Astaire paused before answering.

And strangely, he didn’t feel guilty about lying right now.

He’d always been skilled at lying, at saying things he didn’t mean. But this time, he had the strange feeling that he was actually speaking the truth.

Why am I like this, really?

Astaire was confused.

“Love isn’t anything special.”

Had she read his mind? The woman beside him murmured.

Astaire just listened silently.

“You miss that person, when they’re sad you’re sad too, when they’re happy you’re happy too.”

“……”

“When they get hurt it feels like the world is ending, you feel like they should only look at you preciously. That’s all love is.”

Astaire quietly clenched his fist.

He barely held back the urge to argue with this woman.

Just because you feel those emotions doesn’t mean it can be called love.

Love couldn’t be such a destructive emotion.

“Some love is so hot like a fireball that it’s painful for both the giver and receiver.”

“……”

“But I don’t think lukewarm love is better. Since we only live once, isn’t a life of loving passionately like fire so much more wonderful?”

The woman looked at Astaire with what seemed like envy.

Astaire suddenly thought this woman must have her own story. He’d clearly witnessed a lonely shadow pass through her eyes.

But he didn’t bother asking.

There was nothing good about poking at painful memories.

Astaire stood on the terrace looking up at the night sky.

It was such a dark night that even the starlight was dim, and only the mountain peaks barely came into view. Even as the chilly wind dug into his collar, the man absolutely wouldn’t back down.

The mountain range extending beyond the horizon crouched quietly in the darkness.

He had to cross those mountains.

A deep resolve settled in Astaire’s heart.

From now on, he intended to properly revenge himself on whoever touched his bird.

* * *

The next day, Daphne fully regained her senses.

“You could stay a few more days.”

“No, thank you for everything.”

She didn’t want to impose any longer. Daphne waved her hands at the trailing woman and packed a small bag she didn’t even have.

“Is there anywhere nearby to send a telegram?”

“Yes, the telegraph office is about five minutes from here. I’ll give you directions.”

Meanwhile, Daphne grew puzzled listening to Astaire and the woman’s conversation.

Why was Astaire speaking down to the woman like he’d given up his disguise, and why wasn’t the woman offended, using extremely respectful language? Like she knew this man was really Duke Seyfried.

It was strange, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on such distractions.

“I’ll be right back.”

Astaire left Daphne at the woman’s house briefly to send a telegram.

By now, the Duke Seyfried’s estate must be in chaos.

The Duke who went to bring his wife back from Timaru to the capital hadn’t returned even after several days. To make matters worse, there was no contact at all.

They must be wondering if something terrible had happened to the Duke and his wife, the atmosphere becoming chaotic in an instant.

And…

Daphne hadn’t forgotten. The story about how distant relatives from the collateral ducal family sent assassins to young Astaire to steal his title when he was a child.

What kind of life had he lived?

For the first time, she could truly feel the weight this man carried.

You have shadows too.

You have burdens too heavy to bear.

Strangely, Daphne wanted to know more about this man.

About the shadows he carried.

Then maybe she could understand this incomprehensible man, at least from his own perspective.

Daphne couldn’t define this emotion blooming deep in her heart.

“Daphne.”

Lost in thought, Astaire had returned and was standing beside her.

“Let’s go now.”

The man reached out his hand to her.

Daphne stared at that large hand for a while.

The hand that comforted her. The hand that saved her. The hand that made her happy.

Suddenly, all these thoughts rushed in like waves.

No, she needed to snap out of it.

This man loved someone else.

Thinking that far, her heart grew cold like ice, like a lie.

She wore an utterly cold expression. A face the woman behind her couldn’t see, only Astaire standing before her could.

Astaire quietly raised his eyes.

Daphne didn’t avoid his gaze.

And.

“…Yes, let’s go.”

She might regret this day someday.

Not escaping to the end.

Returning to this d*mn man’s cage again.

But at least.

She wouldn’t look back on taking this man’s hand again right now.

Astaire sent a telegram to the ducal estate in the capital. The estate staff who made contact with the Duke immediately dispatched a carriage toward where the ducal couple was.

Though the carriage came at maximum speed, they still had to impose on the woman’s house for several hours.

“Thank you so much for your help.”

“It was nothing.”

Daphne repeatedly expressed her gratitude. The woman silently waved it off like it was nothing.

Astaire looked at the woman and said just one thing.

“I won’t forget this kindness. I’ll repay it somehow.”

“I didn’t do it expecting repayment.”

As expected, the woman seemed to have guessed her and Astaire’s identities. Yet the woman pretended not to know until the end.

There are occasionally such people in the world.

Should she say they’ve become detached from worldly affairs? People who help strangers without expecting anything in return. Thinking that far, Daphne suddenly recalled Tomer Belinda she’d met in Timaru.

