It was a common thought to wish that someone who had left your side would be unhappy and regretful.
The problem was that the person with the greater fault also had the same thought.
“Did you want me to live miserably and long for the days when I was the Duchess?”
Helene didn’t particularly want the Duke to regret or cling to her. In the first place, she was too busy rebuilding her life to care about him.
On the other hand, the Duke was feeling indescribable humiliation as he watched the woman who only shone after she had left his hands.
“No. What I mean is, I don’t understand why you’re being so nice now when you treated me so terribly. And enough that other men would covet you…”
Confusion and anger were alternately mixed in the words he squeezed out.
Helene, who was giving warm smiles to people, especially the Prince, smiles she had never once shown him, was looking at him again with cold eyes.
Such contrasting attitudes also made his head seethe.
He let out a long sigh as if to cool down the heat, and covered his eyes with one hand.
“…If you had been like that when you were with me, things wouldn’t have spiraled into this catastrophe.”
Helene was simply dumbfounded by the sight.
They had been living together in a purely business relationship without a shred of affection, and now he suddenly appeared and was saying strange things.
“What’s the point of arguing now? It’s already over between us.”
She only wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible, feeling unpleasant.
The Duke turned and grabbed her wheelchair as she tried to leave.
“You need someone to take care of you, don’t you?”
“What?”
“I’ll apologize for everything I’ve done wrong, so come back to the Ducal House. I’ll fully support your business and look for ways to fix your legs.”
It was because he suddenly thought that she was his only lifeline.
A successful business, the image of a good husband who forgives and takes care of his guilty wife, and connections to the Imperial family through Princess Cynthia—he had a lot of valuable things.
With this, he could not only maintain his position as the head of the family, but also treat her with sincere affection.
He was an emotionally underdeveloped man who thought that such conditions were necessary to share true feelings between people.
“It seems like you’re the one who needs help, Duke.”
The Duke frowned at Helene’s firm answer.
“Just because you’ve gained some attention at social parties, you don’t seem to understand the situation very well. Think carefully unless you want to live alone and unhappily for the rest of your life in that body. The men who approach you are all just trying to get something out of you for their businesses.”
There was mockery in his voice.
Helene’s lips twisted slightly at being treated like a flawed human being.
“I may be uncomfortable, but I’m not unhappy. Unlike you, who has a problem with your mind. That’s why you’re only treated like a stud.”
She wanted to create a frequency to bring him to his senses, as per Cynthia’s bizarre idea, and play it to him 24 hours a day.
The Duke’s face contorted in an instant at the insult.
“What did you say?”
He was about to shout in anger.
“I’ve been listening and listening, but I really can’t stand it anymore.”
At someone’s disgusted voice, the Duke turned around.
Lady Valeria, who had not shown herself since Carlos’ funeral, was standing with her arms crossed.
“Lady Valeria?”
The Duke quickly composed himself and tried to act like a gentleman, but Valeria had heard the entire conversation.
“Duke, you’re just indulging in the delusion that everything looks good except what you’ve chosen, aren’t you? You’ve never tried to get anything on your own except what you were born with, have you? So you’re not satisfied with your own life and just blame others.”
His head was spinning from the rapid-fire words.
“Have you ever thought that you might be someone else’s wrong choice?”
Valeria’s last words finally broke his bones.
“I’m the problem? No, that can’t be…”
“Don’t try to block the path of a promising person, and get out of the way!”
Valeria, gripping the handles of Helene’s wheelchair tightly, began to charge fiercely toward him.
Helene’s eyes widened and her hair flew wildly.
“Ugh!”
The Duke, startled, dodged and fell awkwardly to the ground.
Screech-!
Soon, the wheelchair, drifting and spinning half a turn, came to a stop.
Helene, shaking her dizzy head, looked down at the Duke sitting on the ground.
It was a look of pity, not anger or contempt.
In her eyes, he looked like a child crying and whining because he didn’t know what to do on his own.
Just like her past self.
“Live your life your way. That’s all I have to say.”
After leaving those last words, the two of them left the scene leisurely.
“Hoo…”
Valeria, arriving at a garden where white camellias were blooming, gasped and chuckled.
