Chapter 3 (Part 5)

Madame Messerode wasn’t surprised to see her son standing dazed in front of the old house. She gestured to a servant.

“Bring him.”

Several servants approached Cardin. Madame Messerode watched quietly from the shade. Cardin stood blankly, not even acknowledging the servants.

When a servant grabbed his arm, he finally looked down and shook it off.

“Young Master! You must return. Madam…”

Cardin raised his head. As if he had known of her presence all along, their eyes met immediately. Madame Messerode looked at Cardin without smiling.

Seeing her son for the first time in a month. Yet, she gazed coldly, not even offering a smile. Cardin approached her as soon as he saw her.

His large frame drew closer, but Madame Messerode looked at her son as if he were a stone. Cardin stopped in front of her.

“Did you send it, Mother?”

Madame Messerode closed her eyes briefly and opened them.

“What?”

Cardin looked directly into his mother’s eyes and spoke as if grinding his teeth.

“Brienne said she received a letter from the family.”

“I never sent her a letter. Only to you.”

“Then what on earth…!”

“Stop the foolishness.”

Her tone was cold. The surrounding servants seemed tense, glancing around. Cardin looked down at her and spoke slowly.

“I believe I told you. Not to touch Brienne.”

“Who said I did? I merely gave her a reward. After all, she saved you and gave you shelter.”

Cardin let out a small laugh. His words came out sarcastically under his chilling gaze.

“You never cared about my life before, so why are you so interested now?”

Madame Messerode turned her head. A servant quickly lifted a fan to her face. Only then did she meet Cardin’s gaze and speak elegantly.

“It’s about protecting the family. After your father died, Roquek…”

“I don’t care if the family crumbles.”

Cardin turned his body roughly. Madame Messerode closed her eyes, feeling the lingering heat. Cardin was willing to abandon the family just because one person disappeared. As if he didn’t realize everything he had came from the family.

She let out a hollow laugh and slowly opened her eyes.

“Are you going to find her alone?”

Cardin stopped. Madame Messerode clicked her tongue inwardly. Her son was like a moth, foolishly chasing after one thing.

Though she didn’t want to, she had no choice but to speak to maintain her position.

“Finding her alone will take a lot of money and time. If you return to the family and properly utilize your private soldiers, it would be easier to find her.”

Cardin turned and met her eyes coldly. Under the blazing sun, his face was as solid as unmelted ice.

In contrast, his untidy shirt and pants, and his hair sticking out wildly, resembled a savage.

Madame Messerode looked at her son with eyes filled with disdain.

“How do you plan to find her alone? In that state, no less.”

This time, her unrefined sincerity slipped out. She had come all this way, hoping to see Cardin in his right mind, only to see him lost.

Annoyed by the heat that wouldn’t dissipate despite the fan, she spoke.

“Act like the heir of the Messerode family. As your father taught you…”

“Father is dead, and did you say the position of Duke Messerode is mine to inherit?”

“What have you been hearing all this time? Do you think someone else can take the position of Duke Messerode?”

Cardin let out a small smile.

“No.”

“Get in the carriage immediately. It doesn’t seem like you have anything to pack anyway.”

Madame Messerode turned her body. The more she looked, the less she liked the place. A servant hurriedly followed her, fanning her.

“If I return.”

Madame Messerode stopped. As she turned around, Cardin continued calmly.

“I will take over everything and marry Brienne.”

A smirk appeared on Madame Messerode’s lips. It was a cold sneer. But it was fleeting. She spoke with a stern face.

“I’m looking forward to it. Let’s see if you can actually do that.”

Madame turned her body coldly. As if she no longer wanted to be there, a sharp irritation was etched around her eyes.

There were two carriages in total. Cardin boarded the one Madame Messerode did not. When the servant looked puzzled, he spoke.

“It will be a long journey, and Mother doesn’t have a good temper.”

More than that, Cardin didn’t want to ride in the carriage with his mother. From the beginning, he wasn’t close to her and didn’t want to consider her his family, just like his father.

Even when he approached her crying as a child, she would call the nanny as if he were a bother.

Even when he got hurt from his father hitting him, his mother didn’t even acknowledge it. As a child, it was painful. Even when he tried to approach her, she was always the same.

“Cardin, don’t bother me by staying by my side. And you don’t need to give me things for my birthday. They’re useless.”

She threw the thin handkerchief he had given her into the trash in front of her young child. After that, Cardin didn’t even acknowledge her.

The mansion he remembered was always cold. Like an empty house without the warmth of people. Even though the warm sea breeze blew outside the mansion, inside it was strangely cold.

At Stern Academy, he intentionally acted brightly. He didn’t want to think about his father’s cold coercion and his mother’s cold disregard.

Cardin leaned against the carriage wall as if exhausted. He already missed the shabby cabin. Even Brienne’s warmth. 

Why on earth did she leave alone?

They could have forgotten the past and started anew. He could have understood everything.

Cardin took out the ring from his pocket. He vividly remembered the slender fingers that matched this ring so well. If she were in front of him, he would have kissed her immediately and poured out his desires.

Because if you remembered, you would surely hate me.

…

Cardin, I’m truly sorry. For everything my father did too.

The contents of Brienne’s letter were vivid in his mind without him having to try to recall them.

Cardin clenched the ring. The Baron of Hurrick had blocked his path. A useless person who was of no help.

From the first time he was promoted to an executive at the Messerode Bank, he didn’t like his face. Come to think of it, back then…

He remembered. When he briefly made eye contact with Brienne. He didn’t like the situation at the time, so his expression wasn’t good. There were many beans he particularly disliked, and he didn’t like his mother’s and father’s pretense.

‘Why didn’t I get to know Brienne deeply back then?’

The more he thought about the past, the more he regretted it. Cardin clenched the ring tightly. No matter what, he wouldn’t lose her this time.

* * *

Even if it’s hard, you get used to it if you keep doing it. Finding a place to live deep in the forest is like that. It’s fortunate that it’s summer.

There’s no risk of frostbite, no slipping on snow, and there’s plenty of fruit, so there’s no worry about food. Just be careful of the heat and rain.

She continued walking along the mountain path with Viche. She deliberately chose places without paths. It was tough, but there was no choice.

The deeper into the mountain, the harder it is for people to find her. Having done this before, she gained some know-how. For example, quickly finding a stream to rest by.

She tied Viche to a tree and washed her face in a nearby stream. The mountain path was rough, and sweat kept flowing as her clothes clung to her body.

Looking at her hand, it didn’t shine like yesterday. It was so faint that she wondered if such a thing had happened to her.

‘I should have brought the ring. After all, it was given to me.’

Such foolish thoughts crossed her mind, but she was also relieved not to have it. It was better not to think of Cardin. Just thinking it was a dream was enough.

A dream. It indeed felt like a dream. She left behind what he had given her, so there was no evidence, only memories in her mind.

If she told someone she knew about this, they wouldn’t believe it. That she had saved her first love by chance and almost got married.

It was an absurd story, even to her. Ridiculous and implausible.

She stood up, staring blankly at the flowing stream.

Viche must have eaten some grass by now. She had to keep moving. She needed to find a place to rest before nightfall.

She moved diligently. The surroundings quickly darkened, and it began to rain heavily. She quickly donned a raincoat, but her arms and legs were wet and clung to her.

There was no suitable place to take shelter from the rain.

A cliff was right next to her, and the sound of a stream flowing loudly in the distance echoed. It sounded like a waterfall. She tightly held the rope connected to Viche and trudged along.