CH 22

When the sound of Gareth’s footsteps had completely disappeared, Elena looked at her father with tearful, desperate eyes. However, her father turned away. 

‘What does that mean…’ Elena took a deep breath and struggled to remain calm. There was no going back now. She had failed in finding a husband her father wanted, but she decided to only think of the benefits of marrying Gareth. He had said he could definitely stop Logan. That was good enough, given that she had even thought of getting married to Logan to protect her family. She had done her part and played the role she was given; this was just the inevitable outcome. If she hadn’t, her father would consider her an inconsiderate, good-for-nothing daughter who didn’t think of her family’s future. 

“I’ll take Gareth as my husband. Thank you for taking care of me until now, Father,” she said. Her father only coughed in response and quickly left the room as if fleeing from her. Elena did not watch her father disappear. Instead, she decided to think, ‘Father must be falling apart as well. He must also be heartbroken. Yes… He must be.’ 

Elena gathered herself together, observed the room, then said, “Rowena, help me pack.” 

“B-but Elena…” Rowena’s voice was tearful. Marina was crying too.

The sounds pained Elena. However, she decided to keep herself together since what was done was done. She started moving without hesitation. Given Gareth’s personality, there was no telling what would happen if she delayed any longer. She was frightened, but she had to move. 

On the other hand, Rowena was out of her mind. She tried to follow Elena’s instructions, but tears kept blurring her vision and making it hard to see what she needed to pick up. She was overwhelmed with grief. ‘How could he do that… How could Father…’ 

For Marina, it seemed that she was crying on Elena’s behalf since her sister couldn’t even cry right now. Both Rowena and Marina were now unsure if they could respect their father like they used to. 

Elena had made her sisters pack her things on purpose so she had time to get her mother’s belongings from under her bed. She took out an emerald necklace. Until now, she’d had no choice but to sell off a lot of jewelry to support the estate, but she’d kept this one. It symbolized one’s status as the lady of the Townsend household. Elena went back to her sisters, then gently grabbed Rowena’s shoulder. Her younger sister was still sobbing, but Elena turned her around so that Rowena would face her.

“I won’t be here anymore, so you’ll be the lady of the household from now on, Rowena,” she said, her words purposefully stern, “Do your best to support Father and take care of Marina. Don’t neglect the people living on this land who trust Father.”

Elena paused for a moment and placed the emerald necklace in Rowena’s hand. “This is… a keepsake from Mother. It has been passed on to the lady of the household for generations. I’m giving it to you since you’re now… the lady of the Townsend household. Keep it in a safe place.” 

Elena had tried to hold back her emotions, but tears welled up in her eyes. She turned her head and did her best to hide her face from Rowena. At that moment, Marina suddenly hugged Elena from behind and clung to her. Elena stroked Marina’s hair calmly in response and said, “Marina, listen to what your sister says, okay?”

“Elena…” Marina started.

“I’ll always be praying for you guys.” Hot tears rolled down Elena’s cheeks at last. 

At that moment, she heard a cold, distinct voice. “Are you ready yet?”

Elena turned away and wiped away her tears with the back of her hands. When she went down to the hall alone, she saw that the doors were wide open. Gareth and his men were astride their horses waiting for her. Gareth was holding her horse’s reins in one hand. Elena approached him, took the reins from him, then looked back. Everyone was waving her goodbye, except for her father.

‘It must be that he cannot bear to see me like this. He must be regretting what he’s done already. He must be,’ Elena assured herself, then mounted the horse with William’s help. 

“I guess it’s goodbye, everyone,” Elena said, “Take good care of Father, please.”

William’s hand on her horse’s reins trembled, but Gareth reached out and snatched the reins away.

“Let’s go,” Gareth ordered.

* * *

Logan had been drunk since the night before. As soon as he had seen Gareth, he could not spend another minute sober because of the fear that had wriggled back up inside him. It was eating away at him once again. 

The joy of finally invading a village near the Townsend castle and almost having the estate in his hands had disappeared as soon as he caught sight of the man. ‘Gareth… that bloodthirsty madman.’ 

“I can’t believe he, of all people, showed up,” he mumbled to himself.

It was already noon, but there was no sign that Logan was getting over his hangover. He rolled around in bed with his hands wrapped around his sore head, groaning from the headache.

‘Gareth…’ His side throbbed when he remembered how Gareth had broken one of his ribs in the past. Meeting that man was an unpleasant surprise.

Logan recalled what had happened two years ago at a fancy banquet held at the capital. King Halbert had invited his relatives. This included Logan, and he had been busy putting on airs and enjoying himself while drunk when…

“What was his name…” Logan rummaged through his memories, his hands still wrapped around his throbbing head.

‘That’s right. Giggs.’ He was the arrogant man who had been standing against a pillar watching the banquet. The man who had dared to watch the powerful king and his relatives. Logan thought back to the time when he had yelled at the man while drunk.

* * *

“Hey, you there! You must be crazy! How dare a man like you stand at a place like this?” Logan shouted without hesitation.

Giggs gave a cold look to Logan, whose face was now red from the liquor. Logan approached Giggs and poked his head to taunt him. “Can’t you hear me? How dare you ignore a count?”

“I am entitled to move freely in and out of this castle,” Giggs said.

“Entitled? You sure don’t look like it! What entitlement do you have? Are you a jester?” 

Giggs became furious at his words but kept his mouth shut because he didn’t want to cause unnecessary commotion. He had come to the capital with Gareth to be compensated for carrying out the king’s commissions. Gareth usually hated coming to the capital, but the king had insisted on meeting face-to-face to reward them. Therefore, Gareth decided to visit the capital to get paid and buy new weapons and warhorses while he was there.