Chapter 9

The documents and books she had painstakingly organized were scattered across the room once again. Picture frames had been smashed to pieces, their fragments strewn across the floor. The sofa in the corner had been ripped apart, its stuffing spilling out and drifting through the air.

And standing in the very center of the devastation—as though he were the eye of a storm—was Ken.

His head was tilted crookedly to one side.

“……”

Perhaps it was because she wasn’t feeling well.

Perhaps it was because she had entered the room already burdened with stress.

Whatever the reason, the final thread of reason that Kasia had desperately clung to until now finally snapped.

Anger surged through her.

It happened in an instant.

The child who had always seemed pitiful to her, no matter what he did, suddenly became the person she hated most in the world.

Kasia bit her lip so hard that blood filled her mouth with the taste of iron.

Everything felt ruined.

Step by step, she walked toward Ken.

Slowly, she placed her hands on his shoulders.

The words she had buried deep inside finally burst forth.

“Why are you doing this?!”

“……”

“Why are you doing this?!”

Standing face-to-face with Kasia, whose composure had completely shattered, Ken didn’t avert his eyes.

He simply glared back.

Those eyes…

Eyes that looked exactly like her beloved friend Diana’s…

Were overflowing with nothing but hatred.

The moment Kasia looked directly into them…

An indescribable sadness overwhelmed her.

“I don’t want to fight with you, Ken.”

“……”

“I just want us to get along…”

I sincerely wanted to become a good stepmother to you.

I wanted to become a place where you could always find comfort.

…No.

I don’t even wish for that anymore.

I only wish you would allow me to exist here.

Even if you can’t accept me…

Please don’t hate me.

Please don’t resent me…

Please stop trying to drive me away.

Those children were the greatest reason Diana had entrusted House Whitdrian to Kasia.

Because of that, realizing that the children could never accept her made Kasia feel as though her very existence had lost all meaning.

To her…

It was the deepest despair.

Was all of my effort wrong?

Or… was my very existence a mistake from the beginning?

It felt unfair.

What exactly did I do wrong?

I was just another girl who lost her mother, too.

The injustice she had buried deep inside welled up.

Her stomach churned as though she might vomit.

Despair filled every corner of her heart.

A hollow laugh escaped her lips.

Still biting them until they bled, Kasia looked Ken straight in the eye.

“I’m sorry, Ken Whitdrian.”

“But no matter how you treat me…”

“I will stay by your side.”

“……”

“Because I have to protect you.”

“Because that’s the only thing I can still do for your mother.”

The instant those words left her mouth…

The hatred in Ken’s eyes wavered.

A brief moment stretched into what felt like an eternity.

Ken bit his own lip before suddenly shoving Kasia away.

She had no strength left to resist.

She fell onto the floor.

Without another word, Ken turned and ran out of the room.

“……”

Blood trickled from the hand that had landed on shattered glass.

In the silent room, Kasia remained sitting on the floor for a long time…

Staring blankly into space.

The following day…

Ken left home.

* * *

Ken’s disappearance threw the entire ducal household into chaos.

“Y-Young Master is gone!”

The maid who had entered Ken’s room to wake him up rushed out in shock.

Leading a line of servants behind her, Kasia hurried to his room and flung the door open.

Morning sunlight streamed across the neatly made bed.

Everything Ken had used had been carefully organized in its proper place.

Only…

The warmth that should have remained was gone.

Taking only a few belongings and some money…

Ken disappeared without a trace that very day.

The entire duchy was thrown into emergency.

The Duke, who had been away on official business, was summoned back immediately.

He rushed into the mansion.

Seeing Ken’s empty room…

And seeing Kasia standing there speechless…

He seemed to realize something.

But he didn’t ask.

Finding Ken came first.

Following the Duke’s orders, the knights of House Whitdrian began searching throughout the duchy.

They searched the Academy Ken attended…

The training grounds where he practiced swordsmanship…

Even the mountain behind the estate where he enjoyed horseback riding.

They searched every corner of the territory again and again…

But Ken was nowhere to be found.

Since Ken was skilled with a sword, they even considered the possibility that he had truly run away and joined a mercenary company.

They asked everywhere they could.

Still…

There wasn’t a single trace of him.

Kasia was on the verge of panic.

At first, she couldn’t even bring herself to properly look the Duke in the face.

Only after barely regaining her composure did she approach him.

“Your Grace…”

“The day before Ken disappeared… we had a bit of an argument.”

“It’s alright, Kasia.”

