Chapter 24

The intruder handed Raphael the ring case they had placed down.

They were merely a member of an information guild, entrusted with the task of delivering this item. Raphael found this amusing as he opened the ring case. The familiar emerald ring filled his vision.

The ring—a decisive piece of evidence that could prove he had killed Duke Blythe. It was the ring Estelle said had been taken by the maid, Emily, who had betrayed her.

But now it had returned… Dumbfounded, Raphael let out a hollow laugh in front of the guild member. When he laughed wildly, the guild member trembled.

As his laughter faded, Raphael asked the guild member about the client. It was clear he would use the dagger if he didn’t get an answer…

The guild member insisted that information about the client was confidential, but facing imminent death, revealed a few physical details: brown hair, green eyes, freckles, and small hands… The moment Raphael heard the description, he immediately realized it was the maid who had secretly contacted Estelle behind his back.

She had betrayed her Lady, and now she had stabbed Raphael in the back as well, despite the large sum he had paid her to uncover information about Estelle’s escape.

Raphael realized, too late, that Estelle had obtained the candies through Emily. It was a fact he wished he hadn’t learned before she left. Emily was the second person, after her father, to survive thanks to Estelle’s mercy—how could he not know?

Exhausted from putting on a false performance all day, he didn’t want to see blood, so he drove the guild member away.

The guild member bowed deeply, afraid Raphael might change his mind, and left the bedroom. Left alone again, Raphael fixed his gaze on the emerald ring.

Even though the client was revealed to be the maid, Raphael was certain. Estelle had arranged for the ring to come back to him. Some might wonder why she bothered with such a troublesome task…

‘She anticipated that bandits might appear and took precautions first.’

Estelle couldn’t have known exactly who was chasing her. If she were caught and the emerald ring discovered, it would be the moment the trail was exposed. Then, the fact that Raphael killed Duke Blythe could be revealed…

If the pursuer had known the escape plan was his, things might have been different, but until the end, Estelle did her best for Raphael’s safety.

Even after pushing him away, she didn’t want him to be ruined…

Raphael crumbled again before that earnest heart of hers. The dagger in his hand slipped and fell to the floor.

Even the emerald—this gem that could have let him seize control of his own leash—along with the proposal ring he had held out to Estelle, all of it reeked of her patronizing attitude.

“Estelle.”

With his head bowed, his eyes reddened. He hadn’t cried even at the funeral hall, yet the moment he saw the ring, tears burst out. Even in childhood, when he first entered the Dukedom, he had cried for a few days and then not shed a single tear afterward. Was it because, now that Estelle was gone, even breathing felt disgusting?

There was nothing he could do. Raphael sank to both knees on the floor and wept without stopping.

***

After crossing the western border, Estelle stepped over the border once more and arrived in a small principality. There, she decided to rent a room at an inn and rest for a few days.

Driven by the thought that she had to get far away from the Empire as quickly as possible, she had forced herself through an unreasonable schedule. After paying the innkeeper, she headed up to the second-floor guest room.

Because she hadn’t treated the nerve toxin in time, Estelle’s condition was worse than it had been when she was with Raphael. Even so, she didn’t look despairing. There was no gloomy shadow on her face.

With a cane clenched in one hand, she climbed the stairs step by step. Entering the room assigned to her, she set down her small travel bag.

It was a shabby room—one she never would have stayed in or experienced when she had lived as a ducal lady. The space was cramped, and the only furniture was a bed and a wardrobe.

She dropped onto the bed with a soft thud and turned her gaze toward the only window. True to a small country, even though she was staying in the capital, the view outside was remarkably quiet. There were no people walking around.

In the Empire, it would have been unimaginable, but she liked this still, subdued atmosphere far more. She had to cross another border within a few days, but it almost felt like she could stay two more days without any trouble….

After resting on the bed for a while, she went down to the first floor to eat lunch. Since the inn also ran a dining room, she sat down and ordered soup and bread.

Having spent no short time living as a ducal lady, she still wasn’t used to the rough texture of the bread and the thin soup, but it was edible enough. When the innkeeper set the food on the table and turned away, she picked up her spoon.

