Chapter 6
“Instead, why don’t you join us for some tea? Hmm? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the latest trends.”
“Baroness.”
Evangeline knew exactly what the baroness was really after.
The woman was the complete opposite of Evangeline’s practical and rational personality. Even so, there was one reason she couldn’t simply brush the baroness aside.
“If you think about it, we’re practically family now. Surely you can spare us a little time?”
“…”
The House of Revan was a distant branch of House These.
The blood relation was so distant that they were practically strangers, but because the ducal family had so few blood relatives, they still treated them as family. It had been that way long before Evangeline entered the ducal household, so she couldn’t be the one to break that tradition.
“I’m sorry, Baroness, but I have urgent business today. I’ll have to leave first.”
She could only afford to look after others when she herself was safe.
Until now, she had never ignored anyone connected to House These. Surely they could overlook it just this once.
“Please enjoy your shopping.”
“B-But, Duchess-to-be! If you leave like this…”
The baroness clearly hadn’t expected Evangeline to refuse. Embarrassment spread across her face as she noticed the strange looks from the ladies accompanying her.
“The truth is… there’s something I’d like to discuss with you privately…”
“Another time.”
She was exhausted.
Whatever the baroness wanted to say, it was probably just another excuse to look at the newest jewelry before taking it home as though it had been given to her as a gift.
We spoiled them from the very beginning.
After her engagement to the duke two years ago, her father had generously welcomed everyone connected to House These.
Not just Baroness Revan—even the duke’s relatives who visited this store were never charged a single coin.
When Evangeline complained about it, Count O’Hara had only smiled.
“The ones closest to you become the sharpest knives when they turn against you. Sometimes it’s better to let yourself be deceived, even when you know it.”
“But…”
“The easiest relationships are the ones money can solve, my princess.”
Her father had been right.
Now that the money was gone, she found herself strangely longing for those relationships that could be settled with wealth.
Feeling suffocated, she headed outside to get some fresh air.
The sky was unbelievably blue.
Her family had supposedly lost everything, yet the world looked exactly the same as before. It all felt like a dream.
“Lady O’Hara, please, just a few moments with me…”
“Baroness, please!”
Just leave me alone.
The baroness had followed her all the way outside, and Evangeline had finally reached her limit.
She had always been taught never to show her emotions, but she no longer knew how much more she was expected to endure.
Even Philip had come running after her, anxiously circling nearby, making her feel even more overwhelmed.
“Young Miss, you have to return immediately. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Why is everyone…”
For the first time, Evangeline was about to let her emotions burst out.
But she never got the chance.
Before she could even finish speaking, her head was violently jerked backward.
“Ah…!”
“AAAAAH!”
As Evangeline’s head snapped back, the baroness and several other women shrieked.
But Evangeline herself couldn’t even scream.
…What’s happening now?
She hadn’t even processed everything that had already happened to her, and now something else had been added.
The person who dragged her out of that dreamlike world that had seemed perfectly normal had a grip as fierce as iron.
“You luxurious little devil! Give him back! Give my son back!”
◇ ◆ ◇
Until that day, Evangeline had never experienced violence.
Not even anything close to it.
Even the light punishments that many children received growing up had never touched her.
Count O’Hara adored his only daughter so completely that he would never allow anyone—not even himself—to hurt her body or her heart.
She had never even been flicked on the forehead as a child.
The shock of what happened that afternoon still hadn’t faded hours later.
“Young Miss! We need to treat the wound on your face first!”
“…”
“Please, look at me. We have to reduce the swelling with ice first…”
Philip’s frantic voice sounded distant from across the carriage.
Staring blankly ahead, Evangeline gently touched her cheek.
Her fingertips came away stained with a little blood.
The woman’s fingernails must have scratched her face while pulling her hair.
Yet she felt no pain.
Perhaps she was simply too numb to feel anything.
Holding the ice pack Philip had handed her, she slowly replayed what had happened.
“While you lived in luxury, my son became food for the fish in the middle of the sea! If someone had to die, your father should have died alone! Why did my innocent son have to die? My only son!”
She must have been the mother of one of the sailors aboard the ship.
Those fragmented memories cut into her heart more sharply than fingernails ever could.
The woman had apparently been waiting there for days.
Foam gathered at the corners of her mouth as she screamed, grabbing Evangeline by the collar and shaking her violently.
“Ha…”
Her breathing became shallow.
She had never imagined something like this would happen to her.
But what shocked her even more was the appearance of the knights from House These, who arrived almost immediately and pulled the woman away from her.
“…Did His Grace send all of them?”
“Y-Young Miss…”
“So it really was him.”
Nothing surprised her anymore.
She removed the ice pack with a bitter smile.
The office continuing to operate as though nothing had happened…
The jewelry shop still open for business…
It had all been arranged by him.
As far as she knew, only Decarno von These could create such a flawless illusion.
So she wasn’t surprised when she found Michael, the duke’s secretary, waiting for her outside the western residence.
Michael told her the duke wished to see her.
She quietly followed him.
She wondered how the man who hadn’t contacted her for days had happened to return today of all days.
But the moment she saw Decarno standing in his study, she understood.
He already knows everything.
“I believe I told you not to leave.”
“…”
He turned away from the window.
His gaze looked indifferent… almost annoyed.
It seemed he was more upset that she had disobeyed his orders than by what had happened to her outside.
She slowly let out a breath.
“So you expected me to stay locked up here forever? You never came home, and you didn’t send me a single message.”
“And yet you went out anyway.”
He looked directly at her.
“And did you find what you were looking for?”
“…”
His question struck her like a blow.
Only then did her cheek begin to burn.
She turned slightly, trying to hide the scratches on her face.
“Your Grace is always busy, so perhaps matters like this don’t concern you. But they concern me. My father is my only family.”
“Your only family?”
“So who else do I have?”
His tone had suddenly sharpened.
For a moment Evangeline looked up in surprise.
But when she met Decarno’s calm, jewel-like gray eyes, she convinced herself she had imagined it.
What am I even thinking…?
She pressed a bitter smile to her lips and rubbed her forehead.
“My mother divorced my father before I was old enough to remember her face. I don’t have any brothers or sisters. If I’m not alone, then what am I?”
“…”
If the former Duchess of These were still alive, perhaps things would have been different.
She couldn’t honestly call the woman warm or affectionate.
Even so, Evangeline had liked her very much.
Proud and noble like any true aristocrat, the former duchess resembled her son in many ways.
But unlike him, she had at least opened her heart a little to those she considered her own.
Now even she was gone.
There was no one left by Evangeline’s side.
At least, not in this house.
“…Anyway, I can’t just sit here doing nothing.”
“You think I’ve been doing nothing? If you hadn’t gone there on your own, everything would have been much easier.”
“For how long? Until my father’s body is found?”
“No.”
He answered without hesitation.
“Until our wedding.”
“…Ha.”
A wedding.
At a time like this, he was talking about their wedding.
