4. The Owner of That Heart, Let Me Be  

Count Hedway rubbed his face with his hands, occasionally letting out groans. A heavy silence lingered.  

“We’re returning to our estate immediately.”  

The Count straightened his posture as if he had made up his mind. This was not a problem Larael could handle.  

Before her return, Larael had cried and raged for days, claiming she had been violated by the Emperor, leaving the Count with no time to think as he tried to calm her down.  

“I’m not going back. I’ll return to my room and rest. Father, Mother, please rest as well.”  

Before the Count could say anything else, Larael quickly stood, bowed, and left the Countess’s bedroom. Her steps were heavy, but she wanted to rest. For the first time in a long while, she returned to her own bedroom.  

‘How long has it been since I came back here?’ 

As soon as she entered, she quickly scanned the furniture, bedding, and curtains.  

‘Was my taste always this childish?’ 

“Sasha, Joanna.”  

She called out the names of her maids warmly.  

“My lady, why are you suddenly so sentimental?”  

Sasha asked with a shy smile.  

“I missed you so much… both of you.”  

“Then please sleep at home from now on. Everyone was worried.”  

“My lady, you seem different. It feels like you’ve returned as a grown woman.”  

They hadn’t expected the cheerful Larael, who had left holding the Grand Duke’s hand, to return with such sorrowful eyes, as if she carried the weight of the world’s sadness.  

“I’m tired. I want to rest.”  

Sasha and Joanna helped Larael change out of her dress and into her nightwear. Larael threw herself onto the bed.  

‘What on earth did that bastard Herwen give me?’ 

Her head still felt heavy, and she occasionally felt sharp pains, causing her to frown. But soon the pain subsided, and the comfort she hadn’t felt in so long lulled her into sleep before she could think further.  

—

When Larael woke up, it was already the next morning. After having a light breakfast in her room, she decided to take a short walk in the garden. The weather was too nice to stay indoors.  

“My lady!!!”  

Sasha burst into the room, calling out to her urgently.  

“Jane, who was cleaning the entrance hall, said her relative works at a newspaper. She heard that you and Grand Duke Vellaus have broken off your engagement.”  

“It’s true.”  —

Larael answered before Sasha could finish speaking and stepped out of the room to head to the garden.  

“What???”  

Joanna, who had been smiling beside her, widened her eyes in shock at Larael’s response. She forgot what she was doing and hurriedly followed Larael.

“Th-then… His Majes-…”  

Larael stopped walking and turned around, silently looking at Sasha instead of answering. Feeling the unspoken pressure that no further questions would be allowed, Sasha closed her mouth.  

The morning walk, which would usually be filled with Sasha and Joanna’s chatter, was unusually quiet. Occasionally, Larael would ask about the names of flowers, and Joanna would answer, but that was all.  

Sasha gave Joanna a look, urging her to say something instead, but Joanna didn’t know what to say either.  

If what they had heard was true, no words would be able to comfort Larael right now. Sasha couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Even her back as she walked seemed pitiful.  

At that moment, the sound of urgent hoofbeats grew louder and louder.  

They all turned to look at the man riding a massive horse, galloping through the garden toward Larael.  

The horse trampled carelessly over the meticulously tended garden maintained by the Countess. When the enormous horse came to a stop in front of Larael, it slowed its pace gradually.  

Seeing the man on the horse, Sasha and Joanna gasped and took a few steps back, bowing deeply.  

The man who dismounted from the horse, having spotted Larael, was none other than Herwen, who was now about to become her former fiancé.  

His usually well-groomed, neatly combed-back blond hair was disheveled, reflecting his state of mind. His eyes wavered with unease and anxiety.  

“Your Grace, the Grand Duke of Vellaus.”  

Larael lightly held her dress and bowed her head slightly. Seeing Herwen’s face, she barely managed to suppress the hollow laugh that threatened to escape her lips.  

‘Why didn’t I realize it before?’  

The more she looked at him, the stranger he seemed. It was as if someone had intentionally placed disheveled hair on an otherwise perfectly maintained face.  

His skin was smooth, as though he had slept well, his eyes were clear without a single red vein, and his lips were a glossy crimson.  

He hugged Larael and began sobbing, his body trembling.  

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”  

‘What a load of nonsense.’  

Being buried in his arms made her feel suffocated. She wanted to push him away immediately.  

“If I had known my brother harbored impure intentions toward you, I would never have taken you to the imperial palace… This is my fault. If you’re okay with it, let’s go somewhere far away, just the two of us.”  

‘Your words sustained me during that moment… I thought of you as my only savior… But everything must have been part of your plan.’  

Larael bit her lip hard. So hard, in fact, that she didn’t notice the inside of her mouth being torn. The metallic taste of blood spread through her mouth.  

“Your Grace, the Grand Duke.”  

Larael gently pushed Herwen away and called him as softly as she could.  

“There are too many people here.”  

‘You must have chosen this place on purpose.’  

“Your Grace!”  

The Count and Countess, having heard of Herwen’s arrival, rushed out of the mansion. They had sent messages requesting a meeting with the Grand Duke of Vellaus but had received no response.  

When they heard that the Grand Duke himself had come, they immediately stopped what they were doing and hurried outside.  

Seeing the Count and Countess running toward him, a slight frown appeared on Herwen’s face.  

“Your Grace, it would be best if you left now.”  

Larael, noticing Herwen’s expression, spoke. After a moment’s hesitation, Herwen nodded.  

He hadn’t come to meet the Count and Countess; he had come to see Larael. Herwen got back on his horse and, once again, cast a sorrowful look at Larael.  

“Larael, my heart will never change. No matter what position you’re in or where you are, the owner of my heart will always be you.”  

Matching Herwen’s expression, Larael put on a sorrowful face and slowly nodded.  

‘Alright. I’ll be the owner of that heart.’  

—

“Does the Grand Duke of Vellaus still refuse to meet me?”  

“Yes, Your Majesty.”  

Edward sighed, tapping his fingers on the desk.  

For days, he had been facing fierce opposition from the noble council regarding the appointment of Larael Hedway as Empress. It was the first time since he became Emperor that the nobles had united so strongly against him.  

Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager had visited Edward and suggested that if he appointed Larael as a consort instead of Empress, she would try to persuade some of the nobles.  

But the “some” she referred to were no ordinary nobles. Behind the Empress Dowager stood the Duke of Anderman, the second most influential family in the Kazel Empire after the imperial family.  

For the Empress Dowager, Herwen’s biological mother, to say such a thing meant that she was willing to forgive Edward for touching her son’s woman, as long as Larael was made a consort and not Empress.  

The Empress Dowager was always a difficult opponent, and her intentions were hard to read. But Edward couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the title of “consort.”  

The pro-Emperor faction of nobles vehemently opposed even the idea of making Larael a consort. This scandal was a critical blow to the foundation Edward had painstakingly built as Emperor.  

A tarnished moral image was irreparable, no matter how well he performed in other areas. This single issue could easily bring everything crashing down.  

Just when Edward thought he had solidified his position as Emperor and was ready to discuss the appointment of an Empress, this disaster had struck.  

The nobles, knowing Edward’s determination to see his decisions through, began to think that appointing Larael as a consort, as the Empress Dowager suggested, might be the lesser evil.  

“I’ll go to Herwen’s residence myself.”