Chapter 13
“What?”
“As Roeni said, did you really stay with the Marquis all night from last night until dawn?”
“…What?”
At Chloe’s demand for proof, Lucian felt his vision go completely white.
But Chloe looked like she truly wanted to contact the Marquis’s house right this moment to confirm it.
“Your weekly night outings that started a few months ago. I’ve been so suspicious that I feel like I could go crazy.”
Chloe’s memories were still very clear.
All those believable excuses—meeting friends after returning from studying abroad,
drinking gatherings after social events with other noble families after horse riding matches,
or sometimes saying he wanted to spend time with his family at his main house.
Every once in a while, he would leave the house at night for those reasons.
“I’ll be back!”
He would smile brightly, showing his dimples, kiss Chloe on the cheek, and leave with light steps.
“Can’t you prove it?”
Chloe asked Lucian in a choked voice when he still had no answer.
“Chloe. Please, don’t doubt me.”
“Then just prove it.”
“Chloe, if I prove it, our relationship may never be the same again.”
“Don’t try to convince me with nonsense.”
Chloe pushed him to the end.
She found it ridiculous how he tried to convince her with what sounded almost like a threat.
But by now, Lucian no longer denied it.
“…The truth is, I got into gambling late at night with new friends I recently met.”
He lowered his head like a sinner and gave another lie.
“So… I lied to you. I didn’t meet another woman.”
“Hah.”
Chloe almost let out a laugh but swallowed it down.
“I only have you, Chloe Enrite.”
Lucian looked at her with desperate eyes.
It was hard for Chloe to look at him.
His lips, once red, now looked dark and almost black.
She felt anger rising and threatening to take over her reason.
But Chloe forced herself to think about the future.
She never expected him to confess easily anyway.
Maybe giving him one last chance was just a foolish hope.
If she saw real regret, would she have wavered? She realized she was the foolish one.
“Gambling.”
Chloe spoke quietly and walked back toward the bed she would no longer share with him.
With a bitter smile, she said,
“So in the end, you did lie to me.”
Lucian looked at her helplessly.
Ignoring his gaze, Chloe lay down alone on the bed and said coldly,
“So like you said… our relationship can’t go back anymore.”
It sounded like there was no longer any place for Lucian Edmont beside her.
+++
As Chloe said, Lucian could no longer stay beside his fiancée.
Since Chloe rejected him, he had no reason to stay.
That night, Chloe slept alone.
The next morning, she found a note left by Lucian on the table in the reception room.
“I’ll stay at the main house for now. Contact me when you feel a little better. I will reflect on my mistake and wait for your reply.”
After reading it, Chloe crumpled the note and threw it on the floor.
“Reflect on your mistake?”
She was disgusted remembering how calmly he said his mistake was gambling.
A few days passed after Lucian left the Enrite estate.
During that time, Chloe stayed inside the house and ate alone.
Her father was away on inspection, so he did not know, but her stepmother and Roeni did.
They clearly realized something had happened between Chloe and Lucian.
They both came to visit her, but Chloe kept saying she was not feeling well and sent them away.
Knock knock—
One day, a maid knocked on her door.
Chloe, who always drank Snow Flower tea in the morning, adjusted her robe and told her to come in.
“Lady. A letter has arrived from the Bloodien Grand Duke’s residence.”
It was from the Grand Duke of Bloodien—Karsein.
After receiving the letter, Chloe read it and immediately started getting ready to go out.
+++
“Sister, where are you going?”
Roeni ran out after seeing Chloe getting into the carriage and asked with sad eyes.
“Is it because of what I said…? That you don’t see me, and your fiancé left home… is it all my fault?”
She looked like she was blaming herself for everything.
“Roeni.”
Chloe stepped down from the carriage stairs.
She closed her eyes briefly, then spoke calmly.
“Lucian… has been gambling for months. You know my personality. I hate things like that, so I was very angry. That’s why I didn’t want to see anyone for a while.”
She spoke kindly, but her eyes were cold.
Seeing Roeni standing barefoot without even a coat, Chloe thought she really was good at acting.
“Is it true? A few days ago I was angry at brother-in-law and worried about you, so I said I suspected him… but gambling? I didn’t know that was why he was going out and lying.”
Roeni’s purple eyes trembled and filled with tears.
She looked pitiful enough that anyone would want to comfort her.
“I see.”
Chloe gently patted Roeni’s head.
But her smile was cold where Roeni could not see.
‘Of course you knew.’
‘Maybe you are still secretly contacting Lucian.’
Still, Chloe kept a gentle expression.
“I know you only said it because you were worried about me.”
“I’m really sorry, sister…”
Roeni wiped her tears and kept apologizing.
“It’s okay, Roeni.”
Chloe took off her gloves and touched Roeni’s cheek gently.
Still speaking kindly, she asked,
“You love your sister, right? And I love you too.”
Then she hugged her warmly and whispered calmly,
“So just don’t betray me.”
+++
“Betray…? Sister, I would never do something like that.”
Roeni said it, pretending to be innocent.
It didn’t matter.
The more she lied, the bigger those lies would grow.
And in the end, she would fall deeper into ruin with unforgivable sins.
‘And today…’
Chloe thought of the letter from Karsein.
‘Roeni Enrite. Today will be the day your lie that you would never betray me breaks completely.’
Chloe gave a bitter smile and pushed thoughts of Roeni away.
Sometime later—
Tap, tap, tap.
It was around the time she had arrived at the Grand Duke’s residence.
It started to rain heavily.
Chloe had thought it might snow again, but instead it became rain.
She closed the carriage window and listened to the rain hitting the roof.
It strangely made her feel calm.
Then the carriage stopped.
Thinking the driver would open the door, she moved to get out—
But someone was already standing there.
Holding an umbrella.
“Are you going to get down, Lady Enrite?”
A familiar deep voice made Chloe freeze.
“Your Grace…?”
Could it be… he came to pick me up?
That cold man…?
Chloe stepped down from the carriage slowly.
Before she could get wet even a little, the umbrella was placed over her head.
Under it, she saw a familiar face again.
The man who was impossible to forget.
Karsein Bloodien—the Grand Duke—was indeed standing there.
