03. Kaelen Laverion (2)

‘What’s going on?’

Did I say something wrong?

Kaelen doesn’t seem upset, but…

I shifted my gaze away from him slightly and stared into the empty space, carefully contemplating the words I’d spoken so far.

I couldn’t bear to look directly into his icy, emotionless face, so I devised a clever way to divert my eyes without making it obvious.

Nevertheless, as I quickly replayed the events in my mind, I couldn’t figure out what I had done wrong.

‘I don’t know. I really don’t know.’

Maybe it’s not going to work.

Being alone with my crush was great, but my mind was racing with thoughts, and it had been chaotic since earlier.

For now, it would be better to leave this place and think things through. I shifted my gaze again.

But then, our eyes met as he had been silently staring at me the whole time, and my bewildered eyes locked with his cold ones.

“Your Grace, I think I should go now.”

I opened my mouth, trying to keep a nonchalant expression as much as possible.

“…You’re leaving already?”

When I said I was leaving, he seemed slightly perplexed.

“Yes. I realized there are things to organize and tasks I need to complete.”

I hurriedly spoke only the necessary words to avoid getting entangled further in his mood.

“Are these tasks something that needs to be done right away? Urgent enough for you to rush home like this?”

Kaelen was acting strangely today. He wasn’t usually so persistent in questioning me. Whenever I said I was leaving, he was always the one to depart first, even if Adelia was here…

“Well, you see…”

I hadn’t anticipated he would ask me again, so I stammered as I tried to think quickly about the tasks I needed to attend to at home.

“Oh, I remembered there’s a gift I forgot to give Adelia. It’s something important, and I want to send it to her as soon as possible. I thought she’d be even happier if she received the gift when they arrived at their new home. I’m getting anxious about it.”

It wasn’t a lie. I had forgotten one of the presents I had prepared for Adelia’s wedding, and I planned to send it along with a letter as soon as I got home.

“I’ll give you a ride there.”

“Huh? No, there’s no need for you to do that… You must be busy, and I can go alone.”

Fortunately, it seemed my improvisation worked. I declined the offer with an awkward smile.

However, he glanced at me for a moment and then continued walking, ignoring my response.

‘Haa…’

I sighed deeply inwardly and quietly followed him. The carriage of the Laverion family was much more spacious inside compared to our family’s carriage.

This allowed Kaelen and me to maintain a certain distance between us.

We rode in the carriage in silence throughout the journey. Kaelen was naturally reticent and rarely spoke unnecessary words, so he seemed unfazed.

However, I was not at ease. I always enjoyed conversing with people, so this oppressive silence was quite uncomfortable for me.

But for now, I forced myself not to speak. I did not want to risk saying something that might provoke him. What was fortunate was that, after we got into the carriage, he immediately began reading a book, without initiating a conversation with me.

I discreetly stole a glance at him.

‘He’s really handsome.’

Adelia was an exceptional beauty, and Kaelen, her older brother, was no less attractive in terms of looks. If you saw the two siblings standing together, anyone would be compelled to admire them. Although they shared a strong family resemblance in their appearances, there was a subtle difference in the aura they exuded.

While Adelia had a head of black hair with a hint of brown, Kaelen’s hair was intensely black, reminiscent of a moonless night. Adelia inherited her father, the former Duke Laverion’s, blue-hued eyes, while Kaelen had vivid red eyes, reminiscent of his mother, the former Duchess.

Suddenly, as I gazed at him, who resembled Adelia, I found myself missing my friend, even though we hadn’t been apart for long.

‘What should I do now?’

I had mentally prepared myself for this separation, but the sadness and loneliness were overwhelming as I contemplated how to spend each day without Adelia.

It felt like a wave of sorrow and loneliness was washing over me, causing my head to bow involuntarily.

I could feel the moisture in the corners of my eyes due to the melancholy, and I had to exert tremendous effort to prevent tears from escaping.

Crying here would make me feel like I had to offer lengthy explanations to Kaelen.

Amidst the turmoil in my mind as I searched for other thoughts, a sudden idea struck me forcefully.

‘Just maybe… Should I go to a place near where Adelia lives and quietly tend to the garden, like in the old days?’

The thought of being apart from Adelia and living like this led me to consider going to her place and spending time as we used to.

‘No.’

No, that’s not possible.

I managed to pull myself together and regain my composure. Adelia now had someone to spend her life with. No matter how much I missed her, I couldn’t interfere with the newlyweds who had just embarked on a new journey together.

Up until now, we had always been inseparable unless something extraordinary happened, and I had taken it for granted. But now, we needed to live our own lives.

‘My life.’

Come to think of it, I had never seriously considered what to do after graduating from the academy. I had always assumed that no matter what I did in the future, I would be with Adelia.

But that was no longer the case.

So, what would my future look like?

I unintentionally glanced at Kaelen for a moment, then quickly turned my head. I was worried that our eyes might meet, but he was still engrossed in his book.

Feeling relieved, I continued to contemplate my thoughts.

In reality, for a typical noblewoman like me, there was only one future to choose from: to marry a man from another noble family and bear the successor.

Perhaps my future could also appear that way to others.

I had an incredibly impressive fiancé who anyone would envy.

However, Kaelen and my engagement was not conventional. It wasn’t based on strategy or contractual obligations; it was simply a result of his goodwill.

That’s why, sometimes when I imagined my future, he was never there.

No, he shouldn’t have been there.

My unrequited love, born out of his goodwill, had its limits.

Sigh…

As painful as it was to have such a heart-wrenching unrequited love, even if I loved him to the point of death, if his feelings were not reciprocated, it was right to give up.

Afterward, my heart would ache, but I sincerely hoped that he would meet a good woman.

To make it happen, I intended to request a breakup from him.

Knowing that he would never suggest breaking off the engagement first, this was the only consideration I could offer him.

We had become engaged when I was 14 and Kaelen was 20.

I lost my parents in a carriage accident the moment I turned 14. I had been traveling with them in the same carriage, but they didn’t survive, and I miraculously did.

The protection of my mother, who shielded me during the carriage’s crash, was what saved my life.

However, losing my parents wasn’t the only thing I had to face. In addition to the honor of nobility, there was also the burden of debts left behind by my parents, as they had spent lavishly with insufficient funds to support our aristocratic status.

Afterward, my relatives were eager to get rid of me, fearing that the debts would be passed on to them, so they tried to marry me into a wealthy household by any means necessary. To give you an idea of how far they were willing to go, they even set their sights on the widow of an elderly marquis, who was known to have an enormous fortune.

Fortunately, that plan was never executed, but I knew that such uncertainties would continue to loom over me in the future.

I used to worry endlessly about what to do when, one day, Kaelen and Adelia came to find me.

Both siblings had lost their parents before I did and were left alone.

Despite his young age of twenty, Kaelen was already leading the prestigious Laverion Ducal House so impressively that other nobles couldn’t dismiss him. I remember that day when the two of them came to see me very clearly.

It was a day I could never forget, a day when someone threatened me with a sword and told me never to forget.