How much longer must I stay here?

Brother won’t understand! How terrible this life is.

The letter, consisting of just two hastily scrawled lines, fully conveyed Roina’s negative emotions.

‘Perhaps the one who helped me escape was…’

It might well have been the man right in front of her.

Trying to appear calm, Roina asked a question.

“Was it for the same reason that you helped me leave the mansion?”

At that question, Bleon quietly took her in with his eyes.

Only after a moment of silence did he gradually open his mouth.

“You could say that.”

Only then could Roina understand how she had fled to the cabin last summer.

‘So it was my brother who helped me back then.’

She wanted to continue the conversation, but Bleon didn’t seem pleased with this topic.

With a subtly hardened expression, he ran a hand through his hair and said.

“It would be better not to trust Conrad too much.”

When her husband’s name suddenly came up, Roina’s violet eyes trembled slightly.

Anticipating her reaction, Bleon let out a sneer and murmured softly.

“Well, you would know best.”

Just as Roina was about to respond to these puzzling words, a trumpet sound echoed loudly.

It was the signal announcing that the time for the hunting competition’s start was approaching.

“I should go now. Everyone will be looking for you, so you should go ahead.”

At Bleon’s words that he would join the hunting grounds shortly, Roina hurried toward the competition venue.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Returning to the forest entrance, she saw Asheter family knights moving quietly yet swiftly, seemingly searching for someone.

Due to the bustling and noisy surroundings, they seemed to have noticed Roina’s disappearance belatedly.

She approached them naturally as if nothing had happened.

“Madam, where have you been?”

“I just went to the water station to wash my hands.”

The knight, glancing at the wet handkerchief in her hand, nodded and said.

“Wild animals might appear, so it would be better to have an escort next time.”

It was closer to surveillance than concern, but Roina readily agreed.

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

Soon, with the Emperor’s opening speech, participants in the hunting competition began heading into the forest.

As Roina entered the tent where ladies and young noblewomen were resting, Countess Rikeran welcomed her warmly.

“Over here, Duchess!”

“It’s been a while, Countess.”

Smiling brightly, Adeline covered her mouth with a fan and whispered softly.

“You must have been late giving the ribbon tie to your husband.”

Unable to tell the truth, Roina nodded with an awkward smile.

Though it had happened the day before, she had indeed given Conrad a ribbon tie.

After exchanging greetings with Roina, Adeline mentioned her husband and grumbled softly.

“I gave him a ribbon tie, and he asked why I prepared it. Really, what an unromantic man.”

Yet even as she said this, she couldn’t hide her affection for the count.

With a gentle smile on her lips, Roina answered.

“I’m sure he was truly happy about it.”

Unlike someone who had reluctantly accepted a ribbon tie out of minimal courtesy.

“By the way, does the duke enjoy hunting?”

“…I don’t think I’ve seen much of it.”

Roina didn’t know exactly if her husband enjoyed hunting.

Apart from her unreturned memories, even when she knew him as Eden, they had never discussed such things.

Nodding lightly, Adeline drew her own conclusion as if understanding.

“Well, he’s such a busy person, he probably doesn’t have time.”

While conversing with Adeline about various matters, Roina suddenly checked the brooch inside her garment and froze.

‘Huh? Where is it…?’

She searched her garment and pockets again, but the brooch was nowhere to be found.

Wondering if she had dropped it nearby, she looked around.

Yet the situation remained unchanged. The brooch she had put inside her garment was gone.

Her mind went blank, and her heart began to race rapidly.

She needed to calmly figure out where she had lost the brooch.

‘Could I have lost it in the forest earlier?’

Perhaps she had dropped it then, too busy talking with Bleon to notice.

Roina excused herself to Countess Rikeran and quietly slipped out of the tent.

As she hurriedly tried to move toward the forest, the knights temporarily assigned to guard her asked with puzzled faces.

“Madam, where are you going?”

“I’ve lost something and need to go retrieve it briefly.”

“We can go for you—”

“No, I must go myself.”

Roina felt she needed to confirm with her own eyes whether the brooch was still in its place.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

At Roina’s words that she had lost her brooch, the knights respectfully followed behind her.

While the knights searched near the water station, Roina quickly headed to the place where she had met Bleon.

After looking along the path, she rummaged through the undergrowth with her bare hands, not caring that her hands were getting dirty.

Contrary to her expectation that she would find it quickly in this deserted place, the brooch was nowhere to be seen.

At the thought that perhaps a wild animal or crow had taken it, her hands began to tremble slightly.

“Why did I wear it out…”

Roina blamed herself for failing to protect the gift she had received from Conrad long ago.

To make matters worse, heavy raindrops began to pour from the sky.

Swoosh—.

Taking shelter under a large tree, Roina covered her pale face with both hands.

Thinking she might never see the object that held memories with Conrad again, she felt both sorrowful and empty.

‘That brooch might have been the only thing connecting me to you…’

As the rain gradually subsided, Roina gathered herself and stood up.

Due to the rain, participants would be coming out of the forest one by one, and the hunting competition would likely conclude soon.

Moreover, the Asheter family knights would be searching for her, so she needed to return quickly.

Thinking she would come back to this place when daylight broke, she was about to move with heavy steps.

Heavy footsteps gradually approached and then stopped in front of her.

‘Why are you here…’

Roina’s bewildered violet eyes trembled slightly.

The one who had approached her was none other than Conrad Asheter.

Somewhat disheveled from the rain, the man stared at her intently with an indescribable expression.

Unable to meet his gaze, Roina hung her head low and tightly clenched her fingertips.

Soon, exhaling a deep sigh, Conrad asked in a low, sinking voice.

“What are you doing here now?”

Roina felt her throat burning and tears welling in her eyes.

Barely squeezing out her voice, she apologized incoherently.

“I’m… sorry.”

At her sudden apology, Conrad raised an eyebrow obliquely.

“I don’t understand why you’re apologizing to me.”

Moving her lips, Roina looked up at him with a face filled with dismay.

“I lost the brooch… you gave me.”

Though she had intended to speak calmly, her voice trembled at the end.

Staring at her with an unreadable gaze, Conrad narrowed his brow as if he didn’t understand.

“What of it? Why are you searching to this extent?”

“……”

Looking up at him quietly, Roina’s eyes gradually filled with sadness.

‘Because it was a gift you gave me.’

Perhaps this man had forgotten their memories from long ago.

Not wanting to reveal her face shadowed with despair, she lowered her head again.

“I really… wanted to find it.”

A desperate voice flowed from Roina’s lips.

To a man who didn’t believe in his wife’s affection and instead despised it, such behavior from her would be even more troublesome and hateful.

Yet the long-held feelings for one man still resided deep in Roina’s heart.

And paradoxically, those tender emotions made her even more miserable.

Conrad, who had been quietly watching Roina with her mouth firmly closed, exhaled a deep breath.

Then he took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

“Let’s return to the mansion first. I’ll call a search party tomorrow.”