Chapter 26

“…Nick is sleeping in my house. He was in a deep sleep, so I covered him with a blanket and came out. I’m not a person who is harsh on children.”

“Now, I want you to answer me again. Why did you come all the way here? No, more than that. You must have signed the divorce papers, right?”

Impatient with the constant ominous foreboding, Cassia poured out quick-fire questions at the Duke.

The Duke simply listened carefully to her, took another sip of coffee and said, “I didn’t sign.”

“…I beg your pardon?”

“Not yet.”

He took his hand off the cup of coffee and sighed. Then he said to her, “But I’m going to sign it anyway, so you don’t have to tremble like a rat in a jar.”

“I’m just here to talk to you. I just wanted to ask you a few things before signing.”

His gaze turned to Cassia’s hand on the table. When she realized it, her hands were shaking.

Cassia lowered her hand, avoiding him, and threw her gaze towards the scenery outside the window.

“As I came down here, I organized the questions I wanted to ask you, so can I?”

“…Ask.”

“When did you decide to leave the mansion?”

The first question came to Cassia. 

She answered without much thought. Because it was a relatively straightforward answer.

“…When Ken ran away from home in the early days of our marriage. That’s when I realized that this wasn’t the place for me.”

“Was it because Ken didn’t accept you as his mother?”

“No. It was then that I realized my greed for the first time. Suddenly, I realized that I was trying to be a real mother to the children.”

“I was afraid of myself. He was petrified that I would take Diana’s place.”

The cause of Ken’s runaway case was solely her greed. If she had cared a little less, if she hadn’t gone out to take care of them, if she had cared for Ken’s heart a little more from the beginning, he wouldn’t have run away from home. It was a moment when she needed to be a formal mother, but she was caught up in her emotions and couldn’t do it.

“At that time… I was impatient. Because I didn’t expect the children to accept me that much. Even if I went in, and when I heard them call me ‘stepmother’, I was still unaware that in the end that I was just a stranger. Only a stranger.”

“I see.”

“Yes.”

After a short reply, the Duke nodded and took a sip of coffee, and asked again.

“On Nick’s coming-of-age banquet, you smiled brightly at the boy. You also gave me a bright smile.”

“Did you smile because you were happy? Thinking about leaving the mansion the next day.”

“Yes… No.”

Cassia thought it was a meaningless question, so she tried to give a rough answer, then sighed and corrected her words.

He came all the way here and asked this question, and she felt like she should give a serious answer, too. She didn’t understand why he was asking these questions now. They were going to get a divorce anyway. 

What does all this mean?

“I smiled because I was proud that Nick grew up with dignity. That day, Nick looked at me and smiled brightly.”

“I see.”

The Duke seemed to think for a moment, and continued to talk for the last time.

“So, what did the last seven years of marriage mean to you?”

“Even if it was simple, it was okay. It wasn’t bad. It was just fine. It wasn’t the hardest or the worst.”

Cassia looked at Axion.

‘What are his intentions, really?’

Cassia opened her mouth to speak.

“With all due respect, why are you asking me that now?”

“I don’t know if it makes sense to ask now. The contract period between us is over, and you just have to let me go.”

“As a colleague of 7 years, let’s say that before we say our last goodbye, I am resolving the remarks one last time.” He answered.

“More than anything else, I want to hear about the time you went through in our family. So…”

His gaze deepened, and he smiled.

“I thought you thought everything was fine, Cassia.” He continued

“I took a lot of care for you. That’s what I had thought. I helped you as best as I could. I was considerate so that there was no inconvenience, and I tried not to stop what you were doing.”

“So, I am curious about this ending. Why did you leave the place as if you were running away as soon as seven years had ended?”

“It’s just… I said goodbye in my own way, and I thought that we were not close enough to each other to have a formal goodbye.”

Suddenly, the situation felt uncomfortable. Nick, who came here a while ago, and the Duke now appear to overlap. Various strange questions and resentment-like things filled her mind. She answered.

“Did you ask what life was like at the Duke’s mansion? It was materially rich, but the time spent was lonely and difficult.”

“…”

“But it was something I had to endure because it was my choice, so I just said thank you for always taking care of me.”

