CHAPTER 97…………………………………..
Rumble— the darkening sky looked ominous.
With signs of an abrupt storm brewing, the security around the count’s estate grew tighter.
They said it was the heaviest rainfall in ten years. The downpour, which had begun in the afternoon, was already threatening to rise up to their knees.
Of all days to pick…
Adele set aside her useless thoughts and focused on Zerox’s words.
“…How are people reacting?”
“Well… that’s kind of…”
“I see.”
That was enough to understand what he meant.
She knew these people’s ways all too well — it was in her blood, after all. It had been only a day since she lost the auction bid; she could almost feel the sting of gossip piercing her ears even through the storm.
“Adele…”
Zerox lowered his head, looking ashamed as he met her unreadable gaze. Even now, he didn’t fully understand what had happened — only Adele and he had known the bid amount.
Well, perhaps one more person might have known.
“…Noella…”
“I told you not to mention her name in front of me.”
Adele’s cutting tone froze him in place.
She had allowed him back into the house only on the condition that he wouldn’t see Noella again — but with his soft-hearted nature, it was only natural that he’d waver.
“If you bring her up one more time, then you’ll have a real reason to be worried.”
“S-She’s… alive, right?”
“Probably.”
It wasn’t her time to die yet.
In the original story, Noella’s fate was a terminal illness — not death at the hands of an angry sister.
Though, that didn’t mean she wasn’t left on the brink.
“Get yourself together, Zerox. You can’t claim you’re innocent in all this.”
“…I know, Adele.”
“If you really care about her, remember that the only way to help her is to fix this mess first. If this goes wrong, you and I are both finished.”
She wasn’t exaggerating. The merchant guild thrived on reputation.
If, before even starting as heir, people were already saying she’d been beaten by a noblewoman from the capital, she couldn’t be sure how long she’d keep her position.
“Even if Father keeps backing me, if people lose faith in me, who’ll want to trade with me?”
She wouldn’t starve — but as a merchant heir, she’d be finished.
And that meant her life’s goal would crumble with it.
Zerox sighed deeply, at a loss.
“Then… should we look for another property before it’s too late? Maybe there’s still some good land left.”
“Are you joking?”
“…Adele.”
“If such a place existed, I’d have bought it already — or someone else would have.”
“Then what do we do?”
“There’s still the second auction. We’ll have to aim for that.”
Unfolding her map again, Adele fixed her eyes on the marked spot. Zerox could only grow more anxious.
“It’s just a road around the marquis’s estate. Even if you win it, what’s the point? People might mock you even more.”
“You think there’s more left to mock?”
Thanks for the reminder, Adele thought bitterly, biting her lip as she studied the map.
Seeing her so serious, Zerox could only raise his hands in surrender.
If she’d called him here, it meant she had something for him to do.
“Adele, then what do you need me to—”
“Go to the capital. Find out who this woman really is.”
She handed him a note she’d been keeping ready. The name on it wasn’t unfamiliar — but it still surprised him.
“Chloe Orlen? The lady who won the marquis’s estate?”
“Hah, lady, you say.”
“But the clerk called her that…”
“Find out everything about her. Her family background, what she does, her father the duke’s power and connections, their finances, their business dealings — all of it! I’ll send you the fastest horse; we don’t have time.”
Before mocking Chloe, Adele needed to know how a low-ranking noble had suddenly risen to claim the duke’s daughter’s place.
Know your enemy, know yourself. Even if she had an idea based on the original story, she had to check every detail for herself now.
Everything had to be certain.
“She also runs a trading guild, they say. Focus your investigation there.”
“A trading guild?”
“Yes. Seems she’s trying to take over the southern market too — ridiculous.”
Adele crumpled the map in her hands, her lips tight.
How dare she covet what’s mine.
Just thinking about that polished, smiling face made Adele’s blood boil.
People said I had good instincts.
Even when everyone praised Chloe’s wisdom and virtue in the story, Adele had never warmed to her.
Someone with ambition doesn’t stick around a girl like Noella for nothing. If her loyalty was real, she’d be just as much a fool as Noella herself.
