Chapter 29
An Unknown Emotion
Audrey continued speaking.
“Besides, that woman just happens to be the eldest daughter of the Heartwood family. Do you know how much the social circles are whispering because of her? They call her the abandoned wife in the annex, and laugh at her behind her back.”
The countess slammed her fist on the table.
“That’s exactly the problem! So this… this…!”
She glared at the many letters spread across the table. They were congratulatory letters that poured in the moment Alexis was officially recognized as a Holy Knight. Among them were quite a few marriage proposals carefully hidden within polite wording. He wasn’t even divorced yet, but the moment news of him becoming a Holy Knight spread, influential families began sending such covert offers.
‘We didn’t even receive proposals like this for Francis…!’
That meant families far more powerful than Audrey’s own had also sent letters.
“How ridiculous.”
Francis trembled, grinding his teeth. His expression was completely different from his usual calm and gentle demeanor.
“All this time, I’ve done everything for this family. And now I have to live in Alexis’s shadow. As the older brother of a Holy Knight, no less.”
At that, Audrey’s eyes flashed.
“That can’t happen!”
she shouted.
“I won’t let it be that way.”
Audrey still did not know. She did not know that letters proposing marriage to Alexis were piling up as well. In her mind, a different scheme was taking shape.
‘If we remove that woman abandoned in the annex and push for a divorce, we can turn him into a trash man who abandons his wife right after becoming a Holy Knight. She’s already in the annex anyway, so she might as well already be discarded.’
The atmosphere in the main house was suffocatingly heavy. No one dared speak aloud, but their hearts were being ground down by jealousy and rage.
Meanwhile
In the end, Audrey, unable to hold herself back any longer, went alone toward the eastern annex.
“She’s still here?”
Her sharp voice tore through the air as she arrived in front of the annex.
Roan stopped tending the garden and lifted her head. Audrey, as always, was dressed impeccably, while Roan—who had been working under the sun just moments ago—had her face slightly flushed with sweat. With a faint scent of perfume in the air, Audrey’s cold gaze swept over Roan’s appearance.
“You’re here?”
Roan greeted her.
Audrey’s lips twisted.
“How can you be so calm?”
she scoffed.
“The young master has become a Holy Knight. A Holy Knight proclaimed directly by the King and the High Priest. A daughter of the Heartwood Viscount has no place staying by his side anymore.”
Even as she spoke, jealousy twisted inside her chest. Audrey looked around at the garden Roan personally tended, then down at the modest but neatly kept annex as if mocking it.
“There are already plenty of rumors that your family has abandoned you. Surely you’re not dreaming of becoming the wife of a Holy Knight?”
Roan looked at Audrey quietly, then lowered her gaze to the shovel still in her dirt-covered hands. Her movement paused for a brief moment, then resumed calmly.
“I see.”
A short, simple answer. Audrey’s lips twitched. Her expected reaction—panic or anger—did not appear, which only irritated her more.
“You’ll see soon enough. Who will stand beside a Holy Knight. And it certainly won’t be you.”
She covered her mouth with a handkerchief in an exaggerated manner, as if Roan covered in dirt was beneath her.
“I came here personally to tell you this because I wanted you to step aside on your own. Otherwise, you might end up facing even more humiliation.”
For a moment, Roan’s lips trembled slightly. But she lowered her head and replied briefly.
“I understand.”
Her obedient tone made Audrey smile in satisfaction.
“Good. At least you know how to listen. It would be wise not to become a foolish woman who clings to a Holy Knight’s future.”
She said, brushing off her dress.
“Your role is over now.”
“….”
“As long as the young master doesn’t continue acting like a reckless man, any such marriage would only be a disadvantage anyway.”
Roan did not respond at all.
Having said what she came to say, Audrey turned and left the annex.
‘Yes… she’s not entirely wrong.’
Roan looked out the window. The grass in the garden swayed gently. Memories of the peaceful days spent in this small space drifted through her mind.
But now, Alexis’s name had become too large to ignore. She would continue living in this world, but she could no longer remain in Alexis’s world.
‘I should start getting ready.’
Taking a deep breath as if to calm herself, Roan quietly closed her eyes. The days ahead felt uncertain and heavy.
Meanwhile
Because this was an unprecedented event in the kingdom’s history, everything granted to him was processed rapidly. Not only the estate and palace lands granted by the King, but he was also directly appointed as a Holy Knight under the High Priest without any transition period.
“You want to stay here? Why?”
Returning from the Holy Temple, Alexis immediately suggested that Roan move with him to the castle. Now that he was a Holy Knight, he had his own estate. He even looked slightly proud while making the suggestion.
He had been able to move her out of this shabby annex into the independent castle he now possessed. Yet Roan had refused. He could not understand her. From his perspective, moving into the King’s granted castle made perfect sense. But Roan only shook her head.
“I’ve grown attached to this place…”
But the excuse sounded painfully weak. Roan herself knew it made little sense, but she had no better reason. At the very least, she did not want to follow Alexis to his castle.
Even when he had been called a reckless man, there had been enough external pressures to overwhelm her. Now that he had become a Holy Knight officially proclaimed by the King, there would be even more troublesome matters ahead.
She had already packed money and belongings so she could leave at any time. Once Alexis returned to his castle, she planned to quietly prepare and leave this annex soon after.
“I’m also worried about the garden…”
Roan continued mumbling.
“And… I don’t think I’d be able to manage such a big estate properly…”
“What are you talking about?”
Alexis said.
“You’ll have stewards and servants. You just give the orders.”
Roan let out an awkward laugh.
“Uh… anyway, you go ahead first. I’ll come when I’m ready… or something like that.”
“….”
Alexis stared at her quietly. Roan, feeling pressured, shrank her shoulders. After a long silence, Alexis suddenly lost his strength and sat down on her bed, then lay down completely.
“W-What are you doing?”
Startled, Roan asked as he lay beside her. Alexis closed his eyes.
“How am I supposed to win against your stubbornness? Fine. I’ll do as you say.”
Seeing him comply so easily, Roan was surprised.
“So… you’ll listen to me?”
“Yeah.”
Alexis answered with his eyes closed.
“But I’m coming with you.”
“Huh?”
Roan’s eyes widened.
“What do you mean—”
“If you don’t go, I won’t go.”
Alexis said.
“If you go, I’ll go.”
“….”
Roan couldn’t say anything.
She turned her gaze toward the window beside the bed.
Outside, the sun was setting.
The red sunset slowly painted the western sky, spreading golden light across the frame of the annex window. A gentle wind cooled the heat of the day, brushing through the garden and rustling the leaves. The soft sound of leaves brushing together drifted into the room.
Distant murmurs faded away, replaced by birdsong. The air slipping through the window was cool and clean, carrying the faint scent of soil and grass.
Silence filled the room.
While Alexis lay there with his eyes closed, Roan kept looking out the window.
The sky was slowly darkening, glowing softly as if comforting the day that had passed.
And in that moment, something unfamiliar stirred in Roan’s chest.
An emotion she had never felt before.
She did not know what it was.
Outside, the wind gently moved the leaves, but inside the room, there was only silence—only the breathing of Alexis and Roan, as if the world itself had faded away.
