Chapter 1.2

It was still dawn, when only a few servants were awake. Maia busily prepared to leave.  

Three days had passed since she handed over the divorce papers. In that time, the Duke of Western had not said a single word.  

Didn’t that mean he agreed to the divorce as well?  

If he had any objections, he would have spoken up long ago.  

He wouldn’t have just sat there eating in suffocating silence at mealtimes.  

Recalling that memory, Maia shuddered.  

She left her room, dragging the suitcase she had packed the night before.  

All her other belongings were to be sent from the Ducal residence to her family home.  

To be precise, this was a promise from the head maid, who was all too pleased that Maia was stepping down from her position as Duchess.  

‘It’s truly delightful that you finally know your place and are leaving. We’ll take responsibility for sending all your things from the Ducal residence. Just in case, let me say—don’t even think of taking back the divorce or returning here.’  

Black eyes, filled with hostility and disapproval, glared at Maia.  

‘……I’d prefer if you never even said such things. Well, then, I’ll take my leave.’  

A laugh slipped out. It was a hollow, self-mocking laugh.  

She was tired of being hated any longer.  

‘The former Duchess……’  

‘The former Duchess never acted like this……’  

‘The only one the Duke of Western still loves is the former Duchess……’  

These were the only memories that came to mind about her relationship with them.  

The head maid, Helia Jabeth Delphon, was said to have been the personal maid of the late Imperial Princess.  

When Maia heard about this not long after her own marriage, she tried her best to understand the head maid.  

It was possible that the Duke could not forget his former Duchess. She thought of her as a pitiful person.  

But, contrary to her understanding, all that ever came back to her was hostility and contempt.  

So now, she only hoped never to have to face her again.  

“……It’s really quiet.”  

The mansion was silent. Since coming here, Maia had never seen it so quiet.  

As the woman who had been the Duchess left the mansion, not a single servant came out to see her off.  

A bittersweet sense of relief mingled within her.  

Maia stepped onto the snow-covered garden of the Ducal residence.  

Snowflakes were still fluttering down from the sky. It felt like a sign from the heavens that if she hesitated, she would never be able to leave, so Maia hurried her steps.  

Perhaps because of that, the tall, massive gray castle gate was suddenly right before her eyes.  

“……For the last time.”  

Just before opening the castle gate, Maia clenched her fist. As she turned around, the black mansion, covered in pure white snow, stared back at her.  

Its piercingly cold and solid appearance inevitably brought someone to mind.  

It would have been nice if someone had come to see her off. Or at least relayed a farewell through a servant.  

“It’s cold.”  

A warm breath escaped her lips but soon turned white and cold.  

Swallowing her aching heart, Maia tore her gaze away from the mansion.  

This was the end of a first love that had so cruelly constricted her heart.  

Her hand, wrapped in violet gloves, reached up to the frosted castle gate. Maia pressed her lips tightly together.  

Now it was truly over. She would never see him again.  

When she returned home, her mother would be waiting, and her Aunt Amica would scold her, saying, ‘Didn’t I tell you not to marry that man?’  

Hailey would welcome her with fuss and then gleefully badmouth the people of the Ducal household.  

Yes. Now she would return to a peaceful daily life.  

Maia squeezed her eyes shut and pushed the castle gate.  

Clank, clank.  

“……?”  

But the gate only rattled a couple of times, as if caught on something, and did not budge.  

Maia frowned and pushed again with force.  

Clank.  

Again, there was only a slight tremor, and the gate did not open.  

What is this? Why won’t it open?  

It was a gate that even the maids could open easily. She never expected she wouldn’t be able to open it herself.  

Panicking, Maia placed both hands on the gate and pushed with all her strength.  

“……Why is it doing this all of a sudden?”  

But the tightly closed gate did not open.  

“Should I call for a knight……?”  

She was starting to get annoyed. Muttering curses under her breath, Maia turned around.  

And then, her eyes met with blue eyes—eyes that she had no idea when they had approached.  

“……?”  

For a split second, only one sentence floated in Maia’s mind.  

Why are you coming out from there……?  

