Chapter 1.4

She couldn’t believe it.  

Why would such a harsh punishment be handed down for just a single remark?  

She was the former Duchess’s personal maid and a proud daughter of the Delphon Marquisate.  

The head maid, trembling on her knees on the floor, lifted her head.  

Opposite her was that woman.  

The daughter of a lowly merchant.  

Even though she had brought this upon herself, to stand there with a face as pale as if she knew nothing—how utterly detestable.  

“……I will keep that in mind. Thank you, Your Grace.”  

Despite her weak voice, her eyes burned with hatred.

* * *

The Duke of Western disappeared into his office in silence.  

Maia was left alone in the chilly atmosphere.  

She glanced down at the head maid, still kneeling on the floor, and spoke.  

“……I think I should go upstairs now.”  

It was a phrase meaning, ‘Are you going to stay there like that forever?’  

“A-ah, I-I’m sorry, Duchess. Please, go on up.”  

One of the maids in the back stammered a reply in place of the head maid, who was still sitting on the floor.  

Maia sighed and went up the stairs with the maid.

* * *

This can’t be happening.  

Back in her room, after finally retrieving her suitcase that had been left outside in the snow for so long, Maia had only one thought.  

She never imagined the divorce would be overturned like this.  

I had already sent a letter to my mother, saying I would return home today!  

“Did you already send the letter I wrote to my family?”  

“It was sent last night.”  

Maia clutched her head and buried her face in the desk.  

It was a mess. How was she supposed to explain this? They were surely waiting for her.  

“D*mn Lucas Western……”  

She had never resented him this much before.  

Even when she picked up her quill to correct the letter, Maia slammed it down in a surge of anger.  

What on earth was he thinking, doing something like this?  

Maia leaned back in her chair, lost in thought.  

Was it really just because he couldn’t be bothered to find a new Duchess?  

Should I act so outrageously that he would be forced to kick me out?  

Novels she had read as a child flashed through her mind.  

Pretending to be mad to break off an engagement with a cheating fiancé and succeeding in ending it. Or staging a revenge drama against family or others who had discriminated and abused her since childhood……  

Maia rested her chin in her hand and stared blankly into space.  

How could she possibly act well enough to completely fool ‘that’ Duke of Western?  

“Impossible.”  

There was no answer.  

Maia tugged at her hair in frustration.  

Why had I so easily accepted the proposal of someone I barely knew and had only met a few times?  

‘Listen well, Maia. You should always see a man for at least three years before making a decision. No matter how decent he looks, there aren’t many men who can hide their true selves for a full three years.’

The total time Maia had spent with the Duke before marriage? Even if she added it all up, it was only a month and a half.

“……No, there must be a way.”

Maia shook her head from side to side.

Like the saying that even if you enter a beast’s lair, you’ll survive if you keep your wits about you, there must be a way somehow.  

There had to be.

Maia gritted her teeth and opened the drawer. First, she needed to send her mother a letter explaining the delay in her plans.  

As she opened the drawer, a subtle scent of wood tickled her nose.  

The drawer was filled with pure white stationery.

“Ah.”

At that moment, a letter stuffed in the corner caught Maia’s eye.  

With a small gasp, Maia carefully picked up the letter.

To Maia.

Was this here all along?

“……”

Now that she thought about it, it had already been over a year since she last sent him a letter.  

When had so much time passed?

Staring at the familiar handwriting on the envelope, Maia took a shallow breath.  

The letter, already opened once before, opened easily.  

Rustle, the paper, carrying the scent of Saintpaulia flowers, unfolded.

Neat handwriting filled her view.

Tonight at 10, to the Hawthorn Forest at the Mayus estate where we always met.

As she read the words written in the letter, it felt as if a familiar voice echoed in her ears.  

A voice that, though curt, always carried a subtle affection that couldn’t be hidden—a worried voice of a long-time friend.

“……I must have been too hasty.”

Was it only haste? No, it was downright foolishness.

Maia smiled bitterly.

The letter continued a little further below.

If you don’t want to hear my advice, you don’t have to come.  

