Chapter 97
Julia’s family undoubtedly loved her, without lacking in anything. Even if she sometimes sighed at her frivolous mother’s behavior, that much was true.
But Cayente was different. Perhaps because he was not family. At one time, Julia had felt as if Cayente loved her more than anyone else in the world. The idea that someone outside her family could love her no matter what she did made it feel as though the entire world belonged to her. Even when her parents raised their voices over money matters, those moments were never frightening, because she knew Cayente would be there the next day to hold her.
She didn’t remember clearly, but as a child, she seemed to have thought that she would one day become Cayente’s bride.
“Ma’am…”
The memory was tender, yet the thought that the Cayente who once loved her so much would no longer protect her was so heartbreaking that tears eventually slipped out. When a tear fell onto her head, Lucy, who had been in Julia’s arms, lifted her head and let out a pitiful sound.
Lucy, admiring how Julia had endured without crying until now, raised her hand and wiped the tears from Julia’s eyes.
“I’ve got you!”
“Ahh!”
“Lucy!”
The man who had been eyeing Lucy like prey didn’t miss the brief moment Julia let her guard down. As Julia’s arms weakened while crying and holding Lucy, the man grabbed Lucy by the hair and pulled her out of Julia’s embrace.
“Ma’am! Ahh!”
“Lucy!!”
“Shut up, will you?”
As Julia clung to Lucy, the man could no longer restrain his anger and violently kicked Julia’s body. Her instinctively extended left wrist, already injured earlier, was struck again, and the pain was so intense she could not immediately rise.
Seeing Julia crawl with her elbows, reaching toward Lucy, a composed man grabbed the collar of the man trying to drag Lucy away.
“What do you think you’re doing! I told you if this woman gets a scratch, the money you’d receive would be reduced!”
A fight broke out between the two men, arguing over keeping her safe or taking money from the injured woman. Meanwhile, the man did not release Lucy, and Julia forced herself upright to clutch her again.
At that moment, a commotion as loud as inside the room was heard from outside.
“Damn it! No time to fight! Run!”
Hearing this, the man who had checked outside shouted urgently, and both fighting men bolted toward the back door. With the force holding Lucy gone, Julia fell to the floor, still clutching her.
“Yuri!”
Soon, with a loud crash, the warehouse door opened. Bright flashlight beams poured in, making it hard for Julia to open her eyes at first. As her eyes adjusted, she saw Cayente running toward her, with a few policemen and imperial soldiers behind him.
Cayente knelt heavily in front of her and then pulled the fallen Julia into his embrace with all his strength.
“I thought you wouldn’t come…”
Julia, expecting she might die here, laughed as the comforting arms holding her turned out to be Cayente’s. But Cayente did not smile.
“I was wrong.”
He repeated only this, over and over, holding her as if he were trying to crush her into him. Wrong. He was wrong.
Although Cayente did not cry aloud, Julia felt as if his entire body was sobbing. His massive body trembled like someone drenched in icy winter water.
“I was wrong. I was wrong. So please… stay by my side.”
She wasn’t even sure he fully understood what he was saying.
“Please… I was wrong.”
How terrified he must have been…
Julia, held in Cayente’s arms, raised her uninjured right hand to his neck and whispered close to his ear.
“Where would I go?”
Gradually relaxing in his warm embrace, she couldn’t help laughing, though tears kept streaming from her eyes despite her heart.
The thought that Cayente would have chosen money over her was utterly ridiculous. Even the most thunderous storms hadn’t shaken him like this. Somehow, even in this moment, he had found her without fail, doing whatever he could.
Afraid of losing her… Afraid he might never hold her like this again—Julia could almost imagine all the frantic thoughts that must have crossed Cayente’s mind before he embraced her now. She could guess the depth of the fear he must have felt.
“Please…”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Please… I was wrong…”
Captured entirely by his sincerity, without knowing how much truth lay behind his earlier words wishing her misfortune, Julia avoided looking directly at his feelings. Since she had unknowingly fallen in love with him, she had been too afraid of her own heart being hurt to consider seeing his true feelings.
But even so… how could she not have known?
Every moment he had held her had been like this. The one who had clung to her so desperately and anxiously… had been in love with her all along.
“I was wrong.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Even after whispering that he wouldn’t disappear multiple times, Cayente’s trembling did not subside. To have once thought this man would surely abandon her was, without a doubt, the stupidest thought she had ever had. Feeling that one arm alone wasn’t enough, Julia lifted her injured left hand as well, still aching with pain, and clutched Cayente’s neck tightly.
“I was wrong. Please… don’t disappear.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay by my side, and we’ll have at least three children and live together for life.”
Julia could not imagine ever disappearing from Cayente’s side. She loved him, he loved her, and it was unthinkable that the two of them would never see each other again.
“Brother, let’s go home now. Just the two of us.”
At this, Cayente, who had been mumbling, finally stopped and stood up, holding Julia properly. The soldiers chased the intruders who had escaped through the back door, while Lucy and the coachman explained the situation to the authorities. But Julia, safe in Cayente’s arms, had never felt so at peace.
Now, only love remained—they would never doubt that.
The woman who had come to find Cayente said she had been working at a tavern when she heard men in the portraits drunkenly chatting.
―She said he’d be in Welton for a few days. That he had a chance to make a lot of money.
Welton was a city with a port where trading ships came and went, full of warehouses for trading companies. Without hesitation, Cayente leapt onto a waiting carriage. He set off so quickly that Cain was left standing in front of the office, and Henry almost missed the ride.
Chasing the pursuing party that raced west, he searched the warehouses frantically and found Julia lying on the ground. The first emotion Cayente felt was murderous rage. Seeing Julia, who should have been safely kept, lying in the dirt and crying, he felt such strong intent to kill that even the emperor involved in this matter might not have escaped it.
His body moved before his mind as he ran toward Julia, meeting her brightly shining golden eyes. At that moment, he wanted to die himself.
All of this had happened because of him.
He felt guilty that Julia had been caught up in the schemes of those trying to interfere with his business. Despite interfering in her meetings under the guise of being her husband, he had failed to protect her, and that embarrassed him. But the despair Cayente felt now wasn’t just about that.
The weight of all the sins he had committed pressed heavily on his shoulders.
Every act committed in vengeance, every moment he had turned a blind eye to others’ suffering while protecting his family, and above all, every moment he had ignored Julia seeking his attention passed before his eyes.
He had steeled himself to exact vengeance. He had even thought he could accept the punishment. But in all that consideration, losing Julia had never been included.
Because back then, he had never imagined he would fall in love with Julia.
