Chapter 13

Lizette picked up the glass of water on the table and touched it to her lips. The cold water ran down her throat and the coolness calmed her body, but instead her heart only beat faster. Whether he knew that or not, Killian, who had not hesitated to make such bold statements, calmly continued speaking once more.

“Until the wedding, Lizzie will be treated as the future master of House Cedric and as an honored guest. Also, the wedding will be held not in the capital, but in the Cedric duchy.”

Killian was unhurried and composed. His actions were not large, and his voice too was low.

“In this marriage, House Cedric will receive nothing at all from the Trianne Marquisate.”

What Killian added in a firm voice sounded like something no one could oppose.

On the surface, his manner seemed to show respect toward the Trianne Marquisate, but in the end it was an outrageously one-sided notice. Excessively unilateral, even considering the difference in status between the families.

“That is Cedric’s rule.”

Only then did Lizette truly feel Killian’s presence. The overwhelming authority of the name Cedric touched her skin. It felt as though the air had frozen. At this moment, Killian seemed to Lizette like an elegant predator standing at the top of the food chain.

“A man of your standing, Marquis Trianne, would know this, but when one is before a woman he likes, it is difficult to consider reasonable procedures.”

Killian added with a somewhat cold smile.

“It is the blood that runs through my body, after all.”

To someone listening carelessly, it sounded like a statement flaunting the power of his house. Perhaps that was why Graham’s and Lavinia’s expressions, which Lizette glanced at in passing, momentarily stiffened. But Lizette felt there was something else in Killian’s words.

How should she put it, Marquis Aberdeen’s expression was clearly different from Graham’s and Lavinia’s. He looked somehow troubled. And moreover, the smile Killian showed somehow seemed to Lizette like a cold self-mockery. She did not know why, but it was so even though Killian was clearly smiling.

“Ahem.”

Marquis Aberdeen’s dry cough broke the silence. At the sound, Killian withdrew the gaze he had fixed on Marquis Aberdeen and let out a short laugh. Seeing that sight, Lizette had the feeling that the two of them had exchanged some secret understanding.

“Very well, then, I shall leave everything to your wishes.”

Marquis Aberdeen’s permission was granted. Graham pressed his lips tightly shut and lowered his gaze. His upper body trembled just enough for only Lizette to notice.

“I should get up now. If we’re to leave for the ducal residence without being late, I think I should start packing my things.”

Realizing that Graham’s patience had reached its limit, Lizette spoke quickly with good timing. The moment Lizette stepped in, Graham’s stiff shoulders slowly loosened.

His expression was still poor, but fortunately it seemed Lizette had spoken up at the right moment.

“I would like to help Lizzie as well. May I get up with her?”

“Do as you please.”

And so the meal that not a single person had enjoyed came to an end. Once Marquis Aberdeen gave his permission, Lizette headed toward her room side by side with Killian.

Throughout the walk down the corridor, the two said nothing. As only the quiet sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway, Lizette was busy trying to sort out the ripples Killian’s words had stirred in her heart.

Creak.

Before she knew it, Lizette had reached her door and lightly pushed it open.

“Come in, Killian.”

At Lizette’s words, Killian stepped into the room with slightly slow steps.

“There isn’t really much to look at.”

Lizette added. Just as she said, for the room of a Marquis’s daughter, it was a modest space.

Dark ivory wallpaper, white curtains embroidered with patterns, a neatly arranged desk, and on the bedside table beside the bed sat a glass bottle holding a bouquet of dried lavender.

“It feels rather strange.”

“Pardon?”

When Lizette asked back, Killian lowered his gaze toward his feet for a moment, then looked at Lizette.

“It’s my first time entering your room, Miss.”

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

“Why do you think I’m lying?”

Killian immediately objected, as if wronged. Only then did Lizette notice Killian standing awkwardly. He was standing very close to the door. It certainly looked unnatural.

“Pfft.”

A small laugh escaped from Lizette’s lips. As though they had been lies, the complicated feelings that had weighed her down a little earlier disappeared, and once the tension eased, a smile finally slipped out.

“Are you really the same person who just effortlessly wrote an entire romance novel a little while ago?”

“Were you very flustered?”

“You could have at least given me a hint.”

“I expected that even a family that was family only in appearance would ask at least that much. Well, when you calmly bit into your salad all the same, Lizzie, I thought you were quite composed.”

“I was watching someone who looked as if he was pouring out every lie he’d tell in his lifetime because of me.”

Lizette gave a slight shrug.

“If I can’t help, the least I can do is not get in the way.”

Replying playfully, Lizette offered Killian a place to sit.

“Killian, does my bed perhaps look untidy? You can sit if you want.”

At Lizette’s words, Killian flinched slightly. For some reason, he seemed to hesitate, though Lizette could not tell why. Not understanding, she gave him a puzzled look.

Killian looked as though he was about to say something, then closed his mouth. In the end, he sat lightly on the edge of the bed. The mattress sank briefly under his weight, then slowly returned to its original shape. Only after confirming that Killian had sat down did Lizette begin little by little to gather the things she needed.

There was not much to gather, really. Everything she owned was old and worn. That was only natural, since she had never properly possessed anything. Lizette quietly ran her fingertips over an old hand mirror.

Then she felt Killian’s gaze from behind her. It seemed as though there was something he wanted to say to her. Lizette turned toward Killian and spoke first.

“Killian, is there something you want to say to me?”

“First of all, I should properly apologize. I’m sorry, Lizzie.”

It was something she had not expected at all. At this moment, Lizette could not think of a single reason why Killian should apologize to her. Though if she insisted, it was not as if she had no guess at all.

“I won’t accept the apology. Of course, I didn’t expect to leave the estate today of all days, but for me it’s rather turned out well.”

“No. I know that leaving the Marquisate this way before even properly holding the wedding will not give people anything good to say.”

“If it’s for that reason, then my reputation was never good to begin with.”

“But knowing that you may be hurt by unnecessary rumors, and still failing to discuss it with you beforehand, is my mistake.”

Even as Lizette answered as though it were nothing much, Killian offered his apology politely.

‘At the latest, two days.’

Just as when Killian had sent her the letter of proposal, the rumors about the two of them would surely spread everywhere in no time. Yet after finishing his apology, there was no longer any trace of guilt on Killian’s face.

“Even so, I do not regret it. From the moment I changed my decision, I had already made up my mind not to leave you in this place. It was only a matter of time. In the end, it was something that had to be done.”

At Killian’s words, Lizette fell silent for a moment. Just as Killian was about to wonder at the meaning of that silence, Lizette’s lips parted again.

“Killian, thank you.”

“……Thanks?”

“I don’t mind if one rumor is piled on top of another, but I know that marrying me will not be some great gain for you. There must be your reasons, of course. Still, even so, you took the hand I held out.”

Her gentle voice wound itself around Killian’s ear. Suddenly, Killian thought of the day he had first met her.

‘It felt like this back then too.’

When he had watched her turn away without even asking the reason for his refusal. When he had seen Lizette, with those mournful eyes, still refusing to cling any further in the end. That day, when he had felt an inexplicable strength in the frail woman before him.

“I won’t forget that there was a moment when you shared the weight of my life with me. While we are together, and even afterward.”

At that moment, a tight sensation came over Killian’s chest.

‘……What is this.’

Was Lizette’s gratitude so moving that it made the pit of his stomach ache. Or was he startled by Lizette’s firmness, speaking already of after everything had ended. An unfamiliar emotion settled in his heart.

That strange sensation suddenly filled Killian with fear.

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