Just 30 minutes ago.

It was Turtlik Youngsik who came into Ciela’s room. He approached her and knelt before her.

“Young lady – no, Ciela! It’s all my fault!”

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

She asked, startled by his abrupt behaviour, glancing towards the door.

“Ah. The maid…”

There Lilia’s maid lay, collapsed as if she had fainted.

“I knocked her out! More importantly, please forgive me and help me! At this rate, I might really be thrown out of the family!”

He prostrated himself on the floor. His incoherent voice echoed with desperation, as if she were his last hope.

“First, take your time and explain.”

She got off the bed and crouched down beside him, her delicate hand stroking his back in a soothing gesture. Feeling comforted, Turtlik Youngsik let his tears flow as he continued.

“The truth is… I went to Hanta Park.”

There he had seen Lilia with Calix. The way Lilia looked at the Duke was the same way she used to look at him. It became unmistakably clear to him who Lilia really loved. Overwhelmed by a sense of betrayal, he had spent several days drowning himself in alcohol until today, when the news broke.

“I thought it was all over. But then Lilia contacted me through one of her servants.

But –

“How can I trust Lilia…”

Turtlik Youngsik clenched his fists so tightly that his veins bulged. Consumed by the thought that even Lilia could no longer be trusted, he was at a loss. At that moment, the image of Ciela flashed through his mind.

“You took pity on me once and gave me a chance.”

“I did.”

“I can do anything to disgrace Lilia, so please help me, a wretched man like me! I’ll even tell you all about her plans! For both our sakes, okay?”

He remained prostrate on the floor, pleading endlessly. If Ciela turned her back on him, it would really be the end. If only he hadn’t been deceived by false love, maybe he could have returned to the way things were before – supported by his father through the influence of the Marquis. The regret that came too late streaked his cheeks with tears.

“You’ll hurt your hands.”

“Ciela?”

Her voice, full of concern, was as soothing as a refreshing rain. Unconsciously, Turtlik Youngsik lifted his head.

“Tell me of Lilia’s plans. I’ll take care of everything.”

Her gentle smile radiated compassion, leaving him momentarily dazed. Was her smiling face always so dazzlingly beautiful?

Turtlik Youngsik hastily wiped away his tears with his sleeve and clasped her hand.

“Thank you for forgiving me! I promise I’ll never do anything stupid again. I’ll be loyal and do my best for the rest of my life.”

With renewed determination, he told her Lilia’s plan, leaving out no detail. Having listened to everything, Ciela calmly instructed him on how to behave in the party hall and prepared to leave.

She gathered the birthday present and followed him to a hidden room where she waited. When the time came, she stepped out with the gift.

“What’s all this about?”

Ciela made eye contact with Lilia and casually let the present slip from her hands to the floor.

“Sister…”

How did she escape? There shouldn’t have been any way out. Lilia wanted to grab her sister’s arm and demand an explanation, but with so many eyes watching, she couldn’t afford to act rashly. As Lilia bit her lip and glared at her sister, she heard Ciela speak.

“Didn’t you say that you weren’t going to the party because you were too shocked by the gossip?”

Countess Tuslan covered her mouth with a fan and whispered to the person next to her.

“Oh dear, I meant to speak quietly, but… ho ho.”

She claimed it was a mistake, but her intentions were far from innocent. The person next to her remained silent, but those who heard her couldn’t help but share the same curiosity.

“……”

It was understandable – Ciela had appeared, carrying a gift box despite her supposed frailty. She didn’t look like someone who had locked herself in her room and blamed Lilia after reading the gossip. As the unanswered questions in people’s minds gave way to all sorts of speculation, Ciela finally broke her silence.

“Lilia, did I hear you correctly? Is it true that you spoke to my fiancé?”

“No! Please, listen to me!”

Lilia, feigning innocence, shook her head vigorously and stepped closer to Ciela. But as if rejecting her approach, Ciela stepped back, clasping her hands together with an air of unease.

“If it’s not true, are you saying Youngsik lied? Can I trust you this time?”

Her quavering voice was as unsteady as her clasped hands, which trembled like the leaves of an aspen tree. Standing precariously, as if she might collapse at any moment, she bowed her head.

“No, I should believe you. I have to believe you.”

Ciela could barely form her words, muttering over and over. Her broken, shocked demeanour drew pitying looks from those around her.

“I know, but this is the fifth time…”

“Sister!”

Lilia cut her off, dropping to her knees so quickly that the floor reverberated with the impact.

“Please, don’t let Youngsik fool you. If you’re really my sister, please listen to me.”

Tears filled her desperate eyes as she looked up at her sister.

“How could I like Youngsik when I already have someone else to love?”

Tears streamed down her delicate face, accentuating her sad expression.

“I am the one who told you that Youngsik confessed to me. If I had really approached him, would I have told you? Huh?”

Unable to keep silent any longer, Turtlik Youngsik burst out in frustration.

