“Kael?”
One corner of his mouth was curved upward.
It looked like a smile — but it wasn’t. Not even close. His red eyes had gone cold as winter stone.
It took Edwin only a moment to understand the situation. His shoulders stiffened. He turned his back to her and came to face Kael directly.
“Y-Your Grace? What brings you to the Florence estate — ?”
Kael’s particular quality — that oppressive, suffocating weight he carried in the air around him — flooded the entire space.
Against it, Edwin looked smaller than ever, his back drawn in and hunched like he was trying to disappear inside himself.
“Miss. Are you all right?”
Emily’s voice came from just behind her.
She seized the moment while Edwin was rattled and snatched the trowel back from him.
“Emily, come here!”
Then she grabbed Emily’s hand and ran — straight behind Kael, pressing close to his back for cover.
He frightened her, yes. But far less than Edwin, who had just been about to strike Emily.
Still. Kael’s back was as wide as a small ocean.
Her view was completely blocked. She couldn’t see anything.
‘Wait — now that I think about it, do these two know each other?’
Edwin had recognized him immediately, without any introduction.
She peeked out from behind Kael’s shoulder, holding Emily’s hand firmly, and called to Edwin.
“Do you know the Duke? From where?”
“…My father’s business. We’ve crossed paths a few times.”
From what she gathered, Kael held a significant stake in Edwin’s father’s ventures.
“Ivelina. Did you not tell me your engagement to the young Viscount was already finished?”
“Yes — that’s right. We’re nothing to each other now. I sent word to my parents that I was ending it.”
At her words, Edwin bit down hard on his lower lip. Then, slowly, he began to speak.
“…What are you talking about, Ivelina. When did we ever agree to—”
Kael cut him off cleanly.
“That isn’t what I’m asking.”
Edwin went silent.
“What. Was happening here just now?”
Edwin’s pupils shook. He shot her a look — something between resentment and desperation — before his lips trembled open with effort.
“That… that is…”
“It isn’t a difficult question.”
Kael clicked his tongue, visibly unimpressed by the hesitation.
“I — it’s just that…”
He really couldn’t seem to say it himself. Which made sense — he’d been caught in the act of threatening a woman, and he was apparently hoping no one would bring it up. Well. In that case, she would simply have to bring it up herself.
“He was going to ‘hit’ Emily! With the trowel! Emily is my closest friend in the world — and he said terrible, horrible things about her, humiliating things, just because she’s a commoner!”
Edwin’s eyes, nose, and mouth all opened wide.
“And also.”
“Also…? There’s more? Oh! He refused to accept the broken engagement! As if that’s any of ‘his’ business — he’s not my parents!”
“And.”
She rattled on like a fish finally in water.
“He grabbed my wrist — he grabbed it and ‘wouldn’t let go’ even when I told him to stop — he ignored me and grabbed it and ‘shook’ it and ‘scratched’ it—”
She held out her wrist for inspection. The skin was marked with thin red lines where Edwin’s nails had dug in.
“Look — ‘here’! I’m bleeding!”
The white skin of her wrist bore not only scratches, but the clear imprint of Edwin’s grip.
Kael’s brow creased — a deep, sharp furrow.
“Y-Your Grace, that was an accident! And if anyone was ‘struck’, it was me — Ivelina took the trowel she was holding and—”
Kael raised one hand, only halfway, and cut Edwin off. The gesture said: ‘I’ve heard enough. Be quiet.’
She glanced down at the trowel in her other hand.
…Now that she looked. There was a bit of Edwin’s blood on it.
She quietly slipped it behind her back.
“Ivelina.”
“Yes?!”
A guilty jolt ran through her.
She gripped the trowel tighter behind her back and looked up at him.
‘If he asks whether I hit him first, then—’
“I’d like you to step aside for a moment.”
“Wh — why?”
“I have something to say to the young Viscount. Alone.”
Would that be all right?
