Annely’s gaze drifted to the clock out of habit.

“Madam. The Duke won’t be coming.”

At those words, Amber tried to stop her, a dissatisfied look on her face. An hour had already passed since their appointment, yet Annely’s upright posture had not changed in the slightest.

“He will come.”

Annely spoke with conviction, but Amber no longer believed it.

“It was the same last time. And the time before that, too. Why has His Grace changed so suddenly? Ever since two years ago…”

Amber finally noticed Annely’s expression mid-sentence, falling silent as a result. She lowered her gaze to the teacup in her hands and lost herself in thought.

Yes. Her husband hadn’t come last time, nor the time before that. He had changed two years ago, the moment he had inherited the dukedom.

Before then, at the very least, their marriage had been better than it was now. Even if he hadn’t been affectionate, he had always been considerate and made time for her. It was the sweetness of those three years that had sustained her until now.

“No. This time, he will definitely come.”

Annely was certain.

This time was different.

Because the letter she had sent was not another pitiful plea, written while watching his mood and begging for love.

Just then, the sound of heavy footsteps reached her ears, and the corner of Annely’s lips lifted. It was far too sorrowful to be called a smile.

‘So it really is him.’

Having something she already knew confirmed in this way made the misery impossible to erase.

When the door finally opened, Annely could barely muster her usual smile.

She fixed her gaze on the man who entered the room.

His er*ect posture and solid physique were impossible to conceal beneath his finely tailored clothing. He had a beautiful face that naturally drew the eye, with lips pressed into a firm line. Beneath his sharply defined eyebrows, his eyes were cold and cutting, revealing his indifference, while the line flowing from his forehead down to his nose was strikingly refined.

Annely looked once more at the man she had loved with all her heart for the past five years: Carlos.

“You came?”

“Annely, you—”

“Sit down.”

She spoke gently and signaled to Amber with her eyes. Only after Amber left the room did Carlos take the seat across from her.

Ignoring his unabashed stare, Annely calmly poured tea into a cup. She extended it toward him, but Carlos didn’t even glance at it as he spoke.

“Explain what that letter was about.”

Annely looked at him as if she found it fascinating.

This was the first time she had ever seen Carlos act so impetuously. Once again, she was unintentionally given confirmation that her judgement had been exactly right.

It wasn’t a pleasant feeling at all.

Annely met his gaze for a brief moment.

Those grey eyes that always felt cold. The eyes she had once loved and cherished more than her own.

Staring into them, Annely spoke dully, almost absentmindedly.

“At one point, I used to think how nice it would be if there were some misunderstanding between us.”

She believed that if there was a misunderstanding, they could clear it up and grow closer as a result. She thought this would be the best possible outcome.

But reality was cruel. There had never been any misunderstanding between them. The truth was simple: Annely loved Carlos.

But Carlos did not love Annely.

This truth wore her down and exhausted her. Believing that things might change if they stayed together, she did her best for five long years.

For two of those years, even after Carlos’s attitude changed, she did not change herself. At least, not until she learned the truth.

“But there was never even the slightest misunderstanding between us.”

It was something she had realized after retracing the five years she had spent with Carlos over the past few days.

They had never misunderstood each other. Annely had known that he did not love her, and Carlos had known that she loved him.

“Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I hadn’t loved you.”

At the same time, Annely recalled the moment she had first met him.

It was a dazzling imperial banquet. A man stood alone, conspicuous even among the crowd.

That was where she had first encountered Carlos da Vinci, a man shrouded in rumor.

Carlos da Vinci.

The House of da Vinci was one of the Empire’s founding families and was renowned for its history. Although Carlos was born illegitimate and branded a family disgrace, he earned recognition as a knight eight years ago through his exceptional swordsmanship in battle against foreign tribes, thereby winning the Emperor’s favor.

Sensing Annely’s gaze, the man turned his head. The moment she met his enigmatic grey eyes, she fell in love.

“But even if I could go back to that moment now, I would still end up loving you. Falling for you was like being struck by lightning.”

It had been impossible to avoid. By the time she realized it, the deafening roar had already seized her senses, and a blinding light had swallowed her vision.

Blinded and deafened, Annely had fallen in love as though under a spell.

“It truly wasn’t my choice…”

She did not regret loving him. If there was one regret she carried, it was that she had not realized the truth sooner.

“…That doesn’t sound like what was written in the letter.”

As always, Carlos paid no attention to Annely’s feelings.

This time, however, she did not pick up the pieces of her broken heart as she had before. Instead, she left it where it was and reread the letter.

