‘Well, that’s not what’s important right now. Today I need to help Cordelia and Luke fall in love here, just like in the original novel’s plot.’

Eileen momentarily stopped thinking and recalled her original purpose.

‘First, I need to create a situation where Cordelia and Luke are alone.’

Once her task became clear, her mind seemed to sharpen again. Eileen took a deep breath and slowly began to speak.

“Ah! I forgot something in the carriage…… Duke Aaron, would you mind coming with me?”

No sooner had Eileen finished speaking than Luke put down his teacup and said,

“I’ll go instead. Lady Eileen, you should spend time with Lady Cordelia.”

Too much consideration could be a problem too. Eileen glared slightly at Luke for showing consideration even when it wasn’t needed.

“No, Count! I want to get it myself.”

“Ah, then I’ll accompany you……”

“I appreciate your consideration, but I also have something important to discuss with the Duke. I’ll just gratefully accept your kind thoughts this time.”

Please, please go along with this!

Eileen smiled awkwardly while completely hiding her true intentions.

“I understand, Lady Eileen.”

After brief consideration, Luke nodded, and Eileen slowly turned to meet Aaron’s gaze.

“Duke Aaron. I’m sorry, but could you help me?”

“……Alright.”

Aaron was about to say something in response to Eileen but simply nodded instead.

He wanted to shout and ask what she was plotting, but he couldn’t because Cordelia was watching.

He wanted to always be a good person in front of her.

Aaron quietly exhaled a deep sigh to maintain his self-control that seemed about to vanish.

“Then Lady Cordelia, Count Luke, would you wait for us a little while?”

Eileen said goodbye and headed toward the carriage with Aaron.

“What are you plotting?”

After walking in silence for quite some time, Eileen turned her head at the low growl in her ear.

Aaron, who had maintained a polite demeanor until just now, was now openly displaying hostility toward her.

“Plotting? That sounds unpleasant. I told you earlier, didn’t I? I’m just going to retrieve something I forgot.”

Eileen scoffed and spoke sarcastically at his consistent behavior.

“You think I’d believe such nonsense?”

“My goodness! Duke Aaron. You’re so perceptive!”

Eileen opened her eyes wide and clapped lightly at Aaron’s words.

Aaron’s anger rose at her playful tone and spreading smile.

“Consider yourself lucky. Be grateful you’re the daughter of the Ceres family. Otherwise, I would have thoroughly crushed you long ago.”

“Oh my, how frightening! Are you threatening me now?”

“Do my words sound like they fit that meager word ‘threat’?”

The sound of grinding teeth echoed vividly through the quiet forest. Aaron’s purple eyes, rippling with anger, contained not a trace of sunlight, making them look much colder than usual.

Thump thump.

The sound of her heart beating strongly resonated clearly through her eardrums. Though she tried to act strong, she couldn’t be unaffected by the fierce gaze openly displaying hostility.

She felt like she might collapse under his murderous intent at any moment. However, she firmly strengthened her legs and stared directly into Aaron’s amethyst eyes while declaring in a low voice,

“Go ahead and crush me as you wish, Duke Aaron de Monston.”

One syllable at a time. Eileen stared at Aaron’s purple eyes without blinking, with almost obsessive intensity.

“If you crush me, I’ll crush you too.”

Despite her thorny words, Eileen’s voice was excessively calm.

“Eileen Lia de Ceres. You’d better stop provoking me.”

At Eileen’s words, veins began to appear one by one on Aaron’s smooth forehead.

“……”

By now, all conversation had disappeared between Eileen and Aaron, and only a coldness that seemed capable of freezing everything lingered.

“What a coincidence to meet Duke Aaron in a place like this!”

But that didn’t last long, as an unfamiliar voice broke through the coldness.

“……?”

Eileen and Aaron simultaneously turned their heads at the casual voice that suddenly interjected.

There, a man with a common appearance that could be seen anywhere was approaching with a swagger.

Judging by his attire, he seemed to be a nobleman, but for Eileen, who had been away from Bereut for a while, it was an unfamiliar face.

Unlike Eileen, Aaron’s face, which had been full of coldness, gradually turned pale white the moment he recognized the man.

“It’s been a long time, Duke Andrew……”

Unlike his usual self, Aaron’s voice trembled. Eileen tilted her head in confusion at Aaron’s behavior, which was so different from his earlier confidence, as if his weakness had been exposed.

Who on earth is this person that makes even the great Aaron behave like this?

Her curiosity was quickly resolved.

“You’re such a leisurely person! If I were you, I would think even resting was a luxury because of guilt!”

Duke Andrew approached Aaron and grabbed his shoulder without even glancing at Eileen.

“Your words are excessive, Duke Andrew.”

