TREV 10

Chapter : 10

It was the only object Lawrence had relied on for comfort since he was very young.

Whenever he received cold looks from Duke Gerhardt or was treated harshly by him, he would steady his heart by looking at the necklace.

On days when the loneliness and hardship were unbearable, Lawrence endured by gazing at her necklace.

If only his mother had still been alive, he wouldn’t have been this lonely.

He endured while entertaining the foolish thought that perhaps he, too, could have been loved.

Of course, those feelings were now things of the past, but to Lawrence, his mother’s necklace was still precious and deeply cherished.

“Haa…”

Lawrence let out a sigh, forcing down his heavy emotions.

A long time passed, and dusk settled beyond the window.

The room was brightly lit by lamplight, and the darkened view outside was no longer visible.

Even though nothing could be seen beyond the window, Lawrence stared blankly into it.

‘What on earth am I thinking?’

Patricia’s image resurfaced—nodding obediently when he told her never to appear before him again.

She truly seemed as though she would never come back, without a trace of lingering attachment.

“……”

Still, there was no way she could really do that.

‘I’ve been tormented by Patricia for years.’

Yet this time, her visit had been after nearly a month.

She had come after a month and, without saying much, had only offered an apology.

‘Has she finally come to her senses?’

Was it because of the expectation that he wouldn’t be harassed by Patricia anymore? Something about it felt strange.

‘Well, it’s good for me either way.’

The young duke shook his head and pulled his gaze away from the window as if he had nothing to regret.

Then he opened the very bottom drawer of his desk and took out his mother’s necklace.

It had been a very long time.

Opening the locket again—nearly three years.

“Huh?”

Lawrence let out a hollow laugh as he opened it.

The corner of his red lips curled crookedly upward.

The photograph of the beautiful woman that should have been inside the locket was nowhere to be found.

“Of course!”

Lawrence stood up, slipping the necklace into the inner pocket of his coat.

Only then did he understand why Patricia had nodded without the slightest hesitation.

‘She wanted to make me come find her myself.’

Her rudeness—treating people like toys—was utterly absurd.

It was as if she were testing how much a person could endure.

But Lawrence had no intention of dancing to her tune.

Unlike usual, the fact that she had put even a little thought into it only irritated him more.

The very next day, the young duke headed straight for the Herarilla ducal estate.

It was a rude visit, with neither prior notice nor request for permission—just as Patricia always did.

“Hand it over. Right now.”

He didn’t want to exchange a single word with her anymore. He just wanted to return as quickly as possible.

But Patricia put on a frightened expression, her innocent eyes wide as though she truly had no idea what was going on.

As if he were taking his anger out on the wrong person.

“Hey. Does this look like a joke to you?”

He couldn’t understand why she was doing this at all.

If she were a man, he might have punched her on the spot.

He was furious beyond measure, irritation boiling over, but he clenched his teeth and endured it—she looked far too small and weak compared to him.

“But… what exactly are you telling me to bring…?”

Patricia asked in a trembling voice.

Her eyes were filled with injustice and fear.

“Do you really not know?”

Even after everything she had put him through, the stupid thought crossed his mind that she didn’t seem to be lying.

“Yes! It wasn’t me! I swear!”

Tears pooled in Patricia’s eyes as she shouted.

She sobbed, looking utterly wronged.

Seeing Patricia like this for the first time, he was taken aback, his gaze wavering without realizing it.

No—this wasn’t the first time he had seen her cry.

Patricia cried easily in front of him.

But this time, she somehow seemed to be truly crying.

Especially the way she hurriedly wiped away her tears as if embarrassed.

It was different from her usual habit of deliberately letting tears fall for effect.

For some reason, Lawrence felt as though he should apologize. But Patricia didn’t give him even a moment.

“It seems you’re done with whatever business you had with me, so I’ll be going now.”

She said it in a curt voice.

As if she would leave like this and never come looking for him again.

The Patricia he saw after a month had definitely changed.

“How am I supposed to believe what you say?”

Perhaps Patricia truly had nothing to do with his mother’s missing photograph.

But he had to find out whether she was lying—or whether she had truly changed.

