“I just don’t understand why such a decision was made. Osborne himself cared deeply about Hangderhood.”

Jeremy had even mentioned Hangderhood in his will, hoping that the family would honour his wishes and continue to protect the institution after his death.

“Of course, Hangderhood doesn’t generate any profit, but it’s never caused financial trouble either. As you know, there are many benefactors who support this place. The Duke of Schutzman’s family has been the most generous of these since the previous generation.”

However, the Osborne family has declined, so maintaining Hangderhood — not to mention the family’s legacy — now depends on the Schutzman family.

The Duke, who aspired to the throne, willingly kept Osborne’s name alive.

So Henrietta wasn’t unaware. She understood that the rope that once seemed like salvation could easily become a leash around her neck.

“Then why would the Duke make such a decision? Did I… do something wrong?”

As Thomasin’s eyes trembled with uncertainty and searched the past for any mistakes he might have made, Henrietta let out a hollow laugh.

There was no way this was his fault.

“Hangderhood? That school in Sersenfers you said you wanted to go to?”

The scornful voice echoed in her mind and, with it, came the same sense of helplessness that she had felt on that day.

If this was indeed the result of a mistake, then it must have been those rash parting words she had spoken.

“Just stay as you are. Nothing will change.”

If she had made a mistake that had led to this, it was boarding that train like a trapped animal, with no plan and only her pride to rely on.

Henrietta slowly opened her eyes. There was no time to wallow in regret over what had already happened.

“Don’t worry, Bishop. I’m sure there’s been a misunderstanding on the Duke’s part.”

Her voice was firm, and her lips lifted in determination. Even so, Thomason couldn’t bring himself to raise his head.

“But what about the children? What about those poor children?’

“…”

“I have to go to Haytesfield straight away. I’ll beg him… or at least ask him to extend the deadline.”

Above all, Henrietta knew how much Bishop Thomason loved and cared for the children in the orphanage.

“He’s a generous man. I’m sure he’ll listen to reason and consider our circumstances.”

She crossed to the other side of the sofa and took the bishop’s hand. Only then did he finally lift his eyes to meet hers.

“It’s all right, Bishop. Truly.”

As she blinked more slowly than usual, the tremor in Thomason’s gaze gradually subsided.

“You don’t need to go. I’ll head back right away.”

“You’ll go?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Henrietta… do you know something?”

“I do. So please don’t worry. Everything will return to how it was. Hangderhood will be just fine.”

“My goodness… but why must you be the one to step in? What on earth happened at the Duke’s estate?”

She could no longer answer. She couldn’t tell Thomason, who trusted and admired her, the truth — but she also couldn’t pretend she knew nothing.

With a faint smile tugging at her lips, Henrietta gave a quiet nod.

Leaving Evelyn, who was watching her with concern written all over her face, behind, Henrietta quickly made her way to catch the carriage back to the station.

Only after she had climbed in did she realise how badly she was trembling. She didn’t know whether it was from shock, anger, delayed sorrow, or perhaps guilt that she should have felt long ago.

“So you’re saying that’s the only place left for you to go.”

Robert’s words popped into her head unbidden, so she leaned her head against the carriage wall. The uneven road jolted her head away from the wall again and again.

“Rietta, don’t turn me into a cruel man.”

Is that why he was so willing to crush everything?

Henrietta lifted her gaze and stared into the distance. Her body, still weary from the journey, felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton.

Had he really gone to such lengths?

Outside, the fields were turning green, blanketed in the deepening hues of early summer. Migratory birds flew in formation across the vast sky above — she couldn’t tell whether they were returning or leaving.

She had wanted to spend the rest of her life here. Quietly. Peacefully.

Was even that too much to ask?

Five years ago, Henrietta had travelled along this same road to the Schutzman estate. Now, she was taking it again — this time to leave him behind for good.

Was all of this really because she had made a mistake?

No, this wasn’t the result of a misstep.

If there was a mistake, it wasn’t in the words she used to end things, but in the moments she had spent lingering, unable to walk away.

Watching the birds soar steadily and unshakably across the boundless sky only strengthened her resolve.

Everything began to go wrong the moment she set her eyes on someone she should never have desired, opened her heart, and reached out to touch him — on that first day, with that first misstep. From the moment she fastened that first button, everything had been a mistake.

This was a burden she had to bear alone.