That was all the Duke said.

He called for a maid and instructed her to escort Kasia back to her room.

“I’ll find Ken.”

“So don’t worry.”

“Please return to your room and rest.”

Supported by a maid, Kasia returned to her room.

For several days…

She shut herself inside and could do nothing.

It hurt.

She felt as though she had failed to protect Ken.

As though she had broken the promise she made to Diana.

Was he really that angry?

Maybe… my existence itself was the problem.

The look in Ken’s eyes during their final conversation remained engraved in her heart.

It refused to disappear.

About ten days later…

Ken was finally found.

A caretaker who regularly maintained the cemetery discovered him.

He was sitting beside Diana’s grave.

“Ken!”

Led by the Duke, whose face had grown noticeably thinner, Kasia and the knights hurried to the cemetery on the outskirts of the duchy.

There…

Among the graves of House Whitdrian’s ancestors…

Ken sat silently before Diana’s tombstone.

He had hidden his identity beneath a cloak.

When the Duke removed the hood…

The boy’s worn-out appearance was revealed.

Apparently he hadn’t been eating properly.

In only ten days…

He had become alarmingly thin.

The Duke let out a sigh of relief and pulled Ken tightly into his arms.

“Ken.”

“……”

Ken weakly leaned into the embrace that nearly squeezed the breath from him.

His eyes, however…

Never left Diana’s gravestone.

At last, he spoke in a subdued voice.

“Dad.”

“Yes.”

The Duke answered.

Ken continued.

“I hate that woman.”

“……”

“I hate her.”

Kasia saw profound anguish settle over the Duke’s face.

He couldn’t answer immediately.

A cold wind swept past them.

It looked as though rain was about to fall.

After what felt like a long silence…

The Duke finally spoke.

“Ken…”

“You can’t see your mother anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s dead.”

“……”

“Death is simply that.”

“Now all of us must accept it.”

Ken didn’t answer.

He didn’t cry.

Just as he had during the funeral…

He remained expressionless in his father’s embrace.

Time quietly passed.

Then…

A single tear finally slipped from Ken’s unfocused eyes.

It landed softly upon Diana’s gravestone.

Darkening the stone.

Drip.

Drip.

Raindrops began falling beside it…

Soaking Diana’s grave.

The rain quickly grew heavier.

With the sound of rushing water, a sudden downpour covered the cemetery.

One of the knights ran to the carriage and returned with an umbrella, holding it over Kasia.

While everyone hurried about because of the unexpected rain…

The Duke embraced Ken even more tightly.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry for placing such a heavy burden on your shoulders.”

“I’m sorry, my son.”

For a very long time…

Ken remained in his father’s arms with an empty expression.

So long that no one could tell…

Whether it was Ken’s tears…

Or the rain…

That continued to wet Diana’s gravestone.

* * *

“It’s all your fault.”

“Mother left the mansion because of you.”

Nick couldn’t deny that, once upon a time, Mother had approached them a little too eagerly.

She had wanted to do her best.

But they had been confused and unable to accept her.

However…

By then, Mother had already given up.

At some point, she had stopped trying to get close to them.

There had been no reason for Ken to keep seeking her out…

Bullying her…

Trying to drive her away.

After Ken’s disappearance, Mother had become unbelievably cautious around the mansion.

She only acted when fulfilling her duties as the Duchess.

The rest of the time…

She lived like a shadow.

“I never even got the chance to apologize…”

“And now you’re telling me…”

“It was all just a contract.”

“Their entire marriage…”

“How could that be…?”

Nick’s voice trembled.

The next moment…

Ken let out a quiet scoff.

Nick’s eyebrows twitched.

“A contract?”

“So what?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“What?”

Ken grabbed Nick’s wrist.

Nick shook him off, sending Ken’s hand falling away.

“Nick Whitdrian.”

“I’ve made my feelings clear from the very beginning.”

“I hated having a stepmother.”

“I hated seeing her occupy my mother’s place.”

“I didn’t care whether it was a contract or not.”

“I didn’t care whether she tried to get close to me.”

“I simply hated seeing her in my mother’s place.”

“……”

“At least I was honest about it.”

“But what about you?”

“While I openly expressed how I felt…”

“You hid cowardly behind me and cried.”

“What did you ever do?”

“After I left this mansion…”

“Did you do a single thing for our stepmother?”

Nick couldn’t answer.

Slowly…

He collapsed back onto the sofa.

Covering his face with both hands, he spoke painfully.

“…I was going to.”