🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 16
Linda narrowed her eyes and said,
“You’re not possibly…”
“Whatever you’re thinking—no, absolutely not!”
Agnes quickly denied it.
It had been so long that she’d almost forgotten, but Linda had wished for Agnes to get married right up until the very end. As time went on, she brought it up less frequently, but at the age of twenty-two, it was still common for Linda to end most of her sentences with the word “marriage.”
Especially when the man whose engagement had naturally broken off after her father was scammed came back with another proposal—oh, they had fought loudly that time.
“At twenty-two, was it before the second proposal? Or had they already fought?”
But how could anyone trust someone who had abandoned them once before? Linda smiled as if she didn’t believe Agnes at all.
“You can tell me honestly. You saw him somewhere and became interested, right?”
“No, I really didn’t.”
Agnes answered a bit too coldly without meaning to. She regretted it immediately, but Linda didn’t seem to mind. She looked like she was already determined to keep this topic going for a while.
“Well, I just won’t say anything. That should be fine.”
Agnes decided she might as well gather information about the future Duchess.
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about—everyone knows how handsome he is. All the women your age have fallen for him at least once. I always wondered why you never showed interest in men, and now I know—it’s because you’ve got high standards, right?”
Agnes was too tired to keep denying it, so she just nodded vaguely.
“He rarely shows up in social circles, but he occasionally attends parties with the Crown Prince. He’s such an outstanding man that many ladies admire him…”
“So that means…”
“Yes, there’s no one in particular. As you know, the late Duke and Duchess of Battenberg passed away early.”
Agnes held her breath.
So the Duke of Battenberg had lost both parents as a child… and not long after, even lost his only sister.
“Because of that, plenty of people are after him—though you’d have to be quite bold. He’s always off on expeditions with the Crown Prince… And really, how can you reach for the stars if you don’t even look at the sky?”
“T-then, did you at least hear who he’s closest to? Surely he’s dated someone, right?”
Agnes now felt a little desperate.
“Don’t tell me he lived and died alone in the past, too?!”
Maybe for an ordinary person, but not for someone like a duke.
He had to produce an heir. That was a given.
The reason Agnes had asked her gossip-loving mother about the Duke of Battenberg was because she wanted to leave a good impression of Timothy on the future duchess.
She didn’t necessarily need to butter her up with flattery, but it would be good to know in advance what to watch out for. There might be things that Timothy, with his sensitive nature, could misinterpret. It was better to be prepared.
Of course, there was a small personal reason as well.
Agnes simply wanted Timothy to grow up in a warm and stable environment. Around the age of ten, he wouldn’t need a governess anymore, so it was time to start preparing for what came after. Though she hadn’t fully opened her heart yet, it was better to prepare early than too late.
And Agnes hoped Timothy would grow up a little more loved.
“He’s a bit picky, and yes, he has a temper… You need a lot of patience to understand him… but he’s not a bad kid.”
He deserved more love. He deserved more happiness. And if that required just a little bit of scheming—who could really blame her?
“He’s close to exactly one person—the Crown Prince. Surprisingly.”
“Only one? Really? N-not even any other friends…? Not even male ones?”
“To my knowledge, there’s no one who could go around claiming to be close to him.”
Linda might not know every detail of social life, but Agnes couldn’t help feeling convinced.
“So… he really has no friends…”
Well, not completely alone. He was at least friendly with the Crown Prince.
“Regardless of gender, he really seems to dislike people in general…”
It didn’t even matter whether it was a man or a woman. The way he treated Agnes out of obligation, or Johan, who served him—there was little difference.
“In any case, this confirms it.”
Linda said.
“Huh? Confirms what?”
“That a man has to be handsome to catch your eye.”
“And someone that handsome would have plenty of admirers. There’s no reason he’d choose me over any of them.”
“Agnes.”
Linda called her daughter’s name with a stern face. Agnes wasn’t intimidated by her young mother, but she decided to step back.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just being realistic.”