“Why? Did I say something wrong? Ah! I suppose your guilt disappeared along with the carriage when you were young!”

Despite his cheerful voice, Duke Andrew’s words were full of sarcasm. And that sarcasm gradually dragged Aaron into a deep mire.

“They must be truly pitiful people. How heartbroken they would be to see their son coming to play in a place like this from early morning.”

“……”

“Why are you glaring at me like that? Surely you’re not suggesting I’m saying something inappropriate?”

The bright smile that had spread across Duke Andrew’s face quickly faded. Instead, a despicably vile smile took its place.

“Go ahead and say something if you have anything to say, Duke Aaron.”

“……I have nothing to say.”

“That’s right, you shouldn’t. If you did, you would be a beast, not a human.”

Despite Duke Andrew’s continued sarcasm, Aaron simply kept his mouth shut.

As if all this blame and sarcasm were justified.

Aaron kept his head bowed and silently endured the lashes coming his way.

“Hah.”

An incongruous sigh flowed into the space clearly divided between winner and loser, strong and weak.

‘Why are you just standing there?’

Eileen tried to understand Aaron for a brief moment, but she simply couldn’t comprehend.

Above all, when he tormented her for slightly interfering with his business, how could he remain silent when someone insulted him to his face by bringing up his parents’ death?

‘Is he crazy?’

A sigh escaped involuntarily out of disbelief. At the same time, she felt an urge to shut the vile Duke Andrew’s mouth.

Eileen pulled up her bangs that were swaying inconveniently in the wind and glared at Duke Andrew.

‘Even so, this is too much.’

It seemed as if their earlier heated argument had never happened.

Well, how could anyone just listen silently to such impious words?

……It also feels personal somehow.

Eileen exhaled an irritated sigh and quickly moved forward.

“I can’t stand to listen to this anymore because it’s so unpleasant.”

Eileen squeezed between the two men where an unpleasant current was flowing, clicked her tongue lightly, and opened her mouth.

“……Eileen?”

Aaron’s body flinched at Eileen’s unexpected action.

“Duke Andrew, was it? By what right do you say such things?”

She was just like light.

A warm ray of light descending upon him as he struggled in the dark mire created by guilt.

Aaron stared blankly at her, feeling as if what he was seeing was an illusion.

“Hmm……?”

Duke Andrew looked down at Eileen, who stood in front of Aaron with her small body, as if finding her interesting.

Her eye-catching bright golden hair and green eyes, more vivid than the tender grass of spring, were quite beautiful.

Had there been such a beauty in Bereut?

Eileen’s beautiful appearance instantly dissipated the displeasure Duke Andrew had felt. Duke Andrew suggested in a much gentler voice,

“I’m having an important conversation with Duke Aaron right now, so if you have something to say, would you wait a little?”

However, unlike Duke Andrew, Eileen’s face remained coldly rigid.

“I’m amazed that such talk can be considered conversation.”

“Are you calling what I just said ‘such talk’?”

“Yes, I am. Is there a problem?”

Eileen tilted her head slightly and smiled lightly.

“Judging by your attire, you’re not a maid…… Which family do you belong to? I think I need to meet your parents.”

“I don’t see any reason to introduce myself to a rude person.”

A highly sarcastic voice enveloped Eileen and Duke Andrew. Sharp eyes pierced through relentlessly, but Eileen didn’t even blink.

“And why is Duke Aaron responsible for the deaths of the Duke and Duchess of Monston?”

“When did I say such a thing…… I merely asked Duke Aaron if he felt any guilt.”

Duke Andrew felt a strange fear when Eileen’s green eyes persistently held his gaze. He muttered while avoiding her gaze in various directions.

“Why? Can’t you say it directly? Are you a coward?”

How could he not say anything to such a vile person?

A sneering laugh escaped from Eileen’s lips.

“Y-you. Do you know who I am to speak so rudely!”

Provoked by Eileen’s continued sarcasm, Duke Andrew shouted in an agitated voice.

“Do you know who I am to speak so loudly?”

Unlike Duke Andrew’s voice, which cracked in various places from uncontrollable anger, Eileen’s voice remained coldly composed.

‘What a fool.’

Ignoring Duke Andrew’s desperate attempts, Eileen turned her body sharply to look at Aaron, who had been standing stiffly.

A person with the same wounds as mine, marked by deeply carved injuries.

Eileen bit her lip.

“Let’s go, Duke Aaron.”

How much better would it be if I didn’t know about Aaron’s wounds?

How much better would it be if I didn’t know how painful those wounds are?

How much better would it be if I didn’t know that he suffers from terrible nightmares every night because of those wounds?

“Such filthy words,”

So would it have been better if I had left him to be wounded further or not, thinking only of revenge?