#71 Aftermath (1)
The ball at Bellicordo Castle ended without major trouble.
After that, public opinion about Sasha became clearly divided.
Those who had met her in person spoke favorably of her.
But those who couldn’t attend the ball spread rumors about her.
Most were simply jealous of her position, but some had past secret connections with Count Tula or the Goriki family. They complained that since Sasha’s arrival, the north had become unsettled.
Still, even they couldn’t completely avoid the influence of the ball.
Before the ball, they could speak freely anywhere without caution.
But now—
“Spreading such nonsense without knowing anything!”
“How dare you be rude to Lady Sasha!”
A group of noble ladies suddenly appeared, led by Shavirin and Barmaseba, and spoke sharply.
“Isn’t it shameful to gossip about Lady Sasha behind her back when you can’t say anything to her face?”
“People without honor!”
The men gossiping grew flustered, looking around as all nearby eyes turned toward them.
“W-we have things to do, so we’ll take our leave.”
They hurriedly left.
Incidents like this happened more than once, and the antics of these ladies naturally became famous.
News of these self-proclaimed protectors of Alexandra Volkov reached Volkov Castle.
“Lady Sasha, did you hear? There’s now a Sa.Sa.Mo club outside!” Nina bounced with joy, but Sasha rubbed her forehead.
“Why me, not Pavel…?”
At the ball, they had been infatuated with Pavel and hostile toward her. Why they were suddenly following her instead, she didn’t understand.
But this was just a cute incident. Her real trouble was elsewhere.
“Ma’am, we got this many letters again today.”
“Again…?”
Sasha frowned at the pile of letters Olga brought in on a silver tray. Since the ball, she received an overwhelming number of letters every day.
They came from all kinds of people—
Girls who admired her.
Those wanting to build connections.
Ladies charmed by her after a conversation.
“It’s going to take a long time to reply to all of these.”
She had to read and respond to each one, which took a lot of time. And it wasn’t only women who sent them.
Olga sniffed the perfumed letters and read mockingly:
“To Alexandra Volkov… I can’t get the sight of you at the ball out of my head… I feel as if I’m drowning in your shining eyes… Oh! I wouldn’t have written such old-fashioned lines even when I was young.”
Many were love letters from men—not just the stranger from the terrace.
Even though she was married, that didn’t stop them. The wave of free romance had reached the north, and some thought loving a married person they couldn’t have was romantic.
To them, the young, beautiful, high-ranking married Sasha was an ideal target.
“Olga, throw them all away. You can burn them.”
“Really?”
Sasha usually replied to almost every letter herself, but not these.
“Yes. They know they won’t get a reply from a married woman.”
Olga tossed them into the fireplace, the flames quickly consuming the paper.
Then she remembered something.
“By the way, I heard the young master also received a pile of letters.”
“Not surprising. Many girls seemed to like him at the ball.”
Olga tilted her head. “Doesn’t it bother you?”
“Not really.” Sasha smiled calmly, showing no sign of jealousy.
She explained: “Pavel didn’t choose to marry me. He was forced into it when he was sick. I’m not a good match for him—never mind family rank, I’m five years older.”
“Ma’am!” Olga called in protest.
“It’s better for him to be with girls his own age.”
Olga froze at the unexpected words.
“If he finds someone he loves and wants to marry, I’ll willingly divorce him.”
“Ma’am…”
“Until then, I think my role is to hold this place for him.”
She remembered the terrace at the ball, when she saw an intense emotion in Pavel’s eyes. At the time, she had been startled and left quickly, convincing herself later she had imagined it.
‘Forget it,’ she thought. It was better for both of them.
Meanwhile, Pavel’s clenched fists trembled as he stood outside the door, overhearing everything by accident.
The part about men sending letters already made him grind his teeth.
“If he finds someone he loves… I’ll willingly divorce him.”
…Divorce?
It was a word he had never once considered. In his mind, they would be together until death.
When the meaning sank in, a cold chill ran down his spine. She had thought about such a future for a long time.
‘She might leave me without hesitation.’
He couldn’t let that happen.
What had begun as a fresh desire to win her heart had turned desperate—he had to make sure she could never leave him, never even think of it.
If it meant doing something shameless or cunning, so be it.
The ball Sasha hosted was a complete success.
…So successful that news reached even the far frozen north—
and the ears of a criminal hiding and waiting for the right moment.
“So… that woman held a ball at Bellicordo Castle?”
