Chapter 10.7

As the carriage entered a familiar road, Iela and Angie clung to the window, unable to look away. Smiles spread across their faces, which had been dazed until now.  

Eventually, the carriage entered Goldville. The Oberon Mansion passed by outside the window. The cool breeze and clear sky signaled that summer had passed, but the Oberon Mansion seemed to exude a particularly gloomy atmosphere.  

Her complicated feelings were short-lived, as the sight of the Trovill Ducal Household’s garden brought a new wave of confusion to Solnia’s heart.  

Will the Duchess welcome me?  

The Duchess, who I had left without a word, will she greet me warmly?  

She must have already heard about the fire at the Nutak Villa. Will she embrace me, relieved that I’m alive? 

She couldn’t be sure.  

The reason for coming here instead of the townhouse was simply the assumption that Luette Trovill would be here.  

Just hours ago, she had felt a strange sense of having a place to return to. But now that she was here, she wondered if this was truly where she belonged.  

While biting her lip nervously, the carriage entered the ducal estate. The elderly gatekeeper, who had been tilting his head at the sight of the shabby public carriage, dropped his jaw upon seeing Angie and Iela waving cheerfully at him.  

Soon, the carriage stopped under the porch of the main entrance. A young footman approached with a puzzled expression and opened the carriage door.  

“Young Ma—”  

He didn’t even finish his sentence before running into the mansion.  

“It’s been so long since I’ve been at the Ducal Household.”  

Iela, stepping out of the carriage, looked around with nostalgic eyes. Angie felt the same.  

“It feels like it’s been two years since I was last here.”  

Solnia let out a sigh, neither light nor heavy, and stepped into the mansion.  

The Ducal Household greeted her as always. The only difference was…  

The Duchess of Trovill, rushing down the stairs with her dress hem lifted.  

Always perfect when greeting guests, she now came down the stairs with her long hair undone, as if she hadn’t finished styling it.  

Their eyes met.  

Solnia respectfully bowed to her and raised her head.  

“How have you—”  

Before she could finish her sentence, she found herself in someone’s embrace.  

“Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness…”  

“…”  

The Duchess of Trovill murmured in distress, not knowing what to do. Solnia could almost hear the rapid thumping of her heart.  

“Madam…”  

“I thought I’d never see you again.”  

The Duchess held Solnia tighter and buried her face against her.  

“I thought I’d never see you again…”  

She repeated the same words, sobbing. Her usual formal tone was gone, and she spoke as if addressing a friend.  

Solnia slowly patted the Duchess’s back. She wanted to apologize for causing so much worry.  

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, my dear.”  

“…”  

“You must have been in so much pain, and I didn’t know… I’m sorry I didn’t notice.”  

A sob welled up in her throat, blocking it instantly. Tears streamed down before she could stop them.  

Those words were enough.  

The tears she had held back through life-and-death moments poured out uncontrollably.  

*

How could it be this slow? Luette Trovill anxiously stared out the window the entire time. He had departed the moment he heard the news, but they had only just exited the forest.  

The endless darkness stretched on. No matter how much they rode, it felt as though there would never be an end.  

‘Young Madam has returned!!’

Roni’s voice, shouting as if to snap him out of it, echoed in his ears. It took him a moment to process the words. For a brief second, he wondered if this was another cursed dream, one where he would wake up to find the burned-down villa and the chaos of the morning once again.  

He clenched his fist tightly. His short nails dug into the soft flesh of his palm. Only after feeling a slight sting did he realize that this was reality.  

His eyes were wide open as he stared out the window, as if trying to capture every passing scene. The carriage cut through the darkness, moving faster than ever before.  

*

By the time the carriage reached the Ducal Household, dawn was faintly breaking. Luette opened the carriage door and stepped out before the footman could approach.  

He couldn’t breathe properly. His wildly beating heart was racing so fast that he couldn’t even gauge its speed.  

