Chapter 18
“Lady Dalson. What is going on?”
“P-Pardon? Nothing… nothing in particular.”
Isabella, who had entered the forest together with someone, had suddenly run out alone. At her evasive gaze and trailing words, his eyes narrowed sharply.
“Where is Lady Ledia?”
“I didn’t enter the forest with Lady Ledia.”
“A maid from the Ledia household told me otherwise. That you went to meet Princess Elena together.”
The forest where Meryl had taken Isabella was a place that Princess Elena—someone who detested insects and filth—would never choose as a meeting site.
Ikanuel, who had already deduced that fact, immediately realized she was lying to him. Meryl, sensing she could no longer deceive him, clenched her hands.
“P-Please… don’t tell the Princess, Lord Duke.”
“Where is Isabella?”
“I-I didn’t mean for this to happen. I swear, it was the Princess who—”
Come to think of it… had I even met the Princess today?
Meryl’s eyes darted around in confusion as she clutched her head with both hands. Her complexion quickly turned pale as she came back to her senses as if waking from a spell. Seeing her changing expression, Ikanuel frowned and snapped.
“Lady Dalson!”
“T-The western wolf infestation zone…”
“You left my fiancée alone in an area where wolves appear?!”
“I-I was trying to find the Princess…”
No matter how skilled one was in combat, it was dangerous to face a pack of wolves alone. Especially here, where rumors said the wolves hunted in groups of ten.
And Isabella was someone far removed from martial arts. If she were targeted by those wolves, her life would be in danger.
Realizing what she had done under his reprimand, Meryl covered her mouth with her hand and collapsed to the ground.
“Damn it.”
Ikanuel cursed under his breath and sprinted toward the wolf-infested zone where Isabella was supposed to be. Lady Isabella Ledia was someone he could never quite understand.
“Fearless… following her alone?”
Ever since the broken engagement, she had begun showing a different side of herself, and it irritated him—but first and foremost, his task was to find Isabella and safely bring her out of the forest.
The area was wide, and after running back and forth, sweat dripped down Ikanuel’s smooth forehead.
“Where are you… Isabella.”
As he looked around anxiously, faint voices reached his ears. Perhaps Isabella really was meeting Princess Elena. Following the sound, he moved forward.
“Your Highness. Isn’t it better like this than leaving it alone?”
A voice mixed with a bright smile echoed.
As if enchanted, Ikanuel arrived at a clearing—and there he saw Isabella standing beside Kairus.
At the sight of the two together, he froze. No—it would be more accurate to say he could not move at all.
Ever since the broken engagement, Isabella had always frowned at him or shown hostility. Yet now she was smiling brightly.
And not at him—but at someone else.
That fact made him painfully realize how much she disliked him.
“That smile… she used to show me too.”
Ikanuel stood there for a long time, dazed, taking in her radiant smile like sunlight. But when Kairus’s fingers moved toward her cheek, he unknowingly parted his lips.
“Lady Ledia.”
At the sound of his voice, Isabella’s smiling face immediately stiffened.
“Does she really hate me that much?”
Seeing her turn rigid so instantly made something in his chest ache. Ikanuel composed himself and approached them.
After bowing to Kairus first, he spoke.
“Your Highness. I did not know you were with my fiancée.”
“I didn’t know the young lord would be participating in the hunt either.”
Sharp gazes briefly clashed between the two men. Ikanuel was the first to look away. He turned to Isabella and continued.
“I have something I must speak with Lady Ledia about.”
Kaurus raised a brow at the request. After briefly considering whether to allow it or interfere, he finally decided.
“Isabella.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
With a gentle smile toward her, Kairus took out a neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket and placed it in her hand.
“Be careful not to catch a cold.”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
“And come return the handkerchief yourself.”
Even under Ikanuel’s piercing gaze, Kairus remained unfazed. With a final light wave, he left without hesitation.
After he was gone, heavy silence fell between Ikanuel and Isabella. Only the sound of flowing fountain water and chirping birds remained.
“Lady Ledia.”
“Yes, Lord Duke.”
Her greenish eyes shimmered blue under the sunlight. She was regaining the vitality she had once lost.
Ikanuel, realizing her liveliness and laughter had disappeared because of him, bit his lip.
“May I speak with you for a moment?”
It was unusually careful and polite for him. But Isabella immediately shook her head.
“I thought I already made my position clear. I have nothing more to say to you.”
“Lady Ledia…”
“The only reason I have tolerated your stubbornness until now is because of my late grandfather and your predecessor, who treated me like family.”
“….”
“Please conclude the broken engagement on your side before I contact the Duke’s household myself.”
Without waiting for his reply, Isabella turned and left.
Ikanuel stood alone in the empty clearing. Thinking of her smiling brightly with Kairus, his gaze drifted toward the fountain.
He dipped his hand into the clear water and murmured bitterly:
“Had I congratulated Isabella in person on her birthday…”
Would things have been different?
Regret slowly filled his chest, tightening painfully. Yet unlike his darkened thoughts, the early summer sky remained bright and clear.
* * *
“Looks like the hunt ended earlier than expected, miss.”
“Probably because the host, Princess Elena, returned to the palace due to illness.”
In the end, Isabella never got to meet Elena or use her special ability. She returned to the estate with Selly after a short outing.
“Miss!”
“Martin. What is it?”
“The young master has arrived earlier than expected. He’s in the reception room.”
“He’s already here?”
Following Martin’s words, Isabella headed to the room where Ryan and his guest were waiting. She knocked lightly.
“Ryan. May I come in?”
“Big sis!”
Ryan immediately opened the door. Her younger brother, training to become a knight, was growing noticeably every time she saw him.
What are they feeding him at the academy that he grows this much every break?
Isabella laughed and opened her arms. Ryan awkwardly returned the hug.
“If this keeps up, you’ll hit your head on door frames next break!”
“Only one semester has passed.”
Seeing him grumble like that made him still feel like her little brother. After their reunion hug, they teased each other as usual.
“So, you brought a senior from the academy?”
“Yeah. He’s my mentor. I invited him home for the break. You remember, right?”
“Ah…? Yeah… I think I do?”
“You clearly don’t.”
“No, I do!”
Ryan’s senior was Dylan Drayson.
The second son of the Drayson count family and a twenty-year-old peer of hers, he was renowned enough to be recruited into the imperial knight order at the youngest age.
While reassuring Ryan that she remembered, Isabella quickly entered the reception room.
Inside, Dylan stood up.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Dylan Drayson, Ryan’s senior at the academy.”
Sun-tanned skin from frequent outdoor training, sharp features neatly arranged on a refined face.
In his uniform, he carried an even more composed aura, like a finely crafted doll.
With rare black hair and dark brown eyes, Isabella observed him with quiet admiration.
“He’s that handsome?”
It felt strange that someone like him had never once been mentioned in high society.
While Isabella looked at him curiously, Dylan smiled warmly and offered his hand.
“Brother, you should greet him,” Ryan urged.
“Ah.”
Only then did Isabella quickly take his hand.
“I’m Isabella Ledia. I’ve heard a lot about you from my brother.”
“Nice to meet you, Lady Ledia.”
As they shook hands, Isabella suddenly spoke without thinking, a strange sense of familiarity rising in her chest.
“Have we… met somewhere before?”
