Chapter 7
Perhaps because it all felt so unreal, Evangeline let out a hollow laugh.
She was the only one laughing.
Meeting his utterly serious gaze, she turned around.
If she stayed here any longer, she felt like she would lose her mind. She hurried toward the door, but before her hand could reach the doorknob, his arm shot out and blocked it.
Clang.
The metallic sound of the door closing echoed coldly through the room.
“Your face… what happened to it?”
“…Ha.”
“Tell me.”
His voice brushed against her ear, low and chilling.
Since things hadn’t gone his way, it seemed he had decided to find fault with something else. She wasn’t even surprised.
With a silent sigh, Evangeline turned back to face him.
It would have been better if he hadn’t noticed, but even if he had, nothing would change.
“It’s nothing serious. Nothing matters except finding my father.”
“So you’re going to refuse to tell me until the end?”
“…”
“Very well.”
Unexpectedly, Decarno stepped aside and opened the door.
Evangeline immediately slipped out.
But before she could get far, his voice stopped her in her tracks.
This time, however, he wasn’t speaking to her.
“Michael. Effective immediately, seal off the western entrance.”
“Y-Your Grace, but that’s traditionally the duchess’s private residence…”
“No one enters or leaves without my permission.”
“…”
There was no need to ask who he was really talking about.
Watching Michael stand frozen between them, Evangeline stared directly at the duke.
How can he be like this?
Her heart was overflowing with things she wanted to say.
Yet every time she faced him, those words somehow lost all meaning.
That was simply the kind of man he was.
Born commanding.
A man who had spent his entire life controlling everything according to his own will.
Would a few complaints from her make him blink?
More importantly…
She wasn’t the duchess yet.
In other words, nothing in this mansion belonged to her.
“Have you changed your mind?”
“No.”
Seeing the faint trace of amusement in his unfamiliar gaze, Evangeline slowly shook her head.
If the master of the house wished to do as he pleased, there was nothing she could do.
There was only one way to truly oppose him.
To walk out of this house forever.
“Evangeline.”
“…I’m leaving.”
Having no other choice, she turned away decisively.
For a brief moment, Decarno’s jaw tightened.
Then he quietly withdrew his gaze from her retreating figure and walked back into the study.
Only Michael remained awkwardly standing there.
He had expected the duke to chase after her.
Instead, he cautiously entered the room.
“Y-Your Grace… my apologies. None of us anticipated what happened today…”
“…”
“But it couldn’t be hidden forever. The incident was simply too large. It was impossible to keep it secret for the three months you requested.”
Michael almost never questioned the duke’s orders.
But this time, there had been no choice.
Ever since the accident, each day had felt like walking on the edge of a knife.
If it had only been a day or two, perhaps.
But the duke had wanted complete control over the situation for more than three months.
“I’ve already warned the manager of the O’Hara Trading Company to keep quiet, but I don’t know how much longer that can last…”
“Who was it?”
“…Pardon?”
“The person who left scratches on that woman’s face.”
Ignoring most of Michael’s explanation, Decarno suddenly looked up.
Michael once heard a legend about a volcano that boiled without releasing a single plume of smoke.
The duke’s eyes looked exactly like that now.
Calm on the surface.
Yet beneath them, unimaginable heat quietly raged.
Even though he wasn’t the one being questioned, Michael’s fingertips began to tremble.
“I-I heard she was the family member of one of the sailors. We’ve detained her for now, but… from her point of view, it couldn’t be helped. If anyone lost their child…”
“Does that justify leaving marks on my woman’s face?”
“Your Grace…”
Michael froze.
This wasn’t simple irritation anymore.
There was something almost cruel in his question.
It wasn’t merely about whether the attacker was a commoner or a noble.
The words “my woman” carried far greater weight.
“But if you punish her, public opinion will turn against you. Wouldn’t it be wiser to let this one pass?”
“Then find the person who leaked the information.”
“…Pardon?”
