IGBD 16

Chapter 16

At Regan’s puzzled expression, Serret realized her mistake.

Unlike her, who had regressed, this was the first time Regan was meeting Serret Innoheter. She shouldn’t have spoken as though she already knew him well.

“My words slipped out wrong. I heard you don’t have a fiancée, but… do you perhaps have someone in your heart?”

Serret quickly redirected the conversation.

“Not yet.”

Regan answered with a gentle smile. His gaze toward Serret was warm—just as it had been in her previous life.

“Your Grace, you’re truly kind. You seem like a good person.”

“I’m a good man,” Regan replied with confidence.

Serret only smiled quietly. Regan was indeed a good man, just as he claimed. Unlike Yuan, he was someone with a warm heart.

Before long, the carriage stopped in front of the Duke of Prektuster’s estate. Regan looked out the window and spoke with a hint of regret.

“It’s so close. I didn’t realize it was this near.”

“Thanks to that, I arrived comfortably.”

Serret gave him a polite nod of thanks.

The carriage door opened. Regan got out first and extended his hand to her. Taking his hand, Serret stepped down and once again offered a courteous farewell.

“Please return safely, Your Grace.”

“You as well, Lady Innoheter.”

With a smile, Serret turned away from Regan.

Finally, the imperial ball was over. With relief, she let out a quiet sigh.

All that remained now was to return home. The time was approaching when she could live a life free from Yuan.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Inside the carriage returning to the palace.

Regan was lost in thought.

Offering to escort Serret had been an impulsive act. Properly, he should have informed her fiancé, Yuan.

But he hadn’t. Instead, he had ridden with her all the way to the Prektuster estate.

“If Yuan finds out, he won’t let me off easily.”

Regan gave a small laugh. His own behavior baffled him. He rationalized it by telling himself he’d only done it because he was curious to see how Yuan would react.

Any other thoughts, he deliberately ignored. His instincts told him he must not look too deeply into them.

Not long after, the carriage arrived at the imperial palace.

Regan alighted and headed for the banquet hall. As always, Yuan was surrounded by people.

Everyone was desperate to gain the Duke of Prektuster’s favor. At times, it even seemed his family wielded more power than the imperial house itself.

The waning influence of royalty and nobility wasn’t unique to the Eirun Empire.

Across nations, nobles were growing stronger than royal families, and a wealthy middle class was rising that could rival even the nobility.

An age where the old order was slowly collapsing.

Yet no matter how much the world changed, the Prektuster family, led by Yuan, would continue to shine.

Feeling a deep sense of defeat, Regan approached him with a bitter face.

“Duke Prektuster.”

At Regan’s appearance, the people surrounding Yuan quickly stepped aside.

“May I have a word?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Yuan answered with a weary face.

Regan led him out of the hall and toward a quiet back garden.

Following silently, Yuan asked in a displeased tone,

“Have you seen my fiancée?”

At his question, Regan flinched. The sharpness in his voice made him feel as though he’d committed some grave offense. With an awkward smile, Regan glanced back.

Though the garden was unlit and Yuan’s face was hard to see, the chill radiating from him made Regan’s throat go dry.

“I’ve been meaning to ask—what happened to your forehead?”

Trying to ease the tension, Regan changed the subject.

“Lady Innoheter is nowhere to be seen. Not even in the lounge.”

Ignoring his attempt, Yuan spoke.

“Well, that’s because…”

“You really didn’t see her?”

Yuan, who always addressed him politely in public, now spoke differently. There was urgency in his tone as well. Arms crossed, Yuan’s sharp eyes bore into him.

Sensing he’d be in serious trouble if he stalled, Regan quickly replied,

“She went back to the duke’s estate.”

“What?”

“She wasn’t feeling well, so I escorted her back myself.”

The moment he said it, Regan felt a chill sweep over him. Yuan’s tightly closed lips exuded a suffocating pressure.

“So she went back. Without saying a word.”

At last, Yuan’s cold voice cut through the silence.

“I was going to tell you, but Lady Innoheter said she didn’t want to trouble you. She’s… really considerate, you know. Yes, very considerate.”

Regan rambled nervously, not even sure what he was saying.

“Your Grace, I should take my leave now.”

Yuan offered a polite bow, then turned his back on him. Watching his retreating figure, Regan felt frozen—chilled by the silent fury radiating from him.

That was calm wrath.

Surely he wouldn’t direct that wrath at Lady Innoheter… Regan was thinking when Yuan suddenly turned back.

“P-please get home safely.”

