~Chapter 6~
The Duke of Romanov looked quite pleased.
‘…What’s with that face? I didn’t even ask for his opinion.’
For some reason, I felt a sudden urge to rebel against that smug expression—but I barely managed to hold it back.
‘Seriously, how did Hazel put up with this guy? Especially when she didn’t even love him.’
No, it wasn’t just that she didn’t love him.
The novel often described their relationship as strained.
Even now, just standing near him, I couldn’t hide my discomfort.
Maybe it was because he held the power of the Polar Night or something.
Even if I tried not to notice, there was always this strange distance between us.
“So the only reason must be… his face?”
“…?
“Gasp…”
I couldn’t believe it.
I had actually said that out loud.
Maybe it was because the tension had melted away so fast that my lips relaxed too.
I couldn’t believe I slipped up like that.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I was just… daydreaming.”
I quickly put on a serious expression, trying to make it harder for him to question me.
“What kind of daydream?”
…Ugh, useless.
“It just reminded me of a friend.
She married a guy who’s really intimidating.
Kind of scary, even.”
I blurted out a rushed excuse as fast as I could.
“So what?”
The Duke, out of habit, stroked his chin again.
My eyes followed his hand as I continued.
“I never really got why she married him.
But then I thought, maybe it was just because of his looks.
He is really handsome, you know.”
“Doesn’t sound like a very meaningful conversation.”
…It’s about you, actually.
I held back the urge to say something rude again.
Instead, I threw out a spontaneous question.
“Can I ask something kind of personal?”
The Duke gave a small nod, like saying, “Go ahead.”
Seeing that face, I asked in a quieter tone,
“If you lost someone from your life—someone who wasn’t all that important to you—how do you think you’d feel?”
I asked because I figured Hazel might’ve wanted to ask the same thing when Duke Romanov cried over her dying body.
When I looked up at him, he seemed to be thinking it over for a moment.
It clearly wasn’t the kind of question he was expecting.
“Someone who wasn’t important…? That’s a meaningless question.
I wouldn’t feel anything, obviously.”
He answered like it was a waste of time.
But right then, his indifferent face overlapped with the image of him sobbing in my dream.
A man who completely lost it after losing a woman he thought didn’t matter.
A man so broken he couldn’t even care for his daughter for seven years.
‘Not that it matters now.’
Because that future won’t happen.
I silently said goodbye to the man who might’ve completely fallen apart after my death.
‘In a way, I saved your life.’
Though, thanks to that, I’m alive too.
And I’ll find the people who caused my mother’s death.
I nodded to myself.
“You’re going to sprain your neck.”
He tilted his head, clearly confused by my behavior.
I glanced at him like he was just some pointless decoration, shrugged, and whispered, “It’s nothing.
Really, nothing.”
—
On the way home,I thought about what to do next while sitting in the carriage.
‘…I need to leave the Lindbergh house soon.’
I was adopted.
I was actually just a distant relative of the Lindbergh family—a simple baron’s daughter from the countryside who had never even set foot in the capital.
But when I was six, my birth parents died in a fire.
With no inheritance or relatives to take me in, I ended up in the Lindbergh household.
Back then, people said I was lucky if the Duke would at least be my guardian.
‘It wasn’t just luck…’
The Duchess, Vivian Lindbergh, who was full of love, personally took me in.
She was heartbroken about my past and held me warmly in her arms.
Once I was ready to move on from my grief, she showered me with love.
“I always wanted a daughter.
I was so lonely with just three sons.”
She used to say she felt like she had the whole world when she finally had a daughter, whispering sweet words into my ears so many times.
‘But…’
She’s no longer here.
That bitter feeling crept up at the thought.
Whenever I thought of Lady Vivian, guilt would always follow.
I bit my lips out of habit, but I couldn’t stop the wave of emotions.
She died the day before my 15th birthday.
On her way back from picking up a present for me—killed in a carriage accident.
“Our Hazel deserves to see the wide, wide world.”
Even now, I can still hear her warm voice if I close my eyes.
She felt more like a real mother than my actual parents, whom I barely remember.
She gave me love, and I loved her dearly too.
She was kind, smart, and even designed a beautiful villa by the southern sea for me.
But the day that villa was finally completed, she flew off to heaven.
From that moment on, I was buried in guilt that felt impossible to live with.
‘She only got in that carriage because of me.
And everyone in the Lindbergh family knows it.’
I couldn’t handle the loss.
Nothing could fill the hole in my heart except guilt.
I’d cry like a faucet had been turned on, no matter where I was in the mansion.
So, I hid.
Built a little world of my own in one of the mansion’s rooms.
I believed my father and brothers blamed me.
They used to look for me, but eventually, they gave up.
Even when I caused trouble, they just let it go instead of scolding me.
‘They probably still resent me.
I guess I should be glad they didn’t kick me out…’
Until recently, I thought it might be best to just get married and leave quietly.
‘But I don’t want to die giving birth.’
As I was drowning in sad thoughts, I suddenly remembered what the Duke asked me.
‘Why not ask the Duke of Lindbergh for help instead of me?’
He wondered why I turned to him, not my own father, for help with the accident.
‘Because I know what duty is.’
Even if my mother’s death was caused by someone’s crime, the guilt I felt would never fade.
I knew how much she meant to the Duke and his sons. I loved her just as much.
That’s why I couldn’t shake the idea that I owed it to them to quietly leave.
A heavy wave of grief washed over me, and I shook my head.
I’d already survived so many days when emotions almost crushed me.
From now on, I’ll gather herbs, get healthy, and break off this engagement.
And in the process, punish the people responsible for my mother’s death.
Once everything’s done, I’ll live on my own and be free.
If this life really is a novel, then this is the ending I want to write.
“Young Lady, we’ve arrived.”
The coachman’s voice pulled me back.
I calmed myself and got out of the carriage—only to be summoned by my father right away.
Knock knock knock
“Father, it’s Hazel.”
A servant opened the door, and I walked in without hesitation.
“So, you met the Duke of Romanov.”
My father looked up from behind his large desk.
“Yes.”
“You told him you want to break off the engagement?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“Hmm…”
“Tell me everything.
Don’t leave out a single detail.”
That surprised me.
My father had barely shown any interest in me since I was little.
He usually just glanced at me quietly whenever we crossed paths.
So why was he suddenly asking for the full story?
‘Is it just because it involves Romanov?’
I couldn’t tell him everything—especially not the parts that involved our secret deal.
I had to stick to something vague.
“We decided to take some time before making a final decision.”
His face twitched slightly.
The pen he was holding slipped from his hand and rolled across the desk with a clatter.
“What does that mean?”
