Chapter 1. The fiancé is back
The chilly, subdued cold voice ate up the noisy people’s voices all at once.
When Philen appeared, Sarah and other servants shut their mouths at once and stepped aside.
Philen crossed the crowd, approaching me.
“Congratulations, Lady.”
Philen’s eyes bent.
“You managed to pass it by all means. I never thought you’d pass the test as the top.”
It was a smiling face, but the eyes looking at me were terribly cold.
He’s in a very bad mood.
Well, he couldn’t have felt good because he was doing something he didn’t like and even lost the bet.
Since I was greeted with congratulations, I thought I should answer, so I bowed my head lightly.
“It’s all thanks to the Duke’s support.”
“Support, huh?”
Philen smiled a little and folded his arms. His head tilted to one side.
“So, what are you going to do next? Are you planning to become an official?”
I hadn’t decided yet, but I nodded, thinking about Philen’s intentions.
“Yes. I decided to do that.”
The smile faded from Philen’s face at my answer.
In the place where the false smile disappeared, the chilly, cold air swept around.
“Did you make that decision without my permission?”
“Do I have to get permission from the Duke to become an official?”
“Did you forget that you’re my fiancée?”
It was funny that Philen said the same thing I said to the Emperor.
Did the emperor feel this way when he saw me saying it? It’s a little embarrassing.
“I will ask you the other way around. When the Duke does something, do you ever ask or get permission from me?”
Philen let out a small sigh and tilted his head.
“Why do I have to get permission from the Lady?”
“Because I’m the Duke’s fiancée.”
Just as I realized after listening to Kalian, I wanted Philen to realize it too but seeing his hardened face, unfortunately, it seemed that he failed.
“The Lady seems to have forgotten that I am the duke.”
This time, you’re making excuses with your status, huh?
“When the previous Duke Williot did something, you must have known that he had always asked the Duchess for her permission.”
As I calmly retorted, Philen’s face distorted.
“Are you protesting right now?”
“Protest?”
“Aren’t you protesting to me because you’re upset that I didn’t take care of you and only took care of Cecily?”
“I don’t know why you think so, but no. Why would I protest for something like that?”
“Do you think I’ll believe that?”
I wasn’t surprised, as I had already expected that Philen wouldn’t believe me.
It’s just tiresome and annoying to have to keep arguing with him like this.
I got the position with my own strength, so why did I have to hear this from him?
“Do you want to be an aide that much?”
“Yes.”
“Even if I’m against it?”
I hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.
Then Philen twisted his lips and pointed his index finger to the front door.
“Get out.”
“Yes?”
“I told you to get out of my mansion.”
At those words, not only me but also everyone in the hall looked at Philen in surprise.
“I’m sure I’ve warned you. If you ignore my words one more time and do as you please, I won’t let you off anymore.”
Philen looked straight at me and continued.
“So pack up and leave the mansion right away, Lady Leila Thebesa.”
How could he look at me like that and tell me to leave the mansion?
“Are you serious?”
“Then, do you think I’m joking when I say this?”
No, it didn’t look that way.
I was disconcerted.
Is he trying to kick me out for something like this?
For him, my existence is only this much?
How can he kick me out so easily?
“My Lady.”
Misa called me anxiously and came to my side.
“Tell the Duke that you did wrong right now…”
“What did I do wrong?”
All of a sudden, my emotions surged up. I looked back at Misa and asked.
“Is it wrong for me to become an aide without the Duke’s permission?”
I deliberately said it out loud so that Philen could hear it.
As soon as Philen’s expression hardened a little more, Misa, who noticed his expression, grabbed my arm.
“My Lady.”
“I won’t apologize. I did nothing wrong, and there’s no reason for me to apologize.”
At some point, Cecily was seen behind Misa.
In the meantime, while hugging her bigger belly, she looked at me with a pitiful look on her face.
Are you pitying me?
A laugh came out.
I wasn’t laughing at her behavior, I was laughing because I felt sorry for my situation of being pitied by Cecily.
But that was now over.
I’m leaving this house.
Although Philen didn’t explicitly say that the engagement was broken, asking me to get out of the duke’s mansion was nothing more than an implicit declaration of breaking up.
It would be better to cut it off for sure.
Because of his personality, he might say something else later.
That might be why there was room left right now.
So let’s make sure to tie the knot now.
