“Thank you for joining me for the boat ride today, Duchess.”
“Well, it was a good deal.”
“I will never forget it for the rest of my life.”
“Is that so?”
Thinking it was a joke, she laughed, but Emmerich’s face had not a trace of a smile.
In the meantime, the boat had completely arrived at the port.
Emmerich held Agnes’s hand and escorted her just as he had when they arrived.
She was just about to disembark.
Agnes’s eyes widened like light orbs.
She shook off Emmerich’s hand and ran forward.
“Laslo!”
An unexpected figure was waiting for her on horseback.
Laslo immediately dismounted and opened his arms wide as she ran toward him.
Agnes ran breathlessly and hugged him tightly.
“How did you get here?”
“I hadn’t heard from you.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot to send a letter.”
“Really?”
Laslo wore an inscrutable smile and hugged Agnes even tighter.
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
“I came for the festival; why would anything happen?”
“Next time, let’s definitely go together. I couldn’t stand the loneliness without you by my side.”
She heard Laslo sigh above her. It felt like her body was melting into warmth after such a long time.
“By the way, you look truly beautiful today, Agnes. Blindingly so.”
“Oh, really? Thank you.”
Agnes smiled brightly at Laslo. Emmerich disembarked and slowly walked toward them.
“If you had given me a heads-up that you were coming, I would have prepared to welcome you, Your Grace.”
“No need for that. I’ll be leaving right away tomorrow.”
Laslo replied with an unprecedented firmness.
“In such a hurry? Stay a bit longer. I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of.”
“No. I have some business in the territory.”
His tone was excessively stiff and curt.
Noticing the subtle hostility, Agnes deliberately pulled on Laslo’s arm.
“You just arrived, right? You must have had a tough journey. Have you eaten dinner?”
“I had a light meal. What about you?”
“Me too. Ah, I’ll go in first, Count.”
“Yes. Please rest.”
Emmerich bowed his head. Agnes turned and went back to the castle with Laslo.
“Count.”
A young page approached hesitantly, holding a beautiful bouquet.
It was fresh and lovely.
“What should we do with this?”
The scent of the flowers was almost overwhelming.
A flood of indescribable emotions rushed through him.
Emmerich briefly closed his eyes before opening them again.
“Throw it away.”
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
“How was the Night of Roses?”
“Hmm. It wasn’t bad.”
Despite various ups and downs, in the end, there were unexpected gains.
“Really? Did you enjoy the boat ride with the Count?”
“Oh, of course….”
Agnes almost answered thoughtlessly but quickly covered her mouth.
Then she glanced up at him.
Laslo’s face was as usual, but for some reason, his eyes were calm and settled.
“It was a very, very difficult and exhausting day.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. I felt nauseous, maybe from seasickness. It was quite a struggle. I couldn’t see anything around me.”
Agnes exaggerated her discomfort, deliberately frowning.
“Then rest well today. We’ll leave at dawn tomorrow.”
His voice was still low, but his expression had softened compared to earlier.
Laslo escorted her to the bedroom.
“Thank you for coming this far for me, Laslo.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
He smiled gently and left a light kiss on Agnes’s forehead.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The bedroom door closed.
Laslo turned to the knight behind him with a stern expression.
“Bring me my sword.”
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
“His Grace the Duke has arrived.”
The attendant announced Laslo’s arrival in a quiet voice.
“Please show him in.”
“Yes.”
The door opened. Laslo strode in confidently.
Emmerich stood up to greet him.
“Please have a seat here.”
The Count couldn’t finish his sentence.
As soon as Laslo entered the office, he drew his sword and pointed it at Emmerich.
“The greetings from the West are quite aggressive.”
“How dare you threaten and detain my wife and still speak so casually.”
“Threaten? How could I dare?”
Emmerich maintained a smiling face. Laslo pressed the sword against his chin.
“You’re prepared to pay the price, I hope?”
“Calm yourself, Your Grace.”
“Ha. Calm down? Would you be able to calm down in this situation?”
“I don’t know why you think that, but I was not the one detaining the Duchess.”
“Then why did you move her room, cut off all communication, and separate her from her personal maid?”
“It was because she was feeling too hot, so we moved her to the coolest room in the castle. As for the communication, there was a mistake on our end in sorting the letters, which is why I couldn’t deliver Your Grace’s letter.”
“And the personal maid?”
“She said she wasn’t feeling well, so I left her to rest, and the Count’s maids are attending to the Duchess without any lack.”
Emmerich answered each question smoothly, as if he had prepared for this.