Flustered, Regan stammered with an awkward smile as their eyes met.

Yuan didn’t look away. Step by step, he approached, forcing Regan to swallow hard.

“I haven’t yet thanked you for escorting my fiancée home.”

“Between us, there’s no need—”

“Thank you, Duke Poplwell. But if such a situation arises again, inform me first. Serret is my fiancée.”

Once more, Yuan bowed politely, then turned away.

Only after he disappeared into the distance did Regan exhale.

Yuan’s presence was oppressive enough even when he did nothing—when he unleashed it deliberately, it was suffocating.

“Hah…”

Regan let out a laugh.

Yuan Prektuster truly was an extraordinary man. To think he’d openly warn a duke.

A courteous warning, yet a warning nonetheless—not to interfere with his fiancée.

The weight of it drained Regan completely.

Smirking to himself, he returned to the banquet hall.

Now that Yuan had warned him, he ought to lose interest in Lady Innoheter.

But strangely, he found himself more intrigued than ever.

“This is bad.”

Rubbing his forehead, Regan muttered,

“This is really bad.”

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Yuan’s steps as he descended from his carriage carried both anger and disappointment.

His mood had been in shambles all evening, and he knew exactly who was to blame.

Serret Innoheter.

His fiancée, who was demanding a broken engagement.

“You’ve returned, Your Grace.”

The butler greeted him in the lobby.

“You’re early,” he added, then stiffened at the sight of Yuan’s stormy face.

“Where is Lady Innoheter?”

“She’s returned. Likely in her room now.”

“And her condition?”

“She said she was tired, but nothing seemed amiss.”

Yuan nodded and strode up the stairs.

Serret Innoheter had abandoned him—abandoned him and gone off with Regan.

His lip twisted. A fiancée who sought every chance to run away infuriated him.

Claiming she wasn’t well—that was just an excuse. If she truly hadn’t been well, she would’ve told him, not the duke she’d only just met.

In his room, Yuan tore off his tailcoat and threw it on the bed. He began to loosen his tie, but his emotions refused to settle.

With a sharp motion, he let the tie fall to the floor and stormed out. His destination: Serret’s room.

He paused before her door, exhaled quietly, and knocked.

No answer. Either she wasn’t inside or had fallen asleep.

He turned to leave—only to see Serret walking down the hall in her nightgown.

“Your Grace.”

Her face showed mild surprise as she approached him.

“I heard you weren’t well.”

He studied her face.

There was no trace of the ball’s glamour left. From a radiant bouquet she had become a dawn lily of the valley—yet her beauty remained unchanged.

That only made him angrier. She didn’t need to be beautiful all the time—only when he was the one looking.

“So, His Grace the Duke told you.”

“Yes.”

The way she said Regan’s name so lightly made Yuan’s brow twitch.

“I took his carriage back so as not to trouble you. Did you return early because of me?”

Though she didn’t say it outright, her expression suggested he needn’t have bothered.

She’d gladly accepted the carriage of a duke she’d just met, yet she drew such sharp lines with her own fiancé.

“It seems Lady Innoheter is more sociable than I thought.”

Yuan’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

She, who constantly looked for chances to run from her fiancé, had no trouble accepting another man’s kindness.

She ought to lean on him—ask him, beg him. That was only natural.

His lips curled.

“Surprised? I thought you were a naïve, clueless fool. Turns out you’re not.”

“You don’t think I’m clueless?”

“….”

At his words, Serret’s smile vanished. She stared at him in silence. For a moment, their eyes locked.

“Yes. I was clueless. That’s why I accepted your proposal.”

“Are you saying you regret it?”

“Why else would I be asking for a breakup?”

“You claim you’re not a fool, but you certainly sound like one.”

“What did you just say?”

Serret bristled at his remark.

“That’s why you keep bringing up breaking the engagement.”

Her persistence amazed him. She’d never succeed, yet she kept demanding it.

Such innocence almost deserved applause.

“You should find a more naïve woman. …No, better yet, marry someone you actually love. Stop ruining other women’s lives.”

Her eyes were cold as she spoke.

At times, she looked at him as though he were the thing she hated most in the world. But she didn’t seem to realize—

—that such a gaze stirred the most primal desires in a man.

“No one would think their life ruined by marrying the Duke of Prektuster.”

“That’s only if they don’t know the darkness inside Yuan Prektuster.”

“If you truly had the ability to see inside me, then you’d know this is the last thing you should be doing.”

His voice low, Yuan stepped closer—so close she could feel his breath.