– Chapter 10 –
After the dinner incident, Rinea began to live as she pleased. She no longer dealt with etiquette or social tutors. She felt no need to live like that anymore.
She spent her free time in the family library and garden.
Rumors had spread among the servants, so no one dared to bother her, no matter what she did. Her family regarded her with cold indifference.
She was excluded from family dinners and instead ate alone afterward. Her family likely thought this was a punishment or an act of contempt, but Rinea didn’t care. In fact, she preferred it that way.
But reality hadn’t been completely resolved.
“Miss Rinea.”
“Speak.”
Rinea answered without looking up from her book on the sofa. The maid hesitated before speaking.
“You have a guest.”
“So?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m busy reading, can’t you see?”
In the past, just hearing the word “guest” would have changed Rinea’s expression, and she would have asked for clothes to be prepared. After all, there was only ever one person who would come to visit her. And it had been months since Cadil last visited.
But now, her attitude was completely unlike her usual self.
“Um… It’s Lord Cadil…”
“Lord Cadil or whoever—didn’t I say I’m busy?”
The maid froze. Something was off. Rinea didn’t even glance at her as she continued speaking.
“Tell him I’m too busy to see him.”
“…Yes, miss.”
The maid quietly withdrew.
But she returned a short while later.
“Um, Miss…”
“What now?”
“He says he’ll wait in the drawing room until you come down…”
“Then let him wait.”
Rinea replied in a flat voice, completely disinterested.
Three hours passed. After finishing her thick book, Rinea yawned and called for the maid. The maid, who had been waiting anxiously, rushed in. Rinea blinked her drowsy eyes and said:
“Help me change into something light.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m going to take a nap.”
“Um, miss… Lord Cadil is still waiting…”
“Did I say I’d go down? I said let him wait.”
Rinea simply stared at the flustered maid with sleepy eyes.
Then she changed her clothes and took a long nap. Afterward, she drank some water, read again, ate dinner in her room, read more, and fell asleep as night deepened. Whether Cadil was still waiting at that point—she neither knew nor cared.
A few days later, her father summoned her to the drawing room—where Cadil was waiting.
“Rinea.”
Cadil stood up and approached her as soon as she entered. He seemed oblivious to her momentary freeze at the sudden encounter.
“When I visited a few days ago, you didn’t meet with me, so I came again. You haven’t visited our estate lately either, so I wondered if you were unwell…”
While Cadil rambled on about how it was all his fault, Rinea turned her eyes away and looked at her father.
“Why did you call me?”
“I heard your fiancé came to see you but was stood up. Is that how a fiancée should behave?”
Wilson scolded her sternly. Yet Rinea found it ironic—he had stood her up far more often.
“Rinea did nothing wrong. I’m sure she was feeling unwell.”
As if saying, “What other reason would you have to avoid me?” That attitude, which Rinea had been too blinded to see before, was now glaringly obvious. She let out a dry laugh.
But the next moment, when Cadil lightly took her hand, a wave of nausea surged. She instinctively yanked it away with all her strength.
“…What?”
Both Cadil and Wilson were stunned. It was Monica who scolded Rinea.
“Rinea! What are you doing?!”
“Why are you touching my body without permission?”
Rinea’s voice trembled slightly. She bit her lip, thinking she sounded foolish. There was no reason to tremble. Though her voice steadied, she couldn’t stop the nausea. She clamped a hand over her mouth and tightly shut her eyes.
“Rinea! Are you alright…?”
“Don’t touch me!”
Rinea screamed sharply.
The atmosphere in the room turned explosive. Monica, unable to stand it any longer, stood up abruptly.
“That rude, arrogant girl! I’m so sorry, she seems a bit sensitive lately.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m more worried about Rinea than myself…”
“Cut the crap.”
Rinea’s cold retort silenced the room.
With the mood completely beyond repair, Rinea glanced around the drawing room.
“Don’t call me in here for things like this again.”
“‘Things like this’?! You…!”
Rinea left the drawing room without another word and returned to her room. Those left behind sat in stunned silence.
‘Letting go emotionally isn’t enough.’
Rinea called for cold water and gathered her thoughts.
‘To be truly free, I have to cut the financial tie too. Living off my parents’ money—I can’t call that freedom. And I need to break off the engagement.’
