Fernan looked at Julia with an expressionless face, then turned his gaze to Mateus.
Mateus stood up and said hello.
“I meet the Lord of Seong. “I am Mateus, priest of the Temple of Ilion.”
“I heard the Crown Princess sent you. What is it for?”
Fernan, who approached them without hesitation, sat down and tilted his head. Mateus answered with a light smile.
“The Crown Princess, who was concerned about Julia’s safety, asked me to visit the Grand Duke’s castle.”
Fernan’s gaze turned to Julia. She was staring into space like a person lost in her thoughts.
“And if you allow it, I would like to bless the Great Siege.”
Fernan, who continued to look only at Julia, obediently opened his mouth.
“Do it that way.”
As Fernan responded, Julia suddenly lifted her gaze and looked at him.
Their eyes met, but she looked away without much reaction and then spoke to Mateus.
“After dinner, I will show you the room you will stay in.”
“thank you.”
Mateus smiled brightly. Julia also faced him and faintly lifted the corner of her mouth.
A faint tremor arose deep within Fernan’s eyes as he looked at the scene.
* * *
After Mateus left the castle, Julia became more and more absent-minded.
Sitting in front of her table, she quietly looked at the pendant in her hand.
This pendant, encrusted with blue gem, was given to her by Mateus before he left.
He said the jewels contained some of his sacred power. Julia put the pendant in her dresser.
After checking her pocket watch, she quickly left the bedroom. She then stood in front of the railing and looked down into the main hall on the first floor.
It was always the same around dawn, and Fernan was passing the workers and exiting the doorway.
Julia, too, would open her eyes at the hour when Fernan left.
Because other than this time, she didn’t have time to see him to her heart’s content.
She stopped standing next to the employees and seeing him off in person a long time ago. Because She didn’t want to get that contemptuous look from him again.
So she was content to see him like this.
‘I feel like a fool too.’
The end between them was already decided.
At one time, She tried to change her mind because she thought they would have more days together, but now it was all in vain.
She loves him, but she knows she shouldn’t hold onto these feelings for long.
But she still couldn’t give up on seeing him even from afar.
“Ah, Your Highness Julia.”
Julia, who was walking down the hallway with her weak gait, turned around when she heard a voice calling her.
Melissa, who was carrying a letter of her own, stopped in front of her.
“A letter has been sent which is addressed to Her Highness from Marquis Elodie’s mansion.”
Julia, who was quietly looking at the letter that Melissa held out to her, quickly accepted it.
She returned to her bedroom and sat down at the table, putting her letter down without opening it.
She could understand the content without having to open it and read it. The Marquis sent letters with the same content every day.
‘… ‘What on earth should I do?’
Julia sighed deeply, holding her eyes with her slender hands.
Fernan said there was no need of her in his life. he said he never wanted Julia as her wife. He keeps pushing her away, saying he is thinking about ending this marriage.
But her father tells her to catch him somehow. She must carry his child, he forces him to make this marriage stronger… .
Julia lowered her head, biting the inside of her delicate mouth. Her head felt like it was going to explode.
* * *
In the end, Julia, as always, did not reply to her marquis’s letters.
After that, she pretended not to see the letters that arrived every day and piled them all aside.
If he didn’t hear back, the Marquis might come to her castle and get angry at her.
But Julia didn’t want to devote any more attention to these letters.
While reading her book with her thoughts gone, she suddenly looked at the window. Autumn was now almost over.
As time passed, she became less able to guess when she would be kicked out of this castle.
Fernan said nothing. he was just as busy as always, and it was hard to even see his face.
So Julia decided to make this situation as comfortable as possible.
Around noon, she spent some time walking around the castle.
As she looked up at the sky for a moment under the softly shining sunlight, she suddenly heard a commotion.
“We must leave now. “Hurry up.”
Turning her head, she saw Bennett standing near her stall, struggling.
Since she happened to be passing by on that street, Julia spoke to Bennett without much thought.
“What’s going on?”
“Ah, Your Highness .”
Bennet suddenly bowed her waist and answered hesitantly.
