TEWRIT 12

Chapter 12

Flint replied with a bored expression.

“I’ll say it again, Your Highness. I’m in no rush to get married.”

“No rush? I’m the one who’s in a rush! Please, don’t go against your dear father.”

“This time, your father is right. At your age, you should at least be engaged.”

Flint knew the conversation was going nowhere. If he continued, they would only circle back to the same argument.

He found it exhausting.

So, without another word, he changed the subject.

“Heraith, more importantly, Lady Rosana said something strange. And she didn’t take the hairpin back. I don’t understand what she meant.”

“What did she say?”

Thankfully, Heraith went along with the change of topic.

“She said she doesn’t want to remember each other’s shame. Then she asked me to lend her my wisdom and strength.”

Flint repeated Eliano’s words in his mind.

Her voice had been gentle, almost like a soft knock against a closed door. Yet somehow, the words had lingered with him.

Strange.

“So you really broke a lady’s belongings?”

Heraith clicked his tongue as he inspected the hairpin.

One butterfly antenna was completely missing, while the other was bent and broken. The gemstone attached to its wings was also dangerously close to falling off.

Flint had definitely held it too tightly.

“That’s your shame.”

“Hmph.”

“But rejecting someone’s kindness is shameful too.”

“Then why didn’t she take it?”

“Because it’s useless now.”

Heraith held the hairpin up between his fingers.

“Who would wear a broken accessory like this?”

Flint’s expression shifted slightly.

What if he had it repaired?

He could find a skilled craftsman and have the butterfly restored—

As though he had read Flint’s thoughts, Heraith let out a short laugh.

“Do you really think one butterfly hairpin matters to Lady Rosana? She probably has dozens of them lying around in her room.”

Flint lowered his gaze to the damaged ornament.

Perhaps that was true.

Still…

There had been something strange about Eliano’s refusal.

Don’t send it back.

If you do, I’ll deny that it’s mine.

Flint let out a quiet, dry laugh.

He finally understood.

Among nobles, there were countless little customs surrounding courtship.

Young ladies sometimes dropped their belongings in front of a man they favored. It was an old-fashioned way of drawing his attention.

And gentlemen responded in their own way.

Returning the item could become a subtle declaration of interest.

Some men even deliberately stole a lady’s belongings to show affection.

But strong-willed ladies who disliked their suitors had another way of responding.

They made it clear that the man had no right to touch what belonged to them.

That was how Flint interpreted Eliano’s warning.

If he tried to return the hairpin himself, she would deny it.

And then he would be the one humiliated.

Without Heraith’s explanation, he might never have realized it.

“Don’t send that butterfly hairpin back to the Rosana household.”

“Why not?”

“You were actually thinking about sending it?”

Heraith stared at him incredulously.

“I don’t want to see my friend used as a token to decorate Rosana’s daughter.”

Flint frowned.

He had only wanted to return something that belonged to Eliano.

But Heraith was right.

Duke Rosana could twist the situation however he pleased.

He could spread rumors that Duke Howard had taken an interest in his daughter. Or claim that Flint had deliberately stolen her belongings as some kind of romantic gesture.

Worse, he could deny that the hairpin had ever belonged to Eliano.

Then the rumors would become even more ridiculous.

The girl who rejected the Crown Prince…

And then rejected Duke Howard too.

Eliano would become a laughingstock throughout high society.

Heraith’s expression turned serious.

“Absolutely not, Flint.”

Flint was silent.

Then he remembered Eliano’s final words.

If you know my father, you’ll understand what I mean.

His eyes darkened.

Now he understood.

Sending the hairpin back to the Rosana household would give Duke Rosana an opportunity to cause trouble.

He could deny that it belonged to Eliano, accuse Flint of taking it without permission, or use the incident for his own political advantage.

And none of it would even be Eliano’s decision.

Her father would decide for her.

Flint had almost misunderstood her intentions.

Heraith sighed.

“I’m already one of her badges of honor. You can’t join the collection.”

Flint raised an eyebrow.

“I’m already tired just thinking about the rumors.”

The story of Duke Rosana rejecting the Emperor’s proposal to marry Eliano to Heraith was famous throughout the empire.

Ever since that day, Eliano had been known as—

The girl who rejected the Crown Prince.

Heraith hated the title.

It had only been a political marriage proposal. Nothing more.

Yet every time he remembered it, it still felt like a genuine rejection.

Perhaps that was why he had sometimes spoken so harshly about Eliano.

His pride had never fully recovered.

“Just throw that butterfly away already.”

At Heraith’s words, Flint nodded.

The matter was settled.

Meanwhile, at the Rosana mansion—

“Lia, go home first. You look tired.”

“Yes, Father.”

Eliano quietly obeyed the Duke of Rosana.

From the outside, his words might have sounded caring.