Ravenne, who had said she was going to the bathroom, headed towards the fountain in front of the square with staggering steps.

Gazing endlessly at the water streaming out freely…

“Ah, I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

Her stomach churned even more.

To settle the nausea, she barely managed to sit on the edge of the fountain with precarious movements that looked like she might fall at any moment.

The surrounding area, glittering with lights, was filled with constant laughter, music, and conversation. Ravenne blinked slowly, letting the chaotic noise around her fade into the background.

It had already been two weeks since she left the mansion. The scheduled wedding date had already passed in that time.

Fortunately, people didn’t seem particularly suspicious about the postponement of the wedding. With such shocking events happening day after day, they rather considered the delay natural.

But how long could this secret be kept?

“…just wishing.”

She hadn’t written anything yet on the documents Ilion had given her. Things like alimony or property division. While the difficult words were partly to blame, the more fundamental problem was hesitation.

It felt like if she wrote something there, then she’s truly accepting the breakup. Of course, she knew it wasn’t a matter of accepting it or not.

“What are you going to do if you can’t accept it?”

It was a useless attachment, not being able to write anything even while knowing the person’s heart had already left.

Thinking about whether to try and extort a large sum of money since things had come to this, she absentmindedly looked up at the sky when a round soap bubble popped right in front of her eyes.

A little distance away, several children were running around blowing soap bubbles.

Pop. Pop.

The soap bubbles carried by the wind popped one after another, evoking memories of the past.

“Come to think of it, Ilion’s expression back then was really worth seeing.”

Recalling Ilion’s pale face in the attic, thinking she was going to jump out, Ravenne slowly raised the corners of her mouth.

She reached out to try and catch another soap bubble floating towards her. Just when it seemed within reach, it frustratingly slipped through her fingers.

“I think I can catch it.”

As she slowly leaned forward to reach out a bit more, she suddenly lost her balance and tilted.

‘Was there a fountain behind? If I fall in the water, Lily will scold me.’

While worrying more about Lily’s nagging than the impending splash, she suddenly thought how beautiful the moonlight looked.

Next to the moonlight, a few strands darker than the night sky fluttered. Her hand, reaching towards the sky, unconsciously grasped the black strands.

“…caught it.”

Ravenne, smiling contentedly at what she had caught in her hand, felt her eyelids growing heavier and drifted off to sleep.

***

“Isn’t Miss taking too long?”

Even though enough time had passed for her to go to the bathroom and return, there was no sign of Ravenne. With a worried face, Lily fidgeted restlessly, repeatedly standing up and sitting down.

“Don’t worry. She’s coming over there.”

Spinel, still with an unconcerned expression, pointed in one direction. There, Ravenne was being carried in a man’s arms, coming towards them.

The man was someone both of them knew very well. And because he wasn’t just someone only the two of them knew well, the surroundings became a bit noisy.

“Wh-why is Your Grace here?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

He tells her to leave when she’s there, but shows his face when she’s about to forget. Spinel looked at Ilion with a slightly displeased expression and stood up.

“Let’s get going now.”

Spinel approached Ilion and looked him up and down with a pathetic expression before speaking.

“You look quite amusing.”

It was indeed funny to see him with a lock of his hair caught in Ravenne’s grasp. He must have known it too, as he didn’t retort. Or perhaps he was embarrassed to be caught in this state.

“We were just about to head home anyway.”

Saying this, Spinel reached out his hand. It was a gesture to hand over Ravenne.

There’s no way he couldn’t have understood that, yet Ilion’s arms showed no sign of loosening. He seemed quite unwilling to hand Ravenne over.

“How long are you going to keep holding her?”

“My hair is caught.”

He made the pitiful excuse that he couldn’t hand her over because his hair was caught, and seeing this, Spinel lit a flame at his fingertips.

“If that’s the problem, don’t worry. I’ll burn it off cleanly.”

Thanks to the rising flames, even more attention was drawn to the already conspicuous pair.

Lily, who hurriedly grabbed Spinel’s arm to stop him, secretly sighed. She thought sadly that if she had to choose the person who made the biggest mistake among these four, it might be herself for suggesting they come to watch the coronation.

***

Spinel had intended to bring back only Ravenne even if it meant plucking out all of Ilion’s hair, but things didn’t go according to her plan.

Spinel watched with a displeased face as Ilion laid Ravenne down on the bed.

“If you’re that attached, why didn’t you just hold onto her until you die?”

“You weren’t going to let that happen anyway, were you?”

“Well, that’s…”

Spinel didn’t bother to deny it and shrugged his shoulders. He hadn’t approved of their marriage from the beginning, after all.

“How’s life here? Is it livable?”

“It’s manageable.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Watching Ilion interpret his words as he pleased was exasperating. Regardless of Spinel’s discomfort, Ilion just kept gazing at the sleeping Ravenne.

Her sleeping face, oblivious to the world, was always lovely. So much that he wanted to keep looking at it.

