Ah, youth was a gift indeed. After another week of rest, Regina had recovered considerably. Her body and face, once so gaunt that her veins stood out, had filled out enough to surprise the doctor who came to examine her.

“My goodness! You look wonderful, Madam. Much healthier!”

With her fine eyebrows, pale skin, thick honey-coloured hair, delicate nose and violet eyes, Regina wasn’t a conventional beauty. Yet there was a strange allure about her that attracted attention. Even her slightly frail and irritable appearance seemed charming in its own way.

“I can now walk in the garden for thirty minutes without much difficulty.”

Lowering her lashes, Regina asked quietly.

“So I was wondering… would it be all right if I went out once in a while?”

“When you say go out, what exactly do you mean?”

“Somewhere like a dress shop about twenty minutes away by bus… I don’t even have anything decent to wear outside at the moment.”

Her body had become too thin over the past few weeks and the doctor understood the implications behind Regina’s words.

“As long as you don’t overexert yourself, you should be fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Still, going out alone is a bit worrying…”

The Doctor paused as if weighing her thoughts, then clapped her hands together as an idea struck her.

“Exactly! Why not ask your husband to go with you?”

“Go out with Grey…?”

Regina’s gaze wavered slightly. Unaware of the nuance, the doctor continued cheerfully and without malice.

“You’ll feel much safer with your husband by your side! The weather has been so nice lately – it would be a great opportunity for the two of you to go on a little date.”

“My husband is a busy man…”

“What could be more important than his wife?

“I’d hate to get in the way…”

“I’m sure he’d love to go with you! He must have been so worried seeing you unwell for so long. Don’t you think?”

‘It was only natural.’

That seemed to be the nuance behind the doctor’s words, and suddenly Regina felt a tightness in her chest.

But there was no way she could explain the state of her marriage to someone who didn’t know. So she just mumbled, without much expectation.

“Then… I’ll talk to my husband about it.”

***

“No.”

Grey, brows neatly furrowed, refused her.

“I have a business meeting with a client.”

“Who is it?”

“A representative of someone who was a great help to me when I was trying to get approval for the harbor construction. I owe him a debt— I have to treat his representative with the respect he deserves.”

“If you already have a meeting, there’s nothing I can do. I did bring it up rather suddenly.”

It was the answer she’d expected, so she wasn’t especially disappointed.

If anything, Regina felt the tight knot in her chest loosen just a little—and she smiled.

“I’ll just go on my own then. The dress shop isn’t that far anyway.”

“Has the doctor given you permission to go out?”

“Yes. My recovery is going well, she even said they’ll start reducing my medication next week.”

“That’s good news to hear. I hope you make a full recovery soon.”

With his chin resting on his hand, Grey gave her a charming smile that was almost enchanting.

“There’s still something unfinished between us, isn’t there?”

“Unfinished?”

“Ah… Perhaps I was the only one who felt that way.”

She caught the teasing remark a little too late. Her violet eyes, a little red in the sunlight, flickered like a bouquet of flowers.

Grey watched her reaction with the delight of a boy throwing a stone into a pond and watching the ripples spread.

“I would prefer it if you waited a little longer to be more stable. Instead of going out, why not have the designer come to the house?”

Even as he asked, Grey seemed convinced that things would go his way.

But Regina hesitated and shook her head.

“I’d rather go in person to look at fabrics and decorations. I’ve been cooped up in this house far too long.”

When Regina said that, she must have felt stifled – and Grey could understand that, at least to some extent.

But the change in her – how calmly she withdrew instead of pushing back – caused him a quiet unease.

His wife, once frail and hollowed out by illness, now lingered in his mind like a hangnail on the edge of a nail bed – small but impossible to ignore.

Grey was the kind of man who couldn’t stand even a hint of imperfection; his nails had to be cut so short that the skin underneath was visible.

And he knew that if you pulled out a hangnail too hard, you’d just bleed.

So, with practiced gentleness, he asked casually,

“Don’t you have a friend who could go with you? Countess Beaty, perhaps?”

