Chapter 32

***

Cassia looked at him and said, and the Duke looked at her and sighed.

“I’m here to apologize.”

“…”

“Suddenly, the situation of the Third Prince has changed a lot from the situation I had come here alone in the first place. I thought I didn’t pay much attention to you, and I feel sorry for making you stressed out for nothing.”

“… That’s okay.”

Cassia looked at him and turned her head. As he bowed, she had nothing to say.

“Please sign the divorce papers as soon as possible. And I hope we never see each other again after that.”

“…”

The Duke stared at her as she spoke without even making eye contact.

“After this is done, I will go back and sign the divorce papers. Instead, there are conditions.”

“…What is it?”

“I will respect your decision according to the contract, and you will receive the money I give you.”

“What money…?”

Cassia didn’t understand what he was saying for a moment, so she stopped talking.

He is referring to the money mentioned in the contract. If they divorced, the Duke would support her.

“I don’t need money.”

When she answered, Axion looked at her.

“I don’t want to take any money, no matter how much you support me.”

“…What does that mean?”

“Because I wasn’t originally going to do Diana’s request for money. I feel like my sincerity is being clouded.”

According to the contract, if she receives money from the Duke of Whidrian, she will be able to live the rest of her life comfortably.

She could travel without worrying about her livelihood, and she could do whatever she wanted.

But there were more meaningful values ​​to her.

“And when I get money, I feel like I’m being subordinated to the Duke, so I hate it.”

“It’s because I think it’ll be neat to properly reward you for your hard work.”

It was a moment of silence. 

There was a noise coming from outside.

It was the sound of someone running in a hurry. The sound of hopping stopped in front of her house.

Suddenly, the door opened, and it was none other than Nick who ran into the house.

“Father!”

Nick sprinted across the room, and entered the room where the Duke and Cassia were confronted.

The boy took turned looking at her and the Duke with a serious expression on his face, and with his arms wide open, he stood between Cassia and Axion. He was, to be precise, standing towards the Duke with his back to Cassia.

“Mother was with me!”

“…”

“…”

The Duke and Cassia looked at Nick at the same time. 

Silence passed. 

Nick continued.

“I wanted to spend so much time with my mother, so I begged her to go for a walk. It’s not mother’s fault that she went out secretly. It’s my fault. So if you want to scold me, scold me.”

Despite the sudden situation, the Duke looked at her as if he was trying to understand the truth of Nick’s words for a moment.

Cassia just looked at Nick standing in front of her with a puzzled expression.

‘Nick has never been with me all night. But why is this kid lying to the Duke?’

The Duke’s eyes shone faintly as he looked at Cassia and Nick. It was when he opened his mouth.

The door suddenly opened.

What came in was a man in a uniform that looked like he had run out of breath. Cassia recognized that he was the commander of the knights of the Imperial palace that had been dispatched.

The man who commanded the troops here in Lawrence is the Duke’s right arm.

He swung the door open and looked at the three of them, who were facing each other.

“I’m sorry to say this.”

He turned his head toward the Duke.

“Your Excellency, this is an emergency.”

“…”

“A person presumed to be the Third Prince is coming to the gallery.”

* * *

Tick, tack.

The three of them left the house and quickly headed for the gallery.

It didn’t take long to get to the gallery near Cassia’s house.

When they arrived, a great scene was unfolding in front of them.

The knights standing tall without a single move were looking straight ahead while holding their breath.

She took a deep breath and turned her head to where their gaze was directed to.

Soon it was dawning. 

The colossal sun was rising, driving the energy of dawn.

The wind that brushed us created golden waves as it brushed the rice fields, and soon it reached a man.

Stride

A man walked in front of the gallery along a straight road, splitting the wind.

The steps taken one step at a time with a great stride were filled with unknown dignity.

In accordance with his steps, the black cloak fluttered proudly.

She couldn’t even hear the usual birdsong. Everyone was holding their breath and looking at him.

As he walked, he took off his cloak’s hat, and the rising sun shone on his silvery hair.

His beautiful face was revealed under the light of his head, where warmth and cold coexisted strangely.

Shiny blue eyes.

The eyes contained in the portrait of the Third Prince, coincidentally, were the first ones most people saw.

