A Second Divorce is Difficult - ✿ dusk blossoms ✿

“Lord Rayon has come to see you.”

Shannua said, taking Katrina’s hand as she was the first one off the ship.

“I heard.”

She nodded as if to indicate that she understood that she had received the message and had come down from the ship because of the situation.

“Why?”

Katrina asked Shannua, who was looking at her as if she had something to say.

“Are you going right away?”

“I think so.”

“I’ll walk you to the parlor.”

Although he felt the urge to say that rumors would spread if the two of them were seen together, he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Besides, there was no one in the mansion who would carry tales outside in the first place.

“Are you done talking to Earl Rox? If not, there’s no need.”

“No, it’s over.”

With that, Shannua unfolded the blanket and wrapped it around Katrina. Her hand, which he briefly held, was cold.

He could see why Eli had told him to bring a blanket and a warm washcloth.

Shannua placed the warm washcloth on her hand before he reached out again.

Katrina stared at him, then took his hand.

“I enjoyed the boat ride; the lake is beautiful.”

Katrina gestured toward Ruby and Viscountess Rainier, disembarking after her, and toward Eli and the three women helping Emily with her escort.

“Me too, Your Majesty.”

“You are welcome to enjoy yourself while you are here.”

“Then I must take another ride.”

She gave a small smile at Ruby and Eli’s comments.

“I’ll be off to see our guest.”

She soon left with Shannua. Ruby asked Eli as she watched Katriona leave.

“The Empress has a visitor?”

“Yes, Lord Rayon.”

Eli replied, remembering to wrap the blanket around her. A towel was already in her hand.

“Are you feeling sleepy?”

“Not yet. Did you have a good conversation with His Majesty?”

“I did. Did you?”

“Me too. Fortunately, I think Her Majesty liked the lake.”

“That’s good.”

Eli’s hand covered Ruby’s.

“Are you going to the Viscountess’s place?”

“I intend to.”

“I have to go see the Baron, too. Shall I come with you?”

“Of course, you two can…”

“They’ll be in the parlor anyway.”

Emily led the Viscountess into the parlor, this time pulling another blanket around them and hugging them, leaving Eli and Ruby to their own devices, lost in their own world.

* * *

“Thank you for seeing me, even on such short notice.”

Hyde, who had been in the drawing room of the mansion first, spotted Shannua and Katrina and rose from his seat to bow politely.

“Nice to see you again.”

“I came to apologize for not being able to have a proper conversation with Her Majesty yesterday.”

“Since you mentioned that you haven’t seen each other for a long time, you must have a lot to talk about.”

Shannua said, as if he hadn’t thought about the misunderstandings that would arise if they were alone.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Thank you.”

As they exchanged pleasantries, Shannua had to keep her footing.

As Katrina sat down, a maid entered the parlor with a tray of tea.

“I didn’t expect you to come right away.”

Katrina asked, warming the still-chilly air with the tea.

“How are you?”

Hyde asked cautiously, taking a sip of tea to quench his thirst.

Katrina paused as she set her teacup down, but then she put it down nonchalantly.

“As you can see.”

“…I’m glad. Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

“No.”

“I saw you at the reception yesterday, and you looked exhausted……”

“Lord Rayon.”

Katrina lifted her gaze from the tea to face Hyde. It was a sign to say what he wanted to say, not to go around in circles.

“I honestly thought you weren’t going to meet me.”

Katrina had rather thought he wouldn’t come.

“Because our last meeting wasn’t a good one.”

Katrina’s composure ebbed and flowed as she heard the words.

“I’ve been troubled by the last words I gave you. I regret not sincerely congratulating you at the wedding.”

For Hyde, studying abroad was an escape, half out of regret for Katrina’s failure to recognize his feelings and half out of a belief that he wasn’t wrong.

“It’s only after all this time that I have the courage to say that I was so arrogant.”

His words reminded Katrina of her first and last fight with Hyde.

That was the day Katrina was proposed to by Shannua, then the crown prince.

Katrina was overjoyed.

Everyone told her that the crown prince must have recognized her true feelings, and she agreed with them, because otherwise it wouldn’t explain why he had asked her to marry him.

