Chapter 3
That night, I had a nightmare.
Perhaps it was something I had imagined without realizing it.
In my dream, I saw the moment Diana’s accident happened.
Everything had been peaceful.
Then the horses suddenly went wild.
The coachman failed to control them.
The carriage overturned.
I ran toward her and grabbed Diana’s hand just as she was about to plunge over the cliff.
Her expression was faint, almost translucent.
Looking up at me, she spoke.
“Please take care of my family, Kasia.”
Smiling ever so faintly…
Diana fell.
I jolted awake.
It was still early dawn.
My heart pounded violently against my chest.
As I sat up, I realized my entire body was drenched in sweat.
I remained seated for a while before finally getting out of bed.
The house was silent.
Although I was exhausted, sleep refused to come back.
I ate a simple breakfast, washed up, and prepared for the day.
The café I operated in a corner of the duchy would remain closed today as well.
After all, I had received a request from the Duke.
Once the sun had fully risen, I made my way to the Whitdrian ducal estate.
“I’ve come regarding what you asked of me yesterday, Your Grace.”
“Ah, you’ve arrived.”
“I’ve been expecting you.”
The Duke personally greeted me and led me inside.
As I walked down the corridors, I quietly looked around.
The atmosphere within the ducal mansion was completely different from what I had always known.
Every servant wore a vacant expression.
One maid absentmindedly kept wiping the same spot on the floor over and over.
Others secretly wiped away tears they hadn’t realized had begun to fall.
In one corner of the mansion, several servants were carrying armfuls of belongings.
“Those are…”
“They’re moving my wife’s belongings.”
The servants were gathering everything that was to be burned and placing it in the center of the estate.
Clothes.
Jewelry.
Her hobby supplies.
Everyday household items.
Countless possessions Diana had once used were piled together, waiting to be reduced to ashes.
The ever-growing mountain of belongings seemed to symbolize the enormous emptiness she had left behind.
A chill ran through my heart.
Of course no one could escape the grief of losing Diana so easily.
She had been someone precious not only to her family, but to everyone.
She had been the dependable mistress of this estate and this duchy.
A lady who stood at the center of noble society.
To House Allison, she had been a beloved daughter.
To the Duke, an unwavering wife.
To her children, a constant and loving mother.
And to me…
Diana had been my one and only friend.
So it was only natural that sorrow hung over every corner of the estate after her passing.
“May I ask what Ken and Nick are doing?”
“I’m worried about them.”
“The children are asleep.”
“They’re holding themselves together… better than I expected.”
“That worries me even more.”
“…I see.”
It would have been better if they had cried.
At the funeral, there had only been four people who shed no tears.
The Duke.
The two children.
And me.
The Duke had refrained from crying because, as the master of the estate, he couldn’t afford to appear weak.
As for me…
No tears had come, no matter how desperately I wanted them to.
But seeing Diana’s two children unable to cry…
As an adult, it broke my heart.
They had undoubtedly suffered a tremendous shock.
If they continued suppressing it, the pain would eventually become a wound upon their hearts.
Still…
I felt it wasn’t my place to lecture the Duke about how to care for his children.
So I held my tongue.
He led me down the hallway before stopping in front of a familiar door.
Opening it, he stepped aside.
The guest room where I always stayed whenever I visited the estate spread out before my eyes.
“Take your time.”
“There’s no need to rush.”
“Thank you.”
Click.
The door quietly closed behind him.
I slowly looked around the room.
Although it had originally been a guest room, I had visited so often that it had practically become my own.
The moment I saw it, countless memories vividly resurfaced.
“The ducal estate is so large. There are plenty of rooms I can give you.”
I remembered the first time Diana had proudly shown me this room.
“There are even larger rooms. Shall I have one prepared instead?”
“No, this is more than enough.”
“It’s not as though I’m moving in.”
“Actually… you could live here if you wanted.”
She had laughed as she said it.
Sometimes…
Long after everyone had gone to sleep…
Diana would quietly leave her own bedroom carrying her pillow and knock on this very door.
More than once she had slipped into bed beside me, startling me awake.
The two of us would lie side by side, talking quietly until sunrise.
As the Duchess of an entire territory…
She carried countless worries she could never reveal to anyone else.
Before marrying the Duke, she worried whether she’d be a good wife.
After giving birth, she worried whether she’d become a good mother.
There were also all the burdens of governing the duchy and establishing her place within noble society.
To everyone else…
She had been the perfect, brilliant Duchess.
But to me…
Diana had simply been a woman burdened with countless worries.
I had always encouraged her whenever we talked.
She would confide concerns she couldn’t even tell her husband…
And somehow, she always found strength after speaking with me.
