Chapter 1.3

After handing over the divorce papers and leaving the office, Maia walked down the grand corridor lined with portraits of the former Dukes.  

Memories from when she first arrived at this mansion came back to her.  

Her first love, who would make her shudder even if he appeared only in her dreams, had actually proposed to her.  

It was the memory of the first day she set foot in the Duke’s mansion as his fiancée.  

‘Uh……?’  

The girl of those days, filled with pink dreams and romance, wandered all around the mansion, avoiding the servants who neither watched nor restrained her.  

So it was inevitable that she would discover it.  

The portrait of the Duke of Western and the former Duchess, Princess Rivka Callastia Adelstein, together.  

Looking back, she should have been suspicious from that moment.  

The fact that, even though it had been two years since the death of the former Duchess, a portrait of her and the Duke still hung in the center of the corridor, even as the new Duchess-to-be entered the mansion.  

Maia, her mouth agape at the portrait’s overwhelming size, stepped closer.  

She froze like stone when she recognized who was depicted, but her gaze did not turn away.  

Wavy, silver-white hair.  

Even though paint had its limits, it created the illusion of shining brightly.  

Within a tiny face, eyes redder than the rarest pomegranate gemstone.  

Their gaze captivated so strongly that it felt sinful to look away.  

Truly…… an unattainably noble and beautiful figure.  

Maia pressed her hand against her faintly aching chest.  

Before her, as she recalled those memories, hung the portrait of a beautiful woman, unchanged from those days.  

Yes, with someone this beautiful, of course His Grace couldn’t forget her.  

She understood. She had no choice but to understand.  

Two years. Short if short, long if long. In that time, she had tasted enough of the gap between dreams and reality.  

Maia deliberately avoided looking at the man in the portrait as she walked away.  

It was time to end it. It was never her place to begin with.  

Step, step, her footsteps faded away.  

Only the image of the young man gazing down at his wife in the portrait, eyes swirling with deep emotion, remained.

* * *

Maia’s lips, now cold, hardened. For a moment, all affection for him disappeared.  

Had I truly loved such a person?

Regret surged up inside her.  

Maia quietly raised one hand.  

A small hand in violet gloves landed on his black chest.  

At the unexpected gesture, the Duke of Western’s eyebrows shot up.  

“Please step aside for now.”  

Then Maia pushed his chest.  

“You’re standing too close.”  

They had never even touched fingertips throughout their married life.  

Why was he acting like this all of a sudden? 

The reason she suspected made her feel even more disgusted.  

The Duke of Western looked down at Maia’s hand on his chest for a moment.  

And then, just one step—truly only one step—he moved back.  

Maia brushed aside some fallen hair and sighed.  

“You’re not saying this without reason, are you? I already told you about the divorce several days ago, Your Grace, and I gave you more than three days to respond. But you said nothing. No words, no discussion.”  

Maia continued, hiding her trembling and speaking calmly. Her always gentle violet eyes now held a cold light.  

“So, I judged that you no longer wished to continue this marriage, and decided to leave quietly, Your Grace.”  

Just meeting that man’s cold face was frightening.  

Swallowing her rising fear, Maia spoke.  

“I believe you know just how rude your current actions are, Your Grace. So please, open the gate now.”  

Her legs trembled.  

Come to think of it, this was the first time she had ever clearly stated her own wishes to him.  

“……Rude, you say.”  

The Duke of Western muttered in a calm, low voice.  

Maia flinched at his unexpected reaction.  

His pupils, filled with unreadable thoughts, reflected only her.  

After that murmur, she had no idea what he might say next—her heart pounded with anxiety—when suddenly, his thickly coated arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her close.  

Through the fabric, the heat of his hand, so warm in the freezing air, was vivid.  

“What…… kya!”  

Before she could say anything, his other arm scooped up her legs.  

Her world flipped in an instant. Maia gasped.  

Before she knew it, she was being held in the Duke of Western’s arms.  

Even during their marriage, the difference in their heights meant that looking up at him for long always made her neck stiff.  

But now, Maia was—truly—buried in his arms.  

She blinked.  

……What is this?  

Both of Maia’s pupils trembled violently.  

What on earth was happening?  

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you just said. The weather is cold enough to freeze your breath. Let’s return to the mansion.”  

The Duke of Western, holding Maia in his arms, spoke in an exceedingly calm tone.  

In stark contrast, Maia was so shocked she couldn’t even scream.  

Her lips trembled.  

Ordinary women might feel their hearts flutter, or scream in surprise, or shout to be put down immediately at such an action.  

But Maia, surpassing all of them…… felt only fear.  

Even at their wedding, the Duke of Western had never held Maia like this.  

He had always been so cold and businesslike that even her own family had frowned.  

Maia’s violet eyes, trembling with fear, searched his face for any sign.  

She desperately tried to make sense of the situation, but found no answer.  

The Duke of Western began to walk. In his steadily rocking arms, Maia suddenly remembered what she had forgotten.  

Because this man had suddenly picked her up, she had completely forgotten about her original plan to leave the Ducal residence.  

She could see the castle gate receding behind the Duke of Western’s long strides.  

Maia gritted her teeth and shouted.  

