CHAPTER 63…………………………………………….
It was as if he had read my mind.
The duke looked anxious, like a child left out by the water’s edge. Duke Alexis rarely showed emotion, so for him to display worry so openly meant there was some sincerity mixed in.
And he had already answered the question he seemed to ask himself.
“No need.”
Everything was a “no.” I had learned enough three years ago about trusting people and being betrayed.
And if there was one major lesson from being betrayed by them, it was not to rely on anyone as a salvation.
“I have nothing to say about the temple. In a year, I’ll be leaving. What reason do I have to tell you anything?”
As I said, if the ducal house discovered I possessed abilities like my father’s, it wouldn’t be surprising if they tried to use me.
“And never go looking for Alicia on your own again.”
“You wanted to bring her because you care for her—”
“Exactly!”
I swallowed the urge to raise my voice.
How had they all remained the same? They seemed completely convinced that their actions were for my benefit.
Seeing the nobles’ characteristic condescending “kindness” made me let out a hollow laugh.
“Don’t assume your actions are for me. That in itself is unpleasant.”
“….”
“Whatever you do in the ducal house, it isn’t for me.”
“Irina.”
“As you said, who knows if you approached my family just to threaten me?”
He opened his mouth as if to say something, then shut it again.
Thinking I wouldn’t press further, I got up to leave the duke’s office.
“I know how your biological father died.”
It wasn’t a strange statement. If he had brought me to the ducal house, he would have looked into my father. And those words implied he had at least once tried to find Alicia without my knowledge.
Alicia, angry and resentful toward the ducal house, wouldn’t have stood still. Having killed my father and abandoned me before taking me back, she would have been even angrier.
No doubt the duchess had told the truth about my father’s death.
“So, do you want to kick me out again?”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Duke Alexis looked at me with a darkened expression.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t want to come here even to die.”
“And…?”
“Even so, you came here for a reason.”
“…”
“What made you decide to come, Irina?”
Even if I said it was for the stipend the ducal house provided, he wouldn’t believe it.
A crooked smile formed on my face at the flicker of uncertainty in his expression.
“If you’re curious, you can watch closely while I stay here.”
“…”
“To see why I returned to the ducal house.”
Duke Alexis wasn’t foolish. He knew I had returned with hostility. Perhaps he even suspected I came for revenge.
Even if he discerned my goal, he wouldn’t immediately expel me; it wouldn’t be feasible with April yet to return.
Still, I was curious about the ducal house’s intentions in not throwing me out.
Were they letting me stay simply because a powerless girl posed no threat, or because they wanted to see what I would do?
Most likely the former. A girl with no family, status, or wealth threatening the Rize Ducal House would be absurd.
I left the office, not for my room, but headed quickly toward the hall, as if preparing to go out. Rian appeared at the stairs and caught me.
“Irina, where are you going at this hour?”
“Let go.”
It was not easy to escape the grip of someone who had held a sword since birth.
I muttered a small curse under my breath at Rian Hill Rize, who seemed determined not to let go until I answered.
“It’s very late. Wait until daylight.”
“I said, let go.”
“When it’s daylight… ugh!”
Despite his polite words, Rian didn’t understand, so I resorted to the last option.
I kicked him in the shin with all my strength. Thud! He collapsed.
A man who could lead the Royal Knights, writhing and groaning while clutching his shin, looked pitiful and ridiculous.
“You acted with force, so I used force too.”
He grimaced, limping from the pain, then struggled to stand.
“You were just worried about me.”
“Is that a Rize Ducal House habit? That ‘I was worried about you’ line?”
I could only laugh at his behavior and words, as if I actually wanted such concern.
“Who wants that kind of worry?”
“Irina.”
“Don’t say it’s because you care for me. Everything you do is for yourselves, not me.”
“….”
“If it were truly for me, you wouldn’t have come to find me again in the first place, Brother.”
Watching Rian’s face crumble with each word, I no longer found it funny.
“Do you act this way because you think I’ll give in and accept your apology?”
He didn’t respond, neither affirming nor denying.
I furrowed my brow at him briefly and bent my waist.
“Rian, you and the duke…”
My voice echoed alone in the center of the staircase. Though the day had been clear, it now felt as if a storm were coming.
“You’re worse than Barak.”
At least Barak’s insides matched his exterior.
His hurt blue eyes looked like broken shards of glass.
Without saying another word, I turned my back on him and left the hall.
He would never understand how deceptive his so-called concern and “kindness” truly were.
“Miss, where are you going?”
“Miss!”
I ignored the approaching butler and Amber as I left the lobby of the ducal residence.
They surely knew I was in the house and that I might go to the village, so Alicia would undoubtedly contact me beforehand.
But I wasn’t going to wait idly until she reached out.
I wanted to make a safe place for Alicia to hide, somewhere she could be secure. The ducal house was not that place.
Sigh.
I bit my thumb as I walked aimlessly, thinking.
Someone with enough authority to protect Alicia from the temple, someone who could keep my secrets safe until the end.
The thought of one person gave direction to my wandering steps.
The place I arrived at, nearly running, wasn’t far from the ducal residence.
The wind, heavy with rain, brushed under my nose and dropped a single raindrop on my shoulder.
Two soldiers guarding the estate’s gate flinched when they recognized me.
“Rize, the princess?”
“Tell Damien I came to see him.”
The person who met the conditions was Damien Dinea Balstein.
“I have something I want to say.”
That was all.
“He says he has nothing to say.”
A simple remark from Damien’s retainer.
I had come to say something, and yet they said he had nothing.
The rain was falling lightly, and the autumn night had a sharp temperature drop. I expected them to at least invite me in out of courtesy.
But instead, they flatly told me to leave because he had nothing to say.
Damien, that wretched man.
Well, he probably still thinks I’m April at the villa, so I couldn’t exactly blame him.
I brushed my hair roughly and exhaled, then spoke.
“Tell Damien I can inform him about the person he’s been looking for all this time.”
“The person he’s been looking for?”
“Yes.”
Judging by the way his lower lip was bitten, it seemed Damien’s retainer knew exactly who he had been searching for.
It must have been a little awkward for them, given that I was speaking as April.
After a brief silence, he inhaled softly and stepped aside.
“Come in.”
The doors of the grand ducal estate, long closed, finally opened.
