Chapter 12 – Part 3

“I’m not dwelling on the past. I’m just saying that…….”

Leonard paused.

“It just occurred to me that the Lady Alaina might be in the same position.”

“…….”

“It occurred to me that since it was a Marchioness who carried her, and who gave birth to her, I don’t think we can be sure that she is the Marquis’s daughter just because of their resemblance to each other.”

Tenere blinked slowly at that. So, what he meant was…

“Are you suggesting… that we prove that Lady Alaina is not the Marquis’s biological daughter?”

“My mother’s letter has been leaked.”

Leonard’s words made Tener gasp and cover her mouth.

“I told Lady Alaina to retrieve it first, but apparently that didn’t work. Of course, we can’t ignore the possibility of her involvement.”

“…….”

“If it was her who betrayed us, then we’ll have to deal with the duke, and if not, we may have to seek her cooperation.”

From what he heard, Marquis Salvator has made his brother Callian, not Alaina, his heir.

If it were certain that Alaina had been abandoned, perhaps just offering her the title without repercussions and some additional compensation would be enough to sway her.

“I’ll contact my grandfather in the north first. While we procure the grass you mentioned, we’ll convince Lady Alaina, so don’t worry too much.”

It would need a lot of gossip to cover it.

If the Marquis, who had been loudly proclaiming himself to be the Emperor’s daughter, turned out to say that even his daughter wasn’t his blood, it would be a ridiculously absurd picture.

“Well, then, Your Majesty.”

Tenere, who had been listening, opened her mouth. Leonard looked at her.

“May I speak with Lady Salvatore?”

Leonard was a little taken aback by Tenere’s question. Tenere smiled softly as she lowered her gaze.

“She’s someone I should meet anyway.”

“You mean, alone with her……?”

“If His Majesty isn’t too busy, I suppose we could meet her together.”

Leonard hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.

Tenere’s gaze fell on the open journal. She sensed a hesitation in his gaze.

“Do you want to read the diary……?”

The question was unexpected. Turning his head as if to ask what she meant, Leonard saw Tenere avert her eyes.

“…If it’s alright with you.”

“What could possibly not be alright?”

He replied with a smile, but Tenere didn’t smile back. She just held his hand tightly.

After Tenere had returned to the Rose Palace, Leonard sat alone and opened Beatrice’s diary.

He pored over the things he’d tried to bury and moved on.

Loneliness, solitude, anxiety, affection, and hatred—raw emotions never mentioned by his mother were melted into the calm handwriting.

Leonard flipped through the pages for a long time, stopping again on his father’s deathbed.

As he reread the story of his father’s deathbed confession of love, Leonard muttered to himself.

“…Seeing how pathetic he was, I’m pretty sure he is my father.”

A mocking smile lingered on his lips and then disappeared.

He had warned him not to be easily swayed, not to waver for anyone.

“Isn’t that what you said to me? ”

Even if it was meant for me, I won’t act like a docile child now.

Leonard clenched his jaw and turned the page absentmindedly. And when his eyes fell on the last sentence.

He remembered Tenere’s hesitant look as she left the diary behind.

“……ah.”

So that’s why her eyes were red and why she didn’t want him to read it.

She was probably worried that if he found out his mother’s death wasn’t an accident, he might be hurt or blame himself.

How ironic that she was worrying and caring for him, yet it wasn’t love.

Leonard smiled bitterly and stared at the blank page.

The day was dawning.

* * *

“My lord, Viscount Landerck has a message for you. He asks to see you soon…….”

“I understand.”

As the butler spoke politely, Callian nodded slowly and shifted his feet.

The magnificent mansion, incomparable to Stewart Manor, always seemed to weigh him down.

Even though he had lived here until he received his title.

“…Where’s Alaina?”

“She’s resting after her fencing lessons during the day.”

“I don’t think she’s been fencing for a while.”

“She must be bored after all this time at home.”

The older butler was polite and respectful, unlike his treatment of Alaina.

Callian nodded and stopped in his tracks.

He stopped in front of the dead marchioness’ room.

The butler explained with a crooked smile.

“This is the late madam’s room.”

“I know. I, too, stayed in this house until I was granted a Viscountcy by my brother.”

At that, the butler fell silent. Callian pursed his lips, watching the closed door far away.

“It is Alaina’s birthday soon.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Alaina won’t have unnecessary thoughts, will she?”

“Of course not. It’s a special order from the master.”

As Alaina was born after her mother’s death, her birthday was Isabelle’s memorial day.

But Isaac, who didn’t want his only daughter to feel burdened, always held lavish parties for her birthday.

“Without my brother here, I should hold a big party, but the situation doesn’t allow it.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand.”

The butler replied, but Callian was silent for a moment.

He stood nailed to the doorway, unmoving, as if he were remembering the dead.

“May I enter ……?”

He spoke after a long moment of silence. The butler bowed his head.

“You are the current master of the Marquisate of Salvatore. There is no part of the manor that you may not go to.”

Callian nodded, and as he slowly turned the doorknob, the empty room was revealed.

A canopy covered an empty bed, a couch made of water buffalo hide, and a mother-of-pearl table that glowed in different colors depending on the direction of the light.

Everything that had gone out of style had been kept in its place.

And a large, framed photograph hanging above a wallpapered wall of roses.

Callian paused in front of a portrait of Isabelle.

Isabelle was smiling subtly in the picture. It was a smile that always captivated him.

Callian stared at it, then opened his mouth.

“……You were against your brother and sister-in-law’s marriage.”

“I had no ill intentions, I just thought the gap between our families was too great.”

“I don’t blame you. I was against it myself.”

Callian smiled pleasantly. The steward bowed, seemingly impressed. Another long silence fell.

“Does Alaina come here often?”

“She used to come often when she was young, but she rarely visits after she comes of age.”

“Bring her here.”

At Callian’s command, the butler left the room without a word.

In the empty room, Callian stared blankly at the portrait.

“Isabelle…….”

He had first met her many years ago, in a time of confusion between pride in being a member of the Marquis of Salvatore’s family and the anxiety of being dismissed when he came of age.

Somewhere between being a boy and a young man, when his features started to mature and he spent hours in front of the mirror, and when he had to get new clothes every month because he was growing taller.

During those times when he secretly applied ointment to cover the pimples on his cheeks and got scolded by his parents for it, he couldn’t bring himself to look at his brother’s lover with kind eyes.

“You’re just a gold digger, aren’t you?”

He remembered her mocking words, which made him feel humiliated.

Isabelle had teased, seeing the boy’s insecurity and inferiority complex.

“Why, are you envious?

The short words stabbed him in the heart, because her words were true.

Isabelle was right; Callian envied her.

She was going to move into the house he grew up in.

But he would have to move out someday, and he felt as if she was taking his place.

“If you’re envious, you should be a gold digger too, because I won’t stop you.”

“My, how could I do that…….”

“Dealing with a nasty person like him would be much worse.”

Isabelle showed no signs of being hurt. No, she seemed completely disinterested in him.

Just like when a dog barks in the distance and you glance at it briefly before turning away, she didn’t even look at him anymore.

She just ran to his brother and hugged him, as if nothing had happened.

She seemed like a wicked woman.

Callian thought as he glared at her.

Even if she tried to please him, he might mock her, but did she dare say such things?

But the moment he saw the bright smile on his brother’s face as he looked at her, Callian couldn’t say anything more.

He could only pout as he watched the lovers gaze at each other with eyes filled with affection.

“My Lord, the Lady Alaina is here.”