Striding into the mansion, he headed straight for the drawing room.

A woman with unusually long, loose hair came into view. It was her mother, who was looking in this direction. Or rather, she was looking at the woman sitting with her back turned toward them.  

The moment he saw the lightly tied, light brown hair, he stopped in his tracks. It felt as though even his heart had stopped for a moment.  

His steps, which had been hesitant as if he were entranced, gradually quickened. Soon, the sound of his running startled the woman, causing her small shoulders to flinch as she stood up from her seat.  

“You…”  

Solnia’s initial joy at seeing him quickly turned to surprise as her eyes widened at his disheveled appearance. Without hesitation, Luette embraced her.  

The body that fell into his arms so defenselessly was, fortunately, warm and soft.  

As if trying to confirm that the woman in his arms was alive, he continuously caressed her slender waist and bony back without pause. He didn’t even lift his face, which was buried against her shoulder.  

Solnia gently patted the man on the back. His rough breathing brushed directly against her bare skin. She could tell that he was crying.  

*

Before long, only the couple remained in the drawing room.  

Solnia slowly recounted everything that had happened since the moment she woke up coughing heavily. It was essentially a repetition of what she had told the Duchess of Trovill, but she didn’t find it bothersome or tiring.  

The man before her didn’t let a single word slip past his ears.  

“And so… the ring is gone.”  

Solnia awkwardly smiled as she stroked her bare ring finger.  

“I’m sorry.”  

At her apology, he simply smiled. Solnia gently traced his face, which had grown noticeably thinner, and asked,  

“And you…?”  

“I’m fine.”  

“…”  

“Nothing happened.”  

Luette answered in a deep, hoarse voice as he placed his hand over hers.  

“I kept looking for you, again and again.”  

“…”  

“I just kept doing that.”  

He compressed the time he had spent going through hell over and over into a few simple words. Such things no longer held any meaning or power.  

*

From that day on, the couple stayed together in his bedroom. It was the same room Luette Trovill, once a bachelor, had spent countless social seasons in until he was sick of it.  

Of course, since neither of them was in perfect health, Dr. Brown had to visit daily, and servants frequently came and went to care for them.  

Meanwhile, the royal ball marked the official end of the social season. As always, newspapers were eager to spotlight the issues that had been discussed throughout the year, only to shift focus to new ones.  

<Will the Nutak Villa Fire Case Fall into Mystery?>  

The police department, which had begun its investigation with the broken lanterns found near the villa, was facing difficulties.  

The accident had occurred in a remote villa deep in the forest, and there were no witnesses. The only evidence consisted of a few broken lanterns. Moreover, once it was revealed that the supposedly deceased Countess of Melfir and her maids had survived, the investigation slowed even further.  

Above all, the Nutak Villa fire case was overshadowed by another incident that had been dominating newspaper headlines for days.  

<The Fall of the Heston Household>  

Solnia quietly stared at the short yet impactful headline.  

It had been revealed that the atrocities committed by the Heston Dowager Madame were true, as exposed through the memoir of an orphan.  

Not long after that memoir circulated through the capital, similar memoirs began flooding into the royal court. Eventually, the Crown Prince’s newspaper published a detailed article exposing the Heston Dowager Madame’s crimes.  

The message was clear: the royal family had turned its back on the Heston Dowager Madame.  

As if to confirm this, two days later, the Dowager Madame’s trial was held in private. The charges against her were not disclosed. Only the verdict was made public, and even that concluded with a ruling of innocence. Of course, no one believed it.  

The prevailing opinion was that the trial itself was nothing more than a show to appease public sentiment.  

Now, the newspapers were filled with stories of the complete downfall of a prestigious family that had helped establish the kingdom.  

「The downfall of the Heston Earldom will be remembered as a fatal stain on the noble society of the kingdom, one that must never be repeated.」  

As Solnia read the article, which ended on a bitter note, she stood up from her seat.  

There was somewhere she wanted to go.