The Time-Limited Villain Supports My Breakup

Chapter 61

｡･:*:･ﾟ★ Translated by Bree ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

In Daphne’s hand was a letter that looked like it had weathered many years.

There was no name written on the outside of the letter.

However, the Duke instinctively knew. It was a letter left by Amila.

The Duke’s eyes quivered slightly.

“How did you…?”

“I found it in Mother’s room.”

“…!”

When Daphne spoke calmly, the Duke involuntarily gripped his cane tighter.

After Amila’s death, the Duke had ordered the room to be preserved as much as possible without any damage.

It was customary to clean the room of the deceased thoroughly.

This was to prevent the spread of potential diseases and based on a superstition that clearing the room would allow the soul to depart freely.

However, the Duke did not follow this practice and even minimized cleaning.

The servants thought this was because of the Duke’s anger towards Amila Peregrine, who had abruptly become pregnant.

They believed it was to bind the spirit of his daughter so she couldn’t leave freely.

They weren’t entirely wrong.

When the Duke saw the commoner Amila introduced as her beloved, it was the first time he had been angry with his daughter.

Even marrying another noble would have been less scandalous, but a commoner? And a servant from the villa at that.

The Duke’s opposition was natural.

“Absolutely not. Do you know how many people will look up to you, yet you choose a commoner!”

“He may not be of noble birth, but no amount of gold and jewels could make me as happy as he does.”

“That’s because you haven’t experienced the world yet. There are so many people out there!”

“Others would avoid me for fear of catching my illness, but he offered me his handkerchief. When he didn’t have one, he lent me his hand. He is the only one like that.”

“So, you insist on marrying that man?”

“Father, please…!”

“Fine. If that’s your choice, I won’t see you until you change your mind.”

The Duke turned his back coldly, thinking this fleeting romance would soon end.

Stories of a frail noble lady and a kind-hearted commoner only existed in novels.

But he still couldn’t stop supporting Amila.

He believed his intelligent daughter would come to her senses and return soon.

However…

What he got instead was news of her childbirth and death.

“Your daughter’s husband went to find good herbs for her and met with an accident…”

“…”

“As a result, her health deteriorated and eventually…”

The voices he heard seemed like distant echoes.

They said that she had given birth to a healthy daughter, but he couldn’t bring himself to hold her.

Because of him, this child had lost both of her parents at once.

But Daphne, that little child, approached him undaunted.

“Gwampa.”

“Who taught you that title?”

“The maids told me. They said, ‘the person with a stern face is our Gran’pa.'”

“…”

“Aren’t you Gwampa?”

Unlike him, who avoided her, she looked at him with clear eyes.

So he thought he might be able to undo his mistakes.

But on the day they attended the temple event, he lost Daphne. He searched frantically, forgetting his dignity.

Daphne was found in the Goddess’s Fountain at the center of the temple.

Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with her physically…

But from that day on, Daphne became a completely different person.

She had to have whatever she wanted, be it people or objects.

He tried getting angry and persuading her.

But.

“Don’t pretend to be family now!”

“I hate that useless mother who died, and you people who waste your time clinging to the dead, you’re all idiots!”

“You’re not my family!”

With that one sentence, the Duke couldn’t say anything.

Others said the Princess changed after falling into the fountain, but the Duke thought differently.

Daphne had simply realized.

That the grandfather who couldn’t even hold her hand when she fell into the fountain wasn’t family.

The Duke’s health began to deteriorate around that time as well.

The doctor said it was more psychological than physical and advised him to rest as much as possible.

However, the Duke considered all this pain as the price he had to pay for his sins.

Thus, he quietly moved down to the villa where Amila had lived.

He thought that living quietly, without interacting with anyone, and then passing away alone was the punishment he deserved.

But perhaps because his heart had softened over the years, he found himself lingering in front of Amila’s firmly locked door.

He felt as though if he opened that door, his daughter would be sitting on the bed, smiling at him.

Eventually, he mustered the courage to open the door…

But in the room where everything remained unchanged, his daughter was nowhere to be found.