“It took over a month for news of the shipwreck to reach us.”
His fingers tapped heavily against the desk.
“Evangeline, the heir to the trading company, only learned about it a week ago.”
“And yet the family of an ordinary sailor already knew?”
Impossible.
A twisted smile spread across the duke’s face.
It was colder than before.
“Only two possibilities exist.”
“Either a survivor spread the news…”
“…or someone under my command has a very loose tongue.”
“I-It wasn’t me, Your Grace! Please believe me!”
“Then find them.”
Decarno’s conclusion was simple.
Michael broke into a cold sweat.
Knowing the duke’s merciless nature, he dreaded what would happen once that person was found.
Even if there had been survivors of the disaster, their lives afterward would hardly be guaranteed.
“What? Can’t you find them?”
“No… I will.”
Michael swallowed hard.
“But when the incident happened yesterday, Baroness Revan wasn’t alone.”
At the moment, he wasn’t worried about someone else’s life.
He was worried about his own.
“In fact… one of the ladies accompanying her happened to be the eldest daughter of the owner of the Roark Post.”
◇ ◆ ◇
Exclusive Report—Shock! O’Hara Trading Company Bankrupt
Lady O’Hara Surrounded by Victims Outside the Trading Company
Count O’Hara Presumed Dead
“…They’re quick.”
Evangeline wasn’t particularly surprised.
After spending the entire night awake, she calmly skimmed the morning newspaper.
Every headline matched exactly what she had expected.
The moment she realized that the daughter of the owner of Roark Post, the most influential newspaper in Roark, had been among Baroness Revan’s companions yesterday…
…she had already known this was coming.
So even that great duke has finally lost control of this matter.
“Lady Evangeline, where are you going?”
“I just want some fresh air.”
As she set the newspaper down and headed toward the door, one of the maids hurried over.
The girl’s face had already gone pale just from seeing Evangeline descend the stairs.
It wasn’t hard to guess what she’d been told.
“You can stay here. I won’t go far.”
“But the butler said you absolutely must not leave the ducal estate…”
“Don’t worry.”
She smiled faintly.
“I don’t have anywhere else to go anymore.”
“…”
Only then did the maid reluctantly step back.
The expression on her face left Evangeline feeling strangely bitter.
Even in the maid’s eyes…
There was no doubt she had nowhere left to go.
Well…
That was the truth.
Stepping outside, Evangeline unconsciously pressed a hand against her chest.
Ever since the moment that man had looked at her with such piercing eyes yesterday, she had finally understood.
“No one enters or leaves without my permission.”
He knows…
He knows I have nowhere to go.
She had thought she had only lost her family.
Instead, she had lost every place she could call her own.
The empty Count’s mansion…
The countless villas scattered across the country…
They were all as meaningless as sandcastles.
In situations like this, real estate was always the first thing to be seized.
The duke hadn’t even needed to imprison her.
She was already a bird trapped in a cage.
Or rather…
A bird trapped inside a cage whose door stood wide open.
“…”
It wasn’t simply being unable to leave that made her feel suffocated.
She had traveled constantly since childhood, but she had never been especially adventurous or outgoing.
She actually preferred quiet, elegant days.
That was why adapting to life in House These had been so easy.
So the pain twisting inside her chest came from something else.
The thought that, from now on, she would have no choice but to silently accept everything Decarno said…
…made her nose sting.
Her footsteps gradually quickened without direction.
Without realizing it, she wandered toward the western entrance out of habit.
Then she stopped.
Or rather—
She had no choice but to stop.
“There she is! She’s come out!”
“So she’s been living comfortably all this time!”
“…”
It seemed she had greatly underestimated the power of the newspapers.
The massive gate was already packed with people.
The moment they spotted her, angry voices erupted.
Families of the missing sailors.
Reporters.
Even several nobles.
“What are you going to do about this?! Take responsibility!”
“You lived off your father’s fortune! Then you should take responsibility in his place! Do you know how much money I invested?!”
