~CHAPTER 85~
Lincia stared blankly out the window.
Winter had fully arrived in the Cassius Grand Duchy.
The season of light snow had ended and the sky no longer dropped snow.
Feeling the cold weather, Lincia closed the canopy.
My heart feels restless.
Last night, Harvich finally said the words I had wanted to hear.
He said I could leave the Grand Duke’s castle.
“Once your health improves, I will help you move back to the two-story house you once lived in.”
“…”
“So please stop crying.”
Even after hearing what she had longed for, Lincia did not feel truly happy.
It felt strange.
She should have been happy to leave this dreadful castle, yet she was not.
What do I even want?
What exactly am I expecting from Harvich?
It is clearly my own heart, yet I cannot answer myself.
It frustrates me.
Days continued in that slow and stagnant way.
After that night, Harvich always came to her room only at very late hours.
He did not even sleep there.
He simply stood, looked quietly at her face, traced a fingertip beneath her eye, then left the room.
Since Lincia also struggled to fall asleep, she sensed his presence every night.
On the fifth such night, Lincia sat on the bed, waiting.
She felt she could no longer avoid talking to him.
When the man entered late as usual, he did not seem surprised that she was awake.
“…I thought about what to do.”
“Please speak.”
Lincia hesitated before answering.
Harvich did not push her, silently waiting for her words.
“I will stay here.”
Perhaps she wanted to give him one more chance.
No, to give *them* one more chance.
She already knew from the beginning that love alone could not solve what was in front of them.
“Traveling far while pregnant would not be good either…”
Harvich did not look happy at her decision to stay.
Instead, he sank down with a look of relief that words could not express.
“I will do better.”
His voice carried both relief and a sigh.
He continued to repeat how thankful he was and how he would do better.
Even then, Lincia still was not sure if staying was the right choice.
Even if they had one more chance, she feared they could not truly improve.
There were times she wondered if it would be better for them to part right now.
But she still loved him, and her heart could not harden against him.
“You have barely slept lately, haven’t you?”
“…”
“Come lie down.”
Harvich hesitated briefly, then nodded and lay next to her.
He carefully placed a hand on her.
“Sleep now.”
Ironically, the night Lincia had been unable to sleep for so long finally ended only when she lay in his arms.
* * *
Even after the season of light snow passed, the Grand Duke’s castle remained bleak.
There was still no place in it that felt like home to Lincia.
She allowed him only half of the bed, nothing more.
Though she seemed to be trying in her own way, her expression was always poor whenever they spoke.
To mend something broken, effort was required.
So Harvich did something unlike himself and began tending the greenhouse.
He searched his memory for seedlings Lincia might like and planted them there.
Although a servant regularly watered the plants, he still visited personally to care for the flowers.
While doing so, he often recalled his father.
As a child, Harvich never understood him.
He could not grasp why his father would forbid his mother from entering this small place and control her over it.
But when he watched blue shoots sprout, he finally understood his father’s heart.
Flowers that bloom beautifully eventually wither.
When he recalled the times his father banned his mother from entering the greenhouse, it was always when the flowers were nearing their end.
And every time, his mother would fall sick afterward.
His thoughts were interrupted by the gardener.
“Your Grace, the flowers in the greenhouse have bloomed.”
“…If I show her, will she like it?”
“Of course. Fresh flowers are rare here in the Grand Duchy. She will like them.”
Watching the fully bloomed flowers, Harvich visited Lincia’s room during the afternoon instead of at night.
When the door opened, she was talking with Tereo.
Though her expression was slightly tense, she looked more alive than she ever did with him.
His heart stirred with discomfort.
As soon as she noticed Harvich, her expression turned cold.
It hurt, but he understood.
He had yet to pay for deceiving her and he had caused her pain.
“Lincia, the flowers in the greenhouse have bloomed.”
“The greenhouse?”
Lincia rose from the bed.
Her dress hem was not properly arranged, revealing her thin legs for a moment before they disappeared beneath the fabric.
“I want to go see them.”
Since that incident, she had avoided walking through the halls, yet she expressed the desire to go first.
“I will wait for you.”
When Harvich stepped out of the room, Tereo followed as well.
Harvich wondered what they had talked about.
But he asked nothing.
He believed he had no right.
“May I accompany you to the greenhouse?”
Harvich replied with a frown rather than words.
Soon, Lincia appeared after finishing her preparation.
“I thought I smelled flowers from you.”
“Is that so? I should have brought one with me.”
It had been a long time since they held a normal conversation.
Lincia still lost her breath sometimes while walking, and her body stiffened whenever someone approached.
Seeing it always made Harvich feel suffocated.
It was all his fault.
“…You don’t have to push yourself.”
“I’m fine. I want to see the flowers.”
When they finally arrived, Harvich found himself anxious.
He did not know if bringing her was the right choice.
When Lincia saw the flowers in full bloom, she smiled faintly.
It was a smile he had not seen in a long time.
“Did you choose all these flowers yourself?”
“Yes, I chose what I thought you might like. Do you like them?”
“Yes, very much.”
They continued a short conversation.
Considering how their conversations had nearly stopped since the incident, it was remarkable progress.
From that day on, Harvich visited the greenhouse with her several more times.
Every time he saw her surrounded by flowers, he felt guilt.
Lincia did not belong in this place.
She had come here only to suffer.
He could barely bear how sorry he felt for her.
* * *
“The envoy we sent to the Kingdom of Rensier has returned.”
He wondered why the report had taken so long.
Almost a month had passed since the season of light snow ended.
“What about the one sent to the Imperial Palace?”
“We tried to contact them because their reply was unusually delayed, but we have received no answer.”
“Is something wrong between the Grand Duchy and the Emperor?”
If it were something that simple, he could handle it.
The old hounds in the palace wanted him to visit the capital personally.
If he could gain control over the compensation negotiations, he would be willing to go.
But if the palace wished to negotiate directly with Rensier, he could not accept that.
The imperial officials would never agree to laws and compensation for the Grand Duchy.
Harvich pressed his temple at the familiar dull headache.
“Leave the matter with the palace for now. What did Rensier say regarding compensation?”
“They asked to adjust the negotiation terms. First, they no longer wish to deal with Count Chelshire…”
Harvich frowned at the unexpected change.
“Why? They have always negotiated through the Chelshire family.”
The Chelshire House had handled cross-border diplomatic disputes for generations.
The Grand Duchy and Rensier often clashed over water routes, and the Chelshire family had always mediated those issues.
“Aside from that, they said they will follow Your Grace’s decisions.”
Harvich gestured and received the paperwork.
“And the prince of Rensier wishes to speak with Your Grace privately. He requests permission to visit the Grand Duke’s castle.”
“What about the human trafficking case?”
Harvich flipped through the pages.
“They admit partial wrongdoing and said they will support efforts to locate the people from the Cassius Grand Duchy.”
“Is that everything?”
“Yes. They said the detailed terms should be discussed in person.”
How stubborn.
“Tell them to come.”
“When shall I give them the date?”
Harvich paused to think.
He did not object to meeting them, but he preferred to do so in Hesta.
When arriving by ship from Rensier, the first land reached was Hesta.
Lincia was still fragile and anxious, and he did not want unfamiliar people entering the castle and causing her distress.
He also wanted to give her space and peace for a while.
“Tell them to meet us in Hesta in two weeks.”
Thank you very much