As she ate the soup with steady movements, a group—apparently other lodgers—were talking beside her. Estelle had no intention of listening in, but because it was a rumor about Duke Pellia’s Dukedom, she found herself paying attention.

They said the ducal lady had held a funeral, yet because no body had been found, she hadn’t actually died—rather, she must have fled because her relationship with her older brother hadn’t been acknowledged. They even spoke, without hesitation, of an outrageous rumor: that Raphael had imprisoned Estelle when she refused him, staged the funeral, and then used her as a s*xual plaything.

With a bitter smile, Estelle set down the spoon she had been gripping. Even on the way to the principality, she had heard dozens of pieces of gossip and rumors about herself. She had thought she’d become immune to it…. But even without any intention to eavesdrop, she ended up hearing everything, and the “s*xual plaything” rumor hit hard.

In the end, leaving more than half the soup and bread untouched, Estelle rose from her seat and went back up to the second floor. As soon as she entered her room, she stood by the window even though one leg was going numb.

All at once, she remembered what Raphael’s face had looked like just before she left him. Raphael—usually so adept at controlling his expression as a noble—had been more shattered than anything she had ever seen in her life. The face of his, where despair and pain, sorrow and resentment had crossed, Estelle would never forget as long as she lived.

Even after seeing that face, Estelle quietly went about her own tasks.

When she left the mansion for the last time, she firmly requested the doctor’s safety. She also asked that Raphael not harm Emily, even if her leg was not fully healed, because Emily had brought the candies at Estelle’s request.

The doctor, who always trembled in front of Raphael, seemed unlikely to speak even if he learned the truth, and the maid who had betrayed them said, just before fleeing, that she would never set foot in the Empire again.

Estelle, thinking that this would prevent any further innocent sacrifices, could not take her eyes off the view beyond the window. At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

Estelle flinched at the sudden knock, but quickly calmed herself. Before crossing the border of the principality, she had used the information guild to place a simple request. Remembering this, she opened the door, half expecting it.

A stranger, head bowed, handed her a letter—it was surely a member of the information guild. As Estelle took the letter, the man quickly disappeared. Closing the door, she immediately checked the contents: a brief line stating that the ring case had been safely delivered to Raphael. She had asked the information guild not to reveal what kind of ring it was, only to confirm the delivery of the ring case.

Fortunately, the maid who had betrayed her did not steal the emerald ring or try anything foolish.

Most likely, when the escape plan went awry, Estelle had abruptly threatened Emily, who was riding in the carriage with her. It was behavior she normally would never have shown, but in desperation, she revealed a sharper side. It was a duality she herself hadn’t realized existed.

― Was this what you meant by ‘sorry’?

― ‥‥‥.

Emily gave no answer. Estelle found affirmation in that silence, so she didn’t press further. She only declared that if Emily didn’t fulfill her request, she would make sure to repay her for it.

If Estelle had only the status of a Lady with no real power, her threats would have meant nothing, but when she invoked Raphael’s name, the maid’s attitude changed. Estelle, recalling the maid’s reluctant compliance, tucked the letter into her small suitcase.

News of Estelle’s supposed death and funeral must have reached the maid’s ears, so the emerald ring was finally dealt with.

Hadn’t rumors even spread in the inn’s restaurant, just now…?

She let out a soft sigh and lay down on the bed, dragging her leg. She placed her cane against the headboard and gazed up at the ceiling, once again picturing Raphael in her mind.

With this, everything was over. If Raphael did not pursue her, she would be freed from the burdensome emotional ties and the uncomfortable life as a Lady.

Ironically, it was through meeting Raphael in the Dukedom that Estelle learned what it meant to truly love someone. Life as a Lady had been difficult, but thanks to the memories she made with Raphael, she did not regret entering the Dukedom.

Even if she could go back and choose again, she would probably live the same life. There was only one thing she wished—she wanted to comfort the broken Raphael from his childhood. If she had, would he have become a different person now?

Even knowing it was foolish, Estelle could not shake off her lingering thoughts. She wiped the tears from her reddened eyes with the back of her hand.

Whatever happened, there was no turning back. She had already made her choice.

She decided to embrace a lifetime of longing in exchange for a peaceful life.

She buried her face in the pillow.