At her question, I realized that my mother had been worrying all this time about my heart, which must have been wounded by the breakup.
“I will be… right? I will be alright…
Mother.”
Since saying I was fine right away wouldn’t be consistent, I chose words that would put her mind at ease as much as possible.
“Belita…”
I gave a weak smile toward my mother, who was looking at me with eyes full of pity.
And I instinctively felt that the time to say this had finally come.
The reason I had put on this difficult act until now was all for this.
I carefully observed the two of them before opening my mouth.
“So, regarding that… would it be alright if I left the capital for a while?”
I planned to leave this place for a time.
The original story had already begun, but since I had broken the engagement with Kane, I no longer needed to live like the Belita in the novel.
However, because I was still the lady of a ducal house, my status meant I would inevitably cross paths with them frequently.
Because of that, if I wasn’t careful, I might end up being pulled back into the original plot.
But I refused to let that happen.
I had barely managed to escape the original story. I had no desire to go back in, not even if I died and came back to life.
So, I wanted to leave this place and return only after the original story had ended to start everything anew.
“Leaving? The capital?”
“Yes, I want to leave this place, which holds many memories of the Duke, and have time to think about how to live my life from now on.”
“Is it that hard for you?”
“…I want to forget. I will try my best so that I can forget. But for now, I think it will be too hard to face not just the Duke, but also those who will whisper about me behind my back…”
“Belita, you have done nothing wrong! So you should be confident—”
“Dear.”
My mother cut my father off sharply.
Her voice was firm, enough to glimpse her strong will to let me do as I wished.
“I understand. Do as you wish.”
“Madam!”
The words of permission were spoken.
However, my father raised his voice in agitation, as if he couldn’t let me go just like that.
“Dear, let Belita do as she wants. Our daughter needs time. Let’s give her that time.”
However, my mother persuaded my father step-by-step and logically, and eventually, my father raised the white flag.
“Belita, do not worry about a single thing here and do as you please. But you must return. Do you understand?”
Ah, somehow I felt like real tears were about to come out.
To be such a loved daughter, to have parents who believe in and support their daughter this much.
‘So this is what parents are like.’
“Yes, I will definitely return. Don’t worry. I will come back stronger than I am now, so that I can forget everything and start anew.”
And I vowed that when I truly returned, I would finally become their real daughter, not an actress.
☆☆☆
A few days later, we formally proceeded with the dissolution of the engagement, and I legally took over Grence.
My parents insisted that since I was the one who obtained it, it should be mine, and they allowed the territory to be under my personal ownership rather than the family’s.
Thus, in just a few days, I instantly became one of the wealthiest people in the capital—no, in the entire Empire.
And having finished my preparations to leave in the meantime, I shared my final farewells with my parents in front of the carriage.
“You must travel safely.”
“Yes, I will, Father.”
“Belita…”
Even though they had allowed me to do as I wished, my mother’s face was filled with anxiety, as if she could not shake her worries.
“Mother, don’t worry too much. You know me.”
I answered cheerfully and gave my mother a tight embrace.
“I’ll be back safely. You both must stay healthy.”
After saying I would return safely, I boarded the carriage, and Mary followed in after me.
Due to my insistence on traveling with the minimum number of people, only Mary, who would attend to me, and a knight named William were to accompany me.
I heard that he was the most outstandingly skilled among the family’s knights.
In addition to that, as a member of the House of Fire, Belita was not only capable of handling fire but also had a talent for swordsmanship.
Though I wasn’t quite at the level of the original Belita, I had trained occasionally after the possession, so protecting myself was not a very difficult task for me.
The carriage departed.
William followed alongside separately on horseback.
“My Lady, where shall we go first?”
As soon as the carriage passed through the main gates of the estate, Mary spoke to me.
Her voice was full of anticipation and excitement.
“I’m not sure. For now, I want to go wherever my feet lead me.”
I told Mary that, but I intended to visit Grence first.
I was so curious to see if there really was a diamond mine in the place that now belonged to me, and if so, what it looked like.
I wasn’t the type to be overly greedy for material things, but still, a place where diamonds were piled up—I was so curious about a sight I had never seen that I grew excited just thinking about it.
However, Grence was located in a very distant region that required traveling for many days by carriage from here to reach.
Since I would be stopping at other places along the way, what I told Mary wasn’t entirely a lie.
“You know, My Lady. I’m so thrilled.”
Watching Mary’s pure and cute behavior as she clasped her hands together with her eyes shining brightly, a gentle smile naturally formed on my lips.
“Do you like it that much?”
“Yes, I love it. This is my first time going so far away.”
“Me too. I’m very excited as well.”
“My Lady, but… um…”
The smile that had filled Mary’s entire face suddenly vanished, and her expression turned dark.
And while it was clear she had something she wanted to say, she was hesitating and faltering, unable to let it out.
“Are… are you alright?”
But soon, as if she had made up her mind, she asked me about the broken engagement.
“I’m fine. No, I will be fine, so don’t worry.”
I had broken the engagement and left the capital, so one might think everything was over, but to ensure not even a small part went awry, I had to be careful for the time being.
The most important thing among those was that I was a person who had just been dumped.
Since I still had to act like someone with the wounds of a broken heart, I answered with a calm but seemingly sorrowful smile.
If I acted as if the broken engagement didn’t bother me at all, Mary might become suspicious.
Of course, I didn’t think she would go anywhere and blab to anyone, but regardless, there was no harm in being careful.
“That’s a relief. I was worried you might remain depressed for a long time, My Lady…”
“Then you should try to make me laugh.”
“P-pardon?”
“Can’t you even do that for your grieving lady?”
I tossed a joke at Mary to clear the heavy atmosphere.
“I understand. What is there that I wouldn’t do for you, My Lady?”
However, Mary seemed truly intent on trying to make me laugh, as she stood up with a determined expression and prepared to do something.
“That’s enough, Mary. Instead of that, let’s just look at the scenery outside. Look over there!”
I pulled her by the hand and made her sit next to me.
And we shared a long chat while looking out the window together.
The carriage ran and ran, passing through the capital, Harn, and arrived at Peorat, a village on the outskirts.
The country I live in, called Baltheus, was a giant empire at the center of the continent, and befitting such a large landmass, the capital was also incredibly vast.
Perhaps because of that, it took an entire day of traveling by carriage just to barely leave the capital and arrive at Peorat.
As night fell, we decided that it was impossible to travel any further, so we planned to rest for a day at an inn and depart tomorrow morning.