It had been nothing more than a single sentence.

Despite sending countless desperate letters spanning more than five pages, all of which Carlos had ignored, it had taken only one sentence to make him appear. The thought was quietly sorrowful.

There was still more she wanted to say, but Annely swallowed the words as she always did.

Yes. Saying them wouldn’t change anything anyway.

“Fine. I’ll get straight to the point. You used me, didn’t you?”

For the first time, a crack appeared on the otherwise expressionless man’s face.

“You made a deal with my father, became a lesser duke, and then rose to the ducal seat.”

Annely took a sip of her tea, then set the cup down.

A self-mocking laugh slipped out.

“No wonder the marriage was so easy. Too easy…”

Easy enough that even Carlos had mistaken it for love at first sight, just like she had. Of course, she realized that wasn’t the case the moment she faced him again on their wedding night.

“Did you hear it from the Archduke?”

“Would you be surprised if I told you I’ve known this for a long time?”

“…Then why did you pretend not to know?”

At that question, Annely felt her thoughts drift far away.

If she said she knew and still chose to pretend otherwise because she loved him that much—would he believe her?

Had he ever, even once, believed in her love?

“You know it yourself. They say love makes fools of people. That’s why you agreed to this marriage in the first place.”

How much must he have regretted it?

If he had known that woman would eventually divorce, he probably wouldn’t have married Annely at all.

“Annely. What exactly are you trying to say? Are you hoping to hear me thank you for knowing everything and still turning a blind eye?”

At his sharp tone, Annely tilted her head slightly.

“Do I still look like a foolish woman in love to you?”

“What?”

She was too tired to keep talking. Annely took another sip of tea before speaking.

“I’ll give you a divorce.”

She couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes. If he looked pleased upon hearing it, she might grow angry enough to take the words back.

Forcing down the burning sensation rising in her throat, Annely continued.

“I’ll let you live with the woman you love.”

“Annely. What are you talking about—”

“A month ago, Ribesha came to see me.”

She knew about her husband’s first love.

As the empress and wife of her cousin, Ribesha was someone impossible not to know. Nevertheless, Annely had never imagined that a woman who had been divorced for over a year would seek her out.

Her unease had not been misplaced.

Ribesha stepped forward and subtly presented her swollen belly to Annely.

“It’s Karl’s child.”

Her husband’s child.

The child of Carlos—whom Annely had tried so desperately, yet failed, to conceive for five long years.

“Please divorce Karl. Isn’t it pitiful for a child to grow up without a father?”

As the familiar pain bloomed in her lower abdomen, Annely squeezed her eyes shut. Even the mere recollection of that moment made her head feel as though it might explode and her heart ache unbearably. Perhaps, in an instinctive attempt to avoid the pain, her mind had blurred those memories itself. The details were hazy.

But one thing remained painfully clear: the single letter that Ribesha had handed her.

A letter from Carlos.

A letter that Annely had never once received.

In it, Carlos spoke of his concerns for the child and reassured Ribesha that he would divorce soon.

“Have you felt more at ease these past months, not seeing me? I was taking time to sort out my feelings.”

In truth, it was impossible to put one’s heart in order within a single month. And yet, when Annely opened her eyes that morning, she felt—strangely—that she might finally be able to let him go.

So, for the first time in a long while, she wrote to Carlos. She told him she knew his secret and asked him to come see her.

“But don’t forget this. No one in this world can love you as much as I do. That will never change.”

Annely smiled confidently at the man before her, who looked utterly shaken. Ending things in misery would have been too sad.

“Karl… now I’ll finally—”

She wanted to say, I’ll let you go.

But what marked the end of her words was a spray of red.

“Cough—!”

A sharp pain tore through her, and Annely spat out blood, blinking vacantly. She reflexively covered her mouth, then stared down at her hand, stained crimson.

“Annely!”

Only after she collapsed into Carlos’s arms did Annely realize the strength was draining from her body. His face—drained completely of color—loomed close, then slowly blurred.

“Emily, Emily! Call the physician at once!”

In her final moments, a question surfaced.

‘If you don’t love me, why are you looking at me like that?’

“Annely, stay with me. You’ll live—so don’t close your eyes. Don’t, Annely! Annely—!”

Something hot splashed onto her face as she finally closed her eyes. She could hear him calling her desperately, but she surrendered herself to the growing sense of peace. Gathering her remaining strength, she murmured softly.

“Karl… if there’s a next life… I hope I never love you.”