🔊 TTS Settings
chapter#3
Elizabeth stared at the empty seat and let out a deep sigh. Kieren was always like this.
He would stir up her heart roughly like a villain, only to draw a clean line and leave like a perfect gentleman in the end.
To Elizabeth, that was worse than simply being a bad man. Maybe Kieren Agapel wasn’t actually a good man at all.
But even knowing that, she couldn’t cut off her feelings. The thought that she herself wanted to fall deeper and deeper into that sweet abyss made her realize she wasn’t a particularly good woman either.
The next day, a tea party was held in the glass garden of Agapel Castle.
The gathering included Kieren, the master of the Ingrid Club; Abigail, its secretary; her older brother Austin, the treasurer; and members James Parker and Elizabeth.
The Parker family had long been manufacturers of military supplies. After the war, they had become enormously wealthy, gaining considerable influence within noble society as a count’s household.
But its heir, James, was a reckless scoundrel.
His frivolous behavior and fondness for women made Elizabeth uncomfortable with his presence. She worried that Kieren might be influenced by him.
To her, Kieren was like a blank sheet of paper. When paper was first invented, Elizabeth had thought there could be no greater creation.
The soft scratch of a pen against white paper made her heart race. That was why blank pages always reminded her of Kieren—he had a way of making her heart flutter.
But paper was just as easily stained. Once ink was spilled, it could never be made pure white again.
The Ingrid Club wasn’t much different from other social gatherings. They drank tea together while exchanging opinions and information on politics, literature, society, and art.
Sometimes they went hunting or horseback riding. In truth, it was simply a gathering meant to display connections among surrounding nobles.
Elizabeth, a baron’s daughter of little note, had joined the group solely by the Duchess’s will.
After hearing Stella express envy for the club, the Duchess had readily allowed Elizabeth to join, and it had continued ever since.
Looking at the members, Elizabeth quickly realized what an extraordinary privilege that was.
Back when she first joined, the Duchess had still been alive. Perhaps because the anniversary of her death was approaching, Elizabeth found herself thinking of her more often these days.
Though physically frail, the Duchess had never been weak in spirit. Her pale face had always been filled with hope, peace, and gratitude.
Her fresh blonde hair had shone as brightly as the sun. Elizabeth even wondered if Kieren’s softness toward Abigail was because of her golden hair.
Just then, Abigail Prairie, who had been watching her lost in thought, spoke.
“Lady Rua, what are you thinking about so deeply?”
“Ah, nothing.”
“It’s your turn, yet you’re sitting still—I thought perhaps something was troubling you.”
Abigail gestured lightly toward the cards on the table with a faint smile. Elizabeth had skipped her turn in the card game.
“Nothing like that.”
Elizabeth casually placed a card down, pretending nothing was wrong. Abigail replied in her elegant voice,
“Then I must have been mistaken.”
She placed her card as if nothing had happened. Elizabeth glanced at her.
Abigail exuded grace anytime, anywhere. Every gesture carried a refinement Elizabeth felt she could never match.
Born a noble, Abigail always made Elizabeth feel small—an aura of power that made her keenly aware of her own insignificance.
As Elizabeth lowered her head and focused silently, Abigail spoke as if mentioning something trivial.
“Oh, by the way, we’re getting engaged.”
At her bombshell announcement, Elizabeth snapped her head up. Their eyes met, and Abigail smiled sweetly.
“I’m sure you already knew, Lady Rua.”
“……”
“Engaged? To who?”
James, who had looked bored until now, perked up and asked. Abigail replied calmly,
“Wouldn’t it be obvious?”
Then she turned her gaze to Kieren with a faint smile. Realizing the meaning behind it, James’s eyes widened further.
“Is that true, Kieren?”
“Well…”
Kieren avoided a clear answer with a vague smile. His gaze slowly shifted from Abigail to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth clasped her hands tightly, her face tense. She wished he would let it pass—but his lips parted anyway.
“It seems likely.”
Joy spread across Abigail’s face, while a shadow fell over Elizabeth’s. James snickered, half teasing, half cheering.
“Wow, lucky you. Austin, did you know?”
