17. Betrayal

In the dim moonlit dawn.

Adeline opened her eyes slowly. She carefully lit a candle placed on the nightstand and got out of bed.

She left the bedroom with quiet footsteps so as not to wake the sleeping duke.

After passing through the corridor and going down to the study, Adeline immediately opened the desk drawer.

Inside the drawer lay those letters handed over by the inn owner, still unopened.

The familiar handwriting at the bottom left of the letter paper that read «Your Hailo».

Adeline sat at the study desk and carefully began removing the wax seal.

She started reading the letters one by one in the candlelight she had brought.

[To Del.

Del, why did you run away so suddenly? Do you know how shocked I was when I heard the news of your departure?

I have kept safe the jewels and metals I found at the location you told me about.]

[You told me to wait, but seeing that there’s no contact from you, I find it hard to endure. You probably don’t know how worried I am every night, unable to fall asleep.]

[I can’t stand it anymore. I’m coming to Horn.

I’ll be able to see you on the last day of the month when summer ends. If you don’t reply, I’ll take it as permission.

Your Hailo.]

‘The last day of the month when summer ends……’

Adeline was shocked when she saw the writing in the last letter.

‘Wait a minute…… that’s today!?’

Adeline put the letters back in their envelopes, tucked them deep into the drawer, and left her seat.

‘Should I go find him as soon as it’s daylight……’

She went back to the bedroom and lay down on the bed. Looking at the duke sleeping soundly beside her, Adeline became lost in thought.

What should she do?

‘Hailo Lebrance.’

Hailo was the eldest son of Count Lebrance family and her academy classmate.

The central nobles of the Soltarius Empire had to attend the Imperial First Academy unless there were special circumstances. Even members of the imperial family were no exception.

However, Adeline chose to attend the provincial Second Academy to avoid encountering the Crown Prince.

Hailo was a friend she met at that time.

The Count Lebrance family owned numerous mining areas within the Lebrance territory.

The jewels mined from these mines boasted the highest quality recognized by everyone in Soltarius.

Though it was a renowned count family with immense wealth, Hailo, who had been frail since childhood, attended the Second Academy close to the Lebrance territory.

Feeling sorry for the weak and small child, Adeline used to take care of Hailo like an older sister.

“Adel. I’m scared, can you hold my hand?”

“Del. Come with me.”

Adeline and Hailo had many memories since their academy days.

Adeline had been selling expensive accessories to survive since her academy days.

Hailo of the Count Lebrance family, who had expertise in jewels, knew the value of accessories better than anyone.

Young Hailo was timid and shy, but his stubbornness about jewels was remarkable.

“Are you trying to scam nobles?”

Hailo always followed behind her and helped her receive fair prices for her accessories.

To Adeline, he was a gem of a friend who paved the way for her to prepare her secret funds.

Hailo, who had been smaller than Adeline, suddenly surpassed her height at some point. As if he had never been sickly, he became very robust.

Hailo, who had been an accomplice in selling jewels for a long time, became an important courier for Adeline’s secret funds.

In fact, Adeline was able to escape easily thanks to Hailo.

He was the only one who knew that she was hiding in Horn under the name Del.

‘Hailo…… why are you coming to find me?’

Since the day he said he would come was today, she couldn’t even send a letter telling him not to come.

Today, she resented Hailo more than ever.

If Adeline wasn’t at the inn, he would search Horn thoroughly for her.

‘Hailo would do that and more. For sure.’

She couldn’t let Hailo discover that she was living with the duke.

She was filled with anxiety.

Unable to sleep, Adeline left the bed.

She chose to go to the inn early and send Hailo back.

[Mel. I forgot I had an appointment with a friend today. I’ll be back in time, so please wait quietly at home. This time, really don’t come looking for me!]

Adeline got up, left a note for the duke who would look for her, and headed to town.

Adeline didn’t know.

The duke was not asleep when she got up at dawn and headed to the study, nor when she left the note and set out for town.

⁕⁕⁕

‘What were those letters about?’

Given the circumstances, Adeline had undoubtedly read the letters and left the house.

The duke had been bothered all day by the letters handed over by the inn owner in town. Adeline never read those letters while the duke was awake.

After confirming through the window that Adeline had left the house, he headed to the study.

The duke decided to first check the desk drawer.

Disappointingly, as soon as he opened the first drawer, he saw disturbing words.

A letter envelope with “Your Hailo” written on it.

The duke’s heart began to race.

After opening the letter and reading its contents, the duke was even more shocked.