Whether you choose the friend who has been with you for over ten years, or the first love who proposed to you—  

The choice is yours. I won’t stop you.

—With sincere friendship, Lihi

Lihi.

A secret friend she had known since childhood.

Though he introduced himself with a name that was surely not his real one—

‘Call me by this name. You don’t need anything else.’

The boy who shamelessly said that.

Other than the name, which was clearly not his real one, everything else about him was mysterious beyond belief.

He always made her feel as if she knew nothing about him.

And…… he was also the friend who strongly opposed her marriage to Lucas Western.

* * *

‘Think carefully. Do you really believe you can be happy marrying the Duke of Western?’

The image of the boy who had thrown harsh words at her in the foggy forest came to mind.

‘You already know about the arrogant walls of the nobles.’

His words demanded she face reality, but blinded by young love, Maia had retorted in a trembling voice.

‘……Can’t you say something nice? He says he’s sincere. I was just a little anxious, so I wanted your advice……’

‘Enough. If you came all the way here just to say that……’

His silver eyelashes trembled, casting a shadow over his clear golden eyes.

Her breath caught.

Lihi, who had always given her peace and strength, was now, unbelievably, shaken.

‘……If you’re really going to accept a proposal from a guy like that—’

When Maia looked at Lihi, unable even to breathe properly, he twisted his picture-perfect lips and let out cruel words.

‘Don’t ever come to me again. Our connection ends here.’

Although he had sometimes stormed off in a huff over their ten years together, it was the first time he had ever ended things in such anger.

‘Lihi.’

She had foolishly murmured his name.

But in the end, she could do nothing but watch as he grew distant.

‘Maia. Why did you go to your grandmother’s house in the middle of the night?’

‘Mother.’

And then, returning through the cold night air, she faced her mother, who looked at her with concern.

‘I—I will accept the Duke of Western’s proposal.’

But, before leaving for the Ducal manor, she headed to the forest where she had met Lihi countless times.  

But he was no longer there.

* * *

“He was a strange and suspicious guy in many ways……”

But he was a friend.

Bitter memories stirred an irretrievable nostalgia.

With a hesitant hand, Maia picked up her pen again.  

She took out a sheet of pure white stationery decorated with pressed baby’s breath flowers from the drawer.

There were more than a few letters she needed to send right away. This was no time to be lost in reminiscence.

But, right now, she wanted to write to him first.

Maia quietly moved her pen, pondering the first words.

To my dear Lihi.

A long time passed.

Maia, leaning against the bookshelf, gazed at the owl figurine flickering in the candlelight.

With slender fingers, she gently stroked the cold surface of the figurine.

From the wide-open window, with the purple curtains fluttering, a large owl soared up and crossed the vast night sky not long after.

The place where the strange messenger was headed was the eastern sky, where stars seemed to pour down and linger.

A land even Maia herself did not know, where her dear friend lived.

* * *

“Why are you refusing to eat?”

In the dark room, with not a single candle lit.

Sitting quietly, Maia looked at the man who had entered without permission, and he frowned.

“Answer me. What on earth has gotten into you?”

Maia’s neck stiffened, and she lowered her gaze.

But as he grabbed her shoulder, she frowned and looked up again.

The Duke of Western met her eyes and furrowed his brows.

“I ordered them to bring your meal to your room. Don’t think that starving yourself is a solution.”

“You know me well.”

At her calm reply, his face crumpled in confusion.

Maia replied calmly.

“If you will not consent to divorce, I will starve myself and eat nothing. If you don’t want to see me starve to death, then grant the divorce.”

“You……”

The Duke of Western’s expression changed from confusion to anger.

“Even if you try to force-feed me, it won’t matter. I just won’t eat.”

Maia finished her words with composure and straightened her back.

After sending the letter to Lihi, she sent a few more letters to her mother and friends, explaining that something had come up.

But in those letters, she never wrote that the divorce had fallen through.

Of course not.

In the darkness, Maia’s violet eyes shone as she looked up at the Duke of Western.

No matter what, she would succeed in getting divorced.

“So please, stop being unreasonable, Your Grace.”