But even that answer didn’t seem to sit well. Seeing her mother fall silent, Agnes quietly stood up.
“I’ll head upstairs now. If that’s okay?”
“…Yes, go ahead.”
“I’ll say goodnight to Father before bed.”
“Alright.”
Agnes quickly turned away, eager to escape the uncomfortable conversation. But just before she left the dining room, Linda called out to her.
“Agnes, I’m sorry.”
“…”
“You really…”
“It’s alright, Mother. I truly have no complaints about my life.”
“…”
“Please rest well.”
Agnes deliberately didn’t look back and kept walking.
She didn’t want to think about her life right now. Before returning to the past, she had been more or less content with her life. Sure, there were regrets—things she’d probably regret until the moment she died.
But the thing she regretted most was something she could never change, even if she died and turned back time again. She didn’t even want to admit it was a regret.
Right now, she only wanted to focus on one thing: keeping Timothy from ending up like “Marquis Reynold.”
“Ugh, my head…”
A headache set in. Agnes returned to her room, closed the door, and let out a deep sigh.
She had finally come home—but all she wanted was to leave again.
While Agnes was struggling to deal with her distant and unfamiliar mother, the Battenberg mansion, without her presence, was also shrouded in silence.
The suffocating stillness lasted throughout dinner. Timothy forced himself to eat, but whatever went down was sure to sit like a rock in his stomach.
“What the heck is going on?”
He poked at his salad with a fork and glanced up. Across from him, Ethan was quietly finishing his meal without so much as a glance in Timothy’s direction.
Afraid they might make eye contact, Timothy lowered his head every time Ethan raised his. There was no way a knight known as the empire’s finest hadn’t noticed Timothy awkwardly glancing his way, but Timothy knew Ethan wouldn’t speak to him first.
Ethan had absolutely no interest in him.
Evidence? Since the day Timothy arrived at the Battenberg estate, he and Ethan hadn’t spent more than fifteen minutes face-to-face.
And now they were having dinner together?
Unbelievable.
Timothy glanced at Johan and Carlo standing behind Ethan. Johan avoided his gaze, and Carlo, as always, gave him a helpless smile.
“This has Agnes written all over it.”
The only thing that had changed between yesterday and today was her.
“Who asked her to do this?”
Timothy gripped his fork tightly.
If she was going to do something this pointless, it would’ve been better if she’d just stayed and not taken time off. If he hadn’t been so stubborn and just gone to see her right away, maybe he could’ve convinced her to stay.
He hadn’t gone to see her for hours after waking up—because he’d been embarrassed about crying like a child. He’d kicked off his blanket multiple times, yanked at his hair trying to figure out how to erase the memory, and eventually decided to just pretend it never happened.
Only then did Carlo mention that Agnes had gotten injured and was on leave.
Of course, Timothy assumed he’d see her the next day. He never imagined she’d gotten hurt. So he felt both guilty and resentful that she left without a word.
“Does she think I’ll like her more because of this? Uncle doesn’t even like me anyway.”
Then why had he bothered bringing Timothy here?
Ethan was his closest blood relative, sure—but he wasn’t the only one left. There were still relatives from the Reynold family.
Timothy had initially thought Ethan took him in because he was his only nephew.
At the funeral, Ethan had looked every bit the dashing, dependable man his mother had described. The kind of adult a child left alone would naturally want to rely on. But that hope had been shattered in just one night.
He hadn’t taken Ethan’s hand. Not that he’d had a choice.
“Not like I had a say in it anyway.”
Whenever he stood in front of Ethan, Timothy was reminded of how powerless and small he was.
That was when it happened.
Ethan had finished his meal at some point and was now looking directly at Timothy. The boy almost dropped his fork. Ethan scanned him coldly, like he was appraising an object, then stood up.
“As the tutor said, he’s exactly like she described.”
That was it.
Timothy was left all alone.
