Chapter 8
1.5 After She Left
In one corner of the mansion, several maids whispered among themselves.
“I heard the Duchess ran away.”
“Oh my… So the reason we couldn’t find her that entire day was because she had really left the estate?”
“That’s impossible. She personally prepared every detail of the Second Young Master’s coming-of-age banquet just recently.”
The entire mansion had fallen into chaos.
A gloomy atmosphere hung over everything.
The Duchess was gone.
Without showing the slightest sign beforehand…
She had vanished one day without a word.
As though she had never existed.
Like a bubble that simply dissolved into nothing.
The servants whispered among themselves, though most were careful not to speak too openly.
Only a handful of outspoken servants voiced their opinions.
“She didn’t run away.”
“She simply left.”
“The marriage was wrong from the very beginning.”
“It’s better that it ended now.”
“But she led House Whitdrian for seven whole years.”
“It doesn’t make sense for her to leave like this.”
Opinions about Kasia were sharply divided.
Some believed she was nothing more than an immoral Duchess who had stolen the place left vacant by her best friend.
Others argued that despite all the rumors surrounding her, she had quietly fulfilled her role as the lady of the mansion with unwavering dedication.
Eventually…
Those differing opinions evolved into another debate.
Should House Whitdrian search for the Duchess…
Or simply let her go?
While the servants were still arguing…
A carriage from the capital stopped before the mansion.
The door opened.
A tall, well-built man stepped out and entered the estate.
Ken Whitdrian.
The eldest son of House Whitdrian.
Now fully grown into adulthood.
Although he wore ordinary clothes for travel…
Nothing could hide the disciplined bearing of an Imperial Knight.
Years of relentless training had sculpted his muscular physique.
Combined with his imposing build, he naturally drew everyone’s attention.
The moment the man who looked exactly like Diana during her lifetime stepped into the mansion…
Every servant rushed out to greet him.
“Young Master!”
They called his name desperately.
Through the crowd, the steward slowly approached.
“Welcome home.”
“…Where is Father?”
“He’s in his office.”
The steward, whose face had remained filled with grief ever since the Duchess left several days earlier, silently led Ken to the Duke’s office.
When the door opened…
Ken saw the Duke and Nick sitting quietly on the sofa.
“I’ll have tea prepared immediately.”
The door closed behind the steward.
Silence settled over the room.
Ken bowed once toward his father.
“…Your message sounded urgent.”
“I heard my stepmother has left.”
“Sit.”
The Duke spoke quietly before handing him a letter and a set of divorce papers.
Ken accepted them.
A slight crease appeared between his brows as he began reading.
A contract?
His eyebrows twitched.
He looked up.
“What is this contract?”
Nick, who had been sitting nearby with both hands gripping his head in distress, suddenly spoke.
“That’s right, Father.”
“What contract?”
“What agreement was made seven years ago?”
The Duke let out a deep sigh.
He reached into a drawer and retrieved an old document.
It was the original contract he had signed with Kasia.
“Seven years ago…”
“Your current mother entered into a contractual marriage with me.”
He laid the contract before his sons.
“For a long time, His Majesty desired a closer relationship with House Whitdrian.”
“The moment your biological mother passed away…”
“Your current mother feared that our family would be abandoned politically because of it.”
“…So…”
Nick stared blankly.
“She married you to protect us?”
The Duke nodded.
He continued,
“Though…”
“I never imagined she would flee the moment those seven years came to an end.”
“So…”
“What exactly are we supposed to do now?”
Just as Nick stood there in complete shock…
Ken spoke in a cold voice.
Both father and brother turned toward him.
Ken’s expression remained perfectly calm.
As cold as a statue carved from ice.
He dropped the letter and divorce papers onto the table.
“So what?”
“Whether it was a contract or not…”
“Whether that woman left or stayed…”
“What difference does it make?”
“…What?”
Nick stared at him in disbelief.
“How can you say that?”
“She took care of our family for seven years.”
“She did it because she wanted to.”
“We never welcomed her.”
“That’s…”
The Duke tried to explain…
But the brothers had already begun confronting one another.
“I don’t understand why everyone is making such a fuss.”
“Everything has simply returned to the way it should have been.”
“Ken!”
Nick suddenly stood.
He grabbed his older brother by the collar.
“Do you know why Mother started keeping her distance from us in the first place?”
“It was because of you.”
