Chapter 2

The funeral rites of the central aristocracy were rather unusual.

When the head of a noble family died, his body was buried in a cemetery established in the capital for approximately a hundred years. Once everyone who might mourn his death had also passed away, his remains were transferred to the family’s territory.

It was a custom that had developed because, for generations, heads of noble houses had spent more time in the capital than on their own lands.

And today, my task was to scatter soil over my father’s coffin before it was buried deep in the cemetery.

In other words, all these people had gathered just to watch me toss a handful of dirt.

“Everyone’s curious about how you’ll react—ah, I suppose I should say Your Grace now. They’re all dying to see how you, the Duchess of Bellua, will react to the appearance of your former lover.”

Noah, who was assisting with the ceremony behind me, kindly explained the situation.

The problem was that his kindness was entirely unnecessary.

“This is ridiculous. How long ago was that? Why is everyone making such a fuss over it?”

“Because no couple has caused a scandal of that magnitude since then. You’ll just have to put up with it.”

What was this, some kind of relay race? Did they need someone to pass the baton to?

I was dumbfounded, but I didn’t bother responding. It wasn’t the right time for an argument anyway.

The grand bells announcing noon gradually began to fade.

It’s time.

It was time for the new head of the family to bid farewell to the previous one.

I walked forward, relying on the fragmented view through my tightly woven veil. At some point, the surrounding noise disappeared. I could feel all my senses concentrating on the scene unfolding before me.

I stopped in front of the deep, freshly dug pit. The coffin, concealed beneath a mountain of flowers, wasn’t visible—not even at the edges.

“What use is a girl if she can’t become an empress?!”

Perhaps it was because everyone around me kept bringing up the past. Of all things, the memory that rang in my ears was my father’s furious roar from ten years ago.

Well, look at that, Father. The girl you insisted was utterly useless has become the Duchess of Bellua.

I wonder if you’re furious right now.

I chuckled softly as I looked at the coffin.

I hadn’t shed a single tear, not even at the very end. But with so many eyes watching me, I supposed I should at least pretend to cry—

“My goodness, he really came!”

“I heard he passed through the capital’s checkpoint at dawn…… Does that mean he came straight here? He even abandoned Her Highness the Princess?”

Murmuring.

Whispering.

And then, just as my thoughts were beginning to follow the strange excitement in the air, they abruptly came to a halt.

I froze in place.

It was Richard.

He had come.

Why?

That was the first question that entered my mind.

Why? Why on earth had he come here? Was he still holding a grudge against me? Or had he come to spit on my father’s grave?

“Could it be that he still has feelings for her?”

At that moment, someone’s whispered words slipped into my ears.

Feelings.

Could it be that he still……

I instinctively lifted my head. My body moved before I could think.

Ah.

A beat too late, I realized that I shouldn’t have done that.

It had been three days since my father’s death. I had been running myself ragged handling the aftermath, sleeping less than three hours a night. The moment I faced the sun, my vision suddenly swam.

I only realized that my body was tilting when I saw the sky.

I couldn’t regain my balance.

Damn it, Father. Now that it’s the end, do you suddenly want to see my face one last time?

There was a coffin at the bottom of the deep pit, covered by thousands of flowers. So even if I fell in, I probably wouldn’t die.

Probably.

Just as I squeezed my eyes shut and cursed inwardly, someone grabbed me roughly.

A hot, firm hand caught my arm. Another hand immediately supported my body as I began to sink toward the ground.

Amid horrified screams from every direction, I felt myself being pulled back up.

“……Richard.”

I murmured his name, then promptly lost consciousness.

“Honestly, I can’t believe this. Do you have any idea how dumbfounded I was when the physician told me Your Grace was sleeping soundly?”

The moment I opened my eyes, Noah launched into a lecture.

“Why on earth didn’t you go to sleep properly? I even made sure you went into your bedroom because I knew something like this might happen!”

“I was just going to look over a few urgent documents in bed……”

“Ha!”

What could I do? It turned out I could concentrate surprisingly well in bed.

When I avoided his gaze, Noah clicked his tongue. He threatened to remove the bedside table and lamp from my bedroom immediately, then swallowed a sigh and asked,

“So, what are you going to do about it?”

“About what?”

“The uninvited guest occupying the drawing room and stubbornly refusing to leave until he sees with his own two eyes that Your Grace is all right.”

“……Don’t tell me that uninvited guest is Richard?”

“Who else would have the nerve to make himself comfortable in someone else’s drawing room without even being invited?”