“What are you doing? I told you I was leaving the Ducal residence……”  

“I already said I would pretend I didn’t hear that.”  

The Duke of Western replied in a composed tone.  

Maia inhaled sharply and glared at his unchanging face.  

“Don’t say such nonsense and put me down, right now!”  

“I have told you repeatedly.”  

At his voice, which cut her off, Maia’s eyes widened.  

“You cannot leave.”

At the words, wrapped in an unknown pressure, Maia’s lips hardened.  

Apparently pleased with her now-silent demeanor, the Duke of Western turned with light steps toward the mansion.

* * *

They returned to the mansion at a pace that was neither slow nor fast.  

Even though her body temperature had risen thanks to the warmth inside, Maia’s whole body remained cold.  

She had planned to leave today. She had boasted to the head maid as well.  

She had said she would leave.  

“Please put me down.”  

Maia spoke in a sunken voice.  

The Duke of Western furrowed his brow but obediently set her down on the floor.  

His dry hands, as if she might break, carefully lowered her small figure.  

The moment both feet touched the floor, Maia put distance between herself and the Duke of Western.  

She never could have imagined this would happen.  

Who could have guessed that, after three days of silence, the Duke of Western would suddenly intrude on her plans and so thoroughly trip her up?  

She had no idea how to resolve this situation.  

No, that wasn’t it. 

Maia steeled herself.  

There was still a chance. No matter what, she would get divorced, and somehow she would escape this family.  

Yes. Since it had come to this, she would dig into the Duke of Western’s true intentions again and revise her plan.  

“……How did this happen—”  

At that moment.  

“Head Maid.”  

At the familiar voice from behind, Maia froze with her fist still clenched.  

At the name the Duke of Western quietly called, Maia’s face went pale.  

Maia turned her creaking head.  

Her eyes met the head maid’s, who stared at her as if she could bore holes through her—a gaze so frightening it could appear in her nightmares.  

It wasn’t as if I had come back on my own; I had been forcibly dragged back by the master of the house.  

So, please, don’t glare at me with eyes that looked ready to kill!  

Maia, upon seeing the head maid’s glare—the kind that could tear her to shreds—could only make a tearful face.  

This was why she had tried to leave.  

Maia glared at the Duke of Western with resentful eyes.  

“Since the Madame has been outside in the cold for some time, make sure her room is warmed so she can thaw out.”  

At his seemingly concerned words, the head maid’s expression grew even more rigid.  

“Understood. But if I may, were not you and the Duchess preparing for divorce, Your Grace? Madame clearly stated she would leave the mansion today, so how is it that the two of you have returned together…….”  

And the head maid immediately exposed the root cause of the situation.  

Maia inhaled.  

She was used to being ignored, but for someone to speak so boldly to him was another matter.  

No, perhaps this was actually a good thing.  

Depending on how the Duke of Western answered the head maid’s question, she might be able to guess why he was holding onto her.  

And if she used this opportunity to strongly push for divorce once more……  

“It seems I have been too lenient with you, Head Maid.”  

A cold answer, sharp as a blade, came back.  

Maia’s smiling face froze.  

“To dare add words to an order from your master.”  

The Duke of Western was always a man with a cold expression. But now, his face was even colder than usual.  

His gaze, sunken and dark, was so piercing that meeting his eyes felt like being stabbed by a knife.  

“No, no, I spoke out of turn. Your Grace, please punish me.”  

The head maid, now just as pale, fell to her knees on the floor.  

Where had the menacing aura gone that had glared at Maia just moments before?  

It was difficult to keep up with the sudden turn of events.  

Maia looked back and forth between the head maid and the Duke of Western.  

A sharp laugh escaped from him in that moment.  

With a smooth face laced with deep sarcasm, he looked down at the trembling head maid.  

As if debating how to kill a bothersome insect near his eye.  

“That cannot be. You are not just any servant, but the personal maid of a noble Imperial Princess. You served Her Highness from childhood and followed her to my mansion. How could I possibly harm you?”  

Behind the head maid, the other maids who had been standing tall now trembled in the quietly flowing chill.  

“I will let it go this time. However, the next time I hear the word ‘divorce’ in my presence—”  

Everyone standing in the vast hall held their breath.  

“The sword passed down from the previous Duke will sever your neck.”  

“……!”  

Maia barely managed to stifle a gasp.  

Why? Why was he doing this?  

Until now, the head maid and her followers had ignored Maia countless times.  

The Duke of Western had never paid the slightest attention to their behavior.  

Even when they decorated the tea party venue just as the former Duchess had liked.  

Even when they dressed her in an uncomfortable gown unsuited to the occasion at the Emperor’s hunting festival.  

Even when the head maid made disrespectful remarks about her right in front of him.  

There was a time when Maia had desperately wished he would care about the way the maids treated her.  

But not anymore.  

She had wished and despaired enough already.  

Why was he acting like this now?  

Maia looked at him as if she were seeing something utterly incomprehensible.  

The Duke of Western’s gaze brushed briefly over Maia.  

Feeling uneasy, Maia avoided his eyes.  

He had made a strong threat, but without a definite conclusion, he had simply postponed matters.  

She could only worry about the inevitable backlash from the head maid, who would surely hold a grudge over this.