“Chelsti’s almost full term. I don’t think I’ll see her for a while.”

The others all lived too far away.

With the Cabil estate at the southernmost tip of Wailin, visiting them wasn’t as easy as it used to be.

“That’s unfortunate.”

After thinking for a moment, Grey gave a pleasant smile and suggested.
“Then I’ll send someone else in my place.”

“Someone else? Who?”

And so it was that Finley Brixton ended up accompanying her.

He had been working on plans for next quarter’s consensus and financial stability indicators when he was unexpectedly pulled away and made to board the carriage.

Suddenly finding herself with Cabil’s chief banker as her shopping escort, Regina smiled awkwardly.

“You must be busy. Thank you for coming, Mr Finley.”

“Oh, my lady! Don’t mention it. I didn’t feel like working anyway – so it’s really me who should be thanking you.”

Easy as ever, Finley smiled brightly without showing the slightest sign of displeasure.

At that moment, a faint, unfamiliar scar appeared on his lower lip as he laughed.

“How did you get that scar?”

“Pardon? Which one do you mean?”

“The one on your lip… here, on the right side.”

“Ah.”

It wasn’t until she pointed it out with her finger that Finley understood.

“Ah, I’m sorry. It’s an old scar. No one really asks about it anymore.”

He explained with a laugh that it had happened when he dozed off with a fountain pen in his mouth.

“Pretty dumb, right?”

Regina felt a twinge of sympathy—and something else. Something strange.

The things she had missed were trivial. Finley’s new scar. Chelsti’s pregnancy. The news of Nadeira’s divorce.

But put together, these scraps added up to a whole year.

Even as she struggled alone in a prison of loneliness, the world had continued to change without pause.

Perhaps Grey’s world had been the same.

And in it, she was probably nothing more than a page already turned.

“My lady, would you mind looking out the right window of the carriage?”

That wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

Outside, stretching along the right side of the road, came into view a breathtaking sea and harbour – Capturn Port, the largest sector of the Cabil estate.

“Good heavens! What happened to Capturn Port?”

It was at least five times bigger and ten times more impressive than she remembered. Regina couldn’t believe her eyes.

“The expansion project was only recently completed.”

Finley replied, puffing out his chest with pride – he had probably played a major role in this very project.

“All the docks have been completely renovated and the once small direct trade market has been specialised and diversified! The place is packed with visitors who come to buy exotic imported goods at low prices.”

“This is… an incredible transformation.”

“See that beautiful cliff over there? Soon it will be lined with luxury hotels and holiday villas. There are even plans for a cruise ship business to attract tourists.”

Over the next five years, the Cabil Estate will become the largest city in southern Wailin – practically a second capital!

“I’m frustrated that I don’t have the words to express how amazed I am. You’ve done something truly amazing.”

“Oh, I didn’t do anything, really. I just followed the Count’s plans.”

Of course. Grey Cabil was a man whose brilliance exceeded his appearance. Even Finley – pushed to his limits under Grey’s command – couldn’t hide the respect he felt for him.

“Would you believe all this has been achieved in just two years? Haha.”

“How is that even possible?”

“The Count has dedicated himself to the project. Especially in the last year – he put practically all his personal time into it. As a result, progress has been incredibly fast -“

Finley, who had been chatting away happily, suddenly stopped himself, realising too late what he had said.

Regina, now wearing a strained smile, pretended to look out the window.

As the carriage approached the docks, she saw through the window the busy streets and the hopeful faces of the fishermen.

To see all that they had built – the life and energy that now pulsed through the harbour – was to be a sight to behold.

It was hard to hold a grudge against him for not coming to see her.

He had been after something real, something alive.

How could she blame him for not visiting a woman who for a year had seemed as good as dead?

Grey – her husband – was the kind of man who could achieve something so extraordinary.

As long as she didn’t become a burden and steal his precious time with her petty needs.

‘I will never ask him to go shopping with me again.’