She touched her slender neck. Her old habit of twisting the red gem pendant had turned into a habit of touching her throat.
She still felt as if a rope made of fabric was wrapped around her neck. That horrific sensation.
‘I have to escape.’
“Young lady, here’s your water.”
The maid set the glass down in front of the sofa, watching Rinea cautiously. Once not a difficult master, Rinea had become hard to approach.
“If you have something to say, speak.”
It wasn’t that she was picky—just unpredictable. The maid cautiously spoke.
“Lord Lamburn has gifted you a dress for the Founding Ball in two days.”
“Leave it in the dressing room.”
Ah, right. That’s still happening. She didn’t want to go.
But it was a promise her past self had made. Not going would cause her family to hound her, asking what she was even doing with her life. And at a time when she needed to break off her engagement, she couldn’t afford to look like the unfaithful fiancée.
Rinea let out a weary sigh.
Two days later, Rinea boarded a carriage to the palace with Cadil.
In the past, she would have talked endlessly trying to catch his attention, only to wilt when he responded coldly. But today, she didn’t say a word—just read a pocketbook she had brought along, as if no one sat across from her.
“…Rinea, are you feeling motion sickness?”
“Not at all.”
She answered every question Cadil asked with curt replies, giving him no room to continue. He looked at her with growing anxiety.
“You didn’t wear the dress I gave you… is something wrong?”
“It didn’t suit me.”
“Oh… I’m sorry. I should’ve paid more attention to your taste.”
“Sure.”
Rinea didn’t lift her eyes from the book until they arrived.
At the ball, she only linked arms with him for the formal entrance and soon separated.
“Rinea.”
While chatting briefly with a few guests, Rinea moved to the edge of the ballroom to watch the dancing disinterestedly. Cadil approached her.
“Sorry, I had to step away for business talks.”
“Do as you please.”
“…Rinea. Can we talk in private?”
“No.”
Cadil looked visibly flustered. Rinea didn’t even look at him.
“Rinea, did I… do something to upset you?”
“Why are you asking that?”
“Your attitude is a little cold. I mean, I feel that way—not that you’re being cold. It’s just… awkward.”
“Just get to the point.”
Her tone told him to speak and leave. Cadil sighed and brought up the topic he had wanted to approach gently.
“That pendant I gave you… you’re not wearing it today.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
It irritated her that he was nagging about such a trivial thing.
“I haven’t worn it in ages. It’s probably lying around somewhere. Maybe I even threw it out.”
In truth, the maids had found it in a corner of her room and tucked it into a drawer. But Rinea didn’t feel like elaborating.
Suddenly, Cadil’s face twisted. Rinea, glancing at him by chance, was startled by the transformation.
He grabbed her wrist and dragged her to a corridor off the ballroom. Rinea tried to resist, but her cumbersome dress made it hard to move.
Cadil cornered her against the wall, almost like a beast.
“You threw it out? That?”
Despite instinctively recoiling, Rinea didn’t change her stance.
“Once it’s a gift, it belongs to the receiver. I can throw it out if I want.”
“Damn it.”
Cadil swore and ran a hand through his hair.
“What the hell are you thinking?”
“None of your business.”
“Even now…! God, what’s wrong with you?”
“I’m wondering the same thing. What’s wrong with you?”
Now that she thought about it, Cadil had likely known all along that the voices Rinea heard weren’t evil spirits but spirits. And maybe it wasn’t just that.
She really needed to go back and investigate.
When she tried to pull away, Cadil grabbed her wrist again.
“Where are you going? We’re not done talking.”
“I told you not to touch me.”
“We’re engaged, aren’t we? What’s wrong with touching my fiancée’s body—”
But someone else answered that question.
Cadil was suddenly struck hard in the face and thrown backward, releasing Rinea’s wrist. She gasped—she hadn’t even noticed someone approaching.
“You think being engaged gives you the right to touch her at will?”
The deep voice was calm but weighty. From the shadows of the corridor, a tall figure emerged—broad shoulders, red-gold hair tinged with sunlight, and a golden crown atop his head.
As he rolled his deep blue eyes toward her, Rinea flinched in recognition.
“It’s been a while.”
While Rinea stood frozen, unable to place the face, a spirit whispered beside her:
<Why don’t you recognize him? It’s Eurik.>
Yuricien Lairytez.
The emperor who had ascended the throne last year.
