“Must be nice to be that smart, huh?”

Grey sneered as he quickly pulled on his coat. Next to him, Finley handed him the bag and offered some unsolicited advice.

“If it looks really bad, just bow. Deeply.”

“Why should I? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Calming down should come first. Then come persuasion and explanation.”

“And this is what you call advice?”

Grey snapped, grabbing the bag from Finley as he climbed into the carriage. He urged the driver to hurry, so the speed was fast, but the ride was terrible.

The seat bounced and shook violently, and so did his thoughts – scattered and restless. Before either of them could make the worst possible crash landing, the carriage reached the front of the estate.

“You’ve returned, sir.”

Grey walked quickly past the flustered servants, taken aback by his sudden return. But an unsuspecting maid got in his way, stumbling awkwardly.

He frowned and glanced at the familiar face.

‘Was her name Dain? Dawi? Either way, she’d been working here for a long time – so why was she behaving like this?’

Just as the annoyance flickered in his mind, the maid, Dain, suddenly stumbled.

“Ah! The floor is slippery – I just cleaned it!”

Must be very slippery, he thought, carefully adjusting his stride as he passed her.

He was about six seconds late, but not late enough to defeat the purpose of his visit.

Still, the drawing room was empty.

“Where’s Regina?”

He grabbed a passing butler and asked. The man, looking a little dazed, replied.

“My lady is in her chambers.”

Instead of relief, a wave of fear washed over him. Why on earth had they allowed a woman like Nadeira into their private quarters?

His urgency grew, and Grey’s pace quickened accordingly.

“Regina.”

He knocked low and fast, but there was no response from inside. An icy feeling of dread crept under his skin.

“Regina!”

There was no time for politeness. Grey threw open the door, revealing a dark room, even though it was early evening. There was no tea on the table as there should have been, no uninvited guest, not even the lady of the house – just silence.

He inhaled sharply. Something was wrong.

He turned to rush out as the inner door to the private bedroom opened. Out of the blackness, as deep as an abyss, pale fingers reached for the door and slowly pushed it open.

“…Grey?”

A familiar voice came from the ghostly silhouette.

“What brings you here at this hour? Have you finished work already?”

“Regina. Are you well?”

“…? Yes. I feel much better after a nap.”

“A nap?”

Something about the conversation felt off. Grey noticed that she was wearing a long lace nightgown that came down to her ankles. She had just come out of the bedroom.

“Where’s Miss Beaufort?”

“Nadeira?”

Regina blinked at the sudden name.

‘Why are you looking for this woman in my bedroom?’

Feeling like a fool, Grey added more context.

“I heard that Miss Beaufort came to the manor. Was I mistaken?”

“Oh, she came earlier this afternoon.”

“And?”

“I didn’t meet her. I didn’t see any reason to.”

Grey was a little surprised by her answer. The woman who had always been so gentle with him… was someone who could completely turn someone else away at the door.

It should have been an obvious truth – so why didn’t it feel obvious?

“I just thought her behaviour was rude.”

Regina added, perhaps sensing his silence and offering it as some kind of excuse.

“She stayed in our territory for almost three weeks without acknowledging us, and then suddenly burst in unannounced and demanded to see me.”

“Maybe it was something urgent.”

He wasn’t trying to defend Nadeira. He was just curious – curious enough about what Regina was thinking to keep the conversation going a little longer.

“No, Darling.”

Regina gently shook her head.
“Even if that were the case, the urgency was hers—not mine.”

In other words, it was none of her business. Though her tone was polite, the line she drew was unmistakably clear – so vivid it was almost tangible.

Grey briefly imagined what it might feel like to be pushed over that line… and then decided against it.

There was no point in dwelling on something that hadn’t happened.

“Did it bother you?”

Testing the waters wasn’t an exclusive privilege for him. Regina’s eyes darted between the bag he still hadn’t put down and the collar of the coat he was still wearing. Anyone could see that he had been in a hurry.

“Shouldn’t I have treated Nadeira like that? Darling?”

Her voice was as soft as ever, but his heart was pounding. Before he could even think, his lips moved.

“You can do anything you want. Even kill her – just tell me where the body is and I’ll do the rest.”

“Mmm. That’s pretty intense… but still reassuring.”

Obviously his answer had passed the test. Regina smiled with her characteristic crescent eyes.

The usually sharp and cool impression she carried softened all at once and her face lit up with a girlish, radiant smile.

How many men had followed her around like fools, bewitched by that smile?

‘Does that make me one of them?’

Grey tugged at his collar, suddenly feeling stifled, and added a clarification he didn’t quite understand himself.

“Let me make one thing clear. The person I care about is not Miss Beaufort – it’s you.”

“Me?”

Regina’s eyes widened in surprise, but only for a moment. She quickly composed herself and asked calmly.

“Why? I thought Miss Beaufort’s visit was for personal reasons.”

Regina didn’t seem to think he was worried about her. If anything, she seemed to suspect that he was hiding some risky business dealings from her.

What made it worse was… she wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Lately Miss Beaufort has been unusually close to me. At first I thought it might be romantic interest, but increasingly it felt like something else.”

“What kind of interest?”

“She seemed… interested in my business.”

Grey reached impatiently for the buttons of his coat.

Grey unbuttoned his coat with an impatient flick of his fingers as he explained.

“As you know, my business spans several sectors. Among them, the area in which Miss Beaufort took a particular interest was the redevelopment plan for Kapten Harbour.”

‘Kapten again.’

There seemed to be a lot of questions about that place recently. Was it just a coincidence?

“Is this Miss Nadeira’s personal curiosity, or does it reflect the intentions of the Marquis of Beaufort?”

“I can’t say for sure. I cut off that interest before it could take root.”

Either way, it was curious. The Beaufort family had long been a dominant force in the central politics of Riddenborough. What interest would such political elites have in a southern port far from the capital?

“Was Miss Nadeira ever interested in business?”

“Not at all.”

As far as Regina knew, Nadeira’s interests were mostly confined to high society and the arts. She had a particular love for the piano – because it allowed her to sing while she played. Her voice, deep and velvety, was so clear and captivating that it could hold a room spellbound.

The Marquess of Brodiesangster, who owned the opera house, had once drunkenly complained that it was a pity she’d been born a noblewoman. If she had been a commoner, he claimed, she could have become a prima donna and made a fortune. He nearly got himself strangled by the Marquess of Beaufort for saying it.

“Maybe I should’ve just met with her. Just to hear what she had to say.”

“There’s no need.”

The response came cold and smooth, like sherbet laced with liquor.

“It is always the weaker who seek the stronger, the lower who long for the higher. In this sense, we are not people who need to long for anyone. So why let ourselves be drawn into anything unnecessarily?”

“You are right.”

But even as she said this, a thought stirred in her mind.

‘Maybe that’s why.’

Why Grey had never given in to her, never gone after her – because he never had to.

“Miss Beaufort will be leaving the Cabil estate soon. Until then, ignore everything she does and avoid contact as much as possible.”

Every time Grey said something in that flat, unaffected tone, it cut through her like a blade. Even if the words weren’t directed at her, she wouldn’t be surprised if they were.

To be in a position where you weren’t loved was to be vulnerable and small. It made you lower yourself too quickly, always in fear of being discarded.

And so people like her were left behind in their hearts far more often than they ever were in reality.