Chapter 03
Renee personally grabbed Adele’s arm and helped her into the carriage. Then, standing outside the door, she locked eyes with Adele.
“You are simply Adelaide Milliam. You have to love yourself first, only then will others be able to love you too. Don’t ever let anyone look down on you.”
“…”
“Answer me.”
“Y-yeah.”
“The Debrian family values honor, so they won’t break their promise.”
As soon as Adele heard the word “Debrian,” her heart softened. It meant she would see Ethan again.
Renee brushed Adele’s hair back once. Though Renee was certainly a good person, she had never been a warm older sister. So when that sister touched her hair, Adele felt her ears burn red.
The feeling of being loved always made her helpless.
“You are someone that family needs. You know that too, right?”
Adele had saved the family’s only heir. So she was indispensable to them. As she nodded vigorously, Renee continued.
“From now on, you’re really on your own. Endure it no matter what. Even if it’s hard, hang in there. You’re good at that, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Don’t worry. You take care too…”
When Adele’s eyes began to glisten again with tears, Renee let out a deep sigh.
“Stop crying already.”
“Sorry. But the tears keep coming.”
“Adele, remember this. If you endure and endure, and it’s still too hard… then don’t hesitate. Come to me.”
“Really? I can… do that?”
“Yeah. So don’t be afraid. Go on. Got it?”
‘And be someone who is truly loved.’
Renee swallowed her last words and shut the carriage door herself.
In the distance, Hailey stood sniffling, but all Adele could do was wave through the window of the carriage.
The carriage carrying Adele rolled gently out of the capital square. Her new life was beginning.
The interior was long enough that small, twelve-year-old Adele could lie down and sleep comfortably. As Renee said, after spending two long days and nights, they finally reached the Debrian Count’s Herbon estate.
Stretching her arms wide, Adele stood up.
She dangled her feet that didn’t reach the floor as she tried to calm her anxious heart. The carriage rolled quietly into the garden of the Debrian estate.
Thump, thump. Her pounding heart rang in her ears, marking a new beginning.
The horse slowed with a pleasant rhythm, and soon the door to her carriage opened.
But the blond young man was nowhere in sight.
Renee had surely sent word ahead to announce Adele’s arrival. Yet Ethan wasn’t there, and young Adele didn’t understand what that meant.
* * *
Adele saw Ethan again the day she heard her sister had come to the Herbon estate.
“Sister is here?”
“Yes, she’s in the drawing room with the Count right now.”
After arriving at the estate, Adele was assigned a personal maid named Susan. Though only three years older, Susan was a very capable girl.
Why is she here? Did she come to take me back?
Half full of longing and half filled with fear, Adele slowly made her way down to the drawing room. Though she was happy to see her sister, her legs trembled so much she had to lean on Susan several times.
Outside the drawing room, two knights of the family and the head butler stood waiting.
“I understand.”
Adele nodded, and the butler gently pushed the door open.
“Marry them. Right now.”
But Renee’s sharp voice halted everyone in their tracks. The butler quickly tried to shut the door again, but Adele reached out with her small hand and held his wrist firmly.
“That’s unreasonable. What was originally discussed was an engagement, was it not?”
Count Debrian responded politely to Renee, perhaps because she was soon to become the crown princess—or so Adele could only assume.
“No. The original agreement was a marriage between Adelaide Milliam and Ethan Debrian.”
“But Adele is still far too young.”
“Young? Since when has Hesenia cared about the age of girls?”
In the Hesenian Empire, men had to be of age to marry, but girls could marry anytime with their family’s consent.
“Why are you rushing this marriage so urgently?”
Despite the Count’s question, Renee remained silent. And for some reason, Adele couldn’t even blink.
“What’s changed in these two years?”
Eventually, Renee’s cold, puzzled voice broke the silence. No one answered.
“Something has changed. The Count and the young master’s attitude…”
“Th-that’s not it. We just… need a little more time.”
