RTPM 27

Chapter – 27

“How much did he even drink?”

Even her father, who had been rumored to be a heavy drinker, would shake his head in disbelief if he ever drank with Decarno while alive. Apparently, her husband-to-be was just naturally this way. Even when Count Ohara staggered, Decarno remained annoyingly composed.

“Evangeline.”

His eyes were slightly softened. Evangeline, worried someone might see, quickly glanced around. Today clearly wasn’t the right time.

“You must have taken the wrong path. If you wanted to go to the main hall, you should have turned left.”

“……”

“If it’s too much, I can send someone to help. We can talk later—”

“Is this about that day?”

Decarno’s voice, blocking her as she tried to leave, carried a strangely boiling intensity. Despite the stronger-than-usual trace of alcohol, it didn’t seem like he had accidentally taken a wrong turn.

“Are you doing this to me because I didn’t go out that day?”

“Duke.”

“Just be honest. Admit that you were angry that day and said something you shouldn’t have.”

“……No. I wasn’t angry.”

At Decarno’s impatient insistence to hear the answer he wanted, Evangeline relaxed her shoulders. She didn’t know where to begin, but it wasn’t like she had nothing to say.

“Alright. You said to be honest, right?”

“Evangeline.”

“At first, I thought that might be it too. That you were upset or disappointed about that day, and that’s why you made the decision you did.”

As she slowly recalled the memory, she couldn’t help but smile softly. When Rex quickly followed and crouched at her feet, watching her reactions, Evangeline stroked his head as if to reassure herself. Somehow, it calmed her heart.

“But it wasn’t that. Perhaps… you knew all along that I wouldn’t come.”

She realized it in front of the rain-soaked grave.

No, maybe she had known from the moment she arrived in that secluded place—or even from the moment Decarno had looked at her indifferently on the duke’s stairs.

This man would never come to a place like that.

“I guess it was just my last shred of hope. Maybe the only hope I had left.”

“……Speak plainly.”

“You, who have everything… you, who lack nothing… you, the busiest man in the world… I thought that if you ever, just once, put everything aside for me and came there, I might somehow be able to get through it.”

Now that she had let go of everything, she quietly sorted through her own heart. Rather than despairing over reality, she was truly grateful to have realized this before becoming even more pitiful.

“I suppose I will never be your top priority in life.”

“You’ve gotten by just fine until now, haven’t you? Why would that suddenly be a problem?”

“……Back then, I had nothing lacking either.”

“……”

“If I hadn’t lost everything, maybe I could have let this pass too. Even if I felt a little hurt, you’ve always been like that.”

A busy man, endlessly busy.

It had always been that way, ever since she first met Duke Teze. She had accepted it as a matter of course. Looking back, it had only been a short time, yet it felt like a distant past.

“But now I’ve lost everything.”

“So who told you otherwise? You can just live as you are. Why stubbornly insist on nonsense by yourself?”

“How could I stay the same when my heart has changed?”

“Hah.”

“I can’t accept things as I used to—the way I used to see your face, the way you refused my requests… I blame myself because of my changed position.”

Even if it’s jealousy or insecurity, she couldn’t avoid it. And if that too was her reality, she had to accept it.

“We are no longer equals. Whatever I do, I’ll have to watch your reactions first, getting scolded for shamelessly coveting this place.”

“Alright. I get it.”

“……”

Decarno brushed his hair back, signaling her to stop. His furrowed brow looked serious for a moment, then he lightly raised both eyebrows.

“I’ll immediately return the lands of Rohren and the port of Bers under your name. If that’s not enough, I’ll restore the city buildings where the guilds used to be too.”

“……Why?”

“So you can live like before. Live proudly as the Duchess of Teze, unapologetically ambitious. That way, no one would dare say you’re living off me.”

A remarkably simple solution.

The problem was her position; returning it solved everything. Whether it was her petty pride or insecure jealousy, Evangeline could no longer sulk with a gloomy face.

“Is that enough?”

“……I think you’re misunderstanding something, Duke.”

But Evangeline’s reaction was not what he expected. The edges of her pink eyes began to shimmer like fire.

“My desire was not to be the duchess.”

“What?”

“To have you by my side in the moments when I was the most afraid, the most broken, the most helpless… that was my only desire. It’s all over now, though.”

Her hopeless gaze dimmed instantly. Seeing her utterly resigned eyes—desiring nothing—made Decarno flinch. If it were anger or rage, he would have grabbed or struck her, but Evangeline was completely indifferent.

Perfect resignation.

“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think it will help me.”

“……”

“I believe one day you will meet the perfect lady who will gladly accept your offer.”

It wouldn’t take long. Regardless of Decarno’s feelings, the position of duchess wouldn’t remain vacant for long. He could name hundreds of women, starting with Princess Bellona, who would covet that spot—but there was no need to.

After all, their relationship no longer reached that level.

“I’ve almost finished organizing. I’ll contact you through the steward once I’ve cleared everything out.”

“That must be easy for you.”

“Mock me all you want. I still have the remaining arrangements to make.”

“What about our child?”

“…….”

What was he saying?

Evangeline, holding the hem of her dress, stopped at his unexpected question. He looked so composed it was almost believable that they could have had a child.

“A child?”

“We’ve only ever held hands, haven’t we?”

“……”

“And who’s to say you’re not carrying a child now?”

When utterly dumbfounded, she couldn’t even speak. Her pale cheeks, usually paper-doll-like, blushed vividly under his arrogant gaze.

“……I’ve always taken the pill.”

“That’s never 100 percent.”

“That’s…….”

Evangeline pressed her head against her throbbing temples. No matter how much she had let go of her feelings, instinctive embarrassment couldn’t be avoided. The more composed he acted, the more intense it became.

“Anyway, I’m not. That I know best.”

“And if you were?”

“…….”

His intense gaze met hers with that brief question. She forced herself to calm the racing emotions. After hitting rock bottom, a strange, bitter laugh escaped her.

“Alright. If I were, what next?”

“……”

“What would you do if I really were pregnant?”

“Then things would become a bit simpler.”

Decarno glanced at her abdomen and gave an answer perfectly in line with his character.

“It would help us rush the marriage. Be it family or the noisy nobles, if they hear you’re carrying Teze’s heir, they’d better shut up and bow. No more obstacles, things would be much simpler than now.”

“……Simpler?”

“Obviously simpler than having no child. The child in your womb would guarantee your place.”

“That’s exactly why we can’t.”

Evangeline abruptly stopped her bitter laugh and cut him off. She didn’t care what his expression was. Emotions she had been holding back exploded, and her vision blurred.

“I would have been just as convenient to you, wouldn’t I?”

“Evangeline.”

“Yes. I chose you knowing everything, so I was upset but never resentful. But how could I spend a lifetime with someone who treats even an unborn child like that?”

Evangeline confronted him more strongly than ever. Decarno tried to grab her shoulder, but she even pushed that away.

“I may be penniless, but I will not let that treatment extend to my child. We are finished.”

“……By whose decision?”