He looked ready to tear someone apart…
‘Actually — no. Come to think of it, Edwin getting a thorough dressing-down right now isn’t the worst thing in the world.’
She gave a resolute nod.
Edwin had already gone completely colorless, drained of every drop of blood. She had never seen him shake like that before.
“Understood! Just… please don’t ‘kill’ him. Keep it… reasonable…”
Kael said nothing.
She took Emily’s hand.
“Let’s — let’s go, Emily. Quickly.”
They hurried toward the front entrance.
A moment later — a scream rang out.
Edwin’s voice tore across the grounds of the Florence estate.
But it didn’t last long. As though a hand had been clapped over his mouth, the estate fell quickly and completely silent.
* * *
“He’s certainly taking his time.”
“He really is.”
She and Emily stood quietly in front of the entrance, waiting for Kael.
‘Is it still not over…?’
She stared out toward the distant hills, her anxiety slowly building.
She wasn’t worried about Edwin. With the immediate crisis behind her, other thoughts had begun to creep in — a slow, creeping dread about her own future.
She had been helped just now, yes. But that didn’t change the fact that Kael was terrifying.
‘If I ever get on his nerves… will he do the same to me?’
“Where are you looking.”
A low, quiet voice fell against her ear.
She turned sharply — and found herself face-to-face with Kael.
He blinked at her.
“AHHH—!”
“…”
“You — you scared me! I nearly had a heart attack!”
She pressed a hand over her chest and complained loudly.
“Why are you standing out here instead of going inside.”
“Oh — just because. Anyway, where’s Edwin?”
She looked past him, searching. There was no sign of Edwin, who had been making the whole estate ring with noise not long ago.
“Sent him on his way. A little while ago.”
“He’s not… dead?”
“Just talked. Nothing excessive.”
“…O-okay. That’s what I thought.”
She had definitely heard screaming though.
‘…He wouldn’t actually kill him. They’re tied up in business together. It’ll be fine.’
A brief, still silence passed between them.
‘…I should say thank you. After all, Kael came, and Emily wasn’t hurt because of it.’
She watched his expression carefully and gathered herself to speak.
“Um… Kael.”
“Yes.”
“Th-thank you.”
The memory of Edwin’s screaming chose that exact moment to surface in her mind, making her stumble over the words.
And then —
“Miss!”
Emily’s voice sounded from behind her. Quite urgent.
“Emily? When did you get all the way over there?!”
She had been right beside her just a moment ago — and now Emily was a good distance away.
“I’ll go ahead to the sitting room and set out refreshments for the guest! Please, take your time!”
Emily fired off the words at a sprint, like someone fleeing a scene, and vanished inside.
“W-wait, Emily—!”
‘Come with me! I don’t want to be alone with Kael!’
She reached toward the direction Emily had disappeared with an expression of pure despair.
“Ivelina.”
A large hand settled on her shoulder.
She froze — stiff as a snowman. Kael’s hand moved gently to the back of her neck, turning her to face him.
Her body gave a small, involuntary shudder. The scent she had somehow already grown familiar with teased at the edges of her senses — cool and clean.
“…Yes?”
She looked up at him, and Kael bent close, speaking near her ear in something just above a whisper.
“Surely. You’re not avoiding me right now.”
His lips seemed only a breath away from her ear.
Just minutes ago her mind had been fully occupied with Edwin — but now, with nothing left to distract her—
‘Pull yourself together. This is a man who would think nothing of abducting someone or locking them away.’
Whether it was fear or something else entirely — her heart hammered against her ribs.
‘At this rate he’ll be able to hear it.’
She stepped back, just one small step, and forced a casual tone.
“W-why would I be avoiding you? I wasn’t avoiding you at all…”
She fidgeted with the hem of her dress — an absurd thing to do, and she knew it.
Kael let out a quiet breath of laughter. His expression, just slightly, had softened from before.
“Let’s go inside. I have something I’d like to say, as it happens.”
* * *