Despite the Count’s flustered stammering, Renee continued as if talking to herself.
“I clearly remember the Count being pleased with the arrangement two years ago… and the young master, too…”
Still, no reply came from either of them. A moment later, Renee spoke again in a firm voice.
“This is a marriage that was going to happen anyway, so I don’t understand why you’re hesitating.”
“My thoughts exactly. If it’s going to happen anyway—”
“No. I won’t listen to any more. If you’ve changed your mind, I’ll take my sister and leave this house immediately.”
“That—!”
At Renee’s declaration that she’d take Adele, the Count stood up so abruptly the teacups on the table clattered.
“That won’t do.”
“Of course not. I offered the title of duke to this family on the condition that Ethan marries my sister. A duke’s title, no less.”
“Our family didn’t do it just for—”
“Yes! Even if not for that alone, if not for my sister, Ethan wouldn’t even be alive today. That was just two years ago. So why do I now feel like I’m begging for this marriage?”
“L-Lady Milliam, that’s not—”
“Father, Lady Milliam is right.”
At that moment, Ethan’s voice interrupted their exchange. Hearing it, Adele felt her heart sink. Though his words weren’t rejection, something about them made her dizzy and weak in the knees. Perhaps it was because his voice was colder than winter frost.
“Ethan!”
“This marriage will happen eventually. Whether in four years or now, it makes no difference. It’s not a marriage based on love anyway.”
No. It was because his voice sounded like the sigh of a man resigned to his fate.
“As Lady Milliam said, I owe my life to Adele. A lifetime of gratitude wouldn’t be enough.”
But Renee caught on to something strange in his words.
“Love…? What noble marriage isn’t political? And yet you bring up love now?”
“Are you saying Adele and I are suitable only for a political match? She’s only twelve.”
Renee scoffed. An eight-year age difference between nobles was trivial.
“So you’re saying you don’t want to marry my Adele.”
“…I will marry her.”
“Even though you care so much about love.”
Their marriage had been promised the day Adele saved his life. Now, speaking of love seemed ridiculous.
“Don’t worry about that. There won’t be such a thing as love in my life anyway.”
“From now on”…?
Renee wanted to take Adele and leave right away—but she couldn’t. The image of Marquis Gerard Sonnier’s bulging belly and sinister eyes flashed through her mind.
She hesitated, but not for long. If they kept their promise, no safer place existed for Adele in the empire.
What Renee needed now was a signed marriage document between Adele and Ethan. But holding a wedding would take too long.
“The wedding isn’t important. Let the ceremony be held when Adele comes of age.”
The Count vaguely understood Renee’s urgency. At this point, he had no room left to retreat.
“I’ll prepare the marriage certificate and send it to the temple within the month.”
“No. It must be done immediately. I want this resolved while I’m still here.”
The Count said something more, but Adele could no longer stand at the door. Though she didn’t fully understand what was wrong, her chest hurt terribly, and she had to clench her fist and press it against her heart.
Her heart pounded painfully. She felt like she might burst into tears.
Rejection was something she was used to. Being unwanted was as natural as washing her face in the morning. Even when Adele had done nothing wrong, it wasn’t unusual for people to dislike her.
When she turned her small body around, the knights straightened again, and the butler gave Susan a silent nod.
“You should come back later, miss.”
“Okay.”
Adele whispered quietly, not wanting anyone to hear, then hurried back to her room.
She sent Susan to fetch some tea and, now alone, took a deep breath.
“It’s fine. I’m fine. I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t hear a single thing today.”
What does it mean to have a heart in debt? Ethan said he would marry her out of indebtedness. Nothing had changed, but she found herself crying more here than back home.
Adele bit down hard on her clenched fist to muffle the sobs.
Don’t cry. If I cry… it’ll look like I’m truly miserable.
Wiping away her tears, Adele forced her lips into a smile.
Pretending to smile was one of the things Adele did best.
