~Chapter 11~
“There was a reason. It wasn’t that I abandoned you—”
“Still, at the very least, you should have come when my mother was alive. Or when I was still a child.”
Nathan, his voice a bit rough, paused to steady his breath. He caught a glimpse of the Duke’s hand flinching.
“But Your Grace, you never came to find me—not even once, until after I became an adult.”
“……”
“We have nothing to do with each other. We haven’t for nineteen years. I don’t see why that needs to change now.”
When Nathan raised his gaze, the Duke’s face was hollow with shock.
But would any of it matter, after all this time?
Nathan, face drawn with fatigue, was about to rise from his seat.
“…Then what about a deal?”
The weight in the Duke’s voice made Nathan pause.
The fragile demeanor from moments before was gone. Now, Duke Valencia regarded Nathan with the presence of a great nobleman, one of the empire’s foremost.
“My engagement to your mother was ruined by a scheme. Originally, Alisa—your mother—was my fiancée. But my current wife falsely claimed to be carrying my child, saying another man’s child was mine, and forced the engagement to break. That’s how your mother was cast aside.”
“…!”
“Here. It’s all detailed in this report.”
The Duke held out a nameless document. Nathan, silent, met his father’s gaze with sharp suspicion.
“Why is all this only coming out after twenty years?”
“A very clever young lady uncovered it. She was the one who told me.”
A young lady?
Nathan instantly thought of the girl he’d glimpsed when entering the mansion. He wanted to dismiss it as wild conjecture, but his instincts said otherwise.
It was her. She was the one who’d exposed this truth.
“But that’s not what matters now.”
The Duke’s low voice snapped Nathan back to the present. He sat back and crossed his legs.
“Soon, their sentence will be decided. For deceiving House Valencia for over twenty years—endangering the demon seal and nearly burning down the capital—there will be a trial.”
Nathan said nothing.
“Don’t you want to be involved in their punishment? My former wife’s backing is strong. If things go on like this, she may escape justice altogether.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Nathan gritted his teeth. Even in this short meeting, he could see the Duke wasn’t a man to let such things slide.
But—
The Duke’s lips twisted up at one corner.
“How can you be sure? What if I make a mistake? After all, I am getting old.”
Nathan said nothing.
The Duke’s young, unwrinkled hand extended the report once more.
“Read it. Judge for yourself. And even then, if you say you won’t claim the Valencia name—”
He paused, then added:
“—then I will do everything in my power to make sure you are never forced to be part of this family.”
“Your Grace—!”
The aide called out in surprise but didn’t continue. Crimson and blood-red eyes met in the air once again.
Nathan, jaw clenched, roughly wiped a hand over his face, and picked up the report.
“If there’s any falsehood in what you just said, you’d best be prepared.”
“Don’t worry. I have no desire to make an enemy of a swordsman whose strength rivals a thousand knights.”
Nathan turned and left the office without another word. He went straight to the headquarters of the Red Hawk Mercenaries.
Bang!
The door burst open and the vice-captain, Vale, nearly jumped out of his skin. When he saw who it was, he let out a sigh of relief.
“Captain? Did something happen—?”
“Find out everything about the Duke of Valencia’s broken engagement twenty years ago. Right now.”
“…Excuse me?”
Only a fool believes what he’s told without checking. Cross-verification was essential.
And—
“Look into this woman, too.”
Nathan handed over the name he’d remembered.
“Rachel Ingrave.”
He’d only half believed it, but it was true.
The young lady who had brought this incident to light was none other than her.
Two days later, Nathan had gathered every scrap of information on both the Duke’s broken engagement and Rachel Ingrave. After a day shut away in thought, he finally took action.
He didn’t send word to House Valencia. Instead, his letter went to the Marquess of Ingrave.
The addressee: Rachel Ingrave.
…Would you be willing to meet with me?
For Rachel, it was like a bolt from the blue.
Rachel, after her meeting with the Duke, had kept to her rooms in the Ingrave mansion.
Soon, once the scandal came to light, attention would shift to her family as well.
In times like these, doing nothing was the best policy.
Since she planned to leave the family quickly through a new marriage after her engagement broke off, she hoped the trouble would die down as soon as possible.
Thanks to that, her parents’ eyes on her—seeing her always in her room—grew more and more suspicious.
That was when the letter arrived.
The Red Hawk seal.
A letter from the Mercenary King, Nathan.
‘Why would he…?’
Rachel pushed aside her untouched breakfast and tore open the letter first. The contents were brief.
To Lady Rachel Ingrave,
Greetings, my lady. My name is Nathan, the Mercenary King.
There is something I wish to discuss with you concerning the incident you reported. Would you be willing to meet with me?
The location is up to you. I await your reply.
—Nathan, Mercenary King
It was unexpected, to say the least. Other than the Duke of Valencia, hardly anyone knew of her involvement.
‘Did the Duke tell him?’
She had no idea what Nathan wanted to say.
The engagement hadn’t been officially dissolved yet. Rachel wanted to avoid unnecessary risks.
“Becky, fetch my pen and stationery.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Rachel immediately wrote her reply on the paper Becky brought.
She chose the Red Hawk Mercenary headquarters as their meeting place. Even if a noble carriage came and went, it wouldn’t draw much attention. Besides, their side would ensure privacy.
Tomorrow at 2 p.m. I’ll come to the Red Hawk Mercenary headquarters.
A reply came almost immediately.
Very well. I’ll see you then.
She still felt uncomfortable about meeting him.
But for a new life to begin, it couldn’t be helped.
‘And I need to find out more about the <Return> ability.’
She was tempted to check the family archives right away, but her parents would be a problem. If they discovered she’d awakened the <Return> power, they’d stop at nothing.
As the first such ability-holder in centuries, the family would try to keep her under lock and key.
“…I don’t want that.”
The Ingrave mansion was better than Valencia’s, but not by much. If only she could get married and leave this place for good.
“My lady.”
Becky, who had quietly disappeared, now set a tray on the table. The food was piping hot.
Beef and mushroom stew steaming in the bowl, salad with cheese and fruit, roasted vegetables, and pasta loaded with seafood.
Rachel’s face brightened.
“Thank you, Becky.”
“It’s nothing, my lady.”
Rachel resumed her forgotten meal. As always, a hot meal was the greatest comfort.
The next day.
Rachel left the Ingrave mansion dressed for a simple outing. Her platinum-blond hair was tucked into her hat; her makeup was light, and her accessories were plain and small.
It was the simplest attire she’d worn since returning to this life.
Just before stepping into the carriage, she sensed a gaze and looked up—there, in the second-floor window, she saw a familiar silhouette.
Her mother, the Marchioness of Ingrave.
“……”
Rachel silently looked away. It seemed her parents’ patience had reached its end.
Maybe tomorrow.
If not, then perhaps the next day, they’d come for her.
That’s why today’s meeting was important. For whatever reason, House Valencia hadn’t made a move yet.
“We’re leaving now.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Rachel’s carriage rolled out the front gate. She gazed at the familiar scenery, mind busy reviewing what she knew about the Red Hawk Mercenaries.
Red Hawk Mercenaries.
A small, elite band founded by the Mercenary King, Nathan, with fewer than twenty members.
Every one of them was of gold or platinum rank—knight-class or higher.
They took on everything from local disputes and national wars to espionage, infiltration, and covert operations. Their services came at an extraordinary price.
