Chapter 02
Dragging the suitcase she had packed the night before, Maia stepped out of the room.
The rest of her belongings would be delivered to her family’s home from the Duke’s residence.
To be precise, it was a promise from the head maid, who was far too delighted that Maia was stepping down from her position as Duchess.
“It is truly gratifying that you finally know your place and are leaving. We will ensure all your things are sent to you from the Duke’s estate. And just so you know, I hope you won’t ever say foolish things like taking back the divorce or wanting to return.”
Cold, black eyes filled with hostility and disdain had glared at Maia.
“…I would appreciate it if you never let such words slip from your mouth. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
A soft laugh had slipped out, more self-mockery than anything else.
She was tired of being hated.
“The previous Duchess…”
“The previous Duchess would never have done this…”
“The only woman His Grace still truly loves is the previous Duchess…”
These were the only words that came to mind when she thought of her marriage.
The head maid, Helia Jabez Delfon, had once served the late Imperial Princess as her personal maid.
Maia had learned of this not long after her marriage and had tried to understand the head maid’s feelings.
It’s possible he can’t forget his previous wife, Maia had thought. How pitiful.
But that understanding was returned with nothing but hostility and contempt.
All she could hope now was that she would never have to face those eyes again.
“…It’s really quiet.”
The mansion was still. She had never seen it this quiet since arriving here.
No servants came to see her off as she, once the Duchess, stepped outside.
The feeling was bittersweet and strangely liberating.
Maia stepped into the snow-covered garden of the Duke’s estate.
Snowflakes still fell softly from the sky, swirling as if to warn her that if she hesitated, she would never be able to leave. Determined, Maia continued walking.
Perhaps it was because of this that the massive, towering gray gates were suddenly right before her.
“…Just one last thing.”
Just before opening the gates, Maia clenched her fist. She turned back, and the black mansion, blanketed in white snow, seemed to stare back at her.
Its cold, solid presence brought a certain person to mind.
It would be nice if someone came to see me off. Or at least a servant delivering a parting message.
“It’s cold.”
A warm breath escaped her lips, quickly turning white in the air.
Maia tore her gaze away from the mansion, swallowing the pain in her heart.
This was the end of a first love that had suffocated her for too long.
She raised her hand, clad in violet gloves, to the frost-covered gate, pressing her lips together.
This really is the end. We will never see each other again.
Once she returned home, her mother would be waiting for her, and Aunt Amica would scold her, saying, “I told you not to marry that man.”
Hailey would fuss over her and happily trash-talk everyone at the Duke’s estate.
Yes. She would return to her peaceful, ordinary life.
Maia squeezed her eyes shut and pushed the gates.
Clank, clank.
“…?”
Only a few dull noises echoed back, and the gates did not budge.
Maia frowned and pushed again with more force.
Clank.
Again, the gates only shook faintly, refusing to open.
What? Why won’t it open?
This was the same gate the maids easily opened whenever they left. She had never imagined she would not be able to open it.
Flustered, Maia placed both hands on the gate and pushed with all her strength.
“…What’s going on?”
But the firmly closed gates did not move.
“Should I call a knight…?”
Frustration began to bubble up. Maia cursed under her breath and turned around.
And then she found herself staring directly into navy blue eyes, closer than she could have ever expected.
“…?”
For a split second, only one thought floated in Maia’s stunned mind:
What are you doing here?
She blinked a couple of times. It was hard to believe, but this was no hallucination.
Oh no.
Maia drew in a sharp breath, stepping back.
Her reaction, as if facing a dangerous intruder, made those navy eyes harden with coldness.
Snowflakes scattered across his face, reminding her that this was reality, not a dream.
Maia let out a white breath, her eyelids trembling.
It seemed the Duke of Western had come out to see her off after all.
“…Your Grace, may I ask why you are here?”
If he intended to see her off, couldn’t he have done it inside? Did he really have to sneak up behind her without a sound and startle her like this?
“…”
The Duke did not answer.
