Chapter 12 – Part 2

Truly, Raphael the Duke was not only blunt towards her, but his personality was also willful, and his stubbornness was immense.

On top of that, he was even putting on a strange show of pride. She couldn’t understand him.

Kristin tried to calm her mind and looked at him.

“Unnecessary things? It’s you who shouldn’t be so stubborn. Give me your hand.”

As Kristin extended her fair, delicate hand toward Raphael, he sighed for a moment before reluctantly offering his rough, calloused hand to her.

Kristin examined his hand, wiping away the dripping blood with the handkerchief adorned with a blue rose, then tightly wrapped the handkerchief around his palm to stop the bleeding.

She then checked the other areas for any other potential injuries caused by glass shards.

Fortunately, there were no other wounds.

“Good. It looks like there are no other injuries.”

When Kristin looked up at Raphael, he, who had been keeping his gaze fixed on her, tried to respond nonchalantly, as if trying not to get caught staring.

“Okay. I will return this handkerchief. Next time we meet.”

Kristin slowly shook her head and spoke softly.

“Next time we meet? I doubt that will happen.”

But before she could finish, Raphael interrupted her by calling out to the coachman waiting in the carriage in a loud voice.

“We’re leaving now. We’re going straight to Lake Matejo.”

“What? Yes! Yes, Your Grace, we’ll go to Lake Matejo.”

“Lake Matejo? ”

Kristin couldn’t help but be surprised by Raphael the Duke’s words.

That place was a very precious place where she had cherished memories with her mother since childhood.

She had always wanted to go there, but it was so far away that she couldn’t easily go alone.

After her mother passed away, she had only been there a few times. For that reason, Raphael’s mention of Lake Matejo instantly softened her heart.

“I love that place. It holds memories of my late mother.”

Kristin was momentarily taken aback by the Duke’s words.

In their past lives, he had never mentioned his mother.

But now, his actions were different from before.

Kristin, hearing the mention of Lake Matejo, couldn’t continue saying there would be no more meetings and briefly reminisced about memories.

In truth, Raphael did not want to hear what Kristin had to say. She likely wanted to say they would not meet again.

Knowing that Kristin no longer wanted or liked him after their broken engagement, he understood her feelings well.

But he didn’t want to hear it spoken aloud. No, he didn’t want to hear it at all.

Once those beautiful lips spoke the words, they would be her true feelings. He wanted to stop her from saying that she no longer wanted him.

That’s why he called out to the coachman in a loud voice.

“Alright, get on the carriage.”

Raphael extended his hand to Kristin. She looked at his hand, bit her lip, and said,

“Thank you.”

This time, Kristin couldn’t refuse his gesture. This was a place she had wanted to visit for so long but had never been able to go with anyone.

Even when she felt lonely and wanted to run away, she always thought of her late mother and tried to live diligently for her mother’s sake as well.

Lake Matejo always appeared when she closed her eyes.

Surrounded by green foliage and beautiful, colorful flowers, Lake Matejo was considered one of the most scenic spots in the Union Empire.

Kristin had often gone on outings there and happily spent her childhood days there. She had ridden the boats floating on the lake and enjoyed leisurely picnics.

In those innocent and pure days, she never imagined her life would become so ruined.

She always thought she would have happy times, but the reality was entirely different.

“Now, let’s go.”

As Raphael got into the carriage, the coachman cracked the whip vigorously.

The horses began to move slowly, and the carriage wheels turned swiftly.

* * *

After nearly two hours in the carriage, they arrived at Lake Matejo. Although they had set out early in the morning, it was already afternoon.

“We’ve arrived.”

After hearing the coachman’s voice, the carriage gradually came to a stop.

Once the carriage had come to a complete halt, Raphael got out first and offered his hand to escort Kristin as he spoke.

“Be careful getting down. The dress you’re wearing looks a bit difficult to walk in.”

Kristin looked down at the hem of her dress.

As he said, the frills at the bottom made it seem easy to trip.

While it was manageable to step up into the carriage by lifting her dress, getting down was more challenging since the footstep was obscured by the fabric, making it easy to stumble.

