chapter 04
Why? Why is he acting like this?
It wasn’t the first time the head maid and her followers had treated me with disdain.
And yet, not once did the Duke of Western ever pay the slightest attention to it.
Even when I arranged the tea party spot just as the former duchess used to like it.
Even when they dressed me in an uncomfortable gown that didn’t suit the time or place during the emperor’s hunting festival.
Even when the head maid openly made disrespectful remarks about the duchess—right in front of him.
There was a time when I desperately hoped he’d care about the way the maids treated me.
But not anymore.
I’d already hoped enough. I’d already given up enough.
So why is he doing this now?
Maia looked at him like someone staring at an incomprehensible unknown.
The Duke of Western’s gaze brushed briefly over Maia.
Feeling uneasy, Maia avoided his eyes.
Though he’d given a stern warning, the matter had been left unresolved and postponed until next time.
What worried her was the inevitable backlash from the head maid, who would undoubtedly bear a grudge.
She couldn’t believe it.
How could such a severe punishment be handed down over a single remark?
She was the personal maid of the late duchess and a proud daughter of the esteemed Marquis Delfon family.
Trembling on her knees, the head maid slowly lifted her head.
There she was—that woman.
The daughter of a lowly merchant.
Even though everything had been her own doing, she stood there pale as a ghost, acting like she knew nothing. It was utterly revolting.
“…I will bear it in mind. Thank you, Your Grace.”
Though her voice was weak, her eyes burned with hatred.
The Duke of Western disappeared into his office in silence.
Maia was left standing alone in the chill that filled the room.
She glanced down at the head maid still kneeling on the floor and spoke.
“…I suppose I should be going now.”
A question laced with meaning—was she planning to just keep kneeling there like that?
“A-Apologies, Duchess. Please, go ahead.”
One of the maids behind her stammered in reply, since the head maid remained frozen on the floor.
Maia sighed and went upstairs with the maid.
This can’t be happening.
After returning to her room and finally receiving her suitcase—left out in the snow for hours—Maia had only one thought.
She never imagined the divorce would be overturned like this.
She had even sent a letter to her mother saying she would return today!
“Did my letter to Mother already get sent out?”
“It was dispatched last night, my lady.”
Maia groaned and buried her face in her desk.
She was doomed. How was she supposed to explain this now? Her mother was surely waiting.
“Damn you, Lucas Western…”
She had never resented him this sincerely before.
Maia picked up a quill to correct the letter, but her anger flared again, and she slammed it down.
What was he thinking? Why would he do this?
Leaning back in her chair, Maia fell deep into thought.
Was it really just because he couldn’t be bothered to find a new duchess?
Should she act so outrageously that he’d be forced to throw her out?
Stories she had read in childhood flitted through her mind.
A woman pretending to be mad to break off an engagement with a cheating fiancé.
A tale of revenge against abusive family members…
Maia rested her chin on her hand and stared blankly into space.
Could she really fool that Duke of Western with a convincing enough act?
“Impossible.”
There was no way.
Maia tugged at her hair in frustration.
What on earth had possessed her to accept the proposal of someone she barely knew?
“Listen, Maia. You have to date a man for at least three years before deciding anything. No matter how good he looks on the outside, there aren’t many who can hide their true selves for more than three years.”
How long had she known the Duke before marriage? Barely a month and a half in total.
“…No, there has to be a way.”
She shook her head quickly.
Like the old saying: even in a demon’s cave, you’ll survive if you keep your wits. There had to be a way.
There must be.
Gritting her teeth, Maia opened the drawer. She needed to send a letter to her mother explaining the delay.
The soft scent of wood wafted out as she opened it.
Stacks of pristine stationery filled the drawer.
“Ah.”
At that moment, a single letter shoved in the corner caught her eye.
With a small gasp, Maia carefully picked it up.
[To Maia.]
Was this here all along?
“……”
Now that she thought about it, it had been over a year since she’d last written to him.
When had so much time passed?
Staring at the familiar handwriting on the envelope, Maia drew in a shallow breath.
She had opened it once before, so it opened easily now.
Rustle.
The paper still carried the faint scent of saintpaulia flowers.
Her eyes filled with the neat handwriting.
[Tonight at 10, to the hawthorn grove at Mayus Manor where we always met.]
