“Episode 11”
After Lexio left, Diana could finally see it.
A flower drooping as weakly as Lexio had left.
The door closed, and Diana got up from her seat to pick it up. The exceptionally fresh lily shook her heart even more.
“Unchanging love….”
Because that was the meaning of the lily.
“Is this what you want to tell me?”
That couldn’t be. Not tender love, not youthful infatuation. It wasn’t even close to the intensity of their old feelings. Their love was simply fake from beginning to end.
Diana emotionlessly placed it on the windowsill.
***
At that moment.
The face of Lexio coming out of Diana’s room was hardened. It was him who had entered the room with a slight smile, like an excited child. On his way home, he had bought a lily resembling her from a flower shop.
Just one flower, fearing it might be too much. He planned to give it to her and then chat about this and that, just like before. He planned to tell Diana that he felt he had changed.
Then, perhaps she would smile at him a little.
His eyes, which had thought that way, were truly saddened.
“Was I too naive?”
He had thought her tantrum was the reason for the divorce. He had allowed a year because he had confidence he could bring her back to her senses during that time.
But now, he had no confidence at all.
Meanwhile, Lexio returned to his room, not far from hers. The butler followed him in, but he stood there without saying a word for a long time.
“Is speaking the right thing to do?”
“Is that what you want to tell me, sir?”
“Oh. No. Werner.”
Werner, with his slightly curly red hair, took a step back at his master’s words. Lexio fell into thought again.
“That’s probably it. But isn’t that just me trying to comfort myself? Because of Hadeia… because of what happened to the child because of Hadeia… How can I bring it up again?”
“That is… ultimately what is convenient for me.”
He sadly smiled and rummaged through the documents on his desk. Among them was a report on the progress of the construction of the summer villa, which he had planned to use when the child was born and when they went on vacation.
He looked at it with disappointment.
What he had given her was not the child he had given her. It was things he wanted to give her anything she wanted. Yet she refused them all. Lexio, who had been looking at it for a long time, took a deep breath.
“Werner.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Please watch over the villa for a while.”
“Are you speaking to me, sir?”
To look at, Lexio seemed strong, but he was not as strong as he appeared. He slowly lifted his head to meet Werner’s eyes.
“Your Highness. What if you just lay it all out?”
When Lexio was about ten years old, Werner was a young knight who had just entered the ducal palace. He was exceptionally skilled in swordsmanship even at the age of fifteen, but he couldn’t enter any noble family because of his status. Even at the ducal palace, they didn’t want him.
As a commoner knight, and being the youngest knight, jealousy and envy were strong. So, with nowhere to go, he applied for every mercenary recruitment posted by noble families. After a series of disappointments, he ended up at the ducal palace of Bevitr.
He was still treated with disdain here, but the young duke of the ducal palace recognized Werner’s worth. Since then, Lexio had been learning swordsmanship from him.
“Lay it all out….”
So, Werner was not only a mentor and a friend to Lexio, but also a loyal subject. Therefore, he didn’t hesitate to give advice to Lexio.
Though he held a position similar to Ellen, who courted Diana, their advice differed. Unlike Ellen, who disregarded Diana and tried to make her move however she wanted, Werner genuinely worried about Lexio.
“…Sometimes it’s better not to speak. Especially about Hadeia.”
“If that’s what you’ve decided, there’s no other way. But if you don’t approach her, nothing will change.”
“Werner.”
“Your Highness, who once reached out to a commoner knight like me who nobody cared about.”
“I was young back then, and I wasn’t afraid. I had nothing to lose.”
As they talked, a little bit of ease crept into Lexio’s heart.
“Werner. If you’re worried, it must be right… In that case, will you watch over her from a distance and conduct an investigation for a while?”
“What kind of investigation?”
“…Look into the vast lands where few people go. Look for a plot of land to build an orphanage.”
When he mentioned the orphanage, he remembered the image of her, who had a spark in her eyes. It made Lexio even more heartbroken.
“She used to be like that. She would talk to me all day about what she did, like a child. I wonder if I’ll ever see her like that again.”
As if longing for that time, Lexio’s eyes became slightly misty. He didn’t realize it was precious then, but looking back, it was precious time. He had thought it was a bit of a nuisance. But now, he wanted to go back to that time. He missed the sight of her smiling like a child while looking at him.
“I’m a sinner… I can’t wish for that.”
Feeling that Lexio was not in a better mood than usual, Werner quickly spoke up.
“Are you planning to build the orphanage yourself?”
“Yes. But I don’t know much about such things, so could you look into it for me?”
“Yes. Understood.”
“I’ll accompany her… and see what she does when she goes to the orphanage.”
“I’ll report back faithfully.”
Finally, Werner nodded. Normally, Werner would have left after receiving an order, but this time, Lexio looked at him for a moment when he didn’t leave.
“Why is that?”
“…It’s nothing. If you have nothing else to ask of me, I’ll go.”
“Go ahead.”
Only then did Werner step outside. With no one else in the room, Lexio went to the window and sat on the windowsill.
For a long time, he just sat there, until the cold night wind froze his whole body. As if the coldness suited him.
There were things to prepare as gifts to take to the orphanage, but the orphanage also needed to make arrangements to accommodate guests. Therefore, Diana scheduled the appointment for a week later.
Since there was nothing she could do immediately, Diana simply went about her usual daily routine. She occasionally paid attention, wondering if she would meet someone new as God had said, whom she had never met before. However, everyone in the ducal palace was someone she had encountered at least once.
For this reason, until the day she went to the orphanage, she had to give up on any more speculation. Therefore, Diana spent her time idly sitting in her room or strolling in the garden.
Unlike before, she had given up on everything about the ducal palace. In the past, if Lexio had brought Hadeia back, she would have rushed to her and blamed her for everything, including losing the child.
But this time, she didn’t.
“Anyway, no matter what I say, she won’t listen.”
If she had rushed to Hadeia and asked why she had come back, or if she had to come back, she would have received miserable treatment. In the end, all she got back was the stigma of being a spiteful duchess.
So today, too, she spent such free time. But suddenly, Ellen, who entered the room, spoke up. She hadn’t spoken for a few days since the last time she received a massage, just because she said something.
“Are you not going out today, Your Grace?”
It was a question that a maid-in-waiting could ask. But to ask as a maid-in-waiting, her expression, with her hair neatly tied up without a single strand out of place, showed an uncomfortable color that should not have been fabricated.
“I’m not feeling well, so I’ll rest more. A few days ago, you lightly teased me about going out.”
“But that doesn’t mean you should just lie down like this. It’s not good to just stay in your room.”
At Ellen’s nagging, Diana slowly shifted her gaze.
“I don’t know who the duchess of this house is anymore.”
“Pardon?”
“Since when did you start poking your nose into everything I do? Are you the duchess?”
Only then did Ellen’s complexion stiffen as if she understood what she was talking about.
“I didn’t mean that. I was just worried about Your Grace….”
“I must have said that first. And if you’re worried, wouldn’t you ask if I’m not feeling well and suggest seeing a physician?”
It was also when Ellen’s face wrinkled.
“I seem to have made a mistake.”
“An apology should come first.”
“….”
‘I thought there would be a change after that incident last time, but there’s been no change at all.’
While she had changed, Ellen remained the same.
“By the way, Ellen. I’m curious. Who recommended you to be here?”
The slight spark in Diana’s eyes was the reason for that. She didn’t want to be ignored anymore.
