(18) Handwriting
What had she expected? Had she hoped he would confess that he did it because he loved her?
A man like Enoch Ventus hadn’t lived such a romantic life.
Upon concluding that she had been pitied by her husband, Asla felt sad but somehow thought this was better.
Thinking it was fortunate to receive at least pity rather than indifference, Asla blankly cast her gaze out the window.
The train was now passing beyond the forest where dusk had begun to fall.
Just as Enoch opened his mouth with firm resolve to say something more, Asla’s lips parted first as she fixed her gaze out the window.
“His Majesty Emperor Rosenberg and you. What exactly are you hiding from me?”
“……”
“Tell me. It’s really strange that you keep saying you need to ‘protect’ me. Of course, your protection methods were so terrible for me that they were quite useless.”
Asla spoke with subtle anger, lifting her chin slightly.
The atmosphere instantly turned cold.
Enoch remained stiff for a moment before apologizing with difficulty in a cracked voice.
“I’m sorry, Asla.”
“I’m not asking for an apology. Tell me why you tried to protect me, Enoch.”
Seeing Asla giving him no leeway, Enoch became urgent. He leaned toward her, resting his body on the table, and spoke anxiously.
“I was busy, truly. And…… several major incidents occurred that prevented me from going to the territory. You used to reply well to my letters occasionally. I thought you were doing fine.”
“Letters? What replies?”
Asla stared expressionlessly at Enoch making the same excuse again, then widened her eyes at the mention of correspondence she had neither received nor sent.
Enoch stopped speaking when he saw her reaction. His face became seriously rigid.
“You never…… sent replies?”
Asla barely opened her dry, cracked lips to answer.
“I never received your letters either. Same with the dresses you supposedly sent.”
Enoch’s expression went blank before his brow immediately creased severely.
“Damn it.”
“You’re a fool.”
At the second utterance of “fool” from Asla’s mouth, Enoch grabbed his forehead and looked at her.
Though his gaze was reproachful, she calmly advised him.
“You need to let the employees know who the master of the Ventus mansion is. A new duchess might manage well on her own, but right now, no one is on Enoch Ventus’s side.”
“Ha, Asla.”
“It’s natural that you wouldn’t know my handwriting. But to be this careless…”
When Asla pointed this out with a genuinely disappointed expression, Enoch flared up and shouted.
“Do you think I’m that stupid? It was clearly your handwriting. How could I not recognize that unique handwriting you used on our marriage vows?”
“……”
Asla closed her mouth.
Enoch assumed she was angry, but in fact, she closed her mouth in surprise.
No way, does this man really know my handwriting? He even read all the marriage vows I wrote?
Asla shook her head and returned to the main point.
“Then someone must have imitated my handwriting.”
“They were capable of forging documents. This is a serious matter.”
“Indeed.”
While Enoch calmed himself down from his excitement, Asla fell into deep thought.
Her handwriting was unique, used only by the royal family of the Holy Kingdom.
It would be difficult to simply copy it.
As she pondered who could imitate her handwriting, Enoch spoke to her.
“Asla.”
“Yes.”
He clasped his two hands tightly together and continued with difficulty.
“I’m sorry if this sounds like an excuse. But since you managed to obtain a divorce petition and sent it to the temple so well, I thought you were doing fine at home.”
“……I already had the divorce petition because my nanny prepared it before our marriage.”
When Asla responded matter-of-factly, Enoch made an incredulous expression before letting out a short laugh.
Then he said coldly.
“Lisette Groase. Impressive, sending a divorce petition as part of the dowry.”
“Don’t criticize my dead nanny.”
Asla threatened him with sharp eyes, but strangely, Enoch didn’t back down.
“Because you like Lisette Groase so much, it was even harder for me to speak.”
“What are you talking about?”
Asla, irritated by Enoch’s incomprehensible words, asked sharply but suddenly froze.
She had realized who could know her handwriting well and was capable of copying it.
It was none other than the now-deceased nanny who had taken care of her since childhood, High Priest Lisette Groase.
‘That’s impossible!’
Asla closed her eyes tightly.
In the train rushing through the dark fields, she felt as if she had lost her way, not knowing where she was heading.
⁕⁕⁕
Enoch tried to engage Asla in conversation under the pretext of taking care of various things, but repeatedly failed.