“Please take good care of her from now on.”

“What?”

“Why are you asking when you know?”

Ilion, who had been looking at Ravenne with tender eyes just a moment ago, now looked like a completely different person as he brazenly asked back.

Spinel felt a wave of regret for not burning off all his hair when he had the chance to bring her home.

“You’re really going all out now that your days are numbered. Don’t order me around.”

“It’s not an order, it’s a request.”

Who makes a request like this?

“Stop worrying about useless things and just close your eyes already, will you?”

Ilion smiled slightly at Spinel’s sharp sarcasm.

“Hearing you say that puts me at ease.”

Has he gone mad? Even their first meeting, when he didn’t hide his hostility, seemed more agreeable in comparison. They say humans do things they’ve never done before when they’re about to die, and that was another new fact she learned.

Ilion, who had been speaking nonsense unlike his usual self, took one last look at Ravenne’s face before leaving the room.

Left alone, Spinel stared at the door where Ilion had disappeared with a sour expression.

“He really is Ceras’s son, always saying what he wants and leaving.”

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Ilion resembled Ceras. Even in his blind devotion to the person he loved.

It seemed like a thankless task to be caught between the two, watching both sides.

While Spinel’s worries deepened, Ravenne was still sleeping, oblivious to the world. It was a peaceful appearance, unaware of the sorrow to come.

***

I woke up, clutching my throbbing head. The gloomy sky outside made it hard to tell if it was day or night.

The only thing certain was that it was long past the time I should have woken up.

Groaning from the hangover, I crawled downstairs where Lily greeted me cheerfully.

“Are you up? How are you feeling?”

“Not good. I think I drank too much.”

Lily handed me a cup of warm tea as I lay there looking like death.

“Drink this. It’s good for hangovers.”

Indeed, only Lily takes care of me like this. Touched by her thoughtfulness, I drank the tea when suddenly fragments of last night’s memories started coming back.

“Come to think of it, I don’t remember how I got home. Did you bring me back, Lily?”

At my words, Lily smiled faintly and avoided eye contact.

Did I ask something strange? Why is she acting like that? Lily soon disappeared into the kitchen, saying she would prepare lunch, and I lay on the sofa, trying to recall what I had to do today.

First, I should finish planting the seedlings I started yesterday, and in the evening, it might be good to read the book I bought from the bookstore. But before that, I need to get over this hangover…

“Ravenne! Are you here?”

Just as I was thinking about asking Lily for another cup of tea, an ear-piercing voice was heard. It was a voice I had heard somewhere before.

Since the house was built in the middle of nowhere, there wasn’t really any reason for visitors, so I opened the front door with curiosity. And there stood a very familiar middle-aged woman.

“I couldn’t believe it, but you really were here!”

“…How did you know to come here, Countess?”

I had heard they were looking for me, but I never thought they’d actually find me. Right, one shouldn’t speak carelessly. Words can come true…

“Did you just call me Countess? You don’t even intend to call me mother anymore?”

“We inquired at all the real estate agencies to find my sister. It took time, but we managed.”

Theo briefly explained on behalf of my mother, who was furious at being called Countess. Not that he was particularly friendly towards me either.

To think they would go to such lengths as searching through agencies to find me, it was truly remarkable dedication. With this level of persistence, I wonder why they couldn’t get into the academy.

“You must have had a hard time coming all this way.”

I mocked their dedication without hiding my displeasure. The Countess looked at me with angry eyes and asked,

“What are you doing in a place like this?”

“Living a rural life. It’s been my lifelong dream, you see.”

“What about the wedding?”

Seeing that they’ve come all the way here, they must have already visited the Duke’s mansion, so I don’t understand why she’s asking such bothersome questions.

Maybe because of the hangover, her sharp voice seemed to bypass my eardrums and go straight to my brain. My head throbbed.

“Mother has been so worried about you. She’s been searching everywhere.”

Theo, who was standing beside her, chimed in. They say a meddling sister-in-law is worse than a beating mother-in-law. I wonder why I’m dealing with this from my own mother and brother.

“Let’s be honest, it’s not me you’re worried about, but the property you’re afraid I might run off with. Isn’t that right, Mother?”

I looked at the two of them with a sneer. If they were so worried, they could have come after the Harvest Festival.

They were family who hadn’t shown their faces even once after everything was resolved, let alone when I was in prison.

The property talk must have hit the mark, as the Countess glared at me and shouted,

“So after disgracing the family, you’re going to act selfishly like this?”

“Yes.”

I looked at her with a bright smile.

“I must have raised you very wrong.”

“Of course you did. I thought you already knew that?”

She muttered, sneering heavily at my answer.

“…Ravenne. You can only act like this for now.”

I wondered what made her so confident, when two burly men appeared behind her.

“I don’t want to use violent methods, so come along quietly.”

Having said that, the Countess looked at me with quite a triumphant expression and smiled.