Chapter 12 – Part 5

Seeing Raphael smile brightly, which felt quite unfamiliar to Kristin, she asked him again. Raphael stopped smiling and continued to speak.

“I was thinking the same way as you, Kristin. But why did you end up attending the debutante ball last year? If you thought that way, you wouldn’t have wanted to go.”

“Well…”

Kristin hesitated before answering him.

“After my mother passed away, the Edith family changed significantly. My father wanted to marry me off to a good family.”

“What did you think? About marrying into a good family. Did you want that?”

Kristin shook her head slowly.

“No. I was just a candle in that space. A presence that wouldn’t be noticed even if it disappeared. I was forced into it, and since I didn’t know anyone among the nobles, I would rather have vanished like a candle. No one would have noticed anyway.”

Kristin finished speaking and looked at him again.

“So, I hope you won’t look for me anymore, Your Grace. If I stay by your side, it will only make me a weaker presence that flickers out like a candle.”

Raphael could no longer continue the conversation after her words.

Looking at Raphael, Kristin gave a faint smile.Then, she stood up from the bench.

She couldn’t stay with him any longer. When she returned to the estate, her stepmother and Elena would again scold and criticize her, but Kristin knew that was where she belonged.

“I think I should go back now. If I arrive too late, my father will probably misunderstand. He might have foolish hopes that things are going well between you and me.”

Though she had told him that the engagement was broken because he was interested in another woman, she knew her father would still regret the situation.

If Kristin returned late after spending the night at the Duke’s residence, it would be obvious to anyone that their relationship had improved.

Her father would probably be eagerly waiting for the carriage carrying his daughter to enter the Edith mansion.

The moment she stepped into the estate, he would bombard her with questions about her time with the Duke. She knew this without experiencing it.So, Kristin added, “I will explain things to my father, so he won’t have any foolish expectations. And he won’t bother you anymore, either.”

“Your father?”

Raphael recalled Viscount Vernon.

He was a cowardly and weak man who bowed deeply to stronger nobles while disregarding the weaker ones.

After marrying Kristin, Viscount Vernon would often visit Raphael’s office.

Not only did he come unexpectedly, but he also made comments like:

“Is my daughter Kristin well? Hahaha. I bet she’s doing very well. That’s obvious. I like you, Duke. I’ve found a great investment opportunity. If you have time, I’d like you to hear it out.”

He would ask for help with new investments, saying he had discovered great trading opportunities in neighboring countries but lacked ships to bring them in, so he needed Raphael to act as an intermediary to help bring in the goods.

While it was good that Kristin was happy, he would also mention that the family needed to prosper for Elena’s sake, asking for some financial support if possible.

When the Duke of Raphael heard such absurd and rude requests, he agreed to fulfill them on a date set for one year after he parted ways with Kristin.

By then, he wouldn’t need to help the Viscount of Vernon anymore, so he set the date accordingly. The Viscount, unaware that his daughter was being used and would be discarded, would leave with a pleased smile.

Back then, Raphael had been irritated, feeling that marrying Kristin was a waste of time and brought unnecessary trouble.

However, his thoughts had changed somewhat now.

“Yes. My father would surely bother you, Your Grace. I know him well.”

After marrying the Duke of Raphael, Kristin often stayed alone in the Duke’s residence, and she had heard things from the aide he sent.

One time, she had offered tea to the aide who had come to retrieve another seal on the Duke’s orders, and he shared this with her:

“Viscount Vernon visits often, and the Duke finds it a bit troublesome. We can see that he makes unreasonable demands, and we don’t know how to handle it. It’s quite awkward.”

However, the aide was able to speak this way to Kristin because it was at Raphael’s command.

“Tell Kristin that I don’t want the Viscount to come here. He disrupts my work. Kristin might be upset, but it doesn’t matter. The people I will work with in the future are you all, not her.”

Upon receiving this order, the aide responded hastily:

“She’s the Duchess, so it’s not something I can easily say.”

Angered by this response, the Duke struck his desk with both hands and shouted:

“You owe your loyalty to me, not the Duchess. There’s no need for you to worry about it, so just relay what I said.”

The aide then agreed and conveyed the Duke’s message to Kristin, trembling with fear the entire time.

After hearing what the aide said, Kristin felt upset for several days.

But returning to the Viscount’s estate to confront her father wouldn’t change anything. Moreover, after Kristin’s marriage, the Edith estate was no longer her concern, and she couldn’t just visit it.

She had heard that Rose had thrown away everything in Kristin’s room and even the dishes used in the kitchen to erase all traces of her.

Would it have been a bit easier if she had gone deaf? Or would it have been better if she couldn’t see any of the situations that faced her?

Kristin’s days were filled with despair, even after marrying the Duke of Raphael, due to her family.

However, her late mother had insisted that she must live happily, so Kristin tried her best to endure and live bravely. She hadn’t lost the will to live entirely; she had tried to overcome her struggles. Kristin’s resilience and courage were her strengths.

Raphael looked at Kristin and spoke.

“It doesn’t matter. Even if the Viscount comes to visit, it won’t be bothersome.”

If he could be with Kristin, he was willing to meet all the Viscount’s unreasonable demands. He didn’t want Kristin to be hurt by her family any longer. He thought to himself, ‘I can’t believe how much I’ve changed.’

He then spoke to Kristin:

“Alright, let’s return now. Your dress and shoes must be uncomfortable.”

* * *

They left Lake Matejo and returned to the capital. During the entire journey back, the Duke of Raphael kept his gaze on Kristin but said nothing more. Kristin found his constant staring a bit uncomfortable, but since he wasn’t speaking, she thought it was better this way.

Upon arriving at the Edith estate from Lake Matejo, just as Kristin had predicted, Vernon was waiting outside the gate. He was pacing anxiously, his uniform shirt untucked, and shouting at Lenci, who stood nearby.

“Len, Lenci is—”

“Yes, I had Lenci sent back to the Edith estate in a carriage while we were at Lake Matejo. So she should have arrived here before us. I thought it wouldn’t be right to leave her alone at the mansion.”

The Duke explained to Kristin. She hurriedly handed the ring from her pouch to him and said,

“Please stop the carriage. Lenci’s face shows she’s been scolded badly by my father. I need to go and speak to him immediately.”

“Speak to him?”

The Duke looked at Kristin, but she quickly continued without meeting his gaze.

“Well, it’s probably about how she didn’t take good care of me. And I couldn’t give you this ring earlier, but please give it to someone deserving in the future. I no longer have the right to wear it.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the coachman’s voice rang out.

“We have arrived at the Edith estate.”

“Thank you for the past two days. I hope you do well in the future, Your Grace.”

When Kristin spoke to him, Raphael grabbed her wrist and spoke again.“Why are you speaking as if you won’t see me anymore?”

The Duke spoke to Kristin, but her mind was already focused on Vernon and Lenci.

After visiting Lake Matejo, her determination to uncover the truth about her mother’s death had only grown stronger.

Her next task was to get her father to reveal any information related to her mother’s death. That was her goal.

She had to resolve the matter so that her mother’s death was not in vain.

With a composed expression, Kristin turned to Raphael and continued speaking.

“I think I’ll be busy for a while, so please don’t come to see me anymore.”

After brushing off Raphael’s hand, Kristin walked calmly and slowly toward the Viscount’s estate.