Maia’s breath caught painfully in her chest, her eyes trembling as if an earthquake had struck.
What is this? Now he won’t even answer me?
…And I can’t exactly call a knight here either.
Maia bit down on her lip and turned away.
Standing here, desperately waiting for a response from someone who wouldn’t even speak, was a miserable thing.
She didn’t want to do it anymore.
“You cannot open it.”
At that moment, the Duke’s clear, firm voice struck her ears.
Maia froze, her hand still on the gate, before turning around to face him.
“…I can’t open it?”
She thought she must have misheard.
The Duke of Western answered her unspoken question with a look that seemed to say, Do you think I would lie about this?
What?
She still couldn’t grasp the situation.
“Is the gate broken? Then, are you stuck out here too, unable to leave…?”
As she tried to clarify, the Duke’s voice cut through her words sharply.
“I said you cannot open it.”
…What?
Maia looked up at him with a dazed expression.
His face remained unchanged, as if her reaction was something he had seen countless times.
His sharply defined lips parted, releasing a cold voice into the air, mingling with the falling snow.
“I ordered the gates to be sealed so they cannot be opened. It means you cannot leave.”
Maia stared at him, speechless.
He had just spoken something so absurd, yet his face remained frustratingly calm.
“…Wait, hold on. Are you saying you locked the gates, and I can’t leave?”
He didn’t answer but gave a small nod.
She couldn’t understand. What was this man thinking?
Is he… is he trying to spite me?
Maia, stunned, let the thought slip into her mind.
Nothing else could explain his actions.
She tried to piece together the situation.
The Duke of Western, who had deeply loved his previous wife, had chosen Maia as a convenient replacement, someone he didn’t need to love.
And now, when she decided to leave him, requesting a divorce, she was suddenly being blocked from leaving.
If she left, the position of Duchess would be vacant.
Countless noble ladies and their families would flock to him like moths to a flame.
Is he stopping me from leaving simply because it would be troublesome for him to find a new Duchess?
The Duke of Western was her first love, her first husband, and in many ways, a man of great significance in her life.
But she could not stop herself from thinking:
What kind of trash is this man?
Maia let out a sigh, almost like a groan.
“The details do not matter. What matters is this: you cannot leave.”
The Duke’s deep-sea-colored eyes glinted coldly.
His voice, as cold and beautiful as his appearance, resonated through the softly falling snow.
One step, two steps.
He slowly walked toward Maia.
“Those ridiculous papers you handed me were burned long ago. And I do not allow my wife to leave this estate without my permission.”
Thud.
His gloved hand struck the gate, the sound echoing like a dull ache.
Maia’s face turned pale, her breathing quickening.
The Duke of Western reached out, placing his hand on the immovable gate, trapping Maia within his shadow.
“Do you still not understand? You can never escape me.”
He looked down at Maia, declaring as if passing judgment.
“Maia Western Hansberk. You are the Duchess of Western for eternity. There is no life for you that is not as the Duchess of Western.”
Maia bit down on her trembling lips.
She found it truly revolting that the Duke of Western, who had never spared her a shred of attention before, would now shamelessly hold onto her simply because it was too troublesome for him to find a new Duchess.
✦✦✦
As Maia walked through the grand hall after handing over the divorce papers, she found herself before the corridor lined with portraits of the previous Dukes.
A memory from her first day in this mansion returned.
A first love so terrifying that she would trample it in her dreams, had proposed to her.
That was the day she entered this mansion as his fiancée.
“…Huh?”
Back then, filled with rosy dreams of romance, the young girl had wandered the mansion, avoiding the servants who neither watched nor restrained her.
And so it was inevitable that she would discover it.
The portrait of the Duke of Western and his previous wife, the late Imperial Princess Livga Calastia Adelstein, hanging together.
Looking back, she should have been suspicious from that moment.
The new bride of the Duke entering the mansion, only to find the portrait of the Duke and his late wife, dead for over two years, still proudly displayed in the center of the corridor.
