They were asking to borrow the estate as the venue for their engagement announcement.

The sudden request was startling enough to leave Richel momentarily speechless.

Without realizing it, she furrowed her brows.

“You want to hold your engagement announcement here? Shouldn’t something like that normally be done at the Viscount’s estate?”

“That was the original plan, but due to unavoidable circumstances, we can’t use the Nathan estate anymore. They said repairs won’t be finished until next autumn, but we really want to hold the engagement gathering in spring.”

“You have to?”

“Yes. I want to be married before I turn twenty-three.”

Normally, at least six months passed between an engagement announcement and the wedding itself.

If they announced it in autumn next year, the actual marriage would not happen until the following spring.

At that moment, James abruptly cut in with a deep frown.

“I told you I would be the one to bring this up.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. But since tonight’s already the last evening and you still hadn’t mentioned it, I thought perhaps you’d forgotten.”

Her words were apologetic in content alone.

Her tone, however, was anything but apologetic.

She sounded completely unconcerned with James’s displeasure.

James was the first to explode.

“You announce your marriage plans as though they’re mere notifications, and now you continue to grow more and more insolent!”

“If I offended you, then I apologize. But I have my own thoughts and opinions too. A request like this is something I should be allowed to make myse—”

“Cornelia Isle!”

James slammed his hand violently against the dining table.

The silverware rattled sharply.

The atmosphere instantly turned hostile.

His face flushed red as he glared at Cornelia.

“Stop speaking in ways that disgrace your father! And apologize immediately for that nonsense you just said.”

“Nonsense? This is the most important decision of my life.”

Cornelia shot back without backing down.

Lately, she had been like this every single time.

Headstrong.

Disrespectful.

Defiant.

James’s temper exploded almost immediately.

“If you intend to marry in such a disgraceful manner, then don’t expect any support from your father! And you as well, David Nathan—remember this clearly. If you continue behaving like this, you won’t receive a single coin in dowry.”

Before David could even respond, Cornelia spoke first.

“And if I don’t receive a dowry? Does that mean I’m free to marry however I please?”

“…What?”

“Isn’t that exactly what you just said?”

She looked at James and smiled.

The smile was terribly out of place for the atmosphere, making it seem all the more provocative.

After laughing for a while, she added,

“I’ll remember your advice, Father.”

It was no different from throwing oil onto a fire.

“Cornelia Isle!!”

James roared like thunder.

“Get up this instant! There’s no point continuing this conversation.”

“You should leave first, Father. I’d like to stay and finish my meal. It’s not often I get to enjoy such an excellent dinner.”

She dipped the lamb generously into the sauce and placed it into her mouth.

James looked moments away from flipping the entire table over.

Richel pressed a hand against her forehead.

‘Why is all of this happening here of all places?’

The horseback outing earlier had already been a disaster, and now even the dinner had fallen apart like this.

This situation was not her fault, but it was still exhausting all the same.

As the hostess, it was her responsibility to restore order and calm the situation somehow.

She was just wondering when she should step in when Edwin suddenly rose from his seat.

“We’ll excuse ourselves first. Richel, let’s go.”

“Huh? W-Wait—”

Instead of calming things down, he intended to leave entirely.

Richel stared at him in confusion, but Edwin simply took hold of her and helped her to her feet.

James looked at him in disbelief.

“And what exactly are you doing now?”

“We’re leaving the room out of basic courtesy. After all, someone who cares so much about hierarchy and dignity is currently involved in such a disgraceful argument.”

The redness on James’s face deepened for an entirely different reason.

Edwin had thrown back the exact same words James had used earlier that day.

Then he lowered his head slightly.

“We’ll be taking our leave now. Please continue your discussion in private.”

Pulled along by Edwin, Richel left the dining room in a daze.

She was so stunned she instinctively glanced back over her shoulder.

What if things escalated further?

What if it turned physical?

“Edwin, wait a second. Is it really okay to just leave them like that? Your uncle and Cornelia both look like they’re not willing to back down at all…”

“Now that we’ve left, the atmosphere should settle down a little. Besides, it’s their family matter. There’s no reason for us to stay and watch.”

“That’s true, but… we’re still involved in this situation, aren’t we? They were asking to borrow the estate for the engagement announcement.”

At those words, Edwin stopped walking.

“…Are you thinking of letting them use it?”

“Well… that’s something you should decide.”