His face, which everyone knows, but few have seen in person, was exposed to the world this way.

“…He is His Highness the Third Prince.”

The knight commander looked blankly at the man walking by and said as if muttering. 

“Bring His Highness the Third Prince.”

The knights standing in a line, at his words, ran towards Adolf one by one.

The hordes of knights placed around him and covered him became as dense as a grate.

In the meantime, Adolf strode closer to the Duke and stood before him, and everyone around him fell to their knees.

“I see you, Your Highness, the Third Prince!”

The knights from the imperial palace shouted loudly at him with their hoarse voices.

In the huge spectacle, Cassia, along with Nick, bowed towards the Third Prince.

It was an incredible sight. The scene where everyone knelt down in line at once made them get goosebumps.

In the meantime, the Duke made a courtesy and saluted him, and opened his mouth.

“Long time no see, My Lord. You have grown into a mature adult in seven years.”

“I was an adult seven years ago. I am a little older than I was then.”

“You are still the same. I wondered what it would have been like after seven years, but you still seem to be playful.”

It was a conversation of greetings, but there was a sense of tension.

Cassia sat down with Nick and listened to their conversation. 

The Duke then said, “… You have chosen well. Thanks to you revealing yourself, we were able to avoid wasting a lot of manpower.”

“I’m sorry, but if you had been worried about that, I would have shown up sooner, Duke Whidrian. It wouldn’t have taken seven years.”

Adolf answered the Duke’s words. His gaze suddenly turned towards Cassia.

“I just made up my mind again. Running away was becoming a bit of a nuisance.”

“…Either way, Your Highness’ return will make Your Majesty very happy.”

The Duke answered, but Adolf did not. 

Axion continued.

“Since you have been away from the Imperial Palace for a long time, the first priority will be to check your health as soon as you return to the Imperial Palace, but before that, there is the Imperial Palace physician who followed us here. Let’s go into the gallery and take a quick look at the condition.”

In preparation for finding the prince, the Imperial Palace Knights had all the supplies and manpower ready to escort him.

When the Duke beckoned him to enter the gallery, Adolf quietly entered the building.

The Imperial physician in the gallery greeted Adolf and briefly examined his condition.

The Duke lost his mind, and he began to give orders to the Knights Commander.

“Send a message to His Majesty the Emperor saying that we have found the Third Prince. If Your Majesty is all right, we will depart for the capital in the morning. Let them be prepared.”

“Okay, Your Grace.”

With Adolph’s appearance, all the tensions that had been young all along were dissipating.

People were breathing a sigh of relief that the Third Prince was finally back.

“…”

In the meantime, Cassia soon realized a particular fact. The time has come to part with Adolf soon.

The stranger in her gallery will no longer be able to come to this place.

In fact, from the moment Adolf said they would see each other, she intuitively expected it.

That he was planning to end his long journey on this occasion.

Everything was Adolf’s choice, and she only wanted to respect it.

It was his life, and she didn’t deserve to interfere.

Rather, she wanted to help him make better choices.

She wanted to help him build up his courage.

So he did what he wanted.

Most of all, he seemed to want to go back.

The lion engraved on the sculpture in the corner of the tent where he was hiding, was the symbol of the Fontrich imperial family.

The moment she saw it, she could feel what he thought when he bought the lion sculpture.

But the moment she gave him advice like that, she didn’t even think about it.

It will be difficult to see him again in the future.

The pleasant time spent with Irwin, a regular visitor to the small gallery in Lawrencia, will no longer exist.

Respect his choice and always bless him. 

But she couldn’t help but feel that that fact was already very empty.

It was because he was the one who always visited the gallery in the morning and took a seat.

Because it was them, who had a small conversation and burst into laughter.

It was when she felt a sense of emptiness and was fiddling with her head with a strange expression.

Adolf’s eyes met through the glass door of the gallery. 

He was looking at Cassia.

“…?”

She stood up and looked at him. He smiled softly and whispered something to the knight next to him.

After hearing him, the knight opened the gallery door and spoke to Cassia.

“Madam, Your Highness wants to talk to you.”

“What?”

“Please come in.”

***

Kofi shop updated till chapter 37.