LSYCHMH 11

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The man Chloe brought with her was, no matter who looked at him, far taller and much more strongly built than most men in the Empire.

Even Roeni had lost her breath the moment she first saw him because of his overwhelming appearance.

Not only that—

He was a man with far greater status and bloodline than Lucian Edmont, the son of a Marquis family of the Empire.

He was so perfect that it almost made people laugh in disbelief.

Of course, when she looked closely again, he did have a similar atmosphere to the mysterious man she had met at the secret gathering that dawn.

But—

Why would the Grand Duke have any reason to attend such a gathering?

With his looks and power, there would already be countless women throwing themselves at him without needing to go there.

‘Right. I don’t know whether he’ll continue to be connected to sister in the future, but… this is getting really interesting!’

A secretive light appeared in Roeni’s purple eyes as she stared at Karsein.

She even licked her lips slightly, like someone who had found new prey.

Meanwhile, Karsein spoke warmly to the three of them in a tone that still felt unfamiliar to Chloe.

“Since I’ve received permission from the fiancé, I will contact Miss Chloe separately soon. Then I shall take my leave.”

Soon, Karsein stepped into the carriage.

Chloe briefly exchanged glances with him before politely bowing toward his back.

“Please travel safely, Your Grace.”

Lucian and Roeni also lowered their heads together.

At this moment—

The four people who would one day crawl together through mud had met for the first time.

Without knowing that only Karsein and Chloe were hiding meaningful smiles sharp as blades.

+++

After the Grand Duke left, silence fell between the three of them for a moment.

The first person to break the growing silence was Chloe.

“You all haven’t had dinner yet, right? I took the medicine from the clinic earlier, so my stomach feels better now. I’m a little hungry.”

Only then did Chloe finally look at Lucian.

Yes.

Only now.

“Lucian. Let’s have dinner together with Roeni. Ah, is Father still at home?”

Chloe asked innocently while looking between Lucian and Roeni.

Noticing Lucian’s lips tightly closed, Roeni quickly smiled gently and answered first.

“Ah, Sister. Father had a dinner gathering, so he left the estate with Mother about an hour ago.”

Roeni added regretfully,

“We had lunch together after a long time today. It would’ve been nice if you had joined us too.”

Hearing that, Chloe slowly nodded.

Then she smiled casually.

“I see. Then let’s at least eat together, the three of us.”

Honestly, just sitting together with them made her feel sick.

But Chloe had already decided she would no longer hide away in pain just because she was the victim.

Also—

She wanted to properly observe Lucian’s reaction toward his fiancée returning with the Grand Duke of Bloodien.

And she also wanted to carefully watch Roeni, who kept secretly observing Lucian.

Before, Chloe had never paid attention enough to notice it.

But now, watching like a hawk, she realized Roeni had always been carefully watching Lucian while pretending not to.

She did not know since when.

But even when Roeni was together with her older sister Chloe, her eyes had always been fixed only on Lucian.

Today, when the four of them met together with the Grand Duke present—

Chloe realized that truth deep in her bones.

Normally, Roeni probably hid those feelings very deeply.

That was why Chloe never noticed before.

But today was slightly different.

The moment Lucian showed even the slightest sign of wavering, Chloe clearly saw a faint anxiety pass over Roeni’s face.

‘I was the only one who didn’t know.’

It was sad and ridiculous.

After learning one truth, she slowly began seeing other truths too.

“Everyone must be cold. Let’s go inside quickly.”

Suppressing the pain stirring inside her heart, Chloe entered the annex first.

Speaking in the same gentle and cheerful voice as always.

“Yesterday, both of you strangely went out during dinner time, so we couldn’t eat together, right?”

The quiet clinking of dishes filled the dining room.

Among Chloe, Lucian, and Roeni sitting together for dinner—

Only Chloe was properly enjoying the meal.

Even though smoked duck, Roeni’s favorite dish, was the main dish on the table, Roeni only stirred the mushroom soup without really eating.

Lucian had not touched the food at all and had only been drinking the wine in his glass.