“How have you been?”
“Yes, your driving skills are amazing. How have you been…”
Of course, she didn’t seem to be doing very well.
Valeria had dark circles under her eyes and was gaunt.
It seemed that she had suffered a lot of heartache due to the death of her husband, Carlos.
At Carlos’ funeral, she did not resent or blame Helene.
She just said this one thing.
“He was a good person.”
A simple word contained complex feelings.
Even though it was a loveless arranged marriage, it was possible that she had glimpsed unexpected aspects and gradually grown fond of him.
“Sister-in-law…”
Valeria smiled gently at Helene, who stopped speaking, realizing her mistake.
“Aren’t we family anymore?”
“No, I just thought there might be a better title.”
Helene shook her head urgently and made excuses.
Valeria took her hand and lowered her posture.
“Princess Cynthia asked me. What is the life I truly want? What do I enjoy and feel happiest doing?”
She had also thought that marriage was the whole of life, like most young ladies.
Cynthia’s question, which flew to her as she felt lost after losing her husband, soon became the answer.
“What I said to the Duke earlier is actually my own story from the past. My father recommended remarriage, but now I want to try living on my own. Seeing the wonderful CEO Helene gives me courage.”
Valeria smiled brightly and tapped the back of her hand like a keyboard.
“I’m going to become a piano teacher and teach children. It’s much cooler than being waited on, right?”
Helene smiled and squeezed her hand tightly.
“That’s wonderful. Can I learn the piano too, teacher?”
“Of course. Come anytime. I’ll talk to my father and have ramps installed all over the capital. For people who are disabled due to the war. Now we can go anywhere and do anything, right?”
It was none other than Valeria who suggested building a ramp at the entrance of the official residence.
“We’ll keep being family, right? I grew up as an only child, so I’ve always envied families with sisters.”
Helene looked at Valeria, who was smiling brightly. She could feel warmth blooming in their clasped hands.
Her brother had left, and a sister had been born.
The strange younger sister was the same.
So this was what it was like to share people and hearts.
‘Cynthia is really amazing. She’s able to have an impact even when she’s not around…’
Like a fairy sprinkling courage on people, it seemed like Cynthia was hiding among the white camellias, laughing playfully.
“Even if it’s a mess, I’m going to live as my heart leads me. After experiencing bereavement, I’m not afraid of anything anymore.”
“Can you compare to me, who has gone through a divorce and a trial? An unpredictable life is so much fun.”
Above the two people laughing like girls talking about their dreams, soft snowflakes were falling.
“But where did Princess Cynthia and General Guise go…?”
“I think they went on a date, husband and wife. What a turncoat.”
Helene must be treating me like a turncoat right now.
I was in the largest hotel in the capital, not the official residence.
It was a decision made for safety due to the sudden heavy snow, but I was also a little impatient.
I looked around the hotel, which seemed to have a clear purpose of existence.
‘But it’s my first time coming to a place like this with a man, so it’s a bit…’
I was caught in a strange mood as I watched Masera’s back as he walked down the hallway of the guest rooms.
I’ve been to a traitor’s villa and a royal palace, but something…
But that was only for a moment, and as soon as I saw the large and luxurious room, I forgot about the sense of incongruity.
“It’s my first time coming to a hotel with a man!”
At my words, which combined awkwardness and the joy of a staycation, Masera turned to look at me.
“You’ve been here often, haven’t you?”
“…”
He must have traveled to many different countries.
But only after seeing a hint of disappointment in his eyes did I realize that my words were strange, and I quickly corrected myself.
“I didn’t mean it in a weird way…”
“It’s my first time coming with a woman.”
“I thought so.”
Isn’t this answer a bit insulting too? Having nothing to say, I quickly turned my eyes to find another topic, and pointed to a picture of a baby angel hanging on the wall.
“If we have a child, what color will their hair be?”
Unless they inherit my genetic disease, they won’t have silver-white hair, so what color will they have?
It was just pure curiosity.
But Masera’s eyes widened slightly, and he asked in a very serious tone.
“That question, perhaps…”
A gaze filled with all sorts of complex emotions went back and forth between my face and lower abdomen.
He had a very big misunderstanding.
