Elaine asked, her voice trembling with anger.
“Are you serious? You really want to make things right?”
“Of course.”
“If that’s the case, remove me from the Newt family register. If you’re truly sorry for the way you mistreated me, let me live freely.”
“Elaine. How can you live alone outside of your family, without parents or siblings? Do you think the world is that easy? Instead of the cold streets, why not stay in a warm house and live freely there? Isn’t that enough?”
Elaine laughed.
‘I knew all too well that the world is cruel to those without money or support.’
It was ridiculous and disgusting that the fact came out of the mouth of the person who caused it, and that he dared to describe a life he controlled as ‘freedom’.
“What you’re saying is that you want to take me with you to use me as a tool for yourself, isn’t it? Don’t you realize that’s just another form of abuse?”
“A tool… Do you think of me as some back-alley thug? As the head of the family, I will restore your honor and rights. I will give you the same level of benefits as Ellie.”
“Who said I want to be like Ellie? Isn’t Ellie just another pawn for the Newt family’s marriage deals?”
“It’s a woman’s happiness to marry into a good family, support her husband, and raise her children well.”
“Who said that? Certainly not me.”
Elaine chuckled in disbelief at Lark’s outdated beliefs.
‘Wasn’t the “woman’s happiness” he described just a life of constant sacrifice to others? Of course, there was one condition under which such a life might bring joy.’
“If you don’t marry someone you love, there’s no joy in supporting a husband or raising children. Oh! Or are you perhaps saying you’ll help me marry the one I love?”
At the mention of ‘the one I love,’ Lark’s eyes momentarily darted toward Sergey before returning.
The two hands that had been lightly clasped together to act politely until now were now clenched into fists.
Elaine looked at Lark, who couldn’t answer, with contempt.
“That can’t be true. To you, I’m just a chess piece that must move according to your plan. My happiness is also something you decide.”
Elaine recalled the last time she saw Lark in her previous life.
Even as he sent her as a sacrifice to the dragon, he said something sophistry like, ‘This is your greatest happiness as a saint.’
“Lark. I am not yours. I will decide my own happiness and how I will live. So, stop creating pointless arguments and leave”
“Elaine, you really…!”
Then Sergey stepped forward.
“Even listening to it from the side, every word Elaine said seems to be correct…”
“How many times do I have to tell you that it’s none of your business?”
“I think Count Newt is seriously mistaken. Why should I listen to you? I am Sergey ‘Lindell’ and I am here to help my friend!”
It sounded like Lark was grinding his teeth. Sergey, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying that as he added,
“So you didn’t do well when you had the chance, right? Seeing the generous Elaine refuse so firmly, it’s scary to imagine what kind of treatment she received at Newt’s.”
As expected, Lark couldn’t answer.
It was an undeniable fact that Elaine had not been able to eat properly, was bullied by his siblings, was verbally abused by his father and mother, and was ignored by the servants in the house.
In the end, Lark had to leave Count Lindell again today without gaining anything.
But he didn’t give up.
Elaine was the first person he had ever consciously desired. She was the reason he had even pushed his father off the railing, so Lark had no intention of backing down to just that extent.
‘It wouldn’t be easy with Sergey Lindell standing behind Elaine, but it wasn’t like there was no way out.’
‘Times like this are exactly why you cultivate connections with the powerful.’
With that thought, Lark directed his carriage toward the Imperial Palace.
* * *
“Oh my God! Miss Elaine is reckless, but Count Lindell’s son is also ridiculous.”
Sasha, who was with Abel in the palace, sympathized with Lark’s situation.
Now that it was clear that Sergey was holding Anais’s hand, there was no reason to take his side.
“But he seems to think having the Crown Princess behind him allows him to ignore my request to send my cousin back home. It was no different from seducing and kidnapping a child who didn’t know anything about the world!”
Lark clenched his fists again, feeling as if he was angry even after thinking about it again.
“It hasn’t been long since my father passed away, so I didn’t want to make a fuss about this, so I just left. Please help me fulfill my responsibilities as the head of the family.”
He said he thought Sasha would help, but it was Abel, no, Malek, who answered his request.
“Of course, I should help. If noble registers are allowed to be disrupted like this, the very foundation of the kingdom would be shaken.”
“Is there a way?”
“It won’t be difficult. Sergey Lindell will be leaving his mansion soon. When that happens, write a letter to Miss Elaine saying this.”