“Why? Because by then you’ll already be gone?”

The words came out far more bluntly than expected.

Edwin looked at her silently.

The corners of his eyes slowly reddened.

Richel awkwardly tried to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“It’s not exactly that… You’re the lord of this estate. And you’re the Count. It’s only right that the decision should be yours.”

She tried explaining it as a matter of principle, but it did little to help.

Edwin lowered his head.

The tears that had gathered in his eyes finally spilled over.

Only then did Richel realize he had been thinking about the divorce the entire time.

That was likely why he had been unusually quiet throughout dinner.

He cried while desperately trying not to make a sound.

Under the dim corridor lamps, his tear-soaked face fell into shadow.

Richel reached out and gently wiped his wet cheeks.

“Stop crying. What are you going to do if someone sees you like this out here?”

Edwin spoke in a trembling voice.

“I know you want a divorce. I know that, but after we divorce… hng… I don’t know how I’m supposed to live afterward…”

Once he lost Richel again—once there was no place left in this mansion where he could find her—he would be left wandering alone through empty rooms once more.

And that terrified him.

Richel let out a sigh.

Edwin’s reactions were still far too extreme and emotional.

“People adapt and survive no matter where they are. Life goes on somehow. Why can’t you do the same?”

But Edwin had no confidence that he could.

He would never be able to live normally again.

That certainty came from experience.

Perhaps that was the real reason he had returned here in the first place.

To pay the price for the things he had never been forgiven for.

He wanted to remain by her side.

To stay with her.

To learn from her.

To grow.

The feelings that had only just begun awakening inside him sank beneath his tears once more.

‘I should have just died back then.’

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Richel suddenly grabbed both his cheeks with a sharp smack.

Edwin looked at her through tear-blurred eyes.

Richel spoke firmly.

“You’re trapped in that delusion again, aren’t you? The way you’re crying right now, the way you’re overreacting because you think you won’t survive after the divorce—it’s all connected to that.”

Otherwise, there was no way he would react this severely.

Edwin’s behavior was beyond simply not wanting a divorce.

He looked like someone who had already experienced it once before.

Like someone grieving something he was utterly convinced had truly happened.

“Isn’t that right?”

Edwin said nothing.

Tears simply continued spilling down, dampening her hands.

As though he had chosen to remain imprisoned inside that delusion.

Richel felt suffocated.

As long as Edwin could not escape those delusions, he would always end up like this again.

Shaking and sobbing as though suffering another attack.

Like a madman.

“Edwin, I want you to get out of that delusion.”

What she wanted was for him to break free from it.

To realize it was false—nothing more than twisted memories or imagination—and sever the emotions born from it.

‘And if this isn’t something he can overcome through willpower alone…’

After a moment of thought, she spoke again.

“Let’s do this instead. Allow Cornelia and David to hold their engagement announcement here. Once they do, they’ll practically be as good as married. Then you’ll have undeniable proof that your thoughts are nothing but baseless delusions.”

The delusion affecting him most deeply was the one involving David Nathan.

The delusion that David and Richel would somehow become connected.

Once David safely held his engagement announcement here with Cornelia, Edwin would have no choice but to acknowledge that his fears were only fantasies.

“I’ll wait until then. But once their engagement gathering is over, I’m filing the divorce papers immediately.”

She deliberately spoke more firmly.

By next spring, she intended to completely end this relationship.

She had no intention of yielding any further than this.

Richel continued.

“Our marriage has been a mess from beginning to end. So at the very least, let’s separate normally. People say there’s no such thing as a good breakup, but…”

She had already suffered enough.

If possible, she wanted the time they had left to be peaceful and uneventful.

At this point, screaming at Edwin or venting her anger would change nothing.

That kind of emotional exhaustion only left her tired.

“So you let go of those delusions, and I’ll make a fresh start. And that engagement gathering will also serve as your official return to society.”

An engagement announcement gathering was a formal party attended by over a hundred guests.

Cornelia and David would be the main focus, but it would also become the perfect occasion for Edwin’s return to high society after his disappearance.

“Until the engagement gathering, take things slowly. Continue your treatment, and let’s work on transferring the estate management responsibilities too. We still have plenty of time.”

Her proposal was the very last of her patience and mercy toward Edwin.

Only after quietly sobbing several more times did Edwin finally manage to answer.

“…Okay. I’ll do that.”