As she read the words, a familiar voice seemed to echo in her ears.
Casual words, yet laced with an affection he couldn’t quite hide—her longtime friend’s worried voice.
“…I was too hasty, wasn’t I?”
Hasty didn’t even begin to cover it. She had been downright foolish.
Maia smiled bitterly.
There was more to the letter.
[If you don’t want to hear my advice, you don’t have to come.
You choose—between the friend who stood by your side for over ten years, or your so-called first love who just proposed to you.
It’s your choice. I won’t stop you.
—With sincere friendship, Rihi]
Rihi.
Her secret friend since childhood.
A boy who proudly went by a name that clearly wasn’t real.
“Call me that. That’s all you need.”
He had said it with such shameless confidence.
There was something utterly mysterious about him beyond just his strange name.
He always made her feel like she knew nothing about him.
And… he was the one who strongly opposed her marriage to Lucas Western.
“Think carefully. Do you really believe you’ll be happy married to the Duke of Western?”
She remembered the boy’s biting words as they stood in a foggy forest.
“You already know how arrogant the nobles can be.”
He was just trying to make her face reality, but blinded by young love, she replied in a trembling voice:
“…Can’t you say something nice instead? He says he’s sincere. I just… felt unsure, so I wanted your advice…”
“Enough. Is this what you came here to say…?”
His silver lashes trembled, and shadows passed through his clear golden eyes.
Maia’s breath caught.
Rihi, who had always been her calm and steady presence, looked shaken to his core.
“…If you’re really going to accept the proposal of that bastard…”
As she stared at him, barely breathing, he twisted his beautiful lips and said cruelly:
“Don’t ever come see me again. This is the end of us.”
Though he’d occasionally vanished in frustration before, it was the first time he had ended things in anger.
“Rihi.”
She had whispered his name like a fool.
But in the end, all she could do was watch his back as he walked away.
“Maia. Why are you going to your grandparents’ at this hour?”
“Mother.”
Piercing through the cold night air, Maia had turned to her worried mother and said:
“I’ve decided to accept the Duke of Western’s proposal.”
She had gone to the forest where she used to meet Rihi many times before she left for the duke’s estate—
But he was no longer there.
“He was suspicious and strange in a lot of ways…”
But he was her friend.
Those bitter memories stirred up a nostalgic ache that couldn’t be ignored.
Maia picked up her quill with trembling fingers.
Then she pulled out a sheet of delicate letter paper decorated with pressed baby’s breath.
There were several urgent letters she needed to write, and this wasn’t the time to be lost in memories.
But still, this letter—this one—had to be written first.
Maia moved her pen slowly, hesitating over the first words.
[To my dearest Rihi.]
Time passed.
Maia stood leaning against the bookshelf, gazing at the softly flickering candlelight on a carved owl statue.
With slender fingers, she gently stroked the statue’s cold surface.
Not long after, a large owl flew from the open window with fluttering violet curtains, soaring into the vast night sky.
That strange messenger was headed east—toward a land where stars poured down.
To the place Maia didn’t know, where her dear friend still lived.
“Why are you refusing to eat?”
In a dark room, lit only by a single candle—
A man who had entered without permission stared at her, his eyes narrowed.
“Answer me. Why are you in such a foul mood?”
Maia lowered her gaze as her neck stiffened.
But when he grabbed her shoulder, she winced and looked up.
The Duke of Western met her eyes with a frown.
“I gave instructions for your meal to be brought here. Don’t think starving yourself will solve anything.”
“You seem to know me well.”
Her calm reply made his expression falter with confusion.
Maia answered evenly.
“If you won’t agree to the divorce, I won’t eat. Not a thing. If you don’t want to watch me starve to death, then agree to it.”
“You…”
His face shifted from confusion to fury.
“Go ahead and try to force-feed me. I won’t eat, no matter what you do.”
Finishing her words with poise, Maia straightened her back.
After sending the letter to Rihi, she had also written to her mother and friends, explaining that something had come up.
But nowhere in those letters did she mention that the divorce had fallen through.
Of course not.
Maia’s violet eyes gleamed in the dark as she looked up at the Duke of Western.
No matter what it takes—I will get divorced.
“So stop being ridiculous, Your Grace.”