“…”
“If it hadn’t been for you…”
“Our relationship with her never would have become this bad.”
“She never would have left this mansion.”
Nick bit down hard on his lip.
At the beginning…
Their new stepmother, Kasia, had genuinely tried to become close to them.
Nick knew that.
Even while overwhelmed with work…
She baked for them, trying to remain the familiar “Aunt Kasia.”
She personally made countless varieties of cakes that Nick loved.
Then quietly gave them to him as gifts.
For Ken…
Who was learning swordsmanship…
She worked together with the Empire’s finest craftsmen to design a custom-made sword especially for him.
And that wasn’t all.
At the end of every single day…
She always asked both boys how their day had gone.
She even tried helping them with their Academy homework every day.
Alone…
Without her best friend by her side…
She desperately tried to become part of this new family.
Yes.
For those two boys…
She had willingly given everything she had.
Yet in return…
All she ever received was complete indifference.
And cold rejection.
Ken hated her.
Like a proud noble, he never bothered hiding it.
Whenever he encountered his stepmother…
He openly looked at her with contempt.
Whenever circumstances forced them to speak…
His every word dripped with hostility.
Nick…
Being timid by nature…
Could only avoid his stepmother while watching Ken’s reactions.
It wasn’t that Nick failed to understand his older brother.
Ken’s actions were his way of refusing to forget their real mother.
“But…”
Nick’s voice trembled.
“Even now…”
“I still think running away was too much.”
“Do you understand?”
“Do you?”
“Do you even know what you did to Mother?”
As those words left his mouth…
An old memory resurfaced.
It happened one day when the Emperor summoned the Duke to the capital.
At the time…
The entire Empire was in turmoil over the disappearance of the Third Prince.
Because the Duke enjoyed the Emperor’s trust…
He had been personally ordered to search for the missing prince.
Before leaving…
He repeatedly instructed Kasia to send word immediately if anything happened.
With that…
He departed.
Together with the steward…
Kasia temporarily took charge of the Duchy’s affairs in the Duke’s absence.
On the very first day…
She discovered that her room had been completely destroyed.
Documents lay torn across the floor.
Books had been thrown from the shelves.
Broken picture frames littered the room with shattered glass.
Kasia silently stared at the devastation before turning toward the maids standing nearby.
“What happened here?”
“It wasn’t us!”
The maids frantically waved their hands.
Fear filled their eyes.
They looked terrified that they might be dismissed like the former head maid.
As everyone stood frozen…
One maid finally spoke with a trembling voice.
“I-It…”
“It was the First Young Master.”
“Ken?”
“Yes…”
“He suddenly appeared…”
“Since he is the young master…”
“We couldn’t stop him.”
That…
Was only the beginning.
With each passing day…
Ken’s actions became worse.
Important documents would suddenly disappear.
Strong glue would be spread across her chair.
Sometimes…
She would open a drawer expecting paperwork…
Only to find a dead rat inside.
After meals…
She frequently suffered severe stomachaches.
Small injuries gradually accumulated across her body.
Embarrassing incidents became a constant part of her daily life.
Ken obstructed her work at every possible opportunity.
Every action carried the same message.
Leave this mansion.
It was also the desperate struggle of a boy trying to change the situation while his father was away…
Since the Duke refused to listen to him.
Perhaps because of that…
Kasia never reported any of it.
She endured everything alone.
More than the injuries she suffered…
She pitied Ken’s anger and loneliness.
If enduring this much could ease even a little of the pain inside that boy…
Then she believed it was worth enduring.
Each time she tolerated another act of bullying…
She even convinced herself they had grown a little closer.
If she endured it once…
Twice…
Three times…
Surely one day his anger would finally disappear.
But without Kasia realizing it…
Her patience had already reached its limit.
One day…
She returned home after attending a dinner with the Duchy’s retainers.
Those retainers were the very people who had repeatedly opposed her marriage until the household finally stabilized.
Because of his sudden trip…
The Duke had suggested canceling the dinner.
However…
As the Duchess…
Kasia believed canceling simply because her husband wasn’t present would only damage House Whitdrian’s reputation.
Just as expected…
The dinner had been exhausting.
Even so…
She endured it until the very end.
After everyone finally left…
She immediately felt sick to her stomach.
Pressing against her aching chest…
She returned to her room.
The moment she stepped inside…
The room had been destroyed once again.
Just like…
The very first day Ken had begun tormenting her.
