Chapter 80

Chapter 80

The destination she headed was, of course, Duchy Hessenweitz. As she got out of the banquet hall, she grabbed the carriage right away. She got into the carriage without stopping by the hotel, and she finally came to her senses after a while.

‘Oh, I hadn’t told my parents.’

She had been so restless. Iellie bit her chapped lip, leaning her head lightly against the cold windowpane.

‘Let’s send a letter when we get to the Duchy. Because Zachary is more urgent now…’

…Zachary.

When she closed her eyes, his figure came to mind. He would have been lonely for a long time. He lived in a world woven of ice and snow and was someone who was not good at accepting affection… The person she couldn’t help but love.

‘Zachary, wait a moment…’

Last time she graciously backed away, but this time, she wouldn’t do that. It was far better to cry, get angry, and fight than to leave him alone.

I won’t let you go.

Iellie firmly made her heart.

As she rode the carriage and descended to the north, she remembered the past. When she was thirteen years old, she knew nothing about marrying Zachary when she went down to the duchy. Her childhood was full of surprises when she looked at the bustling city.

‘It reminds me of him when we first met.’

Iellie smiled bitterly. A young boy who was very wary but couldn’t resist the approaching affection.

‘Maybe… we’re a lot farther away than it was back then.’

Wasn’t it better when they first met? She scolded herself for falling into self-doubt.

‘No, let’s not be depressed.’

Shaking her head, she then raised her hand and slapped her cheek, sharpening her eyes.

‘Because I came to get Zachary back.’

The Duke’s castle could be seen in the distance. Under the sky shining like colored glass, the Duke’s castle had a lonely aura.

The castle of Duke Hessenweitz, who had lost its predecessor, was in deathly silence.

Zachary, the new head, was on edge like a wounded beast. He handled the given task with an expressionless face. The grief of losing his father was not the only thing he had to endure, as the weight of the family weighed on his shoulders as well.

“How are the preparations for Father’s funeral going?”

“All the distinguished guests have arrived.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We are taking great care to ensure that there are no problems.”

The butler said to him with a calm face. Zachary raised his hand and rubbed his eyes nervously.

“All right. Then, the funeral should be held the day after tomorrow.”

As he nodded his head coldly, the butler looked at him without saying a word. Zachary, who took over the title this time, seemed to be testing his own limits.

‘He doesn’t have to overdo it so much…’

He recalled that Zachary didn’t shed a single tear at the Duke’s sudden death. However, he was frantically clinging to the Duke’s post-mortem work as if he had been handed over some duty.

‘There are many people around me saying that he doesn’t even express his condolences about the death of the former Duke…’

The butler bit his lip.

He knew it because he had been around for a long time. Why was Zachary doing this?

‘The Duke is fully saddened over the death of the predecessor Duke.’

Nonetheless, it was because Zachary only thought that he had no right to mourn over his father’s death. Otherwise, there would be no way he was so desperately trying to deal with all the things that his father left behind.

To be recognized as the perfect and only Duke Hessenweitz. He was acting as if that was the only legacy and task left by his father.

“…Ha.”

Zachary let out a short sigh. He looked at the butler with a tired gaze and waved his hand roughly.

“You can go.”

“I’ll just report one thing and leave.”

“What?”

Zachary glanced up at him. There is a faint shade beneath his elegant eyes. The butler said.

“Someone has come to visit you.”

“Who? Most of the distinguished guests should have arrived, right.”

Zachary answered in a cold voice. Among the distinguished guests, Zachary’s lips, who remembered the Princess, were twisted.

‘It seems that the Emperor had sent the Princess directly down as an excuse for condolences.’

After he divorced Iellie, the Emperor somehow tried to send the Princess to Hessenweitz. However, even trying to exploit the death of the former Duke Theron Hessenweitz in this way was also very foolish.

‘…Father.’

He suddenly remembered his father. Even in death, his father chose the method that best suited him. Even though he thought he’d never loved his father, he sometimes groaned, and something was clashing.

“It is Lady Blanchett.”

“What?”

In an instant, Zachary’s eyes widened wide. The butler glanced at the young man’s face and repeated his words.

“Lady Blanchett has come to visit the Duke.”

Zachary’s expression, which had been expressionless even as he greeted the distinguished guests, collapsed for the first time.

He asked.

“Where, where is she…?”

“I had her in the parlor.”

“….”

Iellie…

Her image that he had been trying to erase suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, and he bit his lips firmly.

“…How did she get into the Duke’s castle?”

“I brought the Lady inside.”

“You?”

“Yes.”

The butler looked calm. After staring at the butler for a while, Zachary growled low like an angry beast.

“…I will reprimand you myself on this issue later.”

“Yes, Duke.”

The butler only bowed his head at his words. Zachary experienced desperation as if he had lost his way.

‘Father.’

What should I do?

Zachary squeezed his eyes shut. Should he meet her or not even see her face? He was glad that she had come to find him in the midst of this confusion.

“….”

He was disillusioned with joy. It was unavoidable to get his body up.