“What’s wrong with everyone? You’re all acting strange today.”

Chloe poked a fresh salad with her fork, placed it in her mouth, and casually pointed out the strange atmosphere.

Watching the two of them sitting uncomfortably while she relaxed in her seat felt very strange.

But how could they already be like this?

This was only the very beginning.

“Did something happen while I was gone?”

At Chloe’s question, Roeni bit her lower lip.

“Of course not. Rather, we’re still shocked after hearing you were almost badly hurt in an accident. Brother-in-law probably feels the same way.”

Roeni looked at Lucian and asked again.

“Right, brother-in-law?”

Only then did Lucian place the wine glass he had been holding onto the table and answer.

“Yes. I’m relieved only a small wound was left. If not… I really…”

Lucian slowly raised his eyes toward Chloe.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to live anymore.”

If Chloe had not known his secret, those words and eyes might have made her heart ache.

Now they only looked ridiculous.

“Lucian.”

After hearing her fiancé’s affectionate and emotional words, Chloe paused her meal.

“I’m always grateful for those feelings of yours.”

“In a way, brother-in-law’s feelings are natural. Sister deserves to be loved more than enough—”

“Deserves to be loved.”

Chloe cut off Roeni’s words.

At some point, tears had already gathered in her eyes.

“Sister…?”

Roeni blinked rapidly in shock while looking at Chloe.

“No. I don’t think I deserve to be loved anymore…”

“What are you talking about, Chloe?”

Before Roeni, who only pretended to be shocked, could respond—

Lucian asked first.

Meanwhile, Chloe took a sip of alcohol, something she rarely drank.

Then she lowered her head slightly and spoke.

“I’m sorry, Lucian. But honestly…”

Now that she had shown Karsein to them, it was time to draw a line to end the engagement.

“I think I’ve fallen out of love.”

“Fallen out of love?”

Lucian looked completely unable to believe it.

“What do you mean by that?”

At his repeated questions, Chloe realized that calm and composed Lucian could no longer hide his confusion.

“I mean exactly what I said. For some time now, it feels like our relationship has grown distant. I kept thinking deeply about the real reason why…”

Dragging out the end of her sentence, Chloe thought—

Now was finally the time to say this to him.

“There’s something someone once told me that just won’t leave my mind.”

Since Lucian would not know who that “someone” was, Chloe turned her gaze toward Roeni.

Then she clearly said,

“I heard that you seem to have another woman.”

The moment Chloe directly said the words “another woman,” Lucian’s green eyes froze.

“Another woman…?”

At the same time Lucian’s face twisted—

A crack appeared in Roeni’s expression.

“Roeni. You were the first person who said that to me.”

Without missing the moment, Chloe immediately began cornering Roeni.

“You said it looked like Lucian had another woman.”

“Sister, that…”

As if she had been struck unexpectedly, Roeni’s long eyelashes trembled violently.

“Roeni Enrite. Did you really say that? That I seemed to have another woman?”

From the position of a third person, Chloe calmly watched Lucian’s lips trembling too.

“Brother-in-law, I-I…”

Of course Roeni could not continue her words.

Because it was true that Roeni had first brought up the topic of another woman and slowly provoked Chloe with it.

“I…”

Roeni only opened and closed her lips soundlessly, unable to say anything.

She never expected her sister to openly reveal the secret conversation they had shared privately beside her.

And in front of Lucian Edmont himself.

“Roeni. I didn’t hear wrong, did I? You definitely said it. That it looked like another woman had appeared. Of course, I said I trusted Lucian and that it could never be true, but…”

Instead, Chloe spoke as if she were the saddest person at the table.

“Lucian. Somehow, I can’t stop feeling like those words were true… I keep thinking maybe everything is my fault. Maybe I didn’t love you enough. Maybe at some point I made you lonely. I keep blaming myself…”

Shaking her head while tears fell endlessly, Chloe looked pitiful.

Lucian stared blankly at her and asked,

“Why would you think something like that? Is it because you don’t know how much I love you?”