And everyone knew — Chloe became the heroine of the story.
That much was fine. But when Noella died, that “wise and kind” girl hadn’t said a word.
Even people ask about the death of a dog they used to see. Yet Chloe hadn’t asked once about Noella.
In this life too, Adele had occasionally wondered how the “real heroine” was doing.
Only out of idle curiosity.
She didn’t care if Chloe became empress or grandmother to one — as long as she stayed away from Adele’s family.
“…Adele.”
“Find out. If Cayden were here, I’d send him — but you know he can’t even move a finger now.”
“R-right.”
“All the information I have is in that note. Dig up whatever you can. That’s the only way you, as Noella’s fiancé, can take responsibility for this mess.”
Zerox nodded grimly. Whether or not Adele ordered it, he had to do something to fix things.
“But what about you? What will you do alone here?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t be idle. I have people to meet…”
“What is it, Zerox?”
She frowned — he was staring at something past her, dazed.
Annoyed, Adele followed his gaze — and froze.
“What on earth—! How are you here?”
“Is this a place I shouldn’t be?”
“N-no, I didn’t mean—”
Her sharp eyes went wide, and even her mind went blank.
A wet shadow filled the doorway, footsteps echoing across the study floor.
“Commander!”
“…Adele.”
That low, deep voice — unmistakably her husband’s.
Her heart, which she’d tried so hard to keep steady, began to race wildly.
“Pretend I’m not here. Go on as if I’m not in the room.”
The firelight flickered across his tall frame.
There was no point in continuing with Zerox — the man’s presence filled the room so completely that everything else faded.
Adele closed the map and set her pen aside.
“Zerox, you should go. No — leave now and do exactly as I told you. Send a telegram as soon as possible.”
“O-okay.”
At least he had the sense to take the hint.
Gathering the papers, he hurried out, leaving the room as if he’d never existed at all.
Now, only the two of them remained.
“…You said not to worry about it,” he murmured.
“How could I not?”
She tried to sound composed, but a small smile tugged at her lips.
She hadn’t thought she’d smile again anytime soon, yet here she was.
Whenever she saw this man, her reactions betrayed her.
Step by step, she approached him.
Kilian rose to meet her, his eyes fixed on her as if they hadn’t seen each other in years.
“…Adele.”
A droplet of rain fell from his silver hair onto her cheek.
Before she could brush it away, he did — gently, with his lips.
“Seems you’re still busy as ever,” he said softly, though his voice wavered.
He wanted her to deny it — quickly.
From the moment he’d seen her with Zerox, he’d been struggling to act calm.
Kilian had never been good at flattery, but he tried to find words that might make her welcome him.
“Adele, how’s the work going today?”
“Ah…”
Still dazed from his touch, she let out a faint sound.
He brushed his lips against her cheek again, waiting for no answer.
“…Not well, actually,” she admitted quietly.
“Adele.”
“Don’t move. Just stay like that.”
Her voice trembled faintly, still damp with emotion.
Though he could have easily pulled away, he didn’t — he never could when it came to her.
“I thought today was the worst it could get…” she whispered, her fingers brushing the back of his neck. His rain-chilled skin felt burning hot to her touch.
“…But now I see it isn’t.”
As on the night he first came to this house, Kilian lifted her into his arms.
He knew exactly where he was going — as if he’d walked this path countless times in dreams.
The great mansion was silent; not a single servant in sight. It felt as though the two of them were the only souls in the world.
When the door closed behind them, Adele clung to him.
“Commander,” she murmured, still shivering from the rain soaking through his uniform.
“You’re drenched. We should—”
Her words faded as he silenced her with a desperate kiss.
Thunder rolled outside, lightning flashing across the room.
The storm raged, but all she felt was his warmth, and all he saw was her face in the dim light.
Later, when their breaths finally slowed, Adele pressed her forehead to his.
“…Kilian.”
“I missed you,” he said.
And for once, she didn’t deny it.
For this brief moment, neither the storm nor the world beyond their door mattered.
Adele looked into his blue eyes — and let herself forget everything else.