Abel revealed his plan with a triumphant smile. It was something that made Lark’s eyes light up.
“In that case, you can just take Miss Elaine back right there. After all, you’re giving her the opportunity—it’s her fault if she doesn’t take it.”
“It’s a really good plan, but I wonder if Elaine will follow along….”
“Don’t worry. I’ll put my people around her.”
Only then did Lark feel reassured and nod.
“Understood. Thank you for your help, Your Highness.”
“Not at all. You are Count Newt’s son, a good friend of mine and my mother, so of course I should help you.”
Malek saw Lark off, trying not to smile too brightly.
And when Lark went out, he smiled at Sasha who was next to him, and said.
“Thanks to that guy, the Dragon Stone will walk in on its own two feet.”
‘I thought the day was coming when I would swallow Rabes’ magic core. The three-thousand-year-old dragon’s heart began to beat for the first time in a long time.’
* * *
Lorina heard some shocking news yesterday.
As soon as the funeral and succession of the title for the suddenly deceased Count Newt was over, Lark headed to Count Lindell’s house.
Since Count Lindell was already on the side of the Crown Princess, there was only one reason for Lark, who was on the Prince’s side, to go there.
‘Elaine!’
Lorina crumpled the white lace handkerchief in her hand mercilessly.
Lorina didn’t like the fact that Elaine had become the chaplain of the Count Lindell family, nor that ‘that’ Sergey Lindell was giving Elaine special treatment, But nothing infuriated Lorina more than seeing Lark desperately try to bring back Elaine, who had willingly left the house.
“Lorina. Do you know why my brother acts like that? You’re his fiance after all. Did he tell you anything?”
Damon, who had brought the news to Lorina at the temple, asked with a pitiful face.
Damon will never know how miserable that question itself made Lorina.
As everyone knows, Lark’s fiance was Lorina, but Lorina had never been treated as Lark’s fiance.
It was just a dry relationship, nothing more, nothing less, just a relationship on paper, so there’s no way Lark would have told her something that his siblings didn’t know.
But Lorina’s pride wouldn’t allow her to say that.
“There’s a reason for everything. Is he the kind of person who moves without thinking?”
“Who wouldn’t know that? What I’m afraid of is my brother’s ‘thoughts’.”
“Oh, Damon! Can’t you see? Elaine happens to be staying in the noble house of the Crown Princess’s faction. He must be bringing her back to avoid raising suspicion from those around him.”
“Really? Is that all?”
“Of course!”
Lorina said that and sent Damon away, but after that, her heart also began to waver with anxiety.
‘It wasn’t that I was anxious because I didn’t know Lark’s mind like Damon, but because I thought I knew his mind.’
If Lark’s visit to bring Elaine back was a logical and ‘reasonable’ decision, as she had told Damon, it would have been a relief. But Lorina’s long observation of Lark told her otherwise.
‘If I didn’t have feelings for him, would my heart have been more at ease?’
Lorina gritted her teeth.
She had once believed that becoming Lark’s fiance would bring her happiness. But even after their engagement, Lark’s attitude didn’t change at all.
Then, he thought that if he could get rid of Elaine, who was disturbing Lark’s mind, Lark would look after her. However, Lark’s obsession only got worse.
‘If things continued like that, it seemed like nothing would change even if I married Lark.’
The only good thing now is that Elaine refused to come home until the very end.
‘But who knows how long that girl will keep refusing…?’
Lorina believed that Elaine was playing both sides, raising her value by walking a tightrope between Sergey and Lark.
But the Lark that Lorina knows will bring Elaine back no matter what. He is a man who never misses his goal.
‘If Elaine returns, Lark might do something worse than the previous Count. In the worst case scenario…he’ll break off the engagement with me and take Elaine…!’
It was a terrible thing to even imagine.
After being forced into a broken engagement because of the illegitimate child, Lorina was never able to show her face in society again.
‘That must never happen. Never! But how…?’
Lorina’s hands trembled with unease.
Now that Lark had become the new Count Newt, even Lorina’s parents couldn’t interfere with him recklessly.
‘I should have pushed for the marriage while the Count was still alive. Who would have thought he would pass away so early… What should I do? How can I completely separate Lark and Elaine?’
Lorina paced around the room anxiously, racking her brain.
Then, as she bit her lip and aimlessly swept her gaze across the desk, something caught her eye.
* * *
