Chapter 14
“What do you mean?”
“Like Roeni said… were you really with the Marquis all night from last night until dawn?”
“…What?”
At Chloe’s demand for proof, Lucian felt like his vision went completely white.
But Chloe’s eyes showed she truly wanted to contact the Marquis’s estate right now to confirm it.
“For months now, your weekly night outings… I’ve been so suspicious I feel like I’m going crazy.”
Chloe’s memories were still clear.
All those believable excuses—meeting friends after returning from studying abroad,
social drinking after events with other noble families after horse riding matches,
or sometimes saying he wanted to spend time with his family at the main house.
And like that, every so often, he would leave the house at night.
“I’ll be back!”
He would smile with dimples, kiss Chloe’s cheek, and leave with light steps.
“Can’t you prove it?”
Chloe asked in a choked voice when Lucian still did not answer.
“Chloe. Please, don’t doubt me.”
“Then just prove it.”
“Chloe… if I prove it, our relationship may never go back to what it was.”
“Don’t try to convince me with nonsense.”
Chloe pushed him to the end.
She found it ridiculous that he tried to persuade her with something that sounded almost like a threat.
But by now, Lucian no longer denied it.
“…The truth is, I got into late-night gambling with new friends I recently met.”
He lowered his head like a sinner and added another lie.
“So… I lied to you. I didn’t meet another woman.”
“Hah.”
Chloe swallowed a bitter laugh that almost came out.
“I only have you, Chloe Enrite.”
Lucian looked at her with desperate eyes.
It became hard for Chloe to look at him.
His lips, once red, now looked dark and almost black.
She felt anger rising, ready to take over her reason.
But Chloe forced herself to think ahead.
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 had been the foolish one.
“Gambling.”
Chloe muttered quietly and walked back to the bed she would no longer share with him.
With a bitter smile, she said,
“In the end, you did lie to me.”
Lucian looked at her helplessly.
Ignoring his gaze, Chloe lay down alone and said coldly,
“Like you said… our relationship can’t go back anymore.”
It was as if Lucian Edmont no longer had a place beside her.
+++
Just as Chloe said, Lucian could no longer stay beside his fiancée.
Since she rejected him, he had no reason to remain.
That night, Chloe slept alone.
The next morning, she found a note on the table in the reception room.
“I’ll stay at the main house for now. Contact me when you feel better. I will reflect on my mistakes and wait for your reply.”
Chloe crumpled the note and threw it on the floor.
“Reflect on your mistakes?”
The thought that he called gambling “a mistake” made her disgusted.
A few days passed after Lucian left the Enrite estate.
During that time, Chloe stayed inside and ate alone.
Her father was away on inspection and did not know, but her stepmother and Roeni did.
They clearly sensed something had happened between Chloe and Lucian.
They both came to see her, but Chloe only said she was unwell and sent them away.
Knock knock.
One day, a maid knocked on her door.
Chloe, who always drank Snow Flower tea in the morning, tightened her robe and said to come in.
“Lady, a letter has arrived from the Bloodien Grand Duke’s residence.”
It was from Karsein Bloodien.
After reading it, Chloe immediately started getting ready to go out.
+++
“Sister, where are you going?”
Roeni ran out as Chloe got into the carriage and asked with sad eyes.
“Is it because I said something…? That’s why you’re not seeing me, and brother-in-law left… 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 for a moment, then spoke calmly.
“Lucian… has been gambling for months. You know my personality. I hate things like that, so I got very angry… That’s why I didn’t want to meet anyone for a while.”
She spoke gently, but her eyes were cold.
Looking at Roeni standing barefoot without even a coat, Chloe thought she really was good at acting.
“Really? A few days ago I did get angry at brother-in-law and worried about you, so I said I suspected him… but gambling? I didn’t know that’s why he was going out and lying.”
Roeni’s purple eyes trembled 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 sharp and cold where Roeni could not see.
‘Of course you knew.’
‘Maybe you are still secretly contacting Lucian.’
Still, Chloe only showed a kind expression.
“I know you said that because you were worried about me.”
“I’m really sorry, sister…”
Roeni kept wiping her tears and apologizing.
“It’s okay, Roeni.”
Chloe took off her gloves and touched Roeni’s cheek.
Still speaking gently, she asked,
“You love your sister, right? And I love you too.”
Then she hugged her 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 the lies would grow.
And in the end, she would fall deeper into ruin.
‘And today…’
Chloe thought of Karsein’s letter.