“I’m so glad you’re here with me, Kasia.”
One day she had said those words.
“Thank you for always staying by my side.”
“No matter what anyone else says…”
“To me, you’re my one and only friend in this world.”
Her voice echoed in my ears.
It felt as though traces of Diana still lingered throughout the room.
“…How ridiculous.”
“You’re gone…”
“And I can’t even cry.”
“Maybe I’m a terrible person.”
It really was absurd.
Diana was dead.
Yet I was still here, living as though nothing had happened.
I had never once imagined a life without Diana.
Never imagined a world where the friend who had always been beside me was simply…
Gone.
That was why I didn’t know how I was supposed to react to her death.
I bit my lip.
I didn’t want to think about it anymore.
So I began packing my belongings.
There wasn’t much to gather.
The pajamas I always wore whenever I stayed here.
My facial toner.
Hair ribbons.
A diary.
…
A diary?
My gaze stopped.
My eyebrows furrowed.
I didn’t keep a diary.
Which meant…
I had never brought one here.
Then whose diary was this?
Wearing a blank expression, I slowly reached toward it.
A heavy…
Oppressive feeling settled over me.
I opened it.
Neat handwriting filled the pages.
I recognized it immediately.
It was Diana’s.
“Lately, something feels strange.
It feels as though accidents—both great and small—keep happening around me.
Accidents that someone deliberately caused.”
“…”
My eyes trembled.
My expression hardened.
I turned the page.
Another short entry greeted me.
“Today, a carriage nearly ran me over.
This wasn’t the first time.
I’m certain someone has made me their target.”
My hands began to shake.
“If I die…
What will become of this position?
His Majesty wishes to forge close ties with families who can become his strongest supporters. To strengthen that alliance, he’ll undoubtedly try to place one of his own people in this position.
Perhaps Sion will be pressured into remarrying.
If he’s forced into another marriage…
My children will become burdens.
They’re still too young.
What if my children are abandoned?”
“Today I casually told Kasia…
that if I died, I wanted her to take care of my family.
Somehow, simply saying those words has eased my heart.”
The moment I finished reading, I shot to my feet.
I rushed out of the room and sprinted toward the Duke’s office.
Servants turned their heads in confusion as I ran down the corridor.
I couldn’t even manage my expression anymore.
My heart pounded like it was about to burst.
Without knocking, I threw open the office door.
The Duke looked up in surprise as he stood.
“Lady Bennet, what is the—”
“Did Diana have an enemy?”
I dropped the diary onto his desk.
His puzzled expression deepened as he looked down at it.
“What is this?”
“I found it while cleaning out the room.”
“It’s written in Diana’s handwriting.”
The Duke slowly picked up the diary.
As he calmly read its contents…
His eyes gradually began to tremble.
I stepped closer and planted both hands firmly on his desk.
“Your Grace.”
“Please answer me.”
“Did Diana have an enemy?”
I stared directly into his eyes as I desperately repeated the question.
If what was written in the diary was true…
Then she hadn’t died in an accident.
Diana…
Had been murdered.
Silence filled the room.
How much time had passed?
The Duke abruptly closed the diary.
He walked to the half-open office door.
Opening it slightly, he checked to make sure no one was listening.
Then he shut it firmly.
The sound of the lock echoed through the room.
He returned to stand before me.
Running a weary hand over his face, he struggled to find the words.
Neither of us could speak easily.
“…First of all…”
“This is indeed Diana’s diary.”
“I recognize her handwriting.”
“Then…”
“Does that mean Diana was truly murdered by someone?”
“It wasn’t an accident?”
I could barely breathe.
My heart sank into darkness.
Even so, I somehow managed to steady myself.
Who?
Who could possibly have done something like this?
I desperately searched my memory.
Had Diana ever mentioned anything related to this?
No matter how hard I thought…
Nothing came to mind.
Besides…
Among the nobility, everyone was a potential enemy.
Unlike me, Diana belonged to one of the highest-ranking noble families.
There were simply too many people who might have wanted to target her.
Even the Duke appeared unable to make sense of it as he finally spoke.
“As the Duchess…”
“Enemies were everywhere.”
“Besides, Diana and I kept our respective responsibilities fairly separate.”
“We were already occupied enough simply discussing the children.”
“Diana…”
“Never told me anything about this either.”
“The only unusual thing I remember…”
“…was when she suddenly spoke about what might happen if she were to die.”
A long silence followed.
In that moment…
I realized the Duke and I were feeling the exact same thing.
He regretted never truly knowing what burden his wife had been carrying.
And I regretted dismissing Diana’s unsettling words without giving them the attention they deserved.
“Please take care of my family, Kasia.”