She blinked a couple of times. It was hard to believe, but it wasn’t an illusion.  

Oh my god!  

Maia inhaled sharply and stepped back.  

At her reaction, as if facing a criminal, those blue eyes turned cold.  

Snowflakes, drifting down in clusters, settled on their faces, reminding them that this was not a fantasy but reality.  

Maia exhaled a white breath, her eyelids trembling.  

It seemed that the Duke of Western had come out for a final farewell.  

“……Your Grace, what brings you out here?”  

If he wanted to see me off, couldn’t he do it inside the mansion? Why sneak up without a sound and stand behind me like this?  

“……”  

The Duke of Western did not answer.  

She felt suffocated. Maia’s eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck.  

What is he doing? Is he going to keep silent even when I ask?  

……I couldn’t even call for a knight here.  

Maia bit her lips and turned away.  

Standing here, clinging to someone who wouldn’t even answer after all this time, was a miserable thing.  

She didn’t want to do it anymore.  

“It won’t open.”  

At that moment, the Duke of Western’s clear voice, which had remained silent until now, pierced her ears.  

Maia stopped just as she was about to put her hand on the gate. When she turned around, the Duke of Western was staring at her.  

“……It won’t open?”  

Maia doubted her own ears.  

Instead of answering, the Duke of Western gave her a look that seemed to say, ‘Would I lie about this?’  

What is this?  

She still couldn’t grasp the situation.  

“Is the gate broken? Then you can’t open it either and can’t leave, Your Grace……?”  

Just as she was about to ask again, the Duke of Western’s words cut her off.  

“I said it won’t open, for you.”  

……What?  

Maia looked up with a blank face.  

As if he was used to her reaction, his expression remained unchanged.  

His sharply drawn lips let out a cold voice.  

“I ordered the castle gate to be firmly sealed so you can’t open it. That means you can’t leave.”  

Maia stared at him blankly.  

He spoke incomprehensible words, yet his expression didn’t change at all, which only made her feel more wronged.  

“……Wait, just a moment. So, you’re saying you locked the gate and I can’t leave?”  

Instead of answering, he nodded slightly.  

She didn’t understand. She had no idea what this man was doing.  

Could it be…… he’s trying to mess with me?  

Maia, stunned, thought absentmindedly.  

Otherwise, there was no way to understand his actions.  

Let’s organize the situation.  

The Duke of Western, who had to forget the former Duchess he loved dearly, chose her as a convenient substitute who didn’t need to be loved.  

But she, who was supposed to quietly remain by his side, suddenly demanded a divorce and declared she would leave.  

If that happened, the position of Duchess would be vacant.  

Countless noble ladies and their parents would flock to his side like moths to a flame.

Could it be that he was stopping me from leaving simply because it would be a hassle to find another woman to become the Duchess again?  

The Duke of Western was her first love, her first husband, and a man who, in many ways, held significant meaning in her life.  

Yet, she could not stop herself from feeling this way.  

What kind of trash is this?  

Maia let out a sigh as if she were spitting something up.  

“Nothing else matters. The most obvious fact is that you cannot leave.”  

The Duke of Western’s eyes, resembling the deep sea, shone coldly.  

His voice, as cold as his appearance, rang out amidst the drifting snowflakes.  

One step, two steps.  

He slowly walked toward Maia.  

“Those laughable documents you handed me—I burned them all long ago. And I do not allow my wife to leave my castle without my permission.”  

Bang.  

The castle gate, struck by his gloved hand, echoed with a dull pain.  

Maia, her face drained of color, breathed rapidly.  

The Duke of Western reached out to the locked gate, trapping Maia within his shadow.  

“Do you still not understand? You can never escape from me.”  

He looked down at Maia and declared as if passing a sentence.  

“Maia Hansberg Western. You are the Duchess of Western forever. There is no life for you other than as the Duchess of Western.”  

Maia bit her trembling lips.  

She truly found the Duke of Western’s shameless act—clinging to her now out of mere laziness to find a new Duchess, after never having shown her the slightest interest—utterly repulsive.