Mr. Schleicher, who had been looking down at his only daughter with a bitter gaze, also left her side. She wanted to stop him, but her throat felt choked, and she couldn’t make a sound.

Standing there blankly, Diez stared vacantly in the direction where her parents had disappeared. How long had she been standing there? The employee who had driven her to the terminal approached carefully and said,

“You should go back. It’s still cold out here……”

Diez, who hadn’t reacted as if she hadn’t heard him, slowly nodded after a long while.

Throughout the return journey to the hotel, Diez didn’t say a word. With the help of the employee, she was able to safely return to her hotel room, slumped lifelessly like someone who had lost all motivation.

“Will you be alright?”

Even when the employee asked, sensing something was wrong, she forced a smile and replied,

“I’m fine. Really.”

The employee, who had no reason to keep her company any longer, reluctantly left her side. Left alone, Diez looked around her room.

The maids were nowhere to be seen. Certain that she was completely alone, Diez thought to herself.

It’s fortunate that no one is here.

She locked the room door. After standing still and thinking for a moment, Diez went straight to the window and tore down the curtain with all her strength.

As she rolled the coarse fabric into a thin rope and hung it from the ceiling, strangely, she couldn’t feel any sorrow. It felt as if her entire body was emptied of everything.

From the beginning, her parents had never been on her side. There was never anyone anywhere who could be on Diez’s side.

She had nothing left.

Thinking she no longer wanted to live, she climbed onto a chair and slipped her head into the makeshift fabric noose. Deliberately ignoring the sensation of her neck being constricted, she kicked the chair over with her foot.

There was commotion around her. Though it sounded muffled, as if coming through thick walls, she could tell someone was by her side.

……! ……!

A man’s voice seemed to be saying something nearby, but she couldn’t understand properly.

What is he saying?

The dead sensation began to revive very slowly. As it did, the light from the lamp shining in front of her eyes and the voice of the man who kept talking to her became clearer.

……ez.

Diez! Please……

Diez slowly opened her eyes. She was collapsed on the floor, held in someone’s arms. She could smell a familiar scent from him. The familiar presence seemed to ease her mind.

Who could it be?

I want to see his face.

Diez raised her still blurry gaze to look up at the man holding her. A man with blue eyes who had swept back his black hair. His form gradually became clearer.

The man was crying. His face, pale like a frightened boy as he shed tears, was definitely someone she knew, but……

No. It can’t be him.

There’s no way he would cry for me.

Diez closed her eyes again after barely opening them. The man holding her in his arms continued to plead without stopping.

You can’t die.

I can’t let you go like this……

‘So, I failed to die in the end?’

It seemed clear that she had failed in her attempt to take her own life. But Diez wasn’t disappointed. Nothing had been easy for her during the past five years.

It seemed that ending her life by her own will was no different.

If she tried once more, would she succeed then?

Just as that thought crossed her mind, the man whispered in her ear with a deeply submerged voice.

I’m sorry.

I’m really… sorry……

It was strange. The moment she heard those words, she felt like she might burst into tears.

All she could do, having just regained her breath, was to gasp for air. As she irregularly inhaled while clutching the man’s clothes, she felt his arms holding her tighten.

“Diez. Are you conscious?”

Diez couldn’t answer. But there was no one who wouldn’t notice that she had finally come to her senses.

“The young lady has woken up!”

Someone shouted. At the same time, the movements of people around became busy, and footsteps thundered. Diez, who was in pain as if her head was also resonating, burrowed deeper into the man’s arms.

“Diez.”

He patted her with his still trembling hand and said,

“It’s all my fault. There’s no reason anywhere for you to die. So…… please don’t die.”

It was the first time someone had begged her so desperately. I only tried to die. Why is he so sad?

I thought there would be no one who would care about my death, but was I wrong?

There was someone by her side who didn’t want her death. He wanted Diez to live. That fact calmed her heart a little.

Perhaps she had been secretly hoping for this.

That someone would appear to stop her from ending her life, begging her not to do it.

When she opened her eyes again, a soft blanket was covering her body. Someone spoke to Diez as she blinked her eyes while lying in bed.

“How are you feeling?”

The one guarding her side was Jürgen. Probably, he was also the one who had saved her when she tried to die.

Sensing this fact, Diez turned her gaze away and said,

“……Why did you do that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I was clearly……”

Why did you stop me from trying to die? Though she was about to ask this, Diez hesitated. She could somewhat understand stopping someone from committing suicide.

But, embracing me and shedding tears……

Was that really Jürgen? It was hard to believe. The Jürgen in Diez’s eyes had turned pale and was trembling with fear.

As if her death was the last thing in the world he wanted.

But there’s no way the Duke would be like that.

“……It’s nothing.”

She suddenly remembered that her parents had abandoned her and left. They were the family she had tried to protect even while enduring the late Duke’s punishments.

The family she had protected at all costs had left her with only reproach and contempt in the end.

What did I do wrong?

She felt foolish for believing, even for a moment, that they could return to the days when they lived happily together as a family.

“Tell me if you need anything.”

“I’m fine.”

“I think you should drink something.”

“I told you I’m fine.”

At that, Jürgen couldn’t insist further and closed his mouth. She didn’t understand why he was being kind to her again. You were the one who said it first. Don’t misunderstand again……

Of course, Diez was now confident she wouldn’t fall into misunderstanding. This is just his temporary kindness. He probably feels sorry for me. His charity probably won’t last even an hour.

She felt depressed at the thought that the only person left to her was Duke Klaus. Diez turned away from him and lay down.

“I want to be alone.”

“That’s not possible. Please let me stay by your side.”

“You can grant me that much of a request, can’t you?”

“I’ll be quiet so as not to disturb you.”

Why is he acting like this? Is he worried that I might attempt suicide again?

“I don’t understand what you’re so afraid of.”

She said.

“What could possibly go wrong if I die? You could simply find another woman.”

Jürgen didn’t answer right away. Since she had her back to him, it was difficult to gauge his mood. Perhaps he was angry at what she had just said.

But the voice that finally came after a long while showed no trace of anger.

“……I’m sorry.”

His voice was both familiar and strange. A voice that seemed submerged in the depths while embracing guilt was something he had certainly never shown Diez before.

“I regret saying those things to you.”

“……”

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

He regrets it? But why……

She didn’t even have the strength left to ask. Right now, even thinking deeply about something felt overwhelming.

“Duke.”

“Yes?”

“You said I could ask for anything I need.”

Jürgen silently waited for her to continue. To Diez, this side of him felt unfamiliar. He used to be a man who would press her if she hesitated even slightly.

“I want to go home.”

“……I understand.”

She couldn’t tell how he had interpreted those words. Whether it was the home where she lived with her parents or the Klaus mansion…… it didn’t matter either way.

She simply needed a quiet space to calm her mind.

True to his word about not disturbing her, he made no further sound. Diez closed her eyes again in the silence he had created.

Would she feel even a little better after sleeping? She couldn’t be sure, but Diez surrendered herself completely to the wave of drowsiness that came over her.

Even if just for a moment, she wanted to escape and forget reality.

News of the suicide incident at the hotel naturally reached the King’s ears. The investigation revealed that the Crown Prince was deeply involved in this matter.

Albrecht IV sat in a velvet-covered armchair, rubbing his forehead with a troubled expression. He had just received news about Leopold.

“Are you certain the investigation was thorough?”

“The Duke himself testified to it, Your Majesty.”

If Duke Klaus had testified directly, there was no room for doubt.

“Summon the Crown Prince.”