Chapter 4

Morning came. Larienne pretended she was still asleep as she waited only for the Earl to leave. He was her father, but she did not want to see him. Because he had treated her only as someone of use, she too now wanted to regard him as worse than a stranger. And she wanted to escape his grasp as quickly as possible. Was there truly no way? Even so, it was not as though she had wished for his death…, even if it would be by accident. Larienne felt a heaviness in her heart. Even if he was a father she resented, she still wanted to stop the accident at least. If that was the reason she had returned to one year before.

Larienne secretly packed all through the night. The things she had packed she placed deep inside the wardrobe. She waited for her father to leave as soon as possible. Mother must be with Father, right? I hope nothing happens…. Those were words she had repeated many times. She only hoped that no situation of conflict would arise with Father….

She took out a map and was carefully examining every corner of the place where the capital, Isirial, was located. There were large buildings and signposts, and she studied closely where the Maen Merchant Guild was. A faint trace of longing flickered across her eyes, then soon vanished.

She intended to stay at an inn nearby, set down her luggage, and wait for an opportunity. She did not know whether her father would give up on her right away. She had to create a situation in which he would have no choice but to give her up.

Her father’s business would surely fail. She wished at least that he would return even the investment funds he had received to that Marquis. Her mother had gone to prison like that, and she herself had no choice but to keep working. Because not only her mother’s bail, but even the investment money received from the Marquis had to be repaid.

She heard the sound of her father leaving the mansion. A servant entered Larienne’s bedroom and informed her that the Earl had gone.

“Miss, you are sleeping in today. Did something happen?”

It was Jane. She was one of the few maids who had remained until the end. Soon she too would lose her position and leave this mansion. Larienne looked at her blankly. She had stayed awake all night and only drifted into a faint sleep near dawn. Her head was still dizzy, as though she had not fully awakened yet.

“For some reason, I couldn’t sleep. By the way, Jane, Father has gone, right?”

“Yes, he left right away without even eating breakfast. I heard he was going to the capital? I hope his business goes well this time.”

Heh, Larienne let out a brief, hollow smile. But she quickly composed it again and put on a serious expression.

“Yes, I suppose so too. By the way, where is Mother? I should go see her.”

She hurried downstairs. At this hour, her mother would likely be in the sitting room reading a book. Countess Hennessy was reading and rereading an old book in a rocking chair on one side of the sitting room. It was a book she always read. Larienne remembered its contents from when the Countess had read it to her as a child.

A story about a Prince in love coming to rescue a Princess in danger. Larienne felt pity for the Countess, who had sunk into imagination and forgotten reality.

‘It seems you are paying the price for falling for romance and loving Father, Mother.’

She could not bring herself to say those words aloud. Larienne stared at her mother for a moment, then spoke.

“Mother, it is time for you to wake from the dream now. It is time for you to leave Father.”

At those words, the Countess looked at Larienne and gave a sad smile.

“Yes, perhaps the time has come to wake from the dream now. The time has really come to leave that man. I think I could somehow endure it, but I could not bear to see the same thing happen to you as well. You have packed everything, haven’t you, Lari?”

Rather than sorrowful, the Countess’s expression looked resigned.

Her mother had said that she had left her own family behind and settled here because of her father. Larienne did not know the exact circumstances, but her father had been her mother’s first love, the man she had loved enough to abandon everything for. So perhaps it pained her terribly that now she had to leave again in order to avoid him. But now there was no time.

“Mother, let’s go now. I already told the servants that an urgent matter came up and that we had to go where Father is. And I left a letter so that Father will give up on me. I’ll tell you what it says while we’re on the way.”

“Yes, let’s do that. I’ll do as you say. I thought I would never be able to escape for my whole life, but perhaps this may become a good opportunity for us.”

Without another word, her mother took a simple travel bag and stood before her again.

*

“Jane, Father told us to come to the capital as well. It may take several days. Take care while we’re gone.”

“Miss, you speak as though you’re going on a very long journey. If you go to the capital, enjoy the sights. I’ve never been either, so I’m excited too. Please do tell me. What it was like, I mean.”

Jane saw Larienne and the Countess off with a bright smile. The Hennessy Earldom was growing farther and farther away in the distance.

‘Goodbye, I suppose I’ll never see it again.’

Larienne lowered her head, feeling as though her eyes were stinging for some reason. No matter how difficult a place it had been, thinking that she would never be able to return made her heart sink heavily. She had called for a luggage carriage in advance and planned to ride it from in front of the estate district to the train station. After paying the driver his fare, she climbed into the carriage.

“Mother, I’m going to earn a lot of money now. Mother, let’s live happily together. Father will live well in his own way too. Don’t worry.”

But even as she said that, Larienne was worried deep down. What worried her was whether her father would believe the contents of the letter she had written. She thought that perhaps this escape might end up lasting quite a long time.

In the letter, she had written that she had fallen in love with a man she had happened to come to know recently, and that she had run away to the southern region to marry him. That they were already even engaged. That after hearing about the marriage to the old Marquis, she had hurriedly fled with her mother. She had even included a plea not to look for her. It was all a lie, but those last words were sincere. If Father saw the letter, he would surely be shocked out of his mind. Even without imagining it, she could already picture it clearly.

When they arrived at the train station, the driver set them and their luggage down, then immediately went on his way. Thinking someone might recognize them if possible, she covered her face with her cloak. A flight of love was beginning. To escape Father, to change her fate. She desperately wished that the fake fiancé who did not even exist would help her.