Moreover, the carriage Raphael had used was not the same as the one she rode in from the Viscount’s residence, so it felt even more unfamiliar.

“Oh, right. I’ll be careful.”

As Kristin tried to lightly lift her dress and get down, Raphael, seeing she looked unsteady, gently led her hand and drew her into his arms.

This action made not only the coachman but also the people walking by the lakeshore widen their eyes in surprise.

“Your Grace, please let me down. I’m fine.”

“No, not here. Look down. It seems it rained early this morning. It’s all muddy.”When Kristin hurriedly glanced down, she indeed saw puddles everywhere, just as he had said.

Still, being held like this didn’t feel right, so she insisted again on getting down.

“I’m fine; please let me down. It’s okay if the dress gets dirty.”

“Wasn’t that dress precious to you?”

“Pardon?”

As Raphael slowly set Kristin down, he pointed with his finger and asked calmly,

“You never cared much for dresses, did you? Even at your debutante ball last year, it wasn’t as extravagant as this one. The change in style over the past year means your situation has changed, but I don’t think you’re someone who would be greedy for dresses.”

Raphael clearly remembered. At least a year ago, the dress she wore wasn’t decorated as elaborately as this.

After investigating the incident at the Levi Mine through his aides, he learned that Kristin had indeed been with Beatrice Charlotte that day.

Curious about her relationship with Beatrice Charlotte, the Duke asked Kristin,

“I heard you were with Baroness Beatrice at the mine that day. Can you explain your exact relationship with her? ”

As Raphael looked at Kristin and asked, she seemed to accept that there was no avoiding the question and began to speak.

“Lady Beatrice was a close friend of my mother. Above all, she cared for me like her own daughter. My mother always told her to look after me if anything happened to her. I think of her like a mother, and we often came here together. Also, Lake Matejo has been a place I have loved since I was a child.”

After saying this, Kristin reminisced about her past.

When her mother was alive, they often visited Lake Matejo together with Beatrice. As she recalled her mother’s face and her childhood self, a smile naturally spread across Kristin’s lips.

Seeing this, Raphael gently touched the hand where she had tied the handkerchief and brushed her hair back.

As the chilly autumn breeze blew around them, Raphael took off his jacket and wrapped it around Kristin’s shoulders, continuing,

“I can’t let you catch a cold in a place you cherish so much.”

“Oh, no. You don’t have to take it off.”

As Kristin tried to return the jacket draped over her shoulders, Raphael walked ahead.

He then showed her the hand with the tied handkerchief above his head and replied,

“I received help from you with this handkerchief today. Are you not going to accept my help? I hope we can be in a relationship where we help each other.”

Raphael momentarily spoke these words and fell silent. He realized that the woman he was looking at would likely refuse his help in the future.

Seeing her show new sides of herself, he tried to hide the sudden, subtle feelings that arose within him. If Kristin were to realize this, she would undoubtedly pull away even more.

If that happened, there would be no more opportunities, so Raphael deliberately added that he hoped they could at least have a professional relationship.

Then he thought to himself.

What if Kristin hadn’t changed?

If he hadn’t been killed at the scene of her death, if he hadn’t turned back, would he have felt the same way then as he does now?

Probably not.

He would have had to remarry Princess Rebella to maintain diplomatic relations with a neighboring country.

Moreover, Kristin would not have continued to occupy his heart.

There was no trace of confidence in her.However, now that she stood tall in her high-heeled shoes, with her head reaching Raphael’s shoulder, her previously hunched shoulders straightened.

Additionally, whether it was her tone or personality, there was no longer any trembling in Kristin’s voice.If she continued like this, even if her family’s status fell, she would never yield, and he began to see her differently.

Perhaps she hadn’t shown him this side of herself because he had never truly wanted to see her true nature.

Why had he ignored it?

Raphael turned his head back and watched Kristin slowly walk toward him.

Kristin hadn’t had the chance to change her shoes after collapsing at the debutante ball and coming to the Duke’s estate.

Realizing this oversight, the Duke spoke to one of the aides following behind.

“Kristin’s feet must be hurting. Could you find her a spare pair of shoes?”