Realizing that she had become drastically gloomy and silent after their conversation about her nanny, he stopped bothering her.
He gently rubbed his eyes as he quietly watched her sleeping with her body stretched out on the seat that had been converted into a bed.
Had Asla noticed something?
But judging from her reaction, she clearly still believed that her nanny Lisette Groase was dead.
‘Then it must be about the handwriting forgery in the letters.’
In the train rushing through the darkness, Enoch narrowed his eyes.
The unique handwriting that only a princess of the Holy Kingdom could write.
The handwriting with thin lines that required several additional twists to complete was quite difficult to imitate, but possible for a nanny who had cared for Asla since childhood.
Moreover, she wasn’t just a simple nanny but also one of the twelve high priests of the Holy Kingdom.
His concern deepened.
To Enoch, Lisette Groase was more insidious than a snake.
It wouldn’t be surprising if she brazenly imitated Asla’s handwriting without her permission.
The question was how Lisette Groase had intercepted the letters he, as a duke, had sent to the Ventus mansion.
The culprit was clearly Margo again.
The fact that she had colluded with someone like Lisette Groase made Enoch even more frustrated.
What reason could she have to torment and hate Asla to such an extent?
Enoch cast his gaze out the pitch-black window, seeing nothing, to organize his complicated thoughts.
The gifts he sent to Asla. Dresses, shoes, jewelry, flowers, letters, all those things were diverted by his sister-in-law.
In the end, nothing he had sent to Asla over the past two years had been delivered.
He had completely fallen for Margo’s scheme to drive them apart.
Enoch felt empty, acknowledging that Asla had every right to resent him and demand a divorce.
As she said, Enoch Ventus was a fool.
‘I can no longer overlook this.’
Clicking his tongue briefly as he thought of his foolish sister-in-law who had even joined hands with Lisette Groase, Enoch’s thoughts naturally shifted to his brother, Aren Ventus.
He saw the young Enoch Ventus watching over his brother’s body as it grew cold.
He felt goosebumps and dizziness as fear vaguely enveloped his body again.
As his breathing quickened, Enoch steeled himself, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
“I am…… fine.”
He repeated like a mantra the basic treatment he had been receiving from his doctor for the past year and a half: “I am fine.”
Although his condition had improved significantly, this situation of having to expel his sister-in-law from the family seemed to be worsening his illness again.
‘But my sister-in-law has crossed the line.’
Enoch’s eyes gleamed coldly even in the darkness as he organized his thoughts and made his decision.
‘The most important thing in my life is…… of course.’
He watched for a long time the delicate face of Asla sleeping with the blanket pulled up to the chin of her small face, then leaned his own head back against the chair and tried to sleep.
He resolved to honestly confess to Asla how he had been living all this time once they arrived at the capital.
⁕⁕⁕
The train station in the capital, which they reached at dawn, was a mixture of quietness and commotion.
Asla looked up at the night sky with the dawn moon, feeling slightly dazed as she hadn’t fully awakened.
“Madam! This way. The master has reserved a hotel directly connected to the train station.”
“Yes.”
While walking through the bustling crowd leaving the train station, led by May who was full of energy even at dawn, Asla glanced back.
Enoch, following behind her, was talking with Talet with a rigid expression.
It probably concerned the forged letters with her handwriting.
As he had said, it was a serious matter that required immediate investigation.
Asla turned her head, leaned close to May, and whispered in a low voice.
“When we arrive at the hotel, you’ll need to run an errand for me right away. You must be very tired.”
“I’m fine, Madam.”
Asla nodded gratefully at May’s refreshing response, then continued.
“As before, it would be troublesome if the Duke finds out, so I’d appreciate if you could go quietly.”
“Ah, yes. Madam.”
Having instructed May in advance, Asla reluctantly opened her mouth, thinking this was the only way.
“Please visit Lady Gloria Sherita. I know she’s in the capital. If you ask a hotel employee, they’ll know right away. Tell her I request to see her tomorrow morning.”
May widened her eyes in surprise, then quickly nodded in agreement.
Lady Gloria Sherita was the last queen of the Holy Kingdom.
May thought her mistress must be missing her mother after a long time, but Asla’s expression was dark.
She was someone Asla would have preferred never to see again.
But her awakened intuition told her that the only person who would tell her all the truth coldly and without omission was her mother.
