Chapter 2.2

One year ago, nobles from across the land had answered the Emperor’s call to take up arms for the peace of the Empire. Among them was Kadis.  

Kadis Wolfgallion.  

This brave man, who volunteered despite not yet having come of age, was Lyla’s lord.  

Unlike her courageous lord, Lyla did not go to war. Instead, she governed the Duchy in his stead throughout the war.  

Every day felt like hell.  

A suffocating life of waiting and nothing else.  

She feared that the events of her childhood would repeat themselves. Back then, while Lyle had fought fiercely against a wild beast, she had been frozen in place, unable to do anything. She feared that one by one, those dear to her would disappear, leaving her all alone.  

‘If Kadis were to lose his life on the battlefield…’  

Lyla clasped her trembling hands tightly together. Even so, the trembling wouldn’t stop. The pain of that day lingered, making her wish someone would hold her tightly.  

Kadis was the sole legitimate heir of the Ducal family that had ruled the North for generations.  

The first time Lyla met Kadis was when she was fifteen.  

Kadis, five years her junior, was fiercely combative and violent. He was a boy full of scars who trusted no one.  

That hadn’t changed even now.  

But Lyla thought she was an exception. Over the ten years they had spent together since their chance meeting, she believed they had become closer than anyone else.  

But it seemed she was mistaken.  

For some reason, Kadis distanced himself from her after returning from the battlefield.  

Why?  

Lyla still didn’t understand the reason.  

‘Lord Kadis, I’m so glad you’ve returned safely.’  

‘Yes.’  

‘Are you feeling unwell anywhere?’  

‘No.’  

‘Shall I prepare bathwater for you?  

‘…No need. I want to sleep, so don’t let anyone in for the time being.’ 

‘Th-Then, is there anything else you need?’  

‘Nothing.’

He had become so cold.

The closer she tried to get to him, the more Kadis built walls and avoided her. He even flinched if she so much as touched him. It felt as though they had grown distant, not just physically but emotionally as well.  

There were a few possible reasons.  

Perhaps it was because she hadn’t gone to war with him.  

A vassal should always remain by their lord’s side, awake or asleep. Especially someone like Lyla, who was practically Kadis’s right-hand man.  

‘You’re going to war? …Are you insane?’  

‘No, I’m perfectly sane. Please listen to me, Lord Kadis. If I don’t accompany you—’ 

‘Enough! This conversation ends here. If you bring it up again in front of me…!’ 

‘A-And if I do?’ 

‘Damn it. I don’t know! Just understand that it’s not happening! You’re staying here in the Ducal residence. Got it, Lyle?’  

But in hindsight, it had been Kadis who vehemently opposed her going to war.  

He had made a fuss, claiming that taking someone as weak as her would only add to the burden and increase the number of corpses.  

In the end, Lyla was deemed unfit for military service and remained in the North.  

‘It can’t be because of that. If so, then…’  

Lyla furrowed her brow, deep in thought.  

Another possibility was her inadequate handling of affairs.  

During the year Kadis had been at war, Lyla had managed the Duchy’s various matters on his behalf. Perhaps she had made a mistake somewhere.  

‘But knowing Lord Kadis’s personality, he would’ve pointed it out immediately if there was an issue…’  

Lyla shook her head.  

That wasn’t it either.  

As she ruled out one possibility after another, the last remaining reason was…  

Her father.  

Perhaps Kadis had learned about the disgraceful past of the late Earl of Cardia, her father.  

Though “disgraceful” wasn’t quite the right word. The rumors that the late Earl of Cardia had deserted during the war were, in fact, false accusations.  

It was an incident from decades ago.  

At the time, her father’s unit had lost two-thirds of its forces and was retreating when they came across a group of refugees made up of women and children.  

The refugees had begged for protection, but the commanding officer had refused, citing a lack of supplies.  

The claim of insufficient supplies was a blatant lie.  

Unable to stand by, her father and a few comrades escorted the refugees to safety in a nearby village and later turned themselves in at the military tribunal.  

The commanding officer was present at the tribunal, and that was where the problem began.  

While her father was protecting the refugees, the unit had been ambushed. The commanding officer had fled, abandoning his men.  

All the soldiers, except for her father and his comrades who had deserted to save civilians, were killed.  

To cover up his cowardice, the commanding officer pinned all the blame on her father and his friend.  

‘Those men stole supplies and deserted, selling our unit’s information to the enemy. That’s why our unit was annihilated!’  

When news of her father’s wrongful imprisonment reached the refugees, the women who had been saved by him came forward to clear his name.  

Thankfully, the truth was revealed. Unfortunately, the brand of a deserter on her father’s wrist could never be erased.  

After everything was resolved, her father returned to the North.  

But what awaited him was an even greater hell.  

‘Isn’t that a deserter?’

‘Why wasn’t his title revoked?’ 

‘What a coward!’  

The more her father tried to clear the misunderstanding, the more the rumors spread.  

People refused to see or hear the truth. They only believed what they wanted to believe.  

They firmly believed her father was a deserter.  

In the end, her father confined himself to the mansion. Her mother, who had always been frail, succumbed to the stress and passed away that winter.  

It had taken generations to build the family’s reputation, but its downfall was as swift as a fall off a cliff.  

Such was life.  

Happiness, too, was the same.  

A small crack was all it took for everything to shatter. Once the cracks appeared, the pieces fell apart too quickly to stop.  

Why was it that the path to misfortune was always so swift?  

‘I heard Lyle isn’t going to the war. Like father, like son.’  

‘With a cowardly deserter for a father, what could you expect from the son?’

‘Why does the Duke even keep someone like that as his aide?’

Because of her, Kadis’s reputation had suffered.  

Of course, Kadis wasn’t the type to care about public opinion.  

But her father was a different story. Kadis had every reason to resent him.  

He had always been someone who clearly expressed his likes and dislikes, and he particularly despised cowardice.  

‘Act like a man, Lyle.’

Over the ten years she had spent with Kadis, she had heard those words countless times.  

In truth, no matter how hard she tried, she could never meet Kadis’s expectations. No matter how much she acted like a man, she was still a woman at her core.  

‘Is Kadis avoiding me because of my father?’  

Knock, knock.  

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.  

Lyla hurriedly put on the clothes she had hung up and fastened the buttons. Her face, now upright, no longer showed any trace of sorrow. Instead, a slightly stiff expression naturally softened.

“…….”

If Lyle were alive, this might have been the face he wore. Though his body would have been much larger.

Pushing aside her melancholy, Lyla stepped out from behind the partition.

“Young Earl Cardia.”

The head maid bowed her head.

“The carriage carrying the guests has arrived.”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll go greet them right away.”

Lyla gestured toward the door with one arm, her smile soft and composed.