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Chapter 4
Ariel carefully folded the agreement, placed it into an envelope, and handed it to Daryl.
“So this is really the end.”
“…It may not be my place to say this, but I am truly sorry that things turned out this way, my lady.”
Daryl lowered his head before handing her the Emperor’s imperial decree. Even in such a terrible situation, it had been a clean transaction.
“Then I shall take my leave—”
“Sir Rows. May I ask you one favor?”
“…Yes.”
“Please tell Kailance this. Tell him that until the very end, I believed in his promise. Please make sure he hears it.”
“…I understand, my lady.”
“I promise you. Even if our feelings fade over the passage of time, I will remain by your side until the moment my life ends. So please stay with me forever, Ariel.
I will look only at you for all eternity.”
His promise still appeared vividly in her mind whenever she closed her eyes, but now it was nothing more than a meaningless memory of the past.
Ariel left the drawing room together with Daryl.
After Daryl and the knights departed from the Marquis’s estate, Ariel approached Storphel.
“Sir. This is His Majesty’s decree canceling both the blockade of the Marquis House and my confinement. Please take it.”
Apparently he had not expected this. Cracks appeared in Storphel’s arrogant expression. Looking at the decree with disbelief, he soon stepped back.
“…It is indeed His Majesty’s decree. According to His Majesty’s will, neither the blockade of the Marquis House nor the young lady’s confinement will proceed. We shall withdraw now.”
With a stiff expression, Storphel led the imperial knights away from the mansion.
Only then did Ariel finally relax and let out a small sigh.
“Ariel, if it’s His Majesty’s decree, does that mean His Grace the Grand Duke helped? I was worried when he didn’t come to the funeral. I thought perhaps there was a problem between the two of you, but it seems His Grace truly cares for you deeply. I worried for nothing.”
“That’s right. At this rate, His Grace will probably help finish the reinvestigation of the Marquis House as well. There must have been a reason he couldn’t attend the funeral. I misunderstood him, Ariel.”
Her aunt and cousin approached her with brighter expressions than before.
The two were firmly convinced that Kailance had stepped forward to protect her. Ariel slowly parted her lips.
“Aunt. Brother. There is something I need to tell you.”
“Yes, dear. What is it?”
“As of today, my engagement to His Grace the Grand Duke has been dissolved. Therefore… His Grace will no longer help the Blante Marquis House.”
“What do you mean…?”
“The engagement was suddenly canceled?”
Her aunt and cousin stared at her in shock.
“From now on, I will take responsibility for the Marquis House. I will do everything I can to protect our family, so please help me as well.”
“Ariel… are you really alright?”
Perhaps because Ariel appeared so calm, her aunt looked at her with even greater concern.
With a faint smile, Ariel answered,
“I am fine. No… I will definitely be fine. So please don’t worry.”
From now on, she would be the one who had to protect the Marquis House.
Ariel clenched her teeth and endured.
As she made that vow, she tightly gripped the engagement ring she still could not bring herself to throw away.
If nothing else, she wanted the pain in her hand to help her forget the pain in her heart.
After meeting the Emperor and returning to the Grand Duke’s estate, Kailance immediately ordered the room Ariel had been using to be cleared out.
His fiancée’s room was to be completely emptied overnight.
The servants of the Grand Duke’s household looked bewildered at the sudden order to throw away all the furniture.
“Lady Blante is no longer my fiancée. She will never return to the Grand Duke’s estate, so remove everything. Leave no trace behind.”
After giving the cold command, Kailance headed straight to his office.
Removing his jacket and handing it to the butler, he sat at his desk.
Naturally, his hand reached for the pile of documents waiting for him.
Once the butler left the office, Kailance’s aide entered.
Lowell Bistro.
He had become Kailance’s aide the moment Kailance inherited the title of Grand Duke and had served him for more than ten years.
He had always respected his lord, but the recent events involving Lady Blante were impossible for him to understand.
Yet he could hardly question his master directly, so Lowell merely watched with a heavy expression.
At that moment, Kailance noticed his gaze and spoke irritably.
“Lowell. If you have something to say, then say it. Stop staring.”