‘You told me to wait, but seeing that there’s no contact from you, I find it hard to endure.’

‘You probably don’t know how worried I am every night, unable to fall asleep.’

‘I’m coming to Horn.’

The duke’s mind became a jumbled mess after reading the letter in an instant.

The letter sent by this Hailo fellow was so affectionate, as if sent to a lover.

‘Surely she’s not really lovers with this guy……?’

The duke had been extremely wary even when seeing Marquis Severus.

So much so that he thought he should bind Adeline to his side even through marriage.

But this guy who wrote the letter seemed even worse than that Marquis.

‘This guy is the real one. Hailo.’

The duke stuffed the letter back into the drawer as if he couldn’t stand to look at it anymore.

Then he slammed the drawer shut so hard it might break.

In truth, he was extremely confused.

‘A lover’s infidelity.’

Is this the situation he had only heard about?

While suspecting Adeline’s betrayal, he also tried to reassure himself that it might be his misunderstanding.

The desire to confirm with his own eyes and the fear of what if it was really an affair both welled up simultaneously.

The duke paced around the study, conflicted for a long time.

After a long period of conflict, he rose as if having made a decision.

Then, with his hat pulled down low, he left the mansion to find Adeline.

⁕⁕⁕

At that time, Adeline arrived in front of the inn.

The moment she saw the luxury carriage stopped in front of the inn from a distance, she instinctively knew that Hailo had really come.

There was no noble who would drive such a splendid carriage in this remote village from early dawn.

As Adeline approached the inn, she saw a man leaning against the carriage.

His bright blonde hair fluttered lightly in the dawn breeze.

“Hailo!”

The man turned at Adeline’s call.

Then he immediately ran toward her approaching from a distance and embraced her.

“Adel. Do you know how worried I’ve been?”

After holding her tightly for a while, Hailo moved away slightly and cupped her face with his large hands.

Hailo’s blue eyes fixed on her as if to confirm that Adeline was safe.

“Hailo, I’m fine. More importantly, could you please let go……”

“What happened? Why are your clothes like this, and where exactly are you staying now?”

Hailo couldn’t close his mouth as he looked at Adeline’s shabby dress.

Surely she was the one who told him not to worry when she left the capital.

“No. Let’s go home first. We can talk there……”

He didn’t give Adeline a chance to answer.

He immediately called the coachman to prepare the carriage and was giving various instructions to the attendant who had come with him.

Hailo looked confused, as if he couldn’t believe the current situation.

“Hailo.”

He stopped his hurried movements at Adeline’s calm voice.

“I can’t go home with you.”

“……Why not?”

He blinked his eyes as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Is your house too small? If that’s the case, it’s fine. I’ll find a decent house among the properties available in Horn first thing tomorrow morning……”

“No. You know better than anyone why I can’t live in town.”

He closed his mouth for a moment.

Hailo knew better than anyone why Adeline had fled all the way to the remote Horn.

A madman.

It was to escape the Crown Prince of this empire who killed every fiancée as soon as one appeared.

Adeline looked at Hailo and then ruffled her hair.

She had no idea where to begin or how to explain.

Hailo would think she had simply fled to Horn to escape the Crown Prince.

How could she explain? That she had waited for Duke Torpeo, who was coming to the villa injured, just as she had seen in the comments of a novel.

And that after saving the duke, he lost his memory and they were living together.

If she told him straightforwardly like this, she might have to be dragged to Count Lebrance’s territory by Hailo’s hand.

“Well…… the house I’m living in is a bit unusual.”

“……Unusual?”

“Um, I have companions I’m staying with. They’re somewhat sensitive friends who won’t welcome Hailo.”

Adeline decided to explain indirectly instead of speaking honestly.

She thought that if he knew there were companions, Hailo wouldn’t try to head to the villa recklessly.

Hailo’s brows gradually narrowed.

Fearing that deeper circumstances would reveal something strange, Adeline quickly changed the subject.

“For now, Hailo should go back. I’ll come to where you are once things are settled here.”

“Settled? Is settling the issue now? How can I go back, Adeline? What happened to all the funds you took when you left, and why are you so thin like this? Have you been eating properly?”

Hailo strode up to Adeline and grabbed her wrist.

He frowned as he looked at Adeline’s delicate wrist that fit in one hand.

“This won’t do. Let’s go inside.”

Just as he was leading Adeline into the inn.

“Let go of that hand.”

A flat voice cutting through the silence was heard.

Someone emerged from the entrance of a secluded alley next to the inn.