Logan could not speak.

He had clearly heard Jeremy’s words, yet it took time for their meaning to truly settle in. The news he had waited for so long tightened around his chest until he could barely breathe.

As if he had forgotten how.

“Isabella….”

He forced the name out, as though wringing it from his heart. Only then did he realize he had indeed forgotten to breathe. Clenching his tingling hand, he drew in a sharp breath. Cold air rushed deep into his lungs, and only then did the clamor of the train station crash into his awareness.

“Isabella has awakened.”

The moment he heard the words, Logan was already on the move.

He pushed through the crowded station, his steps urgent and unyielding. People turned in surprise as he cut through the crowd, but he noticed none of it. Jeremy called out behind him, struggling to keep pace, but Logan did not slow down.

Only one thought drove him forward: He had to get to Isabella.

He climbed into the waiting carriage and urged the driver to hurry. The short journey to the hospital felt longer than the months he had spent waiting for her to wake up. His hands were clenched tightly over his knees, and his heart pounded with every turn of the wheels.

At last, he reached her door.

He stopped to catch his breath. Soft voices drifted from inside.

Carefully, almost fearfully, he pushed the door open.

The attending physician was sitting at her bedside, checking her condition. Isabella was leaning against the headboard, responding in a weak but steady voice. Her face was pale and fragile, and she was so thin that she seemed as though she might crumble at any moment.

But her eyes were open.

She was awake.

She was moving of her own volition.

Logan stood frozen at the threshold, unable to take another step.

Sensing someone there, Isabella turned her head towards the door.

Their eyes met.

She recognized him.

“…Young Master?”

In that moment, he understood everything.

Her memories had returned completely.

As Logan stepped closer, the physician quietly excused himself, showing his respect for this long-awaited moment for the Duke.

Logan approached her slowly, taking one careful step at a time. Then he opened his arms and drew Isabella into an embrace. She was so painfully thin that he did not dare hold her tightly for fear of breaking her. He could not pull her fully against his chest.

He buried his face in her hair and said nothing. He forced himself to breathe steadily, over and over again, as though reassuring himself that the warmth in his arms was real, reminding himself that this was not a cruel dream.

At first, Isabella’s arms hovered uncertainly in the air; she was taken aback by the sudden closeness. Then, slowly, they settled around his back. Gently, as if to comfort him, she stroked his back, feeling the faint tremor running through his body.

When she woke up, Isabella learned from the doctor that she had been in a coma for more than five months. She was also told how desperately the Duke had waited for her during that time.

She could feel the evidence of it in her own body.

Although she had lain unconscious for so long and her strength had yet to return, her joints and muscles moved with surprising ease. The nurse that Logan had hired had faithfully exercised her limbs every hour, without fail, day after day.

Even after watching her lie still for months, Logan had never given up hope. He clung to hope until the very end.

For that, she was deeply grateful.

Now she finally understood.

He had waited for her for far longer than she had ever realized.

He had never hesitated to call her his first love. From the day she disappeared, he had waited for her without wavering, even when he believed that she had died in the fire.

“I’m sorry… for making you wait so long.”

Her voice came out hoarse and broken, barely above a whisper. Yet that single sentence shattered all the time Logan had endured.

“It’s all right.”

His hand tightened in the fabric of her clothes.

“You came back safely… that’s enough.”

He kept repeating that it was all right to the Isabella who apologized.

Whether those words were meant to comfort her, or to steady himself, even he did not know.

***

“A lot has happened while you were asleep.”

Now that her memories had fully returned, Logan could no longer hide the truth from Isabella. He told her everything.

He told her about the corruption within the Everett Count’s family that Vincent had uncovered. He told her about Amelia’s lie — that she had saved him from the fire. He also told her about the horrifying accusation that they had staged her death and abducted her to silence her as a witness.

Thanks to Vincent’s relentless efforts, evidence and witnesses from over a decade ago began to emerge one after another. The truth that the Count’s family had tried so desperately to bury came to light with shocking speed.

Although he was a nobleman, the Count had committed murder without remorse and had maintained his web of lies shamelessly. His rank could not shield him from the weight of his crimes.

After reviewing the full extent of his offences, the court delivered its judgment.

He was sentenced to immediate execution.

“The imperial family intervened directly. That’s why the trial ended so quickly.”

“And Miss Amelia…?”

“She was executed.”

When Isabella was unable to answer the question, Logan answered it for her.

She knew the law well enough. In cases of noble murder, the punishment did not fall on the offender alone — the entire family was held accountable. Even so, her expression tightened in stunned disbelief.

Memories of her days at the Count’s estate flooded back. Amelia had been especially cruel to her, treating her with coldness, mercilessness and calculation. She had even hired Jack Hunter to arrange Isabella’s abduction.

And yet—

Learning that Amelia was dead did not bring the sense of relief or closure that Isabella had expected.

Instead, a strange heaviness settled in her chest.

If Amelia had been executed, then that meant—

“Fortunately, I was able to stop Vincent’s execution.”

Noticing the shadow passing over Isabella’s face, Logan continued gently.

With Vincent’s help, they had managed to open an investigation into the Count’s family. Despite knowing he could be executed for the Count’s crimes, Vincent had cooperated until the end, determined to reveal the truth.

Logan submitted a formal petition pleading for Vincent’s life to be spared.

At first, the imperial family refused. But in the end, they agreed — on strict conditions. Vincent was required to surrender his confiscated title, renounce his mother’s surname, and swear never to return to noble society.

Only then was his life spared.

‘Young Master Vincent….’

Vincent knew nothing of his family’s sins until the truth came to light. He had always been especially kind and considerate towards the Everetts. Thinking of him, Isabella closed her eyes for a moment.

She could only imagine how deeply he must have suffered when he discovered his family’s past.

“Where are my parents? Do they know that I’m alive? They must have been so worried.”

Slowly opening her eyes again, Isabella voiced the question she had held back since waking up. The prospect of finally seeing them filled her with quiet anticipation.

But Logan could not answer her right away. He was afraid of extinguishing the fragile hope shining in her eyes.

Even before her memories returned, she had yearned to see them. Knowing how much she must want to see them now made the words feel unbearably heavy in his throat.

“Henry and Maria… passed away a long time ago.”

In a quiet voice, Logan recounted everything that had happened after the fire.

Henry had stayed behind to help evacuate everyone until the very last moment. Then, realizing that the former duke had not escaped yet, he turned back and ran into the flames to search for him.

He never emerged from the collapsing estate.

Maria, who had rushed back to the capital as soon as she heard about the fire, learned of her husband’s and daughter’s deaths. The shock proved too much for her fragile heart. Before long, illness claimed her as well.

As Isabella listened to the news about her parents’ fate, which she had longed to hear, she froze.

She did not cry out.

She did not sob.

Tears simply slid down her cheeks in silence.

Logan drew her into his arms once more. Seeing her struggle to accept the loss of her family without breaking down was almost more than he could bear.

“They’re laid to rest near the estate. When you’ve recovered, we’ll go together.”

Even with his words of comfort, Isabella could not easily escape her grief.

“Your Grace, it’s time for you to go.”

When he heard Jeremy’s voice, Logan got up from his seat.

She would need time.

His gaze lingered on her, conveying apology and regret.

He had to leave to attend to his duties, but he could not bring himself to move. After hesitating briefly, he looked back at Isabella one last time before finally stepping out of the hospital room.