Laslo smiled for the first time since entering the room.
“Count. You’re spitting lies without even wetting your lips.”
“If you already believe it’s a lie, then anything I say will be of no use.”
A long and complicated silence passed between the two men.
Laslo stared intently into Emmerich’s eyes for a long time.
“If Agnes were to be harmed in the slightest, I would not hesitate to cut off the Count’s head.”
“Do you think I would harm the Duchess?”
“But looking at you now, I should have been worried about something else.”
When he saw Agnes disembarking from the ship with Count Cellon, a fire burned within him.
It wasn’t because she was beautifully dressed and with another man.
It was because he could see the undeniable affection in Emmerich’s eyes for her.
It couldn’t be a misunderstanding.
He felt the same way when he looked in the mirror while with her.
“I thought the Count was not the kind of shameless man to covet another’s wife. Was I mistaken?”
“Surely not.”
“Whatever was said between you and Agnes in the past, she is my wife now.”
The smile that had been on Emmerich’s face cracked.
“I know well, Your Grace. You needn’t remind me.”
“No.”
“……”
“Looking into your eyes, it seems I must remind you.”
At some point, the corners of Emmerich’s mouth completely fell.
“I warn you, Count.”
“……”
“Do not make me challenge you to a duel.”
Only then did Laslo sheathe his sword again.
“We will leave at dawn tomorrow, so there’s no need to come out to greet us.”
He left the room after saying only that.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
As soon as she entered the room, Ney poured out a mix of nagging and worry.
“Milady! Do you know how worried I was? Suddenly you disappeared, and when I asked, they said you had moved rooms. When I asked them to bring me to you, they said I seemed ill and had locked me up in some strange place.”
“Were you hurt?”
“No. I was treated like a patient and finally managed to contact the master.”
“Hm? Ney, you contacted the Duke?”
Somehow, she thought Laslo had come back too quickly.
“How did you manage that?”
“Well, the thing is…”
Ney’s face flushed slightly. She avoided Agnes’s gaze and stared into the air.
“……We’ve been exchanging messages via carrier pigeons.”
“Who?”
“…Sir Zoltan.”
“What? Didn’t you sort everything out before?”
“Can a person’s feelings be sorted out that easily?”
“Isn’t it? Didn’t you say it could be cut off like a knife?”
“Oh my. Did I say something so harsh?”
Ney widened her eyes and feigned innocence.
“Oh, come on. You said you’d never marry a man who drinks during the day.”
“He said he’d stop drinking.”
Agnes let out a hollow laugh, finding it absurd.
Shee’d acted like she’d never see him again when she was giving him the cold shoulder.
“Wait, does that mean Laslo knows about this situation?”
“Yes. I wrote down everything I know and sent it.”
“Oh dear.”
Agnes let out a short sigh, falling into deep thought about what excuses she would have to make to Laslo tomorrow.
“Milady, it’s late, so you should get some rest. You’re leaving early in the morning, right?”
“Yes.”
With Ney’s help, Agnes washed up and changed her clothes.
‘What should I say to Laslo?’
She pondered over this until she dozed off.
However, despite her worries, Laslo did not ask Agnes anything.
“Why are you looking like that?”
“Uh, no. It’s nothing.”
Feeling awkward about bringing it up first, Agnes decided to keep silent.
They arrived at the estate much faster than when they had headed south.
Unlike usual, Zoltan was there to greet them.
Or rather, he was there to greet Ney.
He quickly approached when he saw the lord and lady disembarking from the carriage.
“Where’s Ney?”
“Sir Zoltan, don’t you see me or your brother?”
“I didn’t ask because I can see you.”
Agnes let out a short sigh.
Having no more words to respond, she pointed to the inside of the carriage. Zoltan dashed over.
Soon after, Niall approached to welcome them.
“Welcome back, master, madam. Did you enjoy the festival?”
“Hmm. It was nice, but it was hot and exhausting. The weather in the west is definitely less humid. I think I could live with just that.”
“The south is quite humid, isn’t it?”
Niall walked alongside her. Agnes glanced around.
The moment they arrived in front of the castle, she thought, finally, I can rest comfortably.
Thinking back, she realized that in the past, Estar Castle had never felt like a place to relax, and she felt that so much had changed.
“Oh, madam. A guest has arrived. Since both of you were away, I took the liberty of bringing them to the guest room in the main building.”
“A guest? Who?”
But I don’t have any expected guests?
Agnes took off her hat and handed it to a maid as she asked.
Niall smiled awkwardly.
