Chapter 101
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 101
* * *
"Sigh... The urgent matter is resolved, isn't it? Is this enough?"
I muttered bitterly, recalling the letter I'd sent to Dale. It was naturally the choice I had to make, yet my heart felt terribly heavy.
But now I had to separate Dale from me.
That way, Dale would be safe.
"Haah..."
"...Forgive me, Miss, but if you were going to do this, wouldn't it have been better not to hold on in the first place?"
Emma, who had been folding laundry beside me, stared at me and shook her head disapprovingly.
"You sent a letter breaking the engagement and have been like this ever since. You keep sighing, and your complexion is terrible."
"It's not that I'm happy about having no further dealings with Dale."
"Then why don't you just tell him everything honestly and discuss it with him? Your husband Dale is someone who knows all your circumstances."
"..."
"Rather, he might be confused instead of relieved by the contract's termination. You've never even discussed breaking the contract with him, have you?"
I nodded slowly. Emma's words weren't wrong.
Dale could be confused. He couldn't help but be shocked. And he might even be worried about me for suddenly notifying him like this.
He's such a kind person, after all.
But that's precisely why I didn't tell him the truth.
If I had, he wouldn't have accepted the contract termination.
"Dale would have tried to overcome this together for my sake. He's so kind and foolish."
It wouldn't have mattered if I said I was letting him go because it was dangerous.
"If I had told him this contract became dangerous because of The Emperor, he would have tried to protect me even more. I don't want that."
Then when the cold wind blows like in the original story, Dale could be swept away.
If The Emperor desired me as strongly as in the original work, it wouldn't be danger—I'd simply be the first to die.
"If you break the contract, you'll have to pay him double the 3.64 million crowbats you originally promised."
"Yes. I know."
That was our contract. Of course I knew about this clause. It was the contract I had presented.
Dale hadn't changed much in the contract. He only asked me to delete one clause.
Come to think of it, meeting a contract partner like Dale was truly fortunate.
"Even knowing you have to pay such an enormous sum, I don't quite understand why you're letting him go, Miss."
Tap.
I pulled the book over and covered the papers. They were practice letters I had written, erased, and rewritten while agonizing over how to tell Dale.
"There's no helping it even if you don't understand. It's over now."
"So you won't meet with Dale ever again from now on?"
"That's not quite right."
The thought that I might never see him again made my heart ache.
"Once I finish everything, I'll go back to Dale."
"Once the situation where he might be threatened disappears?"
"Yes."
I stretched languidly and leaned back in my chair.
"I don't want to never see Dale again."
"Miss, you're being sincere."
"When that time comes, I'll approach him ordinarily, not as a contractual partner."
I want to approach him as my true self—without hiding or pretending—and confirm why I continue to think of Dale.
"The problem is how to escape from The Emperor."
The methods I've tried on The Emperor until now.
Planning chance encounters with other women.
Failed.
Overwhelming him with work to exhaust him.
Failed.
Making him tire of me as I fled and avoided him.
Failed.
"Rather, I have an ominous feeling that I've only stimulated The Emperor's competitive spirit."
I pray it's merely my anxiety.
I scribbled with my pen.
In truth, I released Dale partly because of The Emperor, but also because there was a great obstacle within my own family that I had to overcome.
The family's patriarch who vehemently opposed marriage to a commoner and lay in bed clutching his head—my Grandfather.
Grandfather, who always resided at the Duchy Main Castle, had come to the Capital for a brief time on business.
Grandfather has keen intuition. And an unbending character—so much so that he cast out his beloved daughter and never saw her again.
He would certainly search through documents while I was away, and I couldn't let him discover even a single clue that might lead him to Dale.
Thinking of Aunt Corinne's situation, this was dangerous too.
What if Dale ended up being pressured from both sides?
"Then, Miss, what about the investigation into Dale?"
"Ah, that."
"Should I report only what we've discovered so far?"
I closed the inkwell and stood from my seat.
"No. Destroy everything."
"Are you certain? You conducted the investigation because you were curious about him."
"Now is not the time to focus on Dale's affairs."
To resolve the immediate problems before me, I must set aside and bury my thoughts of Dale for now.
"I can't learn anything more about Dale. Our contract is over now, and all materials must be destroyed."
"Everything, you say?"
"The contract too must be disposed of. You understand we need to handle this cleanly with no trace remaining? Burn it and bury the ashes in the yard so it disappears completely."
* * *
Tap.
"Hmm..."
Tap, tap-tap-tap. Tap.
"Is it raining..."
I tossed and turned in my half-sleep. It hadn't seemed like rain would come, at least not during the day.
But the sound of raindrops persistently striking the window eventually roused me from bed.
"Yawn... Huh?!"
I nearly fainted from shock at what I saw outside the window.
Wait, why is Dale out there?
"What... what... what???"
Unable to tell if I was seeing things, I rubbed my eyes.
It definitely looked like Dale, but it was three in the morning. And the person sitting perched on the tree—was that Dale too? Wait, what?
"Is he a ghost?"
I tapped my head repeatedly.
And it really was raining. The man throwing pebbles at my window and getting drenched looked unmistakably like Dale.
Soaked to the bone like a bedraggled puppy, Dale looked utterly pitiful and forlorn.
"Surely... this is real?"
I opened the window wide first.
"Dale!"
"..."
"Is that really you, Dale?"
Dale, who had been watching me silently, wiped his face across his prominent nose with his gloved hand.
Water seeped through his clothes, his face, and even the gloves he was using to wipe himself—evidence of how long he'd been sitting there.
"Dale?"
"I told you not to open doors carelessly."
This voice is no illusion.
"You said that to me and then left. Miss Enya. You shouldn't open doors carelessly for me either."
"What are you talking about...? Dale is out there like that—how can I just pretend not to notice?"
"Fair point."
Dale's lips curved upward smoothly. But it was not a smile born of joy.
He gazed at me with bitter, weary eyes.
"That's precisely why I came looking for you."
I reached my arms out toward Dale.
"...I don't know why you're doing this, but come inside first and talk. It's too dangerous and slippery out there."
"..."
"What if you fall and get hurt sitting out there like that?"
"Would it be acceptable for me to enter your room at this hour of the night?"
"What does that matter? Stop doing dangerous things and come inside."
"Dangerous business..."
Dale's voice grew progressively quieter.
Among the months I'd known him, today he looked the most drained of color. Whatever had transpired seemed to have taken its toll—his face appeared slightly gaunt.
His jawline had become sharper and more defined.
"Come here. Quickly."
I implored him with the same care one might show a wounded bird.
"May I come in?"
"How many times must I tell you to enter?"
I glanced toward the soldiers guarding the Duke's Residence.
"We cannot be seen by them. There is someone staying at our House right now who would faint at the mere mention of a romance with a commoner. Hurry, come here. Dale."
"..."
Dale let out a soft chuckle and looked at me.
"Enya, please step back."
I nodded and moved away from the window.
Whoosh!
Dale entered my room as effortlessly as one might cross stepping stones.
Water dripped steadily from his drenched form.
A dark robe clung to him, his expression equally somber. His dark hair, soaked from the rain, fell across his eyes.
I regarded him quietly.
His presence felt distinctly different today.
Dale gazed down at me in silence, then exhaled softly before a faint smile crossed his previously expressionless face.
"Enya."
He slowly raised his hand and caressed my cheek. His firm fingers were ice-cold to the touch.
"Why do you abandon me earlier than planned?"
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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