Chapter 53
When I arrived at the hotel, Richard was already there waiting for me.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Have you been here long?”
It wasn’t yet too late to leave, but I still felt apologetic seeing him waiting.
He shrugged his shoulders lightly and shook his head.
“Not really. There’s still plenty of time.”
Richard pulled out a pocket watch from his coat and checked the time. It was a little past 10:10.
His words reassured me that we still had enough time, and I sighed in relief, smiling softly.
“Let’s head out now. It’s better to arrive early than to be late.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
With those words, Richard extended his hand toward me. Without hesitation, I placed my hand on his, and he began escorting me.
It didn’t take long to reach the court by carriage.
Having been there twice before, I was familiar with the hallways and quickly found my way to the courtroom where the final trial would take place.
Since we had arrived early, the courtroom was nearly empty, save for a couple of staff members.
We took our seats on the plaintiff’s side and waited for others to arrive.
“This should all come to a conclusion today,” I said, breaking the silence, as sitting idly felt tedious.
“We’ll win, right?”
Richard nodded confidently at my question.
“We will.”
“Do you think we’ll get back most of the assets we requested?”
“Most likely. If not everything, at least 90%.”
“Ninety percent…”
That meant we’d recover almost all of the assets. Considering how the trial had been progressing in our favor and against Duke Tristan, it was a natural outcome.
Moreover, we had prepared a substantial amount of documentation, including evidence proving I was Duke Tristan’s rightful heir and even the will my mother had left behind.
With all the prepared materials, coupled with the lies and misdeeds of Duke Tristan being exposed during the trial, there was no way we could lose.
So, today would truly mark the end of everything.
If we won today’s trial, the title of Duke Tristan and the associated wealth would all become mine.
The title, for the time being, would be inherited by me and then eventually passed on to my husband, Richard. The remaining wealth would, as promised, be transferred to Count Theodore’s family.
This was the arrangement I had proposed to Richard, and he had accepted.
Though I had been going over it in my mind every day, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. It wasn’t the title or the wealth that made me anxious—it was the thought of what would happen to me once everything was settled.
The reason I could propose such an arrangement was because of my illness.
Even if I recovered everything, I had come to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t live beyond another year. There was no point in clinging to something I couldn’t take with me when I died.
That’s why I offered Richard everything that Duke Tristan had taken from me as a way to repay him for his help.
Richard had accepted, and now the trial was nearing its conclusion.
Even now, my feelings hadn’t changed. I didn’t feel regret about him taking everything because I knew, more than anyone, how much effort he had put in for me.
I had never been greedy for titles or wealth to begin with. What unsettled me was the fear that Richard might leave me once he had everything.
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. Even with victory close at hand, he remained as composed as ever.
“Is there something you want to say?”
Noticing my gaze, Richard turned to me and asked. Embarrassed, I quickly averted my eyes and hesitated before speaking.
“Once all this is over, I’ll rely on Count Theodore’s family for a while.”
If Darnnella’s disease wasn’t cured, I had about a year left to live. If I did recover, I would stay until I was ready to leave.
Though it was a statement I made with great difficulty, Richard looked at me as if I were saying something strange.
“That’s an odd thing to say. Were you planning to divorce me and leave?”
It seemed Richard had already considered the possibility. His matter-of-fact response made me feel almost silly for worrying, and I let out a sigh of relief, smiling faintly.
“I just wanted to be sure.”
“When the title and estate of Duke Tristan are transferred, I’ll manage them temporarily. But once your health improves, you’ll need to take charge.”
“What?”
Startled by his unexpected words, I widened my eyes in surprise. Richard looked at me as if wondering why I was so shocked.
“It’s your estate, your inheritance. It only makes sense for you to manage it.”
“But… I told you I would give it all to you. Isn’t that what you were counting on when we went through all of this?”
I had naturally assumed that Richard would take everything. But it seemed that wasn’t the case.
“It’s true that I wanted to take everything from Duke Tristan through you. But it was always ‘through you’. And as long as you’re my wife, what’s yours is also mine,” Richard said.
There wasn’t the slightest tremor in his voice. It was as if he had never even considered any other possibility.
Caught off guard by his words, I fell silent for a moment, staring at him.
Sometimes, Richard said things so casually that they created ripples in my heart.
He was the only one who had ever wanted me to survive. And he was also the only one who, even with such a tempting fortune within reach, declared it was mine.
It was almost enough to make me doubt whether Richard was intentionally saying such sweet and comforting things.
But even after speaking, his expression and tone remained unwavering. That could only mean his words weren’t lies.
Feeling a bit dazed, I averted my gaze.
From the start, I had resigned myself to giving up everything.
Even if I reclaimed what was taken, I never thought of it as mine; I always believed it would belong to Richard. That was my intention from the beginning.
But even if Richard reclaimed all that Duke Tristan had taken, he was making it clear that it was mine—and that as my husband, he also had a right to it.
It was a perfectly reasonable statement, but the whole situation felt strange and unfamiliar to me.
My life up to now had been one where everything was taken from me.
That was why I couldn’t easily accept as “natural” the things Richard said were obvious.
“When we win the trial, think about what you want to do,” he said.
“…Alright.”
It felt like receiving an unexpected gift.
Even though I knew it was originally mine, it felt as if I were being handed something that wasn’t.
To be honest, it wasn’t entirely wrong to think of it that way. If it weren’t for Richard, I wouldn’t have been able to pursue this trial. I never would have reclaimed the duchy or my mother’s inheritance, and I would have died with empty hands.
But now, the situation was different.
When this trial concluded, so much in my life was going to change.
That future was different from the one I had always envisioned, leaving me feeling a bit bewildered. It felt almost unreal.
Until now, I had always imagined a future where I died from Darnnella’s disease. After learning there was a slim chance of obtaining the Rosier flower, I pictured quietly leaving Richard’s side to live unnoticed and out of sight.
Anything beyond that was unimaginable.
But now, I had to envision a different future.
I stole a glance at him.
He was waiting for the trial to start, showing no change in his expression as usual.
Looking at him, I felt both gratitude and guilt.
Although everything was ultimately to his benefit, we wouldn’t have come this far if he hadn’t taken action.
But was that all?
He was also trying to find the Rosier flower to save me, to cure my illness and save me from death.
It was a kindness no one else had ever extended to me.
Would there ever come a day when I could repay Richard for all that he had done for me?
…No, no matter how I thought about it, I didn’t think I could ever return what he had given me. He had done so much for me that I doubted I could ever match it, even with everything I had to offer.
But even so, I resolved to do my best, to help him however I could.
Just as I reached that conclusion, the courtroom doors opened, and familiar figures began to enter.
I smiled calmly as I watched Duke Tristan walk into the courtroom.
When his eyes met my smiling face, they flared with a fiery intensity, as though flames were about to shoot out.
His dark, sunken eye bags and hollow expression revealed his exhaustion.
Seeing his condition, I inhaled sharply.
It seemed he hadn’t been able to sleep at all in preparation for today’s trial.
Well, considering that today’s trial would change everything, it wasn’t surprising that sleep eluded him.
And with the trials so far all ending poorly for him, it must have been infuriating.
Not that I felt any sympathy.
This was all his own doing.
If he hadn’t abused me, if he had treated me as a daughter like Cecilia, none of this would have happened.
If he had treated me with more humanity—or hadn’t sold me to Richard as payment for his debts—none of this would have occurred.
Soon, Duke Tristan made his way to the defendant’s bench across from us and took his seat.
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