“Well, a letter has arrived addressed to His Highness the Archduke, and it seems to be an urgent matter.”
Julia’s eyes widened as she stared at the letter in her Benet’s hand.
This is because the Marquis Elodie’s emblem was stamped on the outside of the envelope.
“Do you know what’s going on?”
“I don’t know that much, but the servant who brought the letter told me that it was urgent. “He asked me to convey this to His Majesty right away.”
She had a bad feeling. Julia lowered her gaze with a serious face, then suddenly held out her hand.
“I will tell you.”
“Are you speaking directly from His Majesty ?”
Bennett seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he obediently handed over the letter.
Soon, Bennett’s well-mannered coachman came pulling his carriage.
Since she was already dressed in her street clothes, Julia got into her carriage without much preparation.
“Then, please return safely, Your Highness.”
She was seen off by Bennett, and her carriage began to speed by.
Julia stared at her window with anxious eyes. She couldn’t stay still because it was a letter from her father.
‘I haven’t responded to your letters in a while, so my father is trying to harm me personally… .’
Julia clasped her hands together. She may not know it, but she had a feeling that it definitely wouldn’t be a good thing.
She may have been unreasonable, but Julia couldn’t possibly trust her father.
Just like the last time he handed her the elixir, she was worried that her father was going to do something to Fernan again.
She felt that it would put her mind at ease if she went directly to Fernan and asked him about the contents of letter. Because she didn’t want to create any more misunderstandings with him.
“Your Highness , we have arrived at the mansion.”
When she arrived at the destination, the coachman opened the door.
Julia got down from the carriage and briefly glanced at the exterior of the large mansion.
It was only today that she learned for the first time that Fernan had a separate mansion. She felt puzzled, but she walked quickly first.
The moment she arrived at the door, Julia was just leaving the mansion when her body collided with her teeth.
“ah!”
“Oh, sorry… .”
Julia, who was about to hand over her apple, stopped. The person who came out of the mansion was someone she knew.
A woman with her red hair elegantly tied down. She was obviously Cornelia, the Duke of Blair’s daughter.
She remembered that on the day of the banquet, she had briefly exchanged greetings with the introduction of the noble ladies.
“uh… , Your Highness?”
Cornelia looked at Julia with her eyes wide open.
Julia froze in place and stared at the door of mansion through which Cornelia had come out.
Why is Princess Blair leaving Fernan’s mansion? She only found out today that he has a separate mansion… .
For a moment, Julia’s mind froze to white.
“Uh, Your Highness . “It would be difficult to go in now.”
Cornelia smiled her beautiful smile as she looked at frozen Julia.
“You’d better not go in.”
“… What does it mean?”
When Julia asked again in an uncharacteristically firm tone, Cornelia leaned her back against the large door.
There was interest and ridicule in her gaze as she stared at Julia.
“Actually. On the day of the Gun International Banquet, I overheard a conversation between His Majesty and Her Majesty .”
At her languid answer, Julia’s face suddenly darkened as she remembered that day.
Cornelia, who was looking at her attentively, continued her words cheerfully.
“It seems that Your Majesty is considering divorce from Her Majesty … .”
Cornelia lowered her eyebrows, feeling sorry.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think you are a visionary.”
Watching Julia’s expression change every moment, Cornelia smiled with a satisfied expression on her face.
“Her Majesty, why don’t you make one in advance, someone to ease your loneliness?”
“… … .”
“After divorce, someone to remarry with.”
Was this the ominous premonition Julia suddenly had? Although Cornelia did not say anything directly, Julia was able to immediately understand what she meant.
And at the same time, the words she had heard from those around her all of a sudden landed in her head.
They say that Fernan may have another woman.
Julia stared with shaking eyes at his mansion, which Cornelia had blocked.
She wanted to go in there right away and ask Fernan the truth, but she was scared.
Because he’s already talked about ending this marriage, and more than anything, he hates me.
He is a man who does not even consider me his wife, so what difference will it make if I pursues him and asks for the truth?
As always, Julia pictured him looking down at her with cold eyes and hurting her with even colder words.