‘I don’t understand. Why do they keep coming to me and getting in the way?’

“Seven years have passed, and the contract has ended, so I just left the mansion in my own way. Thank you for taking care of me all this time, but I didn’t want it to be like that any longer.”

Since there was a contract, she thought the Duke would take care of the rest. She also wrote a letter of thanks by being polite and heartfelt. 

There was no regret. 

Truly, at the last moment, she thought she had a beautiful parting.

‘But why do they come to me and ask questions and actions that I do not understand?’

‘Why do you want to make this ending not beautiful?’

‘Did I do something wrong? What more should I have done there?’

“Is it because I left the Duke’s mansion as if I was running away? If that was a problem, I apologize.”

“I should have left everything clean until the last greeting, but I was careless.”

Cassia kept talking.

“To be honest, I thought it would be good for me to leave just one letter like that. Isn’t it strange to see each other face-to-face and say goodbye to each other without making eye contact and without even having a proper conversation?”

“Besides, I thought that waiting for divorce proceedings after leaving as a Duchess would be procedural and emotionally exhausting for many people. I wanted to disappear quietly without causing much trouble. That’s why I left one letter behind.”

“I think that may have been the problem. If that’s the case, I apologize again. I guess the ending wasn’t neat.”

As soon as she spat out the words, she felt suddenly exhausted. 

She sighed.

“Do you have an answer now? I’m a little tired, and I want to rest.”

“Please, I expect that the divorce papers will be handled neatly. When will it be processed-”

She thought it was time to get up, and she was about to ask him to expedite the divorce papers. The door to the store opened with a chime. 

A light footstep entered between them.

“Good morning…”

Irwin was the owner of the cheerful voice that followed.

As Irwin took off the cape he was wearing as he appeared inside the store, he met the Duke sitting in front of Cassia and made eye contact.

“…!”

Silence passed. In between, only her heart fell silently.

***

“You…” The Duke slowly stood up. 

Axion looked at the two with somewhat white faces. 

He recognized Irwin. 

He realized it. 

His eyes became the shapes of hounds chasing their prey.

It was clearly the eyes of the Duke who had been looking for the Third Prince Adolf seven years ago by order of the Emperor.

He must have recognized Irwin’s identity at once. Irwin seemed to be an acquaintance as well.

What do they do now?

The conversation that had just come and gone disappeared from Cassia’s mind. Her head began to spin rapidly. After a few seconds of silence, the Duke was about to say something. Irwin put his hat back on and sprinted out of the store, and started running. The Duke tried to run after Irwin, grabbing the sword he was wearing around his waist.

“No!”

Cassia blocked the front of the Duke. 

Axion stopped and looked down at her.

“What are you doing, Cassia?”

“Our conversation is not over yet. When are you going to process the divorce papers?”

So, there was only one thing she could do in this situation. She hoped Irwin would run away quickly, while she had some time to spare.

It was hoped that Irwin could stay here a little longer so that his identity would not be revealed.

“I’m sorry, Cassia, it’s an emergency right now, so I’ll wait a little bit later… It is an emergency, and I will send you an answer first.”

“Your Grace. Please be polite in front of me.”

Cassia looked directly into the Duke’s eyes. 

It was the first time her eyes seemed this powerful and fierce in front of him.

Axion looked at her attitude, and he said to her as if he had realized something.

“You, you have been hiding the prince all this time.”

“My divorce papers.”

“When are you going to take care of it?”

Cassia kept her eyes straight, pretending not to know, and asked him. He immediately sighed and said.

“I will deal with it as soon as I get back to the mansion. I just came to hear your story. “

“Promise me that you will take care of it as soon as you get back.”

“I promise.”

“Only in words? What will you bet on?”

At that moment, he looked at her with deep eyes. 

It was a gaze full of resentment and loneliness.

He opened his mouth in a muffled voice.

“In Diana’s name.”

For some reason, Cassia’s heart sank. 

He licked his lips and looked at her.

“Can I go now?”

He walked away from her. 

As he ran, she couldn’t stop him anymore. 

Her heart was sinking deep.

***