Was he doing well?

And his daughter Elda Belinda too.

Actually, they hadn’t helped Daphne without any compensation. Mr. Belinda was the Second Prince’s acquaintance, and must have helped her at the Second Prince’s request or perhaps order.

Thinking that far made her mouth bitter.

How long would she have to shed the shell of being a duchess and become fully herself?

And.

Why was the Second Prince helping her this much?

There were many things to resolve when she returned to the capital.

Daphne finally realized. That she’d been too reckless. That she’d run away blindly without looking at the environment surrounding her.

Just because she decided to return to Astaire didn’t mean she’d given up on divorcing him.

This time she would prepare more thoroughly.

Using failure as a stepping stone, next time she would properly divorce and leave this man.

Astaire Seyfried.

This man was dangerous to her.

“Let’s hurry back.”

“Yes.”

Astaire climbed into the carriage first and reached out his hand to Daphne.

Daphne paused briefly, then accepted his escort and boarded the carriage.

The stopped carriage slowly began moving. Crack, crack! The coachman wielded his whip more frequently than usual. The horses moved even more vigorously.

They headed up to the capital Elysion at maximum possible speed.

* * *

The moment tall, splendid building roofs appeared outside the window, she knew they’d finally entered the capital Elysion.

The carriage ran without rest.

From splendid streets to even more splendid streets, continuing inward.

When they entered the street where high nobles and imperial ministers had lived for generations.

At the end of the street, the largest and most splendid Duke Seyfried’s estate came into view.

As the carriage approached, the heavy iron gate opened.

“That carriage is…”

As the carriage moved without delay to park, Daphne saw another carriage passing by outside the window.

A carriage decorated second most splendidly after the carriage the Duke and Duchess Seyfried rode at the estate.

Namely, Grand Duchess Daniela Seyfried’s carriage.

“Has the Grand Duchess come?”

“…Nothing strange about it. Since I, Duke Seyfried, suddenly lost contact, the estate would have contacted my mother, the family’s great elder, to handle business.”

Astaire answered in a tone suggesting this wasn’t surprising.

Daphne suddenly felt a headache coming on.

Come to think of it, she’d forgotten.

Grand Duchess Seyfried.

She’d agreed to help with the divorce, but all plans fell through due to Astaire’s interference.

How would the Grand Duchess react?

Daphne was curious and simultaneously didn’t want to know.

“We’ve arrived!”

Finally the carriage stopped, and the coachman shouted from outside. Astaire got out of the carriage first and helped Daphne down.

Even the simple act of extending her foot to the ground felt difficult. Time seemed to flow painfully slowly.

Just then, a figure appeared at the front entrance.

She could tell who it was without getting closer.

It was Grand Duchess Seyfried.

She greeted the ducal couple with an inscrutable expression, resembling Astaire.

“You’re finally here.”

“Yes, we’re finally here.”

The Grand Duchess didn’t even ask where they’d been. She’d probably already heard the general situation.

As Daphne passed by, she saw the Grand Duchess gripping her skirt tightly.

She felt uneasy.

“Go inside and rest. You must be exhausted from the long journey.”

“No. Hasn’t a lot of work piled up because of me?”

“It’s fine. I resolved it thanks to your aide.”

Astaire just raised his eyes silently afterward.

A subtle atmosphere flowed between the Grand Duchess and her son. Even Daphne watching from the side couldn’t read this air.

Then the Grand Duchess’s gaze turned to Daphne.

“The Duchess.”

Somehow, it sounded like emphasis was placed on “Duchess.”

This feeling probably wasn’t her imagination.

“Can you talk with me briefly?”

The Grand Duchess looked straight at Daphne and said.

Before answering, Daphne looked at Astaire’s face beyond the Grand Duchess’s head.

A rigidly stiff face.

A face that clearly showed he didn’t like this situation. But the man didn’t bother stopping the two women’s meeting.

“Yes, Grand Duchess.”

So Daphne agreed.

The study Astaire used, which the Grand Duchess had been using for several days, now reclaimed its original owner.

The Grand Duchess headed to the room she’d used when she once stayed at this estate.

The Duchess’s private room that Daphne had used before leaving the estate.

“Have you been using my room well?”

“Yes.”

“Nothing uncomfortable?”

Daphne was confused. The Grand Duchess suddenly asking these questions and looking after her felt extremely unfamiliar.

She should be careful of kindness and warmth without reason.

Daphne answered quietly, still guarding against the Grand Duchess.

“Yes.”

Click.

The door closed, leaving only the room’s current owner and former owner.

“Well, nothing in this mansion would be too good for you anyway.”

Only then did the Grand Duchess remove her mask and reveal her true self.

Daphne didn’t avoid the Grand Duchess’s gaze.

“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Actually, she had a lot to say.