“Duke Philen Williot.”
It was my refusal to be swayed by him anymore.
“Let’s break up.”
*****
From the time Philen brought Cecily in, it was expected that our engagement might end in a breakup rather than a marriage.
…I didn’t know that I would say ‘let’s break up’ first. But…
It’s all thanks for the position of an aide.
If it weren’t for that position, I still wouldn’t have given up on my attachment to the duchess’s position.
Even if Philen poured out such insults, I would have swallowed my anger like a fool and endured it by clenching my teeth.
And I wouldn’t have seen Philen’s stupid face.
As expected, it was a good thing that I became an aide.
I was truly grateful to Kalian for giving me this opportunity.
I have to do my best to assist him.
“My Lady, what should we do about this?”
The maid asked, holding out a box of a pretty dress.
It was a birthday gift for me before Philen went to war.
He gave it to me as a gift to wear when I debuted in the social world, but I couldn’t wear it because the war broke out.
“Throw it away.”
I had no intention of taking even a single stone from Philen’s gift.
“This too?”
This time, the maid held out a hairpin I received from the previous Duchess Williot.
She put this on my head and told me that I was pretty.
She smiled brightly, saying that it goes well with my dark hair.
Just thinking about it made me want to cry.
I couldn’t answer as readily as before and hesitate.
I wanted to take it with me, but… I should leave it.
Because I didn’t deserve this since I gave up the Duchess’s position.
“Leila, you have to be Philen’s brain.”
What the previous Duchess Williot said lingered in my ears.
“As a wife and duchess, fill what my stupid son cannot do. Please take good care of Philen and the Duke of Williot, Leila.”
I’m sorry, Duchess.
I guess my endurance is up to here.
I didn’t feel a bit sorry for Philen, but I was very sorry for both of them.
I closed my eyes tightly and put all the items given by the previous Duchess into the box and gave it to the maid.
“Throw everything away.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
As I was looking for anything to throw away, what caught my eyes was the drug given by Countess Thebesa.
Come to think of it, did Countess Thebesa return to her estate already?
I had to tell her that there’s no need to prepare for the wedding anymore… Philen would take care of that, right?
“Throw this away too.”
I wrapped it in a cloth in case anyone else saw it and gave it to the maid.
“Are you really leaving, My Lady?”
Sarah asked me with tears in her eyes.
“Can you not go?”
I smiled softly, wiping the tears from Sarah’s eyes.
“I’m sorry, Sarah.”
“Uh-huhug.”
More tears pouring out than tears wiped away.
What should I do with this tearful child?
I held Sarah in my arms and patted her.
After crying in my arms for a long time and wetting my shoulders, Sarah looked at me with a determined face.
“I, have made up my mind! I will come with My Lady!”
…huh?
“But you’re the Duke of Williot’s maid. How are you going to come with me? You can’t.”
“As I said before, I am not a slave. I can choose the job I want!”
Sarah clenched her fists.
“So I’m going to leave this place and come with My Lady!”
“Don’t do that, Sarah. I can’t pay you as much as the Duke of Williot.”
“I’m not here for money! I’m here because I wanted to repay the favor to My Lady!”
To repay the favor?
“Five years ago, when there’s a famine, My Lady opened the storage and provided food to us. Thanks to that, my younger siblings and I did not starve to death.”
Sarah put her hands on her chest and clenched them together, smiling brightly.
“I really want to repay the favor I received back then. So, please give me a chance to repay the favor.”
She said it so earnestly, how could I firmly say no?
“If that’s the case… Okay, I get it.”
I needed at least one maid to help me when I went to the capital anyway.
If Sarah could take that role, I would be grateful for it, so I hugged her tightly again.
“Thank you, Sarah”.
*****
Philen really had no intention of kicking Leila out.
She didn’t know her fault and came out so confidently, so he just wanted to scold her a little.
Then she would realize what she had done wrong and beg for forgiveness, but his expectation was unexpectedly wrong.
Leila actually left the mansion after shouting loudly that she wanted to break up.
Philen laughed at the fact that it was so ridiculous.
She seemed to get big-headed because of becoming an aide.
We’ll see how long you can do that, Leila.
You’re bound to come back to me anyway.
When that day comes, I will not forgive you as mildly as I am now.
Thinking so, Philen ignited his anger towards Leila.