“You are the one who secretly seduced me with letters, saying you wanted to get closer to me!”

“I already told you – I meant as a family! Hic. Just because I didn’t accept your confession doesn’t mean I ever expected you to ruin things between my sister and me like this!”

“You…!”

For the first time, he experienced what it was like to be so shocked that words failed him. The innocent and pure demeanour that had always aroused his protective instincts was nothing but a carefully crafted act. The realisation infuriated him.

But it’s all right. He was sure that Ciela would trust him. With this confidence, he turned to his fiancée.

“Ciela.”

“Sister.”

They both called to Ciela at the same time, but she couldn’t answer.

“…I…”

As she looked back and forth between them, her frail body swayed like the last leaf clinging to a branch. Finally, unable to hold on, her delicate frame began to topple to the ground. One noblewoman, unable to bear the sight of her collapse, closed her eyes tightly.

But Ciela never hit the floor. Calix, who had approached silently, caught her safely in his arms before she could fall.

“Are you all so blind that you can’t even see that she’s unwell?”

“Your Highness…”

“Disappointing.”

Lilia felt as if her heart had stopped, unable to even breathe as his words hit her. Without another look at her, Calix turned indifferently and began to leave the banquet hall, carrying Ciela with him.

Just then, Turtlik Youngsik spread his arms wide and stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

“She’s my fiancée, so I’ll carry her. Give her to me.”

The words he uttered at this point were so ridiculous they were almost laughable.

“Well, it seems you have other matters to attend to.”

“What?”

Calix’s eyes shifted to see Earl Turtlik approaching Youngsik, angry and seething.

“You scoundrel! You’ve shamed the family!”

“F-Father!”

“I will have you removed from the family register immediately!”

Ignoring Youngsik as he was dragged away, Calix walked out of the party hall without a second glance.

Lilia bit her lips so hard they almost bled as she lowered her head.

I should have stopped him.

His face was cold as ice, and Lilia was powerless to stop him. Unable to stop the gossip, the atmosphere in the party hall descended into chaos. It was, without a doubt, the worst party she had ever been to.

—

Calix, feigning ignorance of the location of her room, deliberately asked a servant for directions, going through the unnecessary trouble before finally arriving at a familiar place.

Step, step.

He approached the bed and carefully laid her down. Every move was meticulous, as if he were handling a fragile glass doll that might shatter with the slightest mistake.

“…”

It was the first time he had entered her room when she wasn’t in her cat form. But Calix had no time to dwell on such trivial details; his focus was entirely on Ciela’s pale complexion.

“Sigh.”

After briefly running a hand through his hair in frustration, he finally broke the silence.

“If you were going to pretend to faint, you should have warned me.

Did you want me to lose my mind worrying about you? He swallowed the last part of his words and pressed his hand lightly to her nose. Her lashes fluttered slightly and soon her blue eyes opened to meet his.

“When did you know?”

Ciela, who had only faked fainting to create confusion, sat up quickly.

“From the beginning.”

“I thought my acting wasn’t too bad, but I guess it wasn’t good enough. The Duke noticed, but no one else did, did they?”

With a troubled expression, Ciela straightened her posture. She pushed her hair back, imagining the consequences if someone else had found out.

“No one noticed except me.”

Even though he knew she wasn’t really shocked by the problems with her fiancé, her performance was so convincing that it made him impatient.

Calix had realised what she was doing because as she fell, he noticed that her breathing stopped for a moment with tension, then gradually relaxed. It was a detail he only noticed because all his senses were focused on her.

“In that case I’m relieved.”

Ciela said with a faint smile of reassurance.

But Calix couldn’t bring himself to smile back.

“…If possible, I’d prefer you didn’t do anything like that again.”

Though she had improved from before, her fragile frame still looked like it could easily break if she fell the wrong way.

“Not doing it seems like a waste – it was quite effective.”

She remembered the commotion she had heard as she was carried out of the party hall in his arms.

But her voice trailed off as she noticed his expression.

‘Why is he looking like that…’

The crimson eyes staring down at her were deeply clouded, as if ink had been spilled and spread across their depths. His expression was almost one of concern, making Ciela swallow hard, her throat tightening involuntarily.

It must be my imagination.

Why should he be worried about her when he had already figured out that her act was just a trick to create confusion? It made more sense to believe that he was pretending to care as part of a calculated game to lure her in.

Ciela closed her eyes for a moment, then slowly opened them again. Her eyes, now clearer, weren’t on Calix, but on something else entirely.

“Do you hear that sound?”

A low rumble echoed from beyond the partially opened window, as if the ground itself were shaking.

“Hoofbeats? But it doesn’t sound like just one horse.

If it was just one, it wouldn’t be so loud.

With that thought, Ciela rose and walked over to the window to investigate.

“!”

Looking out of the window, her eyes widened in shock. Carriages were leaving the Marquis’ estate.