Iellie, who was sitting in the parlor, lifted her gaze slightly and looked out her window. She looked a bit weary from the long journey. In addition, her dress was wrinkled, and her long hair was messy.

“Iellie…?”

Zachary mumbled absent-mindedly. As he looked at her, possessed, he blinked his eyes slowly.

‘Lies… Is this a dream?’

The woman he had never forgotten, even in his dreams, stood in front of him. She was a little thinner than the last time he saw her. However, the bright pink hair like Asha flower petals and soft green eyes like buds remain the same.

‘…Ien.’

Zachary tried to approach her without knowing. Then, suddenly, he came to his senses.

‘No. If you approach Len…’

His blue eyes sharpened like a sharp blade. He lurked like a beast that revealed its teeth.

“Zachary.”

Iellie, who had been hesitating, called out to him in a hoarse voice. In an instant, a sense of reality comes back to life.

“…Why are you here?”

Raising a cold voice, he asked her. Iellie stopped and answered.

“I came to see you.”

“I’m sorry, but you didn’t have to.”

Seeing him answering firmly, she only bit her lip. Zachary’s cold attitude was something she had expected though she still couldn’t help but feel hurt when her lover treated her coldly.

“So, go back now.”

“Zachary!”

As Iellie called Zachary urgently, he glanced back at her.

She stuttered.

“I, I…”

Only half a year had passed, but the man she knew was completely different from the past. The familiar atmosphere between had long since disappeared. He grew a little taller and his eyes deepened. Silver hair like a snowfield, eyes sunken as blue as the frozen sea… He had become a young man that was carved out of ice.

“I will not go back.”

“Why?”

Zachary asked coldly. Iellie swallowed her breath. Why did she come back?

The reason as simple.

“…Because I want to be by your side.”

His eyes trembled briefly.

These words were sincere, she wanted to stay by his side.

“You want to be by my side? Ha, really? It’s not even funny.”

After being silent for a moment, Zachary raised his lips in a sneer. Iellie called him as if to comfort him.

“I’m serious. I want to be by your side…”

“Len, do you only care about your heart?”

After cutting her words, Zachary shot at her and she felt her words disappear. It was the first time he had looked so sharp to her. In the first place, he always smiled brightly at her, so this face was so unfamiliar.

His eyes, as cold as glaciers, seemed to pierce Iellie’s chest.

…It was painful. Iellie swallowed a gulp.

“Don’t you know? I didn’t want to see you!”

Zachary cried out.

Of the many lies, these words were the only truth. He knew that if he saw her again, he would be shaken helplessly. He wanted to lean on that warmth once again.

“Len, what are you doing?”

Zachary ruffled his bangs roughly that covered his forehead. The next moment, he raised his head at an angle.

“Are you doing this while remembering how I treated you?”

“It doesn’t matter! Because I’m fine…”

“What’s fine?!”

He raised his voice without realizing it. She was the most precious person in the world. He didn’t care about anyone else though she couldn’t say she was fine with him here. She had to hate him for pushing her away so badly.

“You really remember what I did to you, right?”

Beneath the disheveled silver hair, his pale blue eyes stared straight at her.

Zachary continued.

“I left you, len.”

Don’t forgive me. You have to meet someone much better than someone like me, and you have to live with a lot of love.

Thinking about that, he bit his lips and asked himself.

‘Do you really want Iellie to meet someone else?’

…Selfish.

Zachary jeered himself. If she had met someone else…

‘I may have gone crazy.’

However, Iellie doesn’t know his true intentions. Also, even if he had gone crazy, he shouldn’t have shown his mind in front of her. His everything was to protect her.

“So, you shouldn’t have come back to me.”

In the end, Zachary spat out the words. Iellie gazed into his eye.

“You should have completely forgotten me and lived happily with someone else who loves and respects you. That would have been the perfect revenge for me.”

Revenge…?

For a moment, she clenched her fists tightly. How could he say that? The light green eyes were burning.

“If you wanted revenge on me, that was the smartest way.”

“Why are you saying that? I didn’t even think about revenge!”

“Ah, really?”

Zachary tilted his head. At the cold smile that spread across his face, she stiffened her shoulders in surprise.

“If not, maybe that’s it.”

With his cold voice, she was frozen in place. He asks with an expressionless face.

“Do you sympathize with me?”

“It can’t be! I…!”

“Otherwise, you won’t come back to me.”

Zachary, who was shooting at her like that, gently pulled his lips and asked. A piece of glass made of ice seemed to shred his heart. He couldn’t know that Iellie was being sincere with him.

‘…And that I am rejecting her sincerity.’

Still, if he didn’t do this, he wouldn’t be able to let her go.

“Yes, of course, I lost my father.”

“…Zachary.”

“Have you been touched by the fact that I became an orphan? Did I look pitiful to you?”

However, he had to say this. He somehow had to let Iellie go. Otherwise, he would surely try to take advantage of her tenderness again because Iellie said she was fine. He would do so by rationalizing that…

‘It’s not enough.’

Raising his gaze painfully, the moment he met Iellie’s face, he felt a pressure choking his neck. The light green eyes opened wide and collapsed like flower petals pummeled by frost.

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