I sat bolt upright in shock.

“You should have told me that first!”

The first thing I noticed was the pitch-black window outside.

How many hours had I slept?

No wonder my body felt so light.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?!”

I scolded him as I hurried across the bedroom, only to receive an incredulous response.

“You wanted me to wake someone who had collapsed from exhaustion? Just for the sake of a knight who looks like he could beat monsters to death with his bare hands?”

“Your opinion of Richard seems to have improved.”

Just a few days ago, he had called Richard a bastard. Now he was calling him a knight.

As I hastily threw on my coat, Noah grumbled beside me.

“I’m acknowledging the fact that he saved you, that’s all.”

Ah. So that was it.

I was grateful, of course. If I had fallen onto that coffin, people would have gossiped about it for years.

There were more than enough people who pretended to worry about the well-being of the House of Bellua while secretly enjoying every bit of gossip. And what about my great-uncle Gerard and my aunt Claire?

I pushed thoughts of my troublesome relatives to the back of my mind and asked about Richard.

“So he’s still in the drawing room?”

“Yes.”

“Has he eaten?”

“Why should we feed someone who showed up uninvited and refuses to leave?”

Why had he suddenly become so heartless again?

“You let him go hungry?”

“I had some light refreshments sent in, so stop worrying about him and take care of yourself. That man could go several days without food and still be perfectly fine.”

Leaving Noah clicking his tongue behind me, I quickly straightened my clothes and headed straight out of the room.

“Waiting another hour or two won’t kill him!”

As if leaving a knight without a proper meal for more than half a day wasn’t a big deal!

I hurried down the corridor.

My heart began to pound with a strange sense of anticipation.

Let’s look at the facts objectively.

Richard had come to a funeral for which he hadn’t even received a death notice. He had saved me, and he had spent more than half a day waiting in the drawing room just to see my face.

No one would go to such lengths just to pour out their resentment.

If that was the case, then there could only be one reason.

Still……

If he still had feelings for me……

My steps quickened with impatience.

Perhaps we could start over.

By the time I grasped the drawing room’s doorknob, my heart was beating so violently that it felt as though it might burst at any moment. I heard several servants notice me and hurry toward me, but I was faster.

I opened the door before they could reach me.

“Ri……”

“Oh, my!”

The chandelier cast a gentle glow over the drawing room, while the fireplace spread its warm light throughout the space.

A beautiful woman was sitting comfortably against a deep beige sofa, smiling at me.

Huh?

Why was a woman I had never seen before sitting in the central drawing room of the House of Bellua?

I unconsciously looked her over.

Her long, pale pink hair fell in soft, voluminous waves, and her clothes had patches of leather sewn into them here and there, as was characteristic of the North, as though she had been traveling for a long time.

“I heard you collapsed, so I was worried. Are you feeling better, Duchess?”

Her deep blue eyes curved into narrow crescents.

I had never seen her before, but I knew who she was.

Why?

Because she had the same eye color as that damned Damon.

“Y-Your Highness, the Princess?”

“Oh my! You recognize me? Please, don’t be so formal and call me Sasha instead. If you’re close friends with Richard, then you’re my friend, too!”

“……Ah, yes.”

I answered stiffly as she beamed at me.

Your friends are my friends, and we’re all friends!

Even when I was a child, I had never encountered such a childish way of thinking.

Then, from behind the princess’s sunny smile—a brightness so out of place in aristocratic society—a figure rose to his feet.

Jet-black hair. Dark crimson eyes that seemed to have settled into a perpetual chill. A leather garment draped over his shoulders, as though it had absorbed the very coldness of the North……

“Richard Winston.”

I stared blankly at the man before me, whose face was now colder than ice, despite once having shone like midsummer sunshine in the distant past.

I murmured his name.

“You said you were meeting an old friend, and it certainly seems that way! Duchess, you don’t have to be so nervous. Licht may look a little intimidating, but he’s actually such a kind person.”

Princess Sasha suddenly interjected from beside me.

She clearly thought she was mediating between friends who had fallen out.

Then she turned to Richard and asked,

“Isn’t that right, Licht?”

That was my nickname for him.

My nickname alone.

Suppressing the emotions threatening to rise within me, I looked at Richard.

The Richard I knew would have firmly warned Sasha not to cross that line.

But……

“That’s right, Sasha. I’m always kind to you.”

His voice flowed out gently, deeper and richer than I remembered.

The cold gaze that had passed over me melted like the spring sunshine the moment it settled on Sasha.