Austin nodded indifferently, and James stretched as he muttered,
“Still, it’s surprising. I didn’t expect Kieren and Abigail to end up together.”
He glanced at Elizabeth. She struggled to control her expression, forcing the corners of her lips upward so they wouldn’t twitch.
At that moment, Abigail lightly corrected him.
“I don’t think it’s surprising at all. It’s only natural.”
“I suppose so. You’ve always been preparing to become the Duchess, Miss Prairie.”
Though his tone carried a hint of sarcasm, Abigail merely glanced at him calmly, without the slightest sign of agitation. Perhaps losing interest, James simply sipped his drink.
The card game resumed, and the topic of engagement faded naturally—but Elizabeth couldn’t focus at all.
Kieren, who never spoke unless something was certain, had given a vague but affirmative answer.
He really did intend to get engaged to Abigail.
When one round ended, Austin ordered a servant to bring the prepared wine.
“Last year’s grapes were especially sweet—the wine turned out quite good.”
As the wine was served, Abigail tilted her glass toward Kieren.
“Sir Kieren, do you like wine?”
“Of course. I especially enjoy wine from the Prairie estate.”
He spoke in an exceptionally gentlemanly tone, lightly clinking his glass with hers.
In the way he treated Abigail, Elizabeth caught a glimpse of how he had once been with her—a side he no longer showed her.
After his mother, the Duchess, passed away, he had changed—and Elizabeth didn’t fully understand why.
One thing was certain: he no longer treated her with the same ease.
There was now a sharpness in his gaze, his actions, and his tone—something she had never felt before.
Perhaps his mother’s death had hardened the way he saw the world.
Elizabeth had convinced herself that he simply needed someone to take his frustrations out on, and so she chose to stay by his side.
But was that really the right choice?
Just imagining Kieren marrying Abigail filled her with unbearable pain.
Pretending to be fine while standing beside him, watching them together—she felt as though she were sinking into an inescapable swamp.
At that thought, her ears rang as if submerged underwater, and her breath caught in her throat. Through that dull sensation, Abigail’s laughter rang clearly.
“I thought you might, so I brought a whole box. Please enjoy it later with the Duke.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course, it’s not free. In return, you’ll have to go to the theater with me next weekend. There’s an opera I’ve been wanting to see.”
“I’ll prepare the tickets.”
Watching them naturally make plans for a date, Elizabeth found it impossible to calm the storm in her heart.
Unable to endure it any longer, she suddenly stood up. Austin, who had just been about to open the wine for a toast, tilted his head.
“We were just about to make a toast—where are you going, Lady Rua?”
“Ah, I’m feeling sleepy. I’ll take a short walk. Please, go on without me.”
Finishing quickly, she fled the glass garden and ran toward the central garden where the artificial fountain stood.
Behind her, she could almost hear Abigail’s laughter and the clear clinking of wine glasses.
The fountain she reached poured out cool water endlessly. The stream flowing from the cherub’s jug sparkled like opal in the sunlight.
Elizabeth reached into the water, trying to cool the heat in her chest—but the turmoil already bursting inside her couldn’t be washed away.
When the Duke returned to the castle that weekend, they would likely discuss the engagement in detail.
And once they were engaged, Abigail would stay here as the future Duchess of Agapel Castle.
Perhaps Elizabeth would have to leave before then. It would be improper for an unmarried noble lady of similar age to remain.
Kieren must have had that in mind when he said those words to her.
“…Then what should I call you?”
“Well… perhaps ‘young master’ would be best?”
It had sounded like a joke, but his eyes had been serious—and that made it hurt even more.
After letting her call him by a nickname, after taking all of her heart—now, suddenly, pushing her away like this.
Elizabeth kept her hand in the fountain until it turned ice-cold. She stood there blankly for a long time until her legs began to ache.
Thinking she shouldn’t stay away too long, she reluctantly returned to the glass garden.
Abigail, having drunk more than usual, was asleep, leaning her head on Kieren’s shoulder.
Austin and James were also quite drunk, laughing and repeating the same बातें over and over.
Only Kieren seemed perfectly composed among them.
Taking a sip of wine, he said,
“You’re late.”