‘Roeni Enrite. Today will be the day your lie breaks.’
Chloe smiled bitterly and pushed Roeni out of her mind.
After some time—
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It was around the time she reached the Grand Duke’s residence.
The sky had been cloudy, and she thought it might snow again.
But instead, rain started falling.
The carriage stopped.
Before she could step out, someone was already standing there, holding an umbrella.
“Are you getting down, Lady Enrite?”
A familiar deep voice made her freeze.
“Your Grace…?”
Could it be… he came to pick me up?
Chloe stepped down slowly.
Before she could get wet, the umbrella was placed over her head.
Under it, she saw him again.
Karsein Bloodien—the Grand Duke—was indeed there.
+++
“The Grand Duke himself came all the way here?”
Chloe asked.
“Why…?”
She almost asked “why,” but stopped.
“…I was taking a walk in the garden, and it started raining.”
Karsein answered casually, as if it meant nothing.
So this was how he really was.
Not the polite man she saw at the Enrite estate.
‘Right… we are only bound by a contract.’
Still, he didn’t need to come all the way out.
But Chloe didn’t ask further.
“Anyway, thanks to you I avoided the rain. Thank you, Your Grace.”
“I just came out because I didn’t want you catching a cold in my house and blaming me.”
They walked under the umbrella into the mansion.
As always, Karsein spoke bluntly.
“Could you not speak more kindly?”
Chloe said honestly.
“If you were worried about me getting sick, you could just say that. Normal people say things like that.”
“Are you saying I’m not normal?”
“Well… you’re not exactly normal.”
“Of course. Even if you are from a noble house, you cannot treat imperial bloodline casually.”
His pride as the Emperor’s son was clear.
But Chloe was not an ordinary woman either.
“I still don’t understand why someone like you runs strange secret gatherings.”
“Strange gatherings?”
Karsein frowned.
“How did you know…?”
“…You already figured it out?”
Chloe smiled slightly.
She had suspected it for a while.
If it wasn’t Karsein running the place, he wouldn’t interfere like that.
“I had a feeling. But I won’t dig further.”
Karsein did not deny it.
“However… I saw what happens there. It’s full of dirty things. Why would you create something like that?”
Crossing her arms, Chloe shook her head.
Karsein felt irritated.
No one had ever spoken to him like that.
And yet—
Strangely… he wasn’t angry.
Instead, Chloe made him question himself.
Why?
He forced himself to speak coldly.
“It has a greater purpose. Do not speak carelessly.”
“No.”
Chloe stopped walking at the entrance.
She turned halfway and looked at him.
“Actually… I just want to blame someone.”
“What?”
“I still can’t stop thinking about it. If that gathering never existed… maybe the people I love wouldn’t have betrayed me.”
Karsein felt like he had been struck.
“If I didn’t create it… Lucian Edmont wouldn’t have cheated with your sister. That’s what you mean?”
“…I don’t know.”
Chloe shook her head.
“I know things would have happened anyway. It’s not your fault.”
“I just… needed someone to blame. Even if it’s selfish. I’m sorry.”
She smiled weakly, eyes slightly red.
And again—
She was smiling while looking like she might cry.
“I told you. You still have a long way to become strong.”
Karsein said, closing the umbrella.
“I thought you were already a strong woman.”
“I’m trying to become one.”
Chloe replied.
She noticed his shoulder was wet from holding the umbrella over her.
Without thinking much, she took out a handkerchief and gently wiped his shoulder.
Karsein froze.
He watched her hand in silence.
Then he took the handkerchief.
“I will wash it and return it.”
“…You can just keep it.”
Chloe smiled softly.
And Karsein thought—
She looks beautiful when she smiles.
For the first time in his life, someone’s smile felt like sunlight breaking through a gray sky.
His chest stirred strangely.
+++
Later, inside the Bloodien Grand Duke’s mansion—
They sat on the sofa.
“You read the letter I sent?”
“Yes. You said we would act like we’re having an affair in front of Roeni and Lucian.”
Chloe nodded.
“But you didn’t say where.”
“That’s because today… we are going to an imperial evening banquet.”
“An imperial banquet?”
Chloe blinked.
She hadn’t expected that.
“Your outfit isn’t suitable.”
Karsein said calmly.
“That doesn’t matter. You just need determination.”
He looked at her and slightly smiled.
“Are you ready to ruin the imperial banquet?”
Chloe smiled back.
“Then Your Grace, you better not stop me.”
