far away.
By now… Shioden would be somewhere within it.
Perhaps he was looking for me.
From what I had seen yesterday, he seemed remarkably kind.
He would probably worry that I had vanished without even saying goodbye.
Or perhaps he had already met Damian and learned that I was a Rowen.
If he knew the truth…
Would he hate me?
Would he simply despise me?
But we had met without knowing that one of us was Raslet and the other Rowen.
So perhaps…
Couldn’t the feelings we had formed before knowing each other’s true identities remain untouched?
Even if we could never grow closer after this…
Drawn to the slightly open balcony, I stepped toward it, and the music grew louder.
The sky was darkening into night, and the air felt damp, as though rain was coming.
I glanced down below.
This balcony looked slightly lower than the terrace I had jumped from yesterday.
If I was careful enough…
I might be able to get down on my own.
Of course, even if I left the room, there was no guarantee I would find Shioden.
But perhaps I could at least stop a palace servant and ask them to deliver the brooch.
It was a flimsy plan.
Someone might recognize me.
And if luck was bad, Damian or Iswen might catch me immediately.
If there had been any other way, I would never have attempted something so reckless.
But I had no other option.
Once I made my decision, I acted quickly.
I put on my outerwear, covered my hair with a shawl, and checked the balcony’s height one more time.
For a moment, it struck me how incredibly reckless this was.
Perhaps I was risking far too much just to return one brooch.
But if I wanted last night to remain a cherished memory—
Then I had to end it properly with my own hands.
Otherwise, someday Damian or Iswen would find the brooch…
And then trouble might reach even Shioden.
Closing my eyes tightly, I gripped the balcony railing.
The damp wind brushed against my cheeks.
There were not many people in the imperial palace garden, which had been designed like a maze.
Apparently, many others besides me also believed rain was coming soon.
Plop.
A cold raindrop landed on the tip of my nose.
Judging by the murmurs among the hedges, others had felt it too.
Carefully avoiding the notice of people returning indoors, I searched for a servant trustworthy enough to entrust with my task.
They could not be too high-ranking.
If they were, they might recognize my face—
Or worse, report directly to Aiden.
And such people would not be easily silenced with jewelry.
As I frantically scanned my surroundings—
Like a miracle, I spotted a familiar back in the distance.
“Den.”
The name escaped me before I could stop it.
Yet somehow, Shioden immediately turned around.
It seemed Damian had said nothing to him.
If he had, Shioden would never have approached me with such obvious delight.
“Ella?”
His dark blue gaze briefly dropped to my feet.
He must have remembered how I had hurt my heel yesterday.
For him, it was likely a habit—
But to me, such carefulness was painfully unfamiliar.
Even in darkness, I had thought him handsome.
But in broad daylight…
He was truly beautiful.
His features were clean and elegant, and his eyes were far deeper and lovelier than I had imagined.
Something hot surged painfully in my chest.
It hurt—truly hurt—that I had to shatter that face, so full of worry and kindness.
“Is your foot alright? Why did you just—”
“There’s no time.”
I grabbed his hand and returned the blue brooch I had clutched all this time.
“My name is Iela Rowen.”
The softness in his face instantly hardened.
The kindness that had lingered there vanished in a single sweep, like waves washing over a shore.
I felt tears threatening—
But I forced myself to continue.
“My father is Kaphrin Rowen.”
“…”
“So… please forget what happened yesterday.”
“Whatever you said to Raslet, whatever that bastard said to you—forget it all completely. Understood?”
That was what Damian had said.
At the time, I had wanted to argue with him.
But seeing Shioden’s frozen expression now…
I realized Damian had been right.
It would be better to forget yesterday.
I was a Rowen.
And he was a Raslet.
Such an obvious truth—
How foolish of me to have hoped otherwise.
“I’m sorry.”
Bowing my head, I turned away in a hurry.
Moments later—
The rain came pouring down.
