Chapter 6

Estelle didn’t want to deal with him, but now that a real conversation had started, she couldn’t avoid it.

Having slept in such a mess, her eyes were swollen. In a sunken voice, Estelle muttered,

“If I get officially engaged, we’ll be nothing.”

“‥‥‥.”

“Duke Blythe is the one who will break off this absurd relationship.”

“You mean a widower with two sons because his former wife died?”

“Don’t insult him.”

Raphael seemed stunned by her final words; even his faint smile disappeared from his face. He gazed at her with eyes as precarious as the flickering candlelight and spoke.

“Estelle, you’re always like this. Even when I say I love you, even when I say I’d do anything for you, you’re quick to push me away.”

“‥‥‥.”

“Nothing has changed even now. You’re just afraid your honor will fall, or that the Duke will see you as a useless daughter. If you would just make up your mind, everything could be arranged.”

He waited for Estelle’s answer in a room full of darkness, with only the faint moonlight shining through the window.

But even though he confessed his feelings sincerely, he received no response from her.

Estelle, avoiding his gaze, spoke only one sentence.

“Please leave.”

At that moment, Raphael bit his lower lip. She didn’t even offer an excuse for hiding the news of her engagement.

Seeing her attitude tonight, Raphael reaffirmed the resolve he had been holding back for her sake. He forced himself to arrange his expression.

“I’ll leave. But there will be no engagement with Duke Blythe. I’ll make sure of it.”

He smiled incongruously with the situation and set the candle back on the bedside table.

As the only light in the room blurred her vision….

Though he withdrew more easily than expected, Estelle could not ignore what he had said.

He turned, opened the door, and disappeared.

Estelle, who had been holding her breath, let out a shallow sigh.

Clutching the front of her chemise, she squeezed her eyes shut against the swirling thoughts.

Raphael only knew one thing, not two. What truly frightened her was not being labeled a notorious temptress, nor being cast aside by Duke Pellia for failing to prove her usefulness.

It was only Raphael….

‘He really seems capable of doing anything for me.’

That was what terrified her to the core.

***

Duke Blythe liked Estelle. So it was decided that the engagement ceremony would be held quickly and on a small scale, while the wedding would be grand. Estelle, the bride-to-be, never spoke a word during the conversation between Duke Blythe and her father.

Even when all the business was finished and she returned to the main residence, Raphael was nowhere to be seen.

On the day she faced Duke Blythe, Estelle wondered if Raphael might be waiting for her upon her return. She was anxious inside.

Feeling relieved, she entered her bedroom and was attended by the servants.

Since Duke Blythe’s side would set the engagement date, there wasn’t much time left. Surely the news of her engagement would spread widely….

If so, even Young Duke Raphael wouldn’t be able to intervene.

Now, she thought, she could finally escape him.

She comforted herself and spent the day. But the next day, and the day after that, Raphael did not appear.

By the fourth day, Estelle couldn’t help but worry. She considered asking a servant, or, though she felt uneasy, maybe even asking her father….

Just then—

“My Lady, the Master is asking for you!”

Estelle tensed at the servant’s words. Her father never called her privately unless it was something important.

She went straight to the Duke’s office and there, she received shocking news.

“Duke Blythe has died from a fall?”

She couldn’t believe it. Someone she had seen face-to-face just days ago had suddenly died from a fall. And it happened right before the engagement ceremony.

It all seemed suspicious, but Estelle dared not speak a word. She simply said she understood and quickly left the office.

On her way to her bedroom, Estelle could not calm her wildly beating heart. Raphael’s voice echoed in her mind like an illusion.

― If you would just make up your mind, everything could be arranged.

‘I’m not ready. Please, don’t do it, Raphael.’

She cried out inwardly, praying that he wouldn’t commit an irreversible mistake.

***

Two days after the news of Duke Blythe’s death spread, Estelle finally saw Raphael again—at the Duke’s funeral.

Estelle had much to say upon seeing him after so long, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak.

During the funeral, rumors swirled about the mysterious circumstances of Duke Blythe’s death. The nobles, not wanting their reputation stained, tried to keep things quiet, but whispers still leaked out.

