~Chapter 99~
“Did you… call me out here on purpose?”
Even without an answer, he already knew.
“Are you planning to throw everything away now? Or do you think you have three lives to waste one like this? What if I hadn’t come—”
“I wanted to see you.”
That single, simple line broke down Armians’s anger.
“It’s been ten days since I last saw you.”
Bella raised her rain-soaked hand and gently touched his cheek. Her face was flushed, but her hand was shockingly cold.
“Is this really what you wanted to say? No, first let’s go inside. We should talk indoors.”
“I love you.”
Something was wrong. They were standing together, but their words didn’t match at all.
Armians paused his plan to lead her back to the mansion and instead gripped her shoulders.
Bella turned her head, as if to look at him, but her gaze was unfocused.
“Bella, look at me. Are you all right?”
“I love you… so I can’t help it…”
Bella muttered something unclear and then closed her eyes.
“Bella!”
Armians caught her collapsing body with ease.
She was even lighter than last time, her weight sinking into his arms. He clenched his teeth and shouted:
“Call the physician!”
Bella opened her eyes earlier than expected. The time she had spent in the rain wasn’t long.
Even so, her fever didn’t go down. Wrapped tightly in blankets, her face was as red as a carrot.
Armians stayed only until the physician prescribed medicine for her fever. Once he saw she was safe, he prepared to return to his office.
“You’re leaving?”
That was his plan, but—
“……”
For some reason, her small voice kept him from moving.
Armians sat in the chair beside her.
With their faces close, he could hear her shallow, heated breathing. Half-drowsy from the medicine, Bella squinted her eyes.
Instead of sleeping, she reached one hand out from under the blanket.
Understanding what she wanted, Armians took her hand.
Her skin was still icy cold. He rubbed her hand to warm it, but his anger flared again.
“Were you afraid of me leaving, but not afraid of dying?”
“Fears have priorities. I’m still afraid of dying… but when something even scarier appears, I think I can risk it.”
“So you’re saying you’ll do this again? Or is that just my imagination?”
“…I’m sorry. But I won’t change.”
It was a poor excuse.
But that was how Bella loved someone — clumsy and reckless, because she was new to it.
“Ha… Did I ever ask you to protect me?”
He threw out the words roughly, but even he could feel his anger had faded.
‘…What am I supposed to do with such stubbornness?’
Thinking about it, no one but him could handle her anyway.
So what else could he do? The only option was to wrap her up and keep her by his side.
Armians reached his own conclusion and felt oddly satisfied. A predator with the upper hand could afford to be generous.
Maybe he didn’t need to “win” against Bella at all. He only needed to make sure she never had to drink poison again.
“…Sleep now. We’ll talk about the rest later.”
“I…”
“Do you know this? Bella with a cold looks very ugly.”
“!”
Bella’s half-closing eyes flew wide open. Armians playfully pinched her nose and let go.
“So hurry and get better.”
He pressed a short kiss on her forehead before sitting back down in the chair.
It was a promise — he would stay until she fell asleep. And also a kind of surrender, showing he wouldn’t stay angry anymore.
Bella’s face flushed even redder. She stayed quiet, then gave a small nod.
Bella fell into a deep sleep.
Armians pulled a desk to his chair and began finishing his overdue work.
During their cold war, he had spent long hours at his desk but accomplished little. Now, with Bella beside him, his focus returned immediately.
He worked at top efficiency, completing all his paperwork in one sitting.
The only things left were tasks requiring reports and orders. He stepped outside the room.
But not wanting to go too far, he received reports right outside her door.
One of them was from Beril, who was tracking the slave trader.
“Where is he staying these days?”
“He’s still living at the Count Rohiltern’s estate.”
“Even though his business partner was caught, he hasn’t run? He just stayed there…?”
“Probably found another sponsor for his escape funds.”
Beril shrugged. Despite his light manner, he was careful — never speaking without proof.
His words were half-guess, half-fact. He had bribed Rohiltern’s servants to report everything happening in the mansion.
He also had trackers ready in case Malcop slipped away.
Malcop thought he had outsmarted them, but in truth, he had been in Armians’s grasp the whole time.
“What should we do? Shall I kidnap him tonight?”
Beril even suggested slipping a sleeping drug into his nightly drinks.
“…No. Let’s watch a bit longer.”
“Is that all?”
“I just have a feeling.”
It was like standing by the river and suddenly seeing the enemy general’s head float by. That kind of instinct.
Beril knew that following Armians’s orders never brought unexpected disaster. He simply answered, “As you wish.”
“Then let’s bring the trial date forward.”
Armians already knew how much money Malcop had demanded from the Countess. It was likely he had asked the Count for a similar amount.
But the Count didn’t have that kind of wealth.
If given enough time, Malcop would realize it. Better to act before that happened.
“If we pressure the Imperial family, moving up the date won’t be difficult… Do you have a reason prepared?”
Of course he did.
“Yes. Just tell the Imperial family my words.”
Normally, trials took months to be scheduled after a petition. But somehow, the trial date was pushed forward.
The reason: since the Countess was imprisoned for attempted murder, and the Count had requested divorce, it would be more efficient to combine the cases and reduce the Imperial court’s workload.
For me, it wasn’t bad news. With luck, I could bring the opinions from the tea party straight into the courtroom.
Of course, emotions alone wouldn’t decide the verdict. The court was for logic and law.
So I prepared a lot. What I would say, how they might counter, every possible argument.
Even so…
“Are you nervous?”
Standing in front of the court, I couldn’t help but feel it.
“From today, many things will change.”
And any mistakes today would change them too.
“Bella won’t make mistakes.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’ve seen how hard you worked. You stayed up all night practicing your words, checked every document. If heaven has eyes, it will surely take your side.”
Well… sometimes heaven betrays people.
But there was no need to spoil comforting words. I only smiled silently.
“Once this ends, the only person with the Rohiltern name will be Bella.”
“Yes. And there will be no one left who can claim to be my family.”
I had never thought of the Rohiltern Count and Countess as family. Charlotte either.
In truth, I had no family for a long time.
Even though it wasn’t new, saying it aloud left me hollow. Because I had never cut those ties legally before.
It felt like I was finally declaring myself completely alone in this world.
At that moment, Armians said:
“When all this ends, shall we get married?”
I lifted my eyes.
“Become my family.”
