Chapter 13

Rabiana looked up in surprise. Though she hadn’t particularly felt the woman was kind to her, the fact that she cared enough to come back was bewildering—and suddenly, deeply moving.

Rabiana had thought of herself as just a pebble on the roadside. Ever since she’d unexpectedly appeared at the Robinson estate, no one had paid her any mind. People asked questions, but she knew it was only because she was Alberto’s wife.

She thought there wasn’t a single person who liked Rabiana Selden—not as the duke’s wife, but just as herself. That she was someone who didn’t matter, whether present or not.

And so, Scarlett extending her hand felt—exaggerating only a little—like salvation.

Rabiana was overwhelmed, unable to keep her balance amid the surging wave of emotion. Her thoughts showed plainly on her face, though she didn’t even realize it. Just as she was about to take a step toward Scarlett, she suddenly paused.

“I… I’m comfortable here.”

As she said it, Rabiana realized she didn’t actually want to be left alone at the Robinson estate. Even if she pretended not to care, maybe she had been hurt after all—left all alone in this unfamiliar place by Alberto.

Still, the reason she turned down the invitation was entirely because of him. Just showing up had seemed to irritate him—she didn’t want to disturb his time any further.

Just as he said, married couples didn’t need to share every detail of each other’s private lives.

“My… my husband is probably busy with the hunt. I don’t want to bother him.”

Was the word “husband” always this awkward? Saying it out loud, introducing Alberto as her husband to someone else—it felt strange, unpleasant, and a little embarrassing. But calling him “the duke” would sound even stranger…

“Duke Alberto told me to bring you.”

“What? My husband did?”

“Yes.”

Rabiana asked again if it was really true. Scarlett, frustrated by Rabiana’s disbelief, grabbed her hand.

“I told you it is. Let’s go.”

***

Rabiana grew tense. She wasn’t sure what she could possibly do at a hunting ground, but just knowing that someone was waiting for her brought an unexpected warmth. It was a feeling she had never experienced before.

“Um, Scarlett.”

Rabiana called out to Scarlett, who was walking quietly beside her. Scarlett didn’t reply, only glanced at her from the corner of her eye. Sensing her presence despite the silence, Rabiana spoke again.

“Thank you for coming to get me.”

“….”

In truth, she wanted to say how much she disliked being alone—but she swallowed those words.

Scarlett didn’t particularly enjoy seeing Rabiana like this.

She disliked her.

There was no way Alberto had told her to go fetch Rabiana. The idea that two people who barely knew each other were married felt ridiculous. Rabiana was far too naïve.

She had smiled brightly when asked to come along—pretending otherwise, but clearly excited. For a moment, Scarlett’s heart softened. But the instant she recalled Alberto’s face, her bitterness returned full force.

“Lady Roen. If you keep going this way, you’ll find Lord Alberto. I left something back at the estate, so I’ll go fetch it. Please go ahead.”

“What? Oh, um…!”

Before Rabiana could fully respond, Scarlett left, disappearing into the woods.

She was certain that if Alberto found out his supposedly ill wife had shown up at the hunting ground, he would worry—and she didn’t want to witness that.

Though there were wild animals in the area, the path Scarlett had directed Rabiana to was one where they typically didn’t appear.

Scarlett only hoped for one thing: that Alberto would be disappointed or angry at Rabiana for acting recklessly. If their relationship became even slightly strained, maybe her twisted feelings would start to ease.

It was just a harmless prank—nothing serious, she thought.

***

Rabiana tapped her cane against the ground to feel her way forward.

After standing still for quite some time, stunned by Scarlett’s abrupt departure, she had no choice but to move ahead.

She didn’t know how to go back. She trusted Scarlett’s words completely—that if she just walked straight, she would find Alberto. Rabiana walked for what felt like a long time before finally stopping.

She was out of breath. Her legs were shaking, even though she hadn’t walked fast.

How long had she been walking?

“Hello?”

Rabiana called out.

The only answer was the rustling of leaves brushed by the wind.

“Is anyone there?”

She turned around. Going back now was impossible; she would likely lose her way. Scarlett had said Alberto was straight ahead—so why was there no sign of anyone?

