He had tried every possible way to die.
But they had all ended in failure.
Was this what Harnen had wanted? Was that the reason he had trained himself so intensely?
Just when he began to doubt whether he had to keep living according to Harnen’s will, Ricardo found one reason to go on.
A letter from his mother discovered in Dians.
A will contained within it.
The decision to die only after fulfilling that wish—that was his reason.
“Search the people who were in the annex that night.”
The next day, an unexpected person came to see him.
“I-I’m doing this for the House of Hessen…!”
It was the nanny who had raised him long ago.
“Please, at least spare my son. I’ll tell you everything I know.”
What she said next was outrageous.
“You are the heir to the House of Hessen! In place of Lord Harnen, who cannot exact true revenge, you must sever the root of the curse.”
“So you came to me just to say that? Avoiding Harnen’s pursuit?”
“The f-fire was an accident, truly. But… the oil barrels being there was done under Lord Harnen’s orders.”
Ricardo closed his eyes tightly.
“…Why? Did he want to show me the curse with his own hands?”
“Y-You don’t understand Lord Harnen.”
She clung to Ricardo’s leg.
“I don’t mind dying here. Just, please… if only for old times’ sake, let my son escape the eyes of Hessen.”
“Ha.”
He let out a sneer.
“Weren’t you the one who asked me to grow up like Harnen?”
Her face turned deathly pale. But only for a moment—soon, she screamed in anger.
“You’ll surely go to hell! How could you even… a child…!”
Elliot, who was there with them, closed his eyes tightly and cut her down in an instant.
Ricardo smirked as he replied to the dead woman.
“This is already hell.”
Elliot caught his breath and spoke.
“Shall I find the son?”
“…No.”
“If you leave a seed of revenge behind, it will surely bring harm to you.”
Ricardo let out a small laugh.
“I look forward to my end.”
After that, he frantically searched for traces of Eileens. The ‘curse’ that Harnen had furiously spoken of truly existed.
Because of what had happened at the House of Roygin.
However, the curse only applied to families that had once owned the Drimokan Forest.
Perhaps Harnen had claimed his wife and son died because of the curse simply because he needed someone to blame.
At that moment, Ricardo’s mind cleared.
“Elliot, what will you do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a knight of the House of Hessen.”
Elliot swallowed dryly. A moment later, he pointed his sword at Ricardo and swore his loyalty.
“I am your knight, my lord. Whatever you desire, I shall follow your will.”
He had thought death was near, but there was still much to be done.
He repeated to himself over and over that he would not become like Harnen. But it was clear that he was Harnen’s undeniable heir.
* * *
“Are you talking about the engagement?”
“Yes. Do you remember Bianca?”
Ricardo searched his memory.
“The granddaughter of the House of Roygin. You must’ve played with her as a child.”
Only then did he recall the girl he had found so terribly annoying.
She had boldly shouted things without knowing the first thing about love.
Ricardo’s face instantly hardened.
“Get engaged to her. Her family owns Drimokan, so you must keep them close at all costs.”
It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. His childhood was filled with unpleasant memories, and now they wanted him to marry into that?
But Ricardo agree without protest.
He needed to live like an obedient dog for now.
Besides, there were many ways to break the engagement.
For instance, getting caught in a scandalous affair.
“Since I’ll be spending a lot of time with Idette anyway, it’ll be easier to let people think we’re lovers.”
The only justifiable excuse for a man and woman being together so often was love. It was provocative but plausible.
“What will you do about your fiancée?”
He had no room to care about that.
It would be best if she just let go on her own.
But the woman he met after so long was completely different from what he remembered.
“I-I don’t like this either, you know?”
“…You expect me to believe that now?”
“There’s no reason not to, is there?”
Saying she hated the engagement, she even offered to break it off if he wanted.
And that wasn’t all.
“If you want to love Lady Idette, go ahead. Just like you have no interest in my feelings, I feel the same.”
She had once claimed to like him, yet her attitude had suddenly changed.
Of course, it had been a long time since they met. Plenty of time for her heart to change.
That much, he decided to understand. It was a blessing, really.
She used to be interested only in jewels, but now she looked at wildflowers growing by the roadside.
She nearly twisted her ankle while walking and awkwardly looked around in embarrassment—that, too, caught his attention.
And then she told her fiancé to go see the one he loved.
That was the most absurd part. Why offer such a mismatched kindness?
I couldn’t tell if she was a fool or just plain stupid.
Yes, at first it was definitely because of frustration.
That hopelessly foolish woman.
“…Do you know any reporters?”
“A reporter? Why? Do you have an article to publish or something?”
At Elliot’s counter-question, Ricardo scowled.
“Just bring someone who’s good at taking pictures.”
That, too, was out of a fit of anger.
Even if she was a fiancée he didn’t care about, he couldn’t ignore the fact that rumors were spreading about her liking another woman.
She looked unwell, so he’d meddled out of concern. And her response? “I just suddenly felt like going out.”
‘…Damn it, that’s just her way of saying it’s because of me.’
“Is this the photo you wanted, Your Grace?”
Elliot asked in confusion as he handed him the photo. Ricardo checked it and was simply dumbfounded.
A photo of lovers screaming at each other with veins bulging in their necks?
“…Ha.”
“Should I throw it out?”
“Leave it. Just go.”
The way his eyes kept drifting to the photo—that was all just coincidence.
Even when he tried to tear it up, he hesitated and put it in a drawer, and the act of checking on it repeatedly.
That woman’s absurd behavior didn’t end there.
When they met after a long time, had she said she fell in love easily?
She was right.
She had lost interest in him because she’d found someone else she liked.
The woman smiling beside that man was quite pretty.
She had a habit of flicking her dress as she walked. Ricardo had thought he was the only one who noticed it, but Leon must have noticed too—he was smiling.
He brushed hair off her cheek without hesitation, and without her noticing, he shooed away any men who approached her.
It was none of his business.
‘…Then why am I so angry?’
He didn’t want to admit that someone else knew things about her that he didn’t.
The more time passed, the more he hated the growing distance between them.
Even though he knew she had no interest in him, he clung with baseless words.
But in the end, it led to a broken engagement.
He was afraid to meet her eyes devoid of any emotion. So he wished, in some way, they would hold some kind of feeling.
Even if it was hatred, even if it was loathing.
“So, what I’m saying is, the weather’s nice—how about we break off the engagement?”
I know.
I was selfish, and it’s too late to hold onto you now.
Even so, I had to.
“…Has Bianca already left?”
The day of the ball.
He had gone to the House of Roygin, but was greeted only by a bewildered butler.
“S-She said it’d be better to arrive early at the ball. The young lady has already departed.”
…Was she going to enter alone without a partner?
She hadn’t even thought he might come to escort her. Of course. Because there was no trust. He had never done anything to make her feel she could trust him.