“What the hell did you do?”

“…Haa.”

Just when she thought she had finally gained her freedom from Lawrence Gerhardt, things didn’t go as expected.

She desperately wanted to be alone, but with Morgan yelling incessantly, it seemed unlikely she’d even get a moment of rest.

Morgan, who had fled the drawing room without looking back, now came to find her.

Without the slightest regard for her wishes—doing whatever he pleased.

“What did you do that made the young Duke Gerhardt come all the way here?!”

“…”

“Answer me!”

Morgan raised his voice, clearly furious, and his shrill tone made her brow crease involuntarily.

‘Turning red when angry must run in the family.’

“Are you deaf?”

Morgan shoved his face right up close to hers, shouting, and as a result, his spit splattered onto her face.

She wanted nothing more than to curse at him and tell him to get lost, but she wanted no more conflict.

“The young duke told me not to say.”

“…The young duke?”

As she wiped his spit off roughly and answered, Morgan clicked his tongue sharply, at a loss for words.

‘Looks like he didn’t tell Morgan.’

At least Lawrence hadn’t told Morgan about her wrongdoing.

If Lawrence had told Morgan that she stole his necklace, she’d be in far worse trouble right now.

As expected of the male lead—his mouth seemed pretty tight.

‘I’m a little grateful.’

Then again, he was also a victim of Patricia.

In a way, couldn’t they be considered comrades?

She waited, indulging in useless thoughts, hoping Morgan would leave—but it seemed he still had more to confirm.

“He told you not to say?”

“I told you, he did.”

It was, of course, a lie.

Lawrence had said his piece and left. But she nodded confidently.

“Ha!”

Morgan let out a hollow laugh, incredulous.

He couldn’t very well interrogate her when the young duke himself had told her not to speak, yet his curiosity was clearly eating at him.

“……”

She quietly watched Morgan clench and unclench his fists, his face flushed red.

Watching him seethe was somewhat amusing, but she was far too exhausted today and hoped he’d give up and leave soon.

‘Normally he wouldn’t even spare me a glance—why meddle now?’

“Why don’t you try saying that to Father as well?”

“I’ll handle that myself. Now get out.”

Morgan brought up Duke Herarilla, frustrated that things weren’t going his way, and she pointed toward the door, telling him to leave.

His sudden interference was nothing but a burden and an annoyance.

Besides, it wasn’t out of concern for her.

More likely, he was venting his frustration—either worried about getting dragged into this mess himself, or angry that he’d been helpless before the young duke.

Whatever his intentions, she didn’t want to be around him anymore.

“……”

Despite her request, Morgan showed no sign of leaving.

His face, which seemed incapable of growing any redder, deepened to an even darker shade.

So much so that the freckles on his face were no longer visible.

“A command? You—how dare—!”

“Shh.”

“…?”

“Don’t shout like a barbarian.”

Just as Morgan raised his voice again, she hurriedly cut him off—but that only seemed to strike a nerve.

“Ha! You dare talk about manners? To me? You and I are different at the core!”

Once again, spit flew from his mouth as he shouted.

‘Ugh. Disgusting.’

She leaned her upper body back to avoid it and let out a quiet sigh.

It seemed Morgan wouldn’t leave until he had vented all his anger, so she decided to simply wait it out.

“How dare a vulgar woman like you—!”

“Haow daer a vurgar womahn like yoo—”

Though she had resolved to endure his rant silently, her mouth moved before she could stop it.

“What? What did you just say?”

“Huh? I didn’t say anything.”

She widened her eyes innocently, as if she had no idea what he meant, and Morgan fumed.

“You think anyone in this household is on your side? Know your place! Unless you want to be thrown out onto the streets right now!”

He said it with a sneering smile.

That smile suited him disturbingly well—she was almost impressed.

“Okay.”

“What?”

“I’ll know my place.”

Part of her thought it wouldn’t be so bad to see his face explode with rage, but she simply nodded and agreed.

She didn’t want to argue with him anymore.

After meeting the young duke, she was utterly exhausted, and as he said, she was nothing but a thorn in this household’s side.

She really did need to know her place.