“Alber—!”

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

It sounded like thunder—louder and more powerful. Rabiana clapped her hands over her ears and crouched down.

She had once gone to a hunting ground with her father as a child, so she knew: this was a gunshot.

It had sounded far too close. If she wasn’t careful, she could be in danger. Unlike back then, there was no one to protect her, and she had no way to protect herself.

‘I’m scared.’

Where is that coming from?

Rabiana regretted not holding on to Scarlett. Why had she let her go in a place like this?

The thought that she might be in the middle of the hunting zone—fear that someone might mistake her for game and shoot—made it impossible to stay still.

She scrambled up with her cane and fled, with no idea where she was going, trying to escape the continuing gunfire.

‘Please.

Please, let someone appear—

Alberto…’

Not knowing where he was, she wished desperately for him to appear right in front of her. Rabiana pushed deeper into the woods.

She didn’t see the sign she had just passed: “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.”

***

“Alberto, for someone who looks so stoic, you sure know how to surprise people. How did you meet your wife and end up married?”

Luis, a hunting rifle slung over his shoulder, gave Alberto’s arm a playful poke.

Even after being friends for so long, if Luis had to name the one person whose true thoughts he could never read, it would be Alberto.

He never even looked at women, then suddenly, after a matchmaking, he returned one day as a married man. As casually as if he had just eaten a meal, he announced his marriage, throwing high society into an uproar.

“You’re curious about that?”

“Of course I am. If she were just a pretty woman, I’d think, ‘Ah, love at first sight,’ but your wife isn’t like that, is she?”

Though Luis had said it with Rabiana’s disability in mind, Alberto didn’t want to respond.

He recalled Rabiana. A woman with a gloomy, emotionless expression came to mind. Looking at her face in his memory, Alberto murmured indifferently,

“She’s pretty.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Alberto ignored Luis’s comment. He hadn’t fallen for Rabiana.

Their marriage had a purpose, but for Luis to question it solely because of Rabiana’s disability was a narrow-minded thought.

Regardless of the disability, Rabiana had a striking appearance—enough to make one fall in love at first sight. If not for him, she might have met someone better and lived happily.

From that perspective, Alberto was a bastard who ruined a woman’s life. He certainly carried guilt and pity over it.

Meeting Alberto had been misfortune for Rabiana. One day, she might regret ever getting involved with a man like him.

That’s why, once he achieved his goal, he planned to let her go cleanly. Though he had never explained this in detail to her, once she bore an heir, he intended to fully support her.

Well, in any case, that didn’t change the fact that he was a bastard.

‘That woman.’

Suddenly, he remembered the first day he saw Rabiana. A woman with a somber expression, not much different from now, had just stepped out of the mansion.

Her steps were cautious and unsteady.

That day was when Alberto had rejected his fifth arranged match, and his aide Pell brought up Rabiana, saying she was a suitable candidate for an heir.

A misfortunate woman who had lost both her family and her sight in a sudden accident.

‘Rabiana!’

The woman turned around. Her face was revealed by the wind, directed toward Alberto. A man rushed out through the open gate and grabbed her arm. Only then did the woman turn her face, now having located where he was.

‘I told you to wait. Why are you out here alone?’

‘I just felt… stifled…’

‘Seriously, I can’t take my eyes off you even for a second.’

The man wrapped a scarf he’d brought around the woman’s neck. She was already wearing a coat buttoned up to her throat, with gloves on her hands.

Only after tightly wrapping the scarf around her to make sure not an inch of skin was exposed did he finally take her hand.

The woman, with soft brown hair falling delicately around her face, looked as if none of it really mattered to her.

Alberto couldn’t take his eyes off her. Just for a brief moment, their eyes had met—and hers had been lifeless. The eyes of someone who had lost the meaning of life. It was the first time Alberto had seen someone like that, but the moment he did, he knew.

She wants to die.

“Just…”

Alberto wished he could erase that memory.

“She just got unlucky, crossing paths with me.”

If he hadn’t seen those eyes, the weight of his guilt would’ve been far lighter than it was now.