CATBP~70

Chapter 70

Lucas’s demand for a written agreement from her had been an impulsive act.

[Three years later, Party A and Party B will divorce and part ways cleanly.]

He stared intently at the agreement he had received from Helen.

<After all, I have to consider the time when I will no longer be the Duchess.>

Why hadn’t he stopped that particular clause from being added back then?

He felt frustrated at himself for realizing his emotions too late.

If only he had known back then… if only he had recognized his feelings even a little earlier.

Lucas impatiently ran his fingers through his hair.

“Grego.”

“Yes?”

Grego straightened his back, tense.

He wanted to avoid aggravating Lucas’s mood, which seemed irritable after returning from outside.

What on earth could have happened outside to make him call me with such seriousness?

Grego’s lips grew dry. Whatever the order, he was determined to carry it out perfectly.

“How does one become a husband who is loved?”

Grego felt his strength drain from his body for a moment.

Did he hear that wrong?

He frowned reflexively and asked again,

“You mean… a husband who is loved?”

“Yes.”

…So he hadn’t misheard.

Grego’s Adam’s apple bobbed visibly.

Every time Dion had claimed that Lucas once loved Helen, Grego had insisted it wasn’t true, saying he kept her close for Master Fey.

So when exactly had the Duke stopped suspecting or disliking the Duchess?

‘Am I really that oblivious?’

Grego for the first time doubted whether he was perceptive at all.

Now, just thinking about it made him bitterly recall when Dion had once said, “You’re too clueless; never give advice on romance.”

‘Am I really allowed to give advice to the Duke?’

A cold sweat formed on the back of his neck.

I rolled a pen between my fingers, lowering my gaze.

‘…A handkerchief.’

The handkerchief Lucas had used a few days ago flashed vividly in my mind—a bright hot-pink polka-dotted one.

It was nice to see him carrying the gift Fey had given, but the memory made a dull ache spread across my chest.

‘No matter how annoyed he was, he should’ve chosen a proper handkerchief.’

From now on, every time I saw a handkerchief, I would feel apologetic toward him. I raised my chin, recalling that thought while absentmindedly tugging at my hair.

“Yes! I’ll just get a new one!”

I ran toward Fey, forgetting even to put down the pen.

“Fey!”

“Auntie!”

Fey, her round eyes wide, greeted me warmly.

Moments later, after hearing my suggestion, she smiled brightly.

“Handkerchief gift! I’m all for it!”

I cheered silently inside.

Though I had picked the hot-pink polka-dotted handkerchief, it was a gift from a child to her uncle.

But if I tried to give the handkerchief to the Duke, Fey might not like it.

“Fey will pick the handkerchief. The pattern to be embroidered, you two will decide together. I’ll do the embroidery.”

“Okay!”

We began discussing what pattern to embroider first. Ideas ranged from butterflies, flowers, to black panthers. If we chose a flower, we debated which kind, eventually settling on one.

“Let’s go with a moonflower. We’ll worry about the design later and first go buy the handkerchief?”

“I’m gonna change my clothes first!”

Fey nodded energetically, her fists clenched in determination.

‘Did she know the one I chose last time was tacky?’

Nah. Surely not.

Dylan checked Wither’s business site to see if she was there, then went to the areas farther from the capital, hoping to find her.

But even in these areas, he could not find Helena.

He walked the streets of the capital with heavy steps.

‘Helena.’

His heart tightened as he clenched his fists and called out for her.

‘Where on earth are you?’

A girl who loved flowers and smiled brightly. By the time they met again, she had matured into a woman, yet she still loved flowers and shone like sunlight.

She treated him fairly despite their different social status. That moment of her happily hugging him remained unforgettable for Dylan.

When they last spoke, she had said she was going to the Kairluma Empire. The fact that she had not yet been found was a small comfort—it meant she was safe.

He prayed under the harsh summer sun, hoping she had evaded pursuit, either deep within the Empire or outside it entirely. If she was still in the Kairluma Empire, he hoped he would see her first.

Then, among the crowd, a glint of golden hair caught his eye. Sunlight danced across the strands. Her body, her walk—he couldn’t mistake it, even for an instant.

It was her.

“Helena!”

Before he realized it, Dylan was running. He pushed through the crowd, bumping shoulders with strangers, almost tripping in the process.

Yet his eyes never left her as he drew closer.

The closer he got, the surer he became.

It was Helena.

Tears welled in his eyes as joy overwhelmed him. Then a boy with black hair grabbed the woman’s hand.

“Mom!”

The woman stopped, gently holding the child’s hand.

They walked forward together.

Dylan stood frozen, watching them disappear through the crowd.

‘So it’s not Helena.’

A woman that size wouldn’t have a child calling her “mom,” so it had to be someone else.

He swallowed his disappointment and retraced his steps. His uncertain footsteps led him forward without knowing the destination.

Fey turned her head to look behind. I moved my head too, but the crowd made it impossible to see whom she was watching.

‘Didn’t she say someone suspicious was following?’

I had been startled when she suddenly called “Mom.”

Had a pervert approached? Could her divine intuition sense even that?

After months of being with her, there were still so many things I didn’t know.

‘It’s Fey.’

The onion that kept revealing layers—Fey—was a relief.

I lifted Fey up.

“Waaah?”

“You protected me, Auntie!”

I pressed a kiss to her in gratitude. If we weren’t outside, I might have done more.

Suppressing my desire, I put Fey down. She swayed slightly but placed a hand on her waist.

“I’m Auntie’s protector, of course I will!”

The jar of repressed desire rattled fiercely. I closed my eyes, muttering the national anthem in my head in a completely different sense. Ahem. The meaning of the anthem seemed to change several times because of me. How embarrassing.

I held Fey’s hand and headed toward a high-end handkerchief store. Inside, there were various handkerchiefs.

Some had patterns or stripes; others were plain for embroidery.

There were more colors and designs than when we bought the hot-pink polka-dotted one.

‘It was difficult to choose last time, can she do it now?’

I looked at Fey anxiously, wondering if I should interfere. But recalling that she had given a strange handkerchief as a gift before, I decided to hold back this time.

“I’ll take this one!”

Fey carefully inspected the handkerchiefs, touching them, before finally pointing to one with her index finger.

A navy handkerchief for embroidery.

“If we embroider a moonflower on this, it will be pretty, right?”

“Good choice? You picked it with that in mind!”

“Eh-hem!” Fey looked proud.

Sigh. Ha. I nearly broke the wall beside me.

As I controlled my destructive instincts, someone approached.

“May glory be with you. I present the only star of Igaluk and the Duchess.”

Red hair, green eyes. The colors reminded me of the Baalje Duchess, who had once glared at me with hatred. Yet she looked rather youthful, somewhere between a girl and a young adult.

‘She really does resemble the Baalje Duchess.’

Who was she?

“I am Hayley Lawrence, the second daughter of the Lawrence family. My aunt is the Baalje Duchess, the grandmother of Prince Fey.”

Hayley smiled gently, bowing her knees.

“My aunt said that Prince Fey is very cute. I happened to see this golden-eyed child and couldn’t help myself. But you are really adorable, Prince Fey!”

The freshness of a young girl, somewhere between adolescent and adult, objectively looked charming…

‘Why…?’

A sharp, fan-like instinct warned me. This young lady is not an ally.

“Oh, by the way, did the Duke come with you?”