The fact that Duke Blythe had died from a fall was shocking, but the location made it even stranger: it was the same retreat villa where his former wife often stayed for recuperation. The area was known for steep cliffs, and accidents sometimes happened even now…. But for a Duke to go there alone, without any servants, was a mystery.

Moreover, there was testimony from a servant that Duke Blythe received a letter the day before leaving for the villa. Members of the Dukedom searched everywhere for the letter but could not find it, which only deepened the mystery. Fortunately, they managed to recover Duke Blythe’s body after the fall, though only the corpse was found.

No one could determine the cause of the Duke’s death.

His two young sons simply wept at their father’s sudden passing.

Estelle could not take her eyes off those children. Raphael, standing beside her, wore a sorrowful expression, but she could not trust that face.

Why did Duke Blythe die in a fall right before the engagement ceremony? Why did he go to the retreat villa alone? Unable to accept any of it, Estelle felt as if her breath was being choked.

She could only entertain one possibility.

‘No way.’

The thought alone was horrifying. If Raphael had killed Duke Blythe? If that was the reason he hadn’t shown his face at the main residence for several days…?

She pitied the two children, but terror gripped her, and she bit her lower lip.

At that moment….

“Estelle, what are you afraid of? It’s just a funeral.”

Raphael whispered in a low voice, sticking close to her. Estelle nearly stepped back but managed to hold herself together.

As expected, the sorrow in his expression was a lie. Knowing this, Raphael’s confirming whisper made her heart sink.

Estelle bowed her head, unable to reply. Her marriage to Duke Blythe had been her chance to break away from the forbidden relationship with Raphael, but that chance was gone.

And if he was the culprit, her heart raced wildly.

‘Don’t ruin yourself, Raphael.’

Her vision spun.

***

Three days passed after Duke Blythe’s funeral. His corpse was so mangled from the fall that they couldn’t even open the coffin lid. It was immediately interred.

Because Duke Blythe died before the engagement ceremony was officially announced, there were no rumors about Estelle. Still, she suffered from nightmares every time she tried to sleep.

In her nightmares, she witnessed someone being dragged away as the murderer of Duke Blythe.

And that prisoner was….

― Ra, Raphael!

“Hah…!”

Startled, Estelle opened her eyes.

In the deep of night, with only faint moonlight shining through the window, Estelle lay flat on her bed. Shivering from a chilling nightmare, she abruptly sat up. At that moment, she heard someone’s presence.

Her face was paler than usual—perhaps because she had just awakened from a nightmare. Fear gripped her.

Yet Estelle, collecting herself calmly, realized the presence was coming from beyond the door. Someone was lingering near the entrance.

Soon, a soft but unmistakable voice reached her ears. She flinched, licking her lower lip.

“Estelle.”

It was Raphael. She couldn’t understand why he had come so late at night. Not knowing the reason, Estelle felt a different kind of fear.

Just days before hearing of Duke Blythe’s fatal fall, she had intimately joined with Raphael. Was he visiting at this late hour to hold her again?

If she thought about it that way, it wasn’t strange, but considering the lateness of the night, his sudden visit felt unnatural.

Still, she couldn’t ignore his voice calling her again and again.

‘That’s why I can’t cut things off foolishly. I keep getting dragged along like an idiot.’

No matter how much she scolded herself, it was only temporary. Estelle needed to push him away more coldly, especially now that she was trapped with no chance to escape…. Yet, instinctively, she was already getting off the bed.

She carefully opened the door.

The figure waiting outside appeared right in front of her. Although she knew he was there, Estelle was startled by how close Raphael was. She barely suppressed a scream.

“Why are you here at this hour?”

Even in the dim light, she managed not to miss his silhouette. Raphael’s scent carried a faint trace of alcohol.

He usually didn’t drink, so she realized immediately that he had drunk heavily tonight. Without thinking, Estelle stepped back.

Even intoxicated, Raphael noticed her movement keenly. His moist lips parted.

“Because I wanted to see you.”

“‥‥‥.”

“I had some wine tonight in the annex’s drawing room where no one comes at this hour. Estelle, do you remember? We spent a lot of happy times there together. Our first time, too.”

Raphael, who rarely attached much meaning to places, whispered softly as if recalling a special memory.