~Chapter 66~
“Grand Duke’s son.”
“Yes, Lady Mowin.”
“Do you like my sister?”
More precisely, it began when Nina boldly looked at Dane with shining eyes and asked him that question.
It was a test.
“Yes. I like her.”
And the moment Dane answered that way, Nina made up her mind.
“Then, Your Highness. Would you like to make a deal with me?”
***
Nina Mowin admired Camilla Mowin.
An older sister who learned everything faster than her.
An older sister who made medicines and cosmetics well, raised the family’s name, and kindly played with her.
Nina Mowin always felt guilty toward her sister.
An older sister who was beaten instead of her.
An older sister who was looked down on by their mother.
An older sister who lost the person she liked because of her.
Nina truly loved her sister, but she knew that her own existence caused her sister pain.
“Sister, you know…”
But whenever she tried to speak, the warmth that sometimes appeared in her sister’s eyes was too gentle.
Even after her kind sister began treating her coldly, Nina could still feel that hidden warmth.
So Nina continued to admire and love her sister.
“I don’t want to marry the person my sister likes. I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”
“Yes, Nina.”
Drake kept his promise to speak casually to her when they were alone.
The gentle boy who was always by her side slowly entered her heart.
“And… if it’s a lover, I like you.”
In this era, lovers could not freely love.
Neither her sister nor herself.
‘Then…’
Could she switch places with her sister?
With only that thought, Nina asked Dane to make a deal.
“Grand Duke’s son, I’m going to run away.”
“That’s quite a bold statement for a fiancée, Lady Mowin. A woman running away alone won’t be easy.”
Ignoring Dane’s cold question, Nina continued,
“But you’ll help me, right?”
“…Let’s hear it.”
“If I run away, Baron Mowin will only have one daughter left—my sister. And now, even if she is from a branch line, she is officially registered in the Mowin family.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“The promise made with the Empress Dowager as witness—”
“That I would take Baron Mowin’s daughter as my bride.”
“Then what about the engagement?”
Dane answered seriously,
“I now have the power and ability to break it.”
Those words were deeply reassuring.
“I will help you escape, Nina Mowin.”
“Please, Grand Duke’s son. And please promise me one thing.”
“What is it?”
“That you will make my sister happy.”
“Even if you didn’t ask, I would do that.”
At those words, Nina smiled brightly, her eyes closing.
After that, Nina sought out Drake.
“Hey, Dicky. Will you run away with me?”
“…I can’t.”
Drake, who always spoke casually when they were alone, answered that way.
Nina asked innocently,
“Because you’re from the Everett family?”
Seeing shock fill his eyes, Nina lowered her gaze sadly.
She wasn’t stupid, but people other than her sister often treated her like she was.
“You always take regular leave.”
“…My mother is sick…”
“It wasn’t to visit a sick mother. You went to meet other people. I saw it.”
Last year, on a day she pretended to go on a date to plan things with Dane and left the estate—
Nina saw Drake, wearing a hood, talking with others in a quiet alley.
Later, when she saw an old man from that place appear at a party with the name “Everett,” she guessed his identity.
“I made many plans about what I could do after running away.”
“…Nina.”
Nina bent one knee and reached out her hand like a knight.
“Will you abandon your family and grudges and live your life with me?”
Desire flickered in Drake’s eyes.
He hesitated, then clenched his fist and whispered,
“…Nina. There’s something I’m preparing right now.”
It wasn’t his usual polite speech.
Holding himself back, Drake continued,
“If I finish this one task as a member of my family, I want to abandon everything and spend my life with you.”
It was practically an acceptance.
Nina felt her heart swell and tremble.
“When will that be finished?”
“…Around two days before your wedding.”
For a moment, Nina had to restrain the urge to hit him.
But Drake knelt before her and pressed his lips to the back of her hand.
“Don’t get married.”
He lifted his eyes and whispered,
“Right before it happens, run away with me.”
“Okay.”
Nina nodded with tears in her eyes, smiling.
Even if he is the son of an enemy family,
Even if we don’t absolutely have to run away,
Even if people think it’s childish lovers’ escape—
Sister.
Lately, my doubts about our family have grown.
Father always seemed to be hiding something when we were young.
And I had a feeling that secret was not something bright or happy.
But you already knew, didn’t you?
Knowing the truth, you still couldn’t escape that cage.
So, without telling you, I made a promise with the Grand Duke’s son.
If the day comes when you are finally free,
I wanted the person standing beside you to be him, not me.
So, sister—
I really wanted to leave you these words.
I couldn’t be your strength all this time,
but I was truly happy living as your younger sister.
You were the person I was most proud of in this world.
Don’t die. Be happy no matter what, and let’s meet again someday.
—From Nina, who loves her sister more than Drake, more than anyone in the world.
When Camilla finished reading the letter, her fingertips trembled slightly.
Drip.
A drop of moisture fell onto the paper, blurring the ink.
Camilla breathed shallowly.
“…Nina.”
Her dry lips spoke the name, and it scattered into the air.
In those two short syllables, all the memories of the past years came rushing back at once.
The warm hands applying ointment to her calf.
The face crying and saying sorry.
The warm hug while weaving wildflowers and calling her sister.
The face smiling through tears at the cathedral.
Until now, Camilla thought she had sent Nina away according to her plan.
But from the very beginning, Nina had prepared this escape for Camilla’s sake.
She prepared many things, and even followed Camilla’s request to fake her death with medicine.
“She used the ticket to the Eastern Continent, right?”
“…Yes. I heard she went where you prepared. Count Ian helped her.”
At the cathedral, Nina had spoken of meeting again.
Camilla had responded—yet she had wanted to die.
She wanted to provoke the baron and complete her revenge through death.
But Nina had wished for Camilla to be happy.
She had told her not to die.
‘She knew my resolve.’
How anxious must Camilla have looked?
Yet Nina quietly followed her plan.
And she even devised a way for Camilla to stand beside Dane.
‘Dane didn’t forget me either—just like Nina.’
A former connection she thought was completely severed had tried to take her in as his fiancée.
That was why he had called her his fiancée.
Yet Dane had said Camilla had given up on herself.
If he felt that—
‘How deeply did I hurt Dane as well?’
The moment she realized that, a knock echoed against the door.
“Excuse me, miss. It’s been a while.”
“…Doctor Aine.”
Aine entered to examine Camilla.
And beyond him, barely visible, stood Dane.
‘Why didn’t you trust me?’
‘…So you really hated me that much?’
Only now did Camilla understand Dane’s words.
After explaining Camilla’s weakened condition, Aine finished the examination with a worried face.
Camilla nodded.
“Please rest, miss.”
“Yes, miss. Your recovery comes first, so please rest.”
Dylan and Sonya each spoke a line.
Dane said nothing.
Just as he was about to leave the room, Camilla called out to him.
“Dane.”
Dane stopped and turned to look at her.
“Talk to me for a moment.”
