“I hope this will be our last meeting. Don’t come here anymore. I don’t want Adam to waver because of you. And I don’t want us to fall out of the Duke’s favor because of your conduct. If you think about the kindness we showed in raising you, you can’t say this is too harsh. Marienne, I would do anything for my only child.”

“……”

“You understand, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

“That’s good. Well then, take care.”

Marienne hunched her shoulders and lowered her head.

Everything went dark before her eyes. It felt as if the world she had been standing on was crumbling.

Tears fell onto the cobblestones of the road.

As Mrs. Rose was about to leave, Marienne spoke with difficulty.

“Was I… was I ever, even for a moment, family to you both?”

Mrs. Rose’s lips moved a few times, but she cruelly remained silent.

Marienne smiled painfully.

“Thank you for raising me all this time. I won’t forget the kindness you’ve shown me. I hope you both find peace.”

Mrs. Rose left without a word, leaving Marienne alone in the dim street.

Her lips trembled finely as she barely held back her tears.

She clutched her chest and bent over. The suppressed sobs escaped like groans.

She had suspected this might happen. That’s why she had been so afraid and anxious the entire time she was in the castle.

It’s strange. Being abandoned is a familiar feeling, yet somehow the heart always hurts as if it’s the first time.

Marienne bit her lip hard and swallowed her tears.

With tear-filled eyes, she looked around the desolate street. Nowhere in the darkness-shrouded path could she see a place to return to.

She hugged herself and shivered. She was afraid to take a step.

But she had to go.

For the family that abandoned her, back to the cold-hearted Duke.

* * *

Even as dawn approached, the banquet had not ended.

There were still people dancing in the hall, and drunk guests chatting here and there in the banquet room.

The servants looked tired as they cleared away dirty dishes and brought out new drinks and warmed food.

Count Godwin and Nigel, seated at the head of the table, had been drinking steadily.

They were waiting for the right moment to reveal their intentions while hiding their true thoughts.

The Count put down his glass on the table.

“I’ve seen many castles, but compared to Louer, even the Imperial Palace seems trivial. I’ve heard that Rockshield Castle in the south is also enormous. How many large and small mansions and castles must there be in all your territories! You must be exhausted from battles alone, wouldn’t it be wonderful if a wise woman could help from within? I’m sure even the late Duke couldn’t rest easy.”

Nigel smiled faintly as he brought the wine glass to his lips.

Glancing at this, the Count broached the main topic.

“A man with heavy responsibilities needs a woman. An educated, virtuous, and above all, well-backed marriage partner.”

The wine flowed into Nigel’s lips, whether he was listening to the other’s words or not.

If only he would respond. The Count twirled the ring on his fat finger back and forth.

Damn this insolent brat, there’s no end to his arrogance! Does he feel like he owns the world with his immense wealth and military power? He’s just a lucky boy born to the right father.

“Your Grace, why are you silent? You must guess the purpose of my visit to Louer. What do you think of Her Highness Princess Elizabeth, the Emperor’s only blood relative?”

Nigel elegantly put down his wine glass.

“Let’s hear the conditions.”

“Conditions?”

“If there’s a backing that will bring down an iron hammer on a naive child who steps out of line, I should receive it without complaint.”

“Refrain from such disrespectful words.”

The Count’s beard trembled.

The Emperor had offered the fertile Otlin Plains, the Gaia Silver Mine, and the thriving ports of Supa and Genochine as dowry while proposing the marriage.

Not only the beautiful Elizabeth but also offering such golden lands!

Even though the money would go to the Princess’s hands after marriage, he had been struggling to speak due to his frustration.

And now what is this man saying!

“Her Highness is called the Star of Grencia. You already have so much, but too much greed can lead to trouble.”

“Greed…”

Nigel, who had been rubbing his chin with his elbow on the armrest, looked directly at the old Godwin.

“It is because I lack greed that you can eat until your belly bulges and your knees give out. It is because I do not indulge in greed that you live today despite the blades of the Heath people. It is because I absolutely must not be greedy that His Majesty is willing to offer even his only blood relative to me, Lord Godwin.”

Nigel stood up from his chair and looked down at the Count.

Intimidated by Nigel’s imposing figure and beast-like gaze, Godwin instinctively backed away.

“So bow your head to my mercy.”

“How… t-this…!”

“Tell His Majesty I refuse.”

Leaving the Count with his mouth agape, Nigel leisurely left the banquet hall.

Overcome with a sense of defeat, the Count picked up a glass and shattered it.

Nigel moved secretly from the inner castle to the southern garden through a secret passage built for wartime.

Opening a door covered in vines, he was greeted by tall garden trees. The night air was cool.

He stopped, tilted his head back, and closed his eyes.

Moonlight flowed down the masculine contours of his forehead and nose bridge.

Opening his eyes, he removed his gloves to check the back of his hand.

He had worried about getting in a fit due to that disgusting man, but it seemed his barbarian blood didn’t find the Count too disagreeable.

Twisting the corner of his mouth, he headed towards the lake in Bernac Forest.

Dry branches and leaves made crunching sounds as he stepped on them. The forest scent freshly cleansed his lungs.

It was once a path he had walked shedding tears of blood.

To end the life of a monster, and to find the life of a Duke.

It was also a forest that had only brought despair each time.

Arriving at the lakeside, Nigel leaned his shoulder against a lush mahovi tree.

The bright moon was reflected in the water.

He leisurely admired the silver lake.

Suddenly, a fish jumped out of the water surface.

With a splash, circular ripples spread out.

Once, and then again, the nasty creature disturbed the peaceful water and stirred the moon’s reflection.

Suddenly, he recalled the red-haired girl running towards him from the end of the archery range.

It was incomprehensible.

Why his usually indifferent heart raced like it was on fire only when he saw Marienne Rose.

What was so special about that mere commoner.

Even the fact that he recalled her was laughable.

“Hic! Oh no. I think I’m drunk.”

A suspicious sound was heard.

It was a forest where even knights, let alone servants, were forbidden to enter carelessly.

Even the forest keeper only came in on designated days to manage the trees, yet someone was secretly drinking here.

Nigel walked to the opposite side of the large tree.

And who should he find there.

Reeking of alcohol, Marienne Rose was standing there.

“D-Duke?”

Cold light filled Nigel’s downcast eyes.

“Ah… I should greet you first, right? Noble and great Duke of Bernac, the most foolish, stupid, hic! lonely and poor woman in Louer, no, in the entire Grencian Empire, greets Your Grace.”

Marienne grabbed her skirt and bent her knees. Her swaying left and right was an unsightly spectacle.

As expected, her body tilted as if about to fall into the lake.

Reflexively, Nigel wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

The woman in his arms frowned and grumbled.

“Don’t pull so hard. I might throw up. My stomach doesn’t feel good.”

Marienne raised the corners of her mouth cheerfully, reeking of alcohol. To the man who was considering throwing her into the lake.

“I, you know, drank a little.”

However, unfortunately for the drunken woman, the moonlight was generous.

It broke white on her upturned face, bewitching the man’s eyes.

Her drunken eyes were flushed, and her hair cascading down her back tickled the back of the man’s hand.