So the Duke locked Amila’s room again.

He imprisoned his enduring longing and regret inside it, vowing never to look inside again.

‘And yet, Daphne entered that room.’

And on top of that, she found a letter left by Amila.

The Duke’s throat bobbed with difficulty. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to ask to see the contents of the letter.

He feared it might contain deep resentment towards him. Now, cowardly, once again.

“…”

Daphne quietly watched the Duke, who couldn’t say a word.

She had ordered the servants to find Amila’s letter because of the original story.

In the original, after Daphne was imprisoned, Duke Peregrine fell into a deep malaise.

‘Then a plague spread in Regarta.’

Maria came to Regarta to treat the people and happened to meet Duke Peregrine.

The kind heart of the heroine melted the frozen heart of the Duke, allowing her to eventually set foot in the villa.

‘It’s a typical redemption story.’

During this time, Maria accidentally discovers a tightly locked door and finds the letter left by Amila there.

The sickly lady, who had tried to give birth to her daughter and ultimately died.

But the letter she left behind was full of hope, making it all the more tragic.

The daughter she had so painfully brought into the world, Daphne, ended up falling into ruin after trying to harm someone.

So Daphne had only hinted that the letter existed, without actually intending to find it.

‘Amila’s letter would only serve as a catalyst to emphasize how foolish Daphne had been all this time.’

However, seeing the deep guilt in the Duke’s eyes pricked her conscience.

Moreover, Amila’s room was so well-kept that it seemed its owner could appear at any moment.

‘It means the Duke cared that much.’

The original plan was to just get the seal and leave…

But knowing this, she couldn’t just ignore it.

Daphne spoke carefully.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to read it to you.”

“…”

The Duke only looked at her with hesitant eyes, neither refusing nor stopping her.

With that, Daphne began to read the letter slowly.

“To my dear father. I wanted to talk to you face to face, but I thought you might not like that, so I’m leaving this letter instead.”

The Duke’s eyes quivered slightly.

Daphne’s voice, reading the letter, was so much like Amila’s.

“It’s been a long time since I wrote a letter. I’m sorry for always causing you so much trouble.”

So he felt as if he were conversing with Amila.

“…But Father, I have no regrets. I don’t resent you.”

Why?

I have only ever hurt you, so how could you not resent me?

“Because that’s what family is.”

“…”

“There may be times when we resent and hate each other. But that’s something that naturally happens in a family, as you told me when I fought with Brother Lyas.”

That was a faint memory.

But my daughter remembered it, and she was comforting her foolish father.

Even now, at this very moment.

“And… when I thought about how the child in my womb might go through something similar… I understood your feelings, Father. You must have been that worried about me.”

“…”

“But don’t worry, Father. I am truly happy.”

At that moment, Amila’s smiling face seemed to appear like an illusion.

A face that looked genuinely happy.

“…I want to say more, but I’ll stop here for now. I hope that someday I can meet you with him.”

“…”

“I love you, Father.”

With those words, Daphne closed her mouth.

An awkward silence hung in the air.

The Duke stared ahead, feeling as if he had awoken from a dream.

Daphne seemed unsure of what to do.

The Duke then regained his senses.

For Daphne, it must have been uncomfortable to read such sentimental words to someone she didn’t even like.

So, now was not the time to get lost in memories. The Duke slowly spoke.

“…What is it that you want?”

His low voice settled around them.

Even after reading his daughter’s letter, his habit of coldness was not easily discarded.

If she wanted him to sign the annulment in exchange for reading the letter, he would do so.

If she demanded money, he was prepared to give her whatever she wanted.

‘No, since she aimed for the position of the saintess, she might ask for the herbs that Count Drave was distributing.’

Yes, given that she had uncovered Count Drave’s scheme, this seemed more plausible.

“In that case…”

At that moment, Daphne slowly spoke.

So, she did want something.

The Duke’s eyes deepened with anticipation.

“Please let me hold your hand, Grandfather.”

“Yes, your hand… What?”

For the first time in a long while, the Duke’s face, which always maintained a facade of coldness, showed genuine surprise.