But only one person, Hyde, her best friend, the one person she thought would celebrate this more than anyone else, had a different reaction.

***

“You haven’t had any interaction with the Crown Prince, have you?”

“He’s been watching me for a long time. He said he thought of me as a crown princess.”

Katrina’s explanation didn’t convince Hyde.

“Why do you look like that?”

After all these years, she recognized Hyde’s emotions.

“It’s strange.”

“What’s strange about it?”

Katrina’s voice was now slightly angry.

Hyde opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it, thought about it, then repeated it.

She waited for the words to come out of his mouth with a frown.

“Why don’t you reconsider marrying His Highness?”

It was only a moment later that he spoke carefully.

“Why…… would you say that? You know how much I’ve wanted this to happen.”

“…….”

“You don’t think I’m good enough to be Empress?”

Katrina asked, composing herself.

“Not at all. There’s no one better suited to be Empress than you.”

“Then?”

“It’s not about you; it’s about Your Highness……”

Hyde paused again, as if this was not an easy thing to say, and then shook his head as if to dismiss the thought to himself.

“It’s just that you like the Crown Prince a lot.”

He thought about it and then nodded, agreeing with himself.

“What do you mean, if I like the crown prince, shouldn’t that be a good thing, so that I can help him from the bottom of my heart?”

“It’s complicated to explain, and I want you to think it over.”

Hyde’s voice was hard as he finished his thought.

But Katrina couldn’t understand him.

“The empress’s seat, after the crown prince’s, is the dream of every noble young lady, and I have not neglected my studies or my manners for it.”

“Katrina, I know, but…”

“You know, but how can you say that?”

Katrina was upset and disappointed to hear the words she hadn’t expected to hear from her most trusted friend.

“I’m marrying the crown prince.”

Slightly reddened eyes turned to Hyde.

“I’ll live well, and you’ll regret ever saying that.”

Before Hyde could say anything else, Katrina left the parlor.

She didn’t see Hyde again until the wedding, when he visited her every day.

It wasn’t until long after the wedding that she realized he had left to study abroad.

* * *

“I’ve come to tell you this because I don’t think you’ll accept my apology unless it’s today.”

“… No. There’s no need. You don’t have to.”

The last word came out almost as a mutter.

‘What you said wasn’t wrong.’

Hyde had known from the beginning that Shannua had no heart for Katrina and that she would expect one from the Crown Prince.

A little thought would have revealed Hyde’s concern, but young Katrina could not fathom his sincerity.

How young and foolish she had been.

“Perhaps I should be grateful.”

Katrina, lost in thought, said quietly.

Hyde really did care about her. Enough to tell her to reconsider her position as Empress, even though he couldn’t possibly know that it was something every noble young lady wanted.

It was Katrina herself who had ignored the advice of the only person who understood and cared about her potentially broken heart.

“Your Majesty.”

Katrina’s eyes snapped up at the sound of Hyde’s voice.

Katrina’s eyes had been the same since she’d entered the parlor, but strangely, they seemed a little more subdued than before. He’d seen her for a long time—all but the last few years.

“… I think we should stop here today.”

If it seemed hard to even get the words out, he wondered if he shouldn’t.

“Can I come back?”

Hyde asks Katrina, who scrambles to her feet.

“I would like to visit you again.”

“…Then please do.”

Katrina replied and left the parlor, not turning her head until the last moment.

Hyde watched her go, worried.

Leaving the parlor, Katrina walked down the hallway, maintaining a nonchalant expression, and opened a door to an empty room.

She leaned against the closed door and closed her eyes.

Would things have been better if she had listened to Hyde’s words?

No, it wouldn’t have been like this if she hadn’t taken Shannua into her heart in the first place.

It was a thought Katrina had been having ever since the scandal with Shannua and Arlen.

Suddenly frustrated, Katrina slammed her fist into her chest with a thud.

She slammed her fist down harder and harder, trying to calm the sudden rush of frustration and other unknown emotions, oblivious to the pain in her sternum as her fist struck it.

TL NOTE: More advanced chapter of this story is already up to the site. Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories