TYWML 13

Chapter 13. Monastery Journey
May 13, 2024

When Rienna said nothing, Johannes took a step closer and continued.

“I know that you have no special connection with Duke Winkler. If you’re just beginning to get to know each other without prior ties… then perhaps I still have a chance?”

After saying that, Johannes let out a dry chuckle and covered his face.

“It sounds pathetic even to my own ears. But please understand, my lady. That’s just how desperately I want to win your heart.”

“……”

“I will respect your decision, whatever it is. It hurts, but there’s nothing I can do.”

Just then, the stable hand, Ben, approached with a double-horse carriage, accompanied by Lucy. Kassel stepped forward and took Rienna’s hand.

“Shall we?”

“Yes.”

Rienna turned away from Johannes, who was forcing a bitter smile, and headed toward the carriage.

Stable hand Ben didn’t say a word, simply watching her quietly. From his gentle expression, Rienna could tell that he was silently congratulating her engagement.

‘Thank you.’

She mouthed the words to him before climbing into the carriage. Spotting her bag inside, she took the ribbon from her pocket and tucked it back into the bag.

Kassel followed her into the carriage. He had changed clothes, and Rienna had asked him to ride with her until the rain stopped.

Seated across from her, Kassel spoke with an apologetic tone.

“I’m sorry for not preparing a carriage in advance.”

“No, it’s fine. I like this one. It feels familiar.”

Rienna offered him a faint smile and looked out the window. The carriage started moving, hooves clopping against the wet ground. Unlike her earlier rush to escape, the rain had now begun to lighten.

She worried that the carriage might fall into a puddle again, but thankfully, with more careful handling this time, no such mishap occurred.

Leaning back against the seat, she watched the mansion fade into the distance, her thoughts trailing behind.

‘What is happening…?’

A man had proposed to her, bringing a letter from her late father. That same man looked exactly like the one who had tormented her heart in her dreams for the past two months.

Even though she wasn’t fully convinced they were the same person, her heart raced.

Rienna had never once imagined she’d meet someone in real life who looked exactly like the man from her dreams. So how could something like this happen?

Could Kassel, the man sitting across from her, really be the same man from her dreams? He certainly looked like him. Otherwise, how could his face and voice be so identical?

But the question remained: how could someone she had never met appear so vividly and frequently in her dreams? Was such a thing even possible?

‘Unless… we met before, and I just don’t remember?’

After pondering for a while, Rienna cautiously asked,

“Have we… met before?”

Kassel replied, looking slightly surprised by the question.

“Of course, when we were children—”

“No, not back then. I mean later. After we grew up? As adults?”

It wasn’t a difficult question, but Kassel didn’t answer right away. He swallowed hard, deep in thought, and just as Rienna began to feel puzzled, he finally spoke.

“I don’t think so. Before I inherited my title, I hardly ever left the Winkler estate. Unless you visited Winkler territory, I doubt we had the chance.”

“I see. Then we must’ve never met.”

“But may I ask why you’re asking?”

Now Rienna hesitated. She couldn’t bring herself to admit that she had seen him in her dreams, so she came up with an excuse.

“Your face just seemed familiar, that’s all.”

Kassel, who had seemed so cold and composed, chuckled softly. Rienna stared, captivated by the low timbre of his voice.

“We met as children, so it makes sense. I’ve changed quite a bit, but you might still see traces of that boy in me.”

“No, that’s not really what I meant…”

It wasn’t just a faint memory from childhood. She had seen his exact face in her dreams—so vividly, so frequently.

But she couldn’t say, “I saw you in my dreams.” That sounded too ridiculous. It made explaining things even more difficult.

Even to her own ears, her earlier question now sounded absurd.

In the end, she trailed off awkwardly.

“…Right. I guess it’s because we met as children.”

There were still so many things Rienna wanted to ask. But she couldn’t even organize her own thoughts well enough to articulate them.

While she was floundering in silence, the carriage gradually slowed to a halt.

‘Did it break again…?’

Confused, Rienna looked at Kassel. Without showing any expression, he stepped out of the carriage, opened an umbrella, and extended a hand to her.

“There’s a place I need to stop by before we go.”

‘Do I have to go too?’ she wondered, but the moment she looked past Kassel’s shoulder, she gasped.

The view was familiar—and instantly painful enough to bring tears to her eyes.

It was the Daik family’s ancestral graveyard.

Rienna quickly wiped away the tears that welled up and took Kassel’s hand.

As he helped her down, a knight named Dean, who had been acting as coachman, handed her a bouquet of white chrysanthemums.

“I thought we should pay respects to your father…”

Kassel’s low murmur silenced all of Rienna’s doubts. Someone who remembered her father so sincerely—she felt she could trust him, even if that trust had no rational basis.

A few days had passed since she had last visited the count’s grave.

Fresh chrysanthemums lay among the pile of flowers, clearly just recently placed. It was clear how deeply the count had been respected by the people of the territory.

Rienna clutched the bouquet tightly, thinking of her father, who had worried about his people until the very end.

It had already been two months since his death.

Two months. Far too short to forget someone who had been with her for twenty years.

She had cried so much her tears had dried up. But even after that, she would find small reminders of her father around the house and cry all over again.

Yet everyone else seemed to have moved on.

Even Aaron, her half-brother, showed no signs of grief. That hit her harder than anything else.

How could Aaron, his own blood, be so unaffected…?

While Rienna was lost in those bitter thoughts, Kassel handed her the umbrella and knelt before the tombstone, not caring that his fresh clothes were getting soaked in the rain.

With hands clasped, he prayed silently for the deceased.

Moved by the sight, Rienna knelt beside him. Though the rain soaked her skirt and a chill ran up her legs, her heart somehow felt warm.

“I heard it was a riding accident…”

After a long silence, Kassel finally spoke. Rienna managed to reply in a damp voice.

“…Yes.”

“Would it be alright if I asked what happened?”

Rienna blankly recalled the events of that day.

“It was raining heavily.”

From early morning, she had felt anxious. The sky was dark, and rain was pouring so hard it was hard to see. But that wasn’t the only reason.

Rainy weather wasn’t rare in Daik territory. Rienna was used to it. It usually made her feel gloomy, but not scared.

But that day, something felt wrong. Her heart pounded like she’d seen a ghost. Her hands trembled like she was out in the freezing cold. She barely managed to eat anything.

She had begged her father not to go out for inspection in such weather.

“The weather is awful. Please wait until the rain clears.”

“That’s why I must go. The dikes might collapse and flood the village.”

“Then send the knights! There’s no need for you to go in person.”

“Rienna, as the count, it’s my duty to look after the people. I can’t leave it to someone else.”

“Then at least wait for the rain to lighten…”

“You’re being unusually clingy today. Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon. Let’s have dinner together, alright? I asked them to make your favorite—beef tomato stew.”

That gentle, reassuring smile had been the last time she saw him. That evening, he returned as a lifeless body.

His promise to have dinner together became one that could never be kept.

At the knights’ insistence that she shouldn’t see him, she never even saw her father’s final face.

So when she thought of her father, she always remembered his smile before leaving the mansion. That memory hurt the most.