No matter how high one might rise, no matter if one were destined for the throne, that did not give them the right to toy so recklessly with the lives of others.

***

Robert had summoned her to the dressing room next to his bedroom.

When she arrived, he was standing in front of a full-length mirror while Pierre helped him into a jacket.

“You disappeared on a train without saying anything, and now you’re just walking back here on your own a day later.”

The sarcasm in his voice made her stiffen.

Once he was fully dressed, Robert stood tall and lowered his gaze to stare at her through the mirror.

He looked ready to go out, perfectly put together.

With his characteristic arrogant gaze, sharp jawline, coldly set mouth, and golden hair gleaming like sunlight, he was unmistakably the man she knew.

In contrast, Henrietta’s appearance was pitiful — so much so that it felt wrong for them to be reflected in the same mirror.

Her worn-out dress looked even more faded in the sunset light, and the glow had left her dust-covered face.

‘You always make me feel small.’

Nevertheless, Henrietta didn’t bow her head. In this moment, she was not the one who should feel ashamed.

Clenching her jaw and refusing to look away from her reflection in the mirror, she thought, not without bitterness, just how extraordinary the man she had once dared to love truly was.

“You can go now. I’ll take care of the rest.”

At Robert’s command, Pierre quickly moved. He glanced at Henrietta and shook his head slightly — a clear warning not to provoke his master any further.

Thud.

The door closed, and the two were left alone.

Robert remained silent, simply staring at her.

His silence felt like a noose tightening around her throat.

Just as the pressure became almost unbearable, he suddenly grabbed his tie and pushed it towards her, just as he had done all those years ago when he had to leave in a hurry and she had helped him get dressed.

Henrietta stared at the glossy, deep purple tie in her hands and asked quietly.

“Why did you do it?”

“That’s what I should be asking you.”

“…”

“You didn’t actually think nothing would happen after doing something so bold in my house, did you?”

‘Something bold?’

 There was hardly a better way to describe what she had done the night before — an act that was completely out of character for her.

Was it because Benjamin had harassed her while drunk?

Or because the ever-approaching train schedule made everything feel urgent and fleeting?

Or was it because the moonlight had been unusually bright that night?

Or was it because of him — that man who had shone so brightly in every moment?

Whatever the reason, it had been absurd.

“This is between the two of us.”

“Between the two of us?”

What shocked her most was not the act itself, but the fact that she didn’t regret it. Despite it being so unlike her, she hadn’t trembled once. Even though she knew the consequences would soon follow, she wasn’t afraid.

‘No matter how hard I tried to catch up, you were always just out of reach.’

Like the moon that slips away no matter how quickly you chase it and yet, all she could think about was the man standing right in front of her.

Perhaps that was how this whole situation had come to be.

“Yes, so don’t drag anyone else into this.”

“Another man’s hands…”

Robert paused mid-sentence and lifted his head. His jaw tightened and he took a sharp breath. After a moment, his jaw slackened again.

Without saying a word, he stepped forward and fixed his gaze on Henrietta’s hand.

Around her wrist hung a bracelet that he had given her a long time ago. Once full of meaning, it was now just a faded relic.

Seeing that bracelet at the station last night pushed him closer to the edge than anything else had before.

As she held onto the train’s railing, the bracelet caught the moonlight and shimmered mockingly.

‘That damn bracelet!’

Chaotic, unfiltered images stormed his mind. He knew how absurd they were, and yet the lurid scenes played on a loop, refusing to let go.

Robert hadn’t even returned to the estate yet. He ordered the closure of Hangderhood on the spot.

He took the fastest horse available and sent a message to the next station without delay.

“If you miss the train, you’ll die.”

This command produced an unexpectedly satisfying result.

“From the moment you took Hendrik van Ansonaisen’s hand and crossed over my terrace, this stopped being just between the two of us.”

It felt as though she were prey, frozen before a beast, knowing that even the slightest hesitation could mean death.

Yet Henrietta still met his gaze head-on.

“No, that’s not a fair thing to say. He only helped me because I was in a difficult situation.”

“A difficult situation? What kind of situation? Are you saying it was more dangerous to stay in my house than run off with a man you barely know?’

“Yes, to me that was the bigger danger.”

“Rietta, don’t be unreasonable.”

“Unreasonable?”

Henrietta took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

She had to leave him.