~CHAPTER 87~
Lincia looked out the window at the noisy scene.
“Do you not love me anymore?”
The man who had asked with a pained expression the previous evening had left the bedroom without even waiting for an answer.
“I misspoke. Please forget it.”
Yet he told her to forget words already spoken, which was nothing but irresponsible.
Some memories needed time to settle.
Even though she had forgiven Harvich, she still had not shaken off the fear.
Harvich had said something she could never easily forget, then failed to return to the bedroom until late into the night.
Even on the morning of his departure.
She waited for him, but only Hue came.
“It should take about two weeks. His Grace ordered me to guard this place if Your Highness wishes.”
“There’s no need.”
Hue hesitated at her firm reply, then delivered a document stating that all authority over the estate would be entrusted to her while Harvich was away.
“I’ll take my leave. Please stay well in the meantime.”
As Hue bowed and turned to leave the bedroom, Lincia impulsively stopped him.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Tell him no.”
Hue looked puzzled but did not ask further.
Lincia felt the noise outside grow more distant as she closed her eyes. She was exhausted after waiting all night for a man who never came.
When she woke, the sun was already setting. Normally a servant would have woken her long ago for a meal.
Sensing something odd, Lincia slowly sat up.
“You’re awake?”
A voice that should not have been here reached her ears. Her head snapped around on instinct.
In the room slowly filling with red sunlight, a bright head of blond hair stood out sharply.
Yulias sitting on the sofa in her bedroom was such an unnatural sight that Lincia felt for a moment she must be dreaming.
Was this a dream?
But the moment she realized it was real, her breath caught.
“Why are you…”
She clenched her fists. The sharp sting of her nails digging into her palms felt too vivid.
“I didn’t expect my sister to welcome me, but… aren’t you being too scared?”
Lincia blinked.
Yulias was still there. Her heart began pounding with fear.
She frantically glanced around, but Tereo, Anna, no one was there.
“You woke later than I expected, so we don’t have much time. Let’s go back to the palace. I’m here to take you.”
He looked at her with an innocent smile, like a child.
“You’ve suffered, haven’t you? Living in this wretched land, even hurting your body.”
Yulias rose from the sofa. As his shadow approached, Lincia found herself shrinking back.
“I know what misunderstanding you have. But I never told Overok to hit you. Not once.”
She had already heard this from Anna.
“I’ve already planned what to do with those who tormented you in the palace. So come back to where you belong. We were happy, weren’t we?”
Something unsettling lingered in the softness of his tone.
“When were we ever happy?”
She had spent at least five to ten years being mistreated in the palace. Even if there were good memories, they had long since faded.
“That hurts my feelings.”
Yulias stiffened. The man standing before her pressed one hand into the bed sheets.
“You said I was your only family. Let’s go back.”
Lincia’s lips trembled.
“That was just playing family.”
Her eyes quivered. Yulias himself had been the one to dismiss it as pretend family.
“Ah. But now you even have a child. So I’m not the only one anymore.”
She once told Harvich that she wanted to talk with Yulias someday.
How foolish that was.
Yulias was still after her child. When his eyes drifted toward her stomach, Lincia diverted the topic.
“Where’s Anna?”
“Asleep for now. If you say you’ll return to the palace, I’ll bring her.”
His words were chilling.
“If I say I’ll stay here, will you kill her?”
“Why twist my words like that?”
Yulias stepped onto the bed, and Lincia felt herself being cornered.
“If you stay here, of course I won’t bring her. Have you misunderstood everything I’ve said so far? I wouldn’t hurt things you like.”
Every time he said things like that, her heart dropped.
It sounded like a threat. As if he knew exactly what she cherished.
Fear was etched into her bones. Nothing he said now could erase the past.
Once, she had thought of Yulias as her only family, but now…
She didn’t know anymore.
Fondness turned to fear every time.
Lincia forced her stiff tongue to move.
“Go back alone. I don’t want to return to the palace.”
“Why.”
“I hate the palace.”
She turned her head away. Her hand shook under the blanket. Yulias stayed silent for a moment, then rose again.
“Alright. You don’t have to return to the palace. I can compromise that much.”
“I said go alone.”
“But you can’t stay in the North.”
“Why?”
“Because the Grand Duke neglected you. And on top of that, he let you get hurt.”
Lincia had been hated for one reason only.
Yulias had mistreated the North first. He broke his deal with the Grand Duke, and she was sent as payment.
People vented anger on what was close, not far.
“If you promise to leave the North, I can fix all the problems here.”
“Liar.”
If it were so easy, why hadn’t he fixed it before?
When she looked at him in disbelief, Yulias suddenly looked sad.
“I know what you’re thinking. But I had no power. I was only half an Emperor…”
He trailed off and looked away.
The sun had nearly set, and darkness filled the room.
“I want to talk more, but time’s up. Get some more sleep, Sister.”
What does that mean?
She had no time to think. Her vision went dark.
* * *
When Harvich reached the castle, the sun had already set. He learned only around midday that Yulias had arrived and rushed back, but time had slipped away.
If Yulias intended to take Lincia, everything should have ended already.
As Harvich approached the entrance, a voice came from behind.
“You’re late.”
Yulias looked at him. The man who usually wore a smile looked chillingly calm.
He seemed far too composed for someone who had threatened a knight to force his way here.
“You said before that you’d divorce her if she wanted it.”
Harvich’s face hardened.
“She wants it.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Why? You think she wouldn’t want to leave you? A man who couldn’t even control his own servants and let her rely on narcotic painkillers?”
Yulias listed Harvich’s faults one by one, then scoffed. He pulled a sheet of paper from his coat.
Harvich didn’t need to see it to know what it was. And he understood why Yulias had stayed in the North instead of leaving.
“Sign it.”
Harvich took the paper and let out a hollow laugh.
It was divorce papers stamped with Lincia’s seal.
“She doesn’t want to see your face, so handle it with me.”
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