Lowell’s lips moved.
He did not know what he should say, nor whether it was proper for him to ask about his lord’s private affairs.
“Lowell. Speak.”
Perhaps irritated by Lowell’s hesitation, Kailance’s voice dropped lower.
Having made up his mind, Lowell carefully opened his mouth.
“No, Your Grace. I was simply entertaining useless thoughts for a moment. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.”
After a brief struggle, Lowell chose to remain silent.
The engagement dissolution agreement had already been delivered to Lady Blante.
There was no point now in asking why Kailance had been so cruel to her.
Besides, if his lord had decided to break the engagement, there had to be a reason. Even if the method had been merciless.
Kailance, who had been reviewing documents, raised his eyes.
“Weren’t you thinking about the engagement?”
“…I believe Your Grace must have had your reasons for making that decision.”
Avoiding Kailance’s gaze, Lowell slightly lowered his head.
Unlike his words suggested, he still could not understand.
The first time he had felt something strange about the Grand Duke—whom he had always considered rational—was when evidence suddenly appeared claiming that Marquis Blante had participated in treason.
Kailance had immediately reported it to the Emperor.
At the time, Lowell could understand.
Treason was a grave crime. If Kailance had openly defended the Marquis, the Emperor’s wrath might have fallen upon the Marquis even more severely.
As the Emperor’s most beloved nephew and a Grand Duke, it had been better for Kailance to step back for the Marquis’s sake.
However, when Kailance coldly rejected the Marquis’s request for help, Lowell began to feel something was wrong.
And then…
There had been the private meeting between the Grand Duke and Marquis Blante.
Neither Lady Blante nor even His Majesty the Emperor knew of it, but two days before the Marquis died, Kailance had met him in secret.
Lowell remembered perfectly the murderous atmosphere surrounding Kailance that day.
He also remembered the Marquis’s face, as though he had suffered a tremendous shock.
Lowell did not know what had been said during that meeting.
But two days later, Marquis Blante committed suicide.
For the first time, Lowell had suspected his lord.
Had Kailance driven the Marquis to his death?
The Marquis had certainly been cornered by the investigation, but not to the point where suicide seemed inevitable.
That expression of horror and desperation on the Marquis’s face.
Lowell could not shake the feeling that the private meeting had pushed him over the edge.
Yet he told no one.
The secret meeting between Kailance and the Marquis would remain buried in his mind forever.
Even if Kailance truly had driven the Marquis to suicide.
Because Lowell believed it had all been for the future of the Grand Duke and Lady Blante.
At least, that was what he had believed.
He had never thought the two would break off their engagement.
If Kailance had intended to end it because of the Marquis, he would have done so the moment the investigation began.
Besides, the relationship between Grand Duke Seyard and Lady Blante had been different from those of other nobles.
They had met as though by fate, fallen in love, and promised to marry.
No one knew better than Lowell how much Kailance had loved Lady Blante.
Even when he had been overwhelmed by affairs in the North, he had sacrificed sleep just to visit her.
And yet now, when she had been cornered to such an extent, he had chosen to abandon her.
Lady Blante was in a position no different from having both arms and legs cut off.
No one knew what future awaited the Marquis House.
She could even face death by imperial order.
Yet Kailance had let go of her hand.
Once news of the broken engagement spread, the nobles would completely turn their backs on House Blante.
Without Grand Duke Seyard’s support, House Blante had nothing left.
Lady Blante would be utterly isolated within noble society.
Perhaps she would even lose her noble status and be forced to live a miserable life.
And the man who had helped make that happen…
Was the Grand Duke himself.
How could he become so cruel to the woman he had once loved so deeply?
Lowell could not understand.
Lost in thought, Lowell suddenly realized something.
Several minutes had passed, yet Kailance had not spoken a single word.
Slowly, Lowell raised his head.
His gaze met a pair of dark eyes that had sunk into shadow.
“…Your Grace. If I have somehow offended you—”
“No. It’s not that.”
“Then…?”
Just as Lowell looked at him in confusion, Kailance finally opened the lips he had kept tightly sealed.
“I’ve been thinking. Whether I should tell you… or not.”
