Chapter 30
As Icel exited the dining room, leaving the trembling Catherine behind, she glanced up at Calypso. His mouth was slightly upturned—he didn’t seem displeased.
“How is life at the Grand Duke’s estate?”
Feeling Icel’s gaze, Calypso turned to her. He softened his expression, careful not to seem cold.
He reminded himself that he should be distant—after all, Catherine was his only “real” daughter left.
And yet, this girl Diana brought in… wasn’t bad.
In many ways, she was nothing like Catherine.
Where Catherine was sharp and impulsive, Icel was gentle and bright, but also showed a surprising maturity. Despite being the same age, she carried herself so differently.
Calypso couldn’t help but be reminded of the daughter he’d lost.
If she had lived… would things with Diana have been different too?
Maybe he would’ve let go of his resentment—not toward Diana, but toward the Marquis.
But it was all in the past. The child was gone. Calypso’s head drooped slightly with grief.
“…Father?”
Lost in thought, he hadn’t realized they’d reached Icel’s room.
“Father…?”
Icel tilted her head playfully, her emerald eyes sparkling.
“Ah—sorry, I was daydreaming.”
“It’s okay. Please, come in!”
Icel fluttered her golden lashes and smiled as she opened the door wide.
She had spent a long time observing Catherine—enough to know her weaknesses.
Where Catherine only acted sweet when she needed something, Icel planned to win Calypso over by doing the exact opposite.
“What do you think? Quite the change, isn’t it?”
The room that once belonged to Catherine was now transformed. Every piece of furniture radiated elegance and unimaginable wealth. Calypso’s eyes darkened.
Furnished with the Marquis’s gold, the room ignited his deepest insecurities.
Icel raised one corner of her mouth. She already knew—thanks to her mother—that Calypso was sensitive about money.
“Father… why did that man abandon you?”
“…Because of money. His pride is crawling with inferiority.”
—A conversation from days before with Diana.
That day, Diana had spoken calmly, lifting her teacup—yet her expression was clouded.
She remembered overhearing Calypso and Alicia plotting. Their ultimate goal had been her father’s diamond mine.
It was all for money.
After discovering their motives, Diana had quietly begun collecting every record from Calypso’s past, from his childhood to his marriage.
Official records showed nothing. But with Belinda’s help digging through unofficial sources, she learned everything.
Calypso’s grandfather, a bastard of the Emperor, was extravagantly wasteful. His addiction to jewels left mountains of debt.
Calypso’s father followed in his footsteps, borrowing gold and leaving the Ernst estate buried under generations of debt.
As a child, Calypso never knew—he lived with pride in his royal blood, unaware of the ruin looming over them.
But poverty came suddenly. By age ten, he saw the collapse firsthand.
“Is this really my outfit for the banquet?”
His mother, Elena, could only nod shamefully. The leather reeked and had no gold buttons. She couldn’t meet his eyes.
He was humiliated. Angry. Furious.
How could royalty wear such trash?
He refused to attend the banquet.
As time passed, poverty grew. His once-proud spirit withered.
When his father died, he inherited the Grand Duke title—along with the debt.
No matter what he did, he couldn’t erase it.
Then he heard of Diana, the saint of Pereshte.
She looked so pure, so angelic… she could be used.
So he sweet-talked her, gained her trust, and married her.
With the Marquis’s dowry, he barely survived the worst.
Only after uncovering all of this did Diana understand why he threw her away for Alicia.
He couldn’t stand Diana’s superior status. He had to choose someone lesser—to feel like a man.
“Father?”
“Ah, yes. It’s… impressive.”
Calypso surveyed the room with astonishment. His inferiority complex surged once again, and his fondness for Icel flickered.
‘He’ll lose it when he sees these things.’
‘Good. I’ll spin a new story to exploit his pity. Please help me, Mother.’
Just as Diana predicted.
Icel slipped her arm around his, smiling innocently.
“Please look at this! It’s all so new to me!”
That line startled him.
“New? But you’re from the Marquisate…”
Diana had introduced Icel as a Pereshte relative. Such furniture should be nothing new.
Suddenly, Icel’s bright face dimmed, her lashes trembling.
“The main house is well-off… but my branch was poor.”
“Then…”
Tears welled up in her eyes. Calypso, flustered, handed her a handkerchief.
“I’ve never used such a nice handkerchief before.”
Calypso was shocked. It wasn’t even fine linen.
She’d grown up with less than nothing.
“This is my first dress like this too. One with jewels so lovely.”
She stroked the gem on her chest, tears falling.
“Being a noble and poor… it’s such a cruel thing.”
The tears clinging to her long lashes stirred something in him.
She looked just like his younger self.
Icel glanced up. The hostility in Calypso’s eyes was gone.
“Thanks to you and Mother, I now have a room like this… and beautiful dresses.”
“I… didn’t know your life had been so hard.”
He spoke in a low voice, sympathy overtaking judgment.
He stroked her hair gently. Icel giggled like a puppy before whispering:
“Um… may I ask one favor?”
“Go ahead.”
“Can we… take walks together? Every day?”
That simple, sincere request pierced his heart.
A child like her, asking only for walks…
“Would that be too much…?”
“Of course not.”
He agreed at once.
The moment the words left his mouth, Icel’s lips curled into a hidden smirk.
Foolish man.
She held back her derision and smiled like the happiest girl in the world.
Like an angel.
