♥ Chapter 5 ♥
Watching them fidget without even being able to move their lips properly was pathetic.
They didn’t have the courage to say those things openly.
Nor did they have the courage to repeat them in front of me.
Yet, despite that, their pride kept them from apologizing.
I already knew that nobles valued their pride more than anything.
From the beginning…
I never expected an apology.
“Lady Richel.”
She slowly raised her eyes to meet mine.
I quietly looked into her frightened eyes before gradually softening my expression.
I raised my fan and covered my lips.
Then I smiled gently.
“Relax.”
“If you keep making that face, it’ll look like I’m taking my anger out on innocent people.”
“Don’t you think so?”
“Lady Brillok—”
“So…”
“We’ll talk later.”
“Understood?”
I leaned closer and whispered softly into her ear.
She had just begun calling my name with a relieved expression.
But her mouth froze halfway open.
“I hope you’ll still be able to speak so boldly later.”
“I like people who stay consistent.”
I straightened my back and stepped away from her.
Richel’s eyes followed me as I moved away.
Covering my lips lightly with my fan, I smiled.
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
With those final words…
I turned around and left.
“My head hurts…”
I sat down on the sofa in my room and thought about everything that had happened today.
I still hadn’t fully accepted my situation.
Yet one thing after another kept happening.
Still…
I could no longer deny it.
Everything happening before my eyes was real.
It wasn’t a dream.
Nor was it an illusion.
“Ha…”
Whenever I closed my eyes…
I could still see Bellietta and Layton together.
Their shameless appearance.
Their voices.
Their moans still echoed in my ears.
I could still clearly remember the freezing touch of the lake.
Yet…
The warm softness of the sofa beneath me almost made it feel as though everything that had happened before had only been a dream.
But it wasn’t.
That had been my reality.
And if I wasn’t careful…
It would become my future once again.
If I simply endured everything like before…
I would reach that same ending again.
I refused to let that happen.
“It’s not enough.”
Just protecting what belonged to me wasn’t enough.
After everything I had suffered…
Simply protecting myself could never satisfy me.
There were always people who said revenge only destroyed the person seeking it.
I used to believe those words.
But they were nonsense.
They were nothing more than excuses from people who had spent their lives enduring pain because they never had the courage to strike back.
If all you ever do is suffer…
The only things left behind are betrayal…
And unbearable loss.
People say someone will recognize your suffering someday?
They never will.
If you don’t save yourself…
No one else will.
So…
I had to do it myself.
I had to take my revenge—
“…! …relationship…!”
What was that?
I stood up and walked toward the window.
The warm summer air drifted through the open window.
Along with it…
Voices.
They were too far away to hear clearly.
But it definitely sounded like two people arguing.
Were lovers fighting?
Well…
Just as many couples met at banquets…
Many also broke up there.
Seeing the person you loved dancing happily with someone else…
Anyone would become jealous.
Still…
“They’re making far too much noise.”
Fortunately, everyone was still gathered inside the banquet hall.
Otherwise…
Someone would surely have come to see what was happening.
The woman sounded especially angry.
I could barely hear the man’s voice.
Only hers.
When the wind stopped…
The voices disappeared.
Had they finally calmed down?
Just then…
The wind blew again.
This time…
It carried the voices much more clearly.
“So stop bothering me!”
The moment I heard that voice…
I froze.
That voice…
There was no way…
I immediately looked toward where it had come from.
Then I started walking.
It was familiar.
No…
It was a voice I had heard so many times that I could never forget it.
Bellietta.
She was supposed to be asleep in bed.
So why was I hearing her voice here?
I quietly left my room and walked toward the sound.
With every step…
The voices became clearer.
And my certainty grew stronger.
It really was Bellietta.
As I rounded the corner…
Two figures came into view.
A blonde woman stood beneath the faint light.
Bellietta.
She frowned deeply, clearly furious.
“I never made that promise!”
Because Bellietta was shouting, I could hear her clearly from where I stood.
The man facing her, however…
Spoke too quietly for me to hear.
Still…
Who was he?
He stood with his back toward me.
He looked incredibly tall.
At a glance…
He was almost a full head taller than Bellietta.
And Bellietta wasn’t short.
The garden was dimly lit.
Yet one thing stood out immediately.
His ash-gray hair.
Did I know anyone with hair like that?
No…
Not that I could remember.
Just then…
The wind rustled the branches overhead.
A cold male voice rode on the breeze.
“So this is why Duke Vozbon has been ignoring our agreement all this time?”
“To think you’d try to break a contract made decades ago…”
“Simply because your daughter threw a tantrum.”
“Think whatever you want.”
“I don’t care.”
“And since it’s come to this…”
“I’ll be honest.”
Bellietta took a breath before speaking sharply.
“The House of Vozbon has no reason to cling to some old promise.”
“And I have no intention of honoring the contract made with Ripton.”
“My father feels the same.”
“From the beginning…”
“House Ripton has never been worthy of House Vozbon.”
“All you have are dangerous mountains crawling with monsters and barren land.”
“Pathetic.”
His voice was so cold that it sent chills through the air.
Bellietta narrowed her eyes.
Yet…
The man didn’t take even a single step back beneath her glare.
“Do you really believe that’s enough reason to break the contract?”
“When this agreement is destroyed…”
“It won’t be only Ripton that suffers.”
“Don’t you realize…”
“That isn’t even worth calling damage?”
“You think you can criticize House Vozbon over some private agreement?”
Bellietta laughed mockingly.
“No one is foolish enough to make an enemy of House Vozbon.”
The man answered without hesitation.
“It’s impressive.”
“Not only could you think something so foolish…”
“You actually said it out loud.”
Bellietta’s expression twisted with anger.
Even from this distance…
The atmosphere between them was frightening.
Still…
How many men in high society could speak to Bellietta like that?
Within noble society…
Bellietta was the queen.
The flower at the center of every gathering.
Men constantly brought her flowers…
Jewels…
Anything they thought might earn her favor.
Yet this man did nothing but throw cold insults at her.
And judging by their conversation…
A broken engagement?
Or perhaps…
A broken contract?
Something I didn’t know had happened in my previous life.
Bellietta angrily argued with him for a little longer.
Then…
She turned around and stormed away.
Left alone…
The man quietly stared at the empty place where Bellietta had been.
He sighed.
Then ran a hand through his hair.
Finally…
He slowly turned his head.
For the first time…
I saw his face.
Golden eyes…
Like amber.
Ash-gray hair.
Golden eyes.
There was only one noble I knew who matched both.
That man…
“No need to hide.”
“I already know you’re there.”
“…”
My heart nearly stopped.
I had been certain he couldn’t possibly know I was here.
Yet…
He was looking directly at me.
His voice…
Was clearly meant for me.
But from this distance…
How had he noticed me?
Was he just guessing?
“Even if you hide…”
“I can still see you.”
“You should come out.”
It wasn’t a guess.
He didn’t stop at speaking.
He started walking toward me.
Startled, I quickly looked around before turning to run.
This looked terrible.
I had secretly listened to a private conversation…
And been caught.
Nothing good would come from getting caught now.
Especially if Bellietta found out that the person hiding here had been me.
Just imagining her expression made my stomach churn.
My mind told me I should apologize.
But my instincts refused.
Before he could reach me…
I turned and ran in the opposite direction.
Why did I come to look in the first place?
I bit my lip, silently blaming my own curiosity.
I glanced back.
Thankfully…
It didn’t look like he was chasing me.
For now…
I leaned against a secluded wall and caught my breath.
Even though it was night…
Summer was still hot.
Sweat rolled down my face.
I removed my outer jacket and wiped it away.
Then let out a long breath.
“I found you.”
The moment I heard the voice behind me…
My body was suddenly pulled backward.
“W-What?!”
Impossible!
There was a wall behind me!
But the strong arm pulling me back didn’t care.
One arm wrapped firmly around my shoulders.
The other circled my waist.
It felt as though he were embracing me from behind so I couldn’t escape.
I could feel the firm warmth of his chest against my back.
I slowly looked up.
Golden eyes…
Like those of a wild beast…
Looked down at me.
“Listening to someone’s private conversation…”
“Then running away.”
“That’s quite an unusual hobby.”
The ruler of Hermonia.
The titleless Ghost Grand Duke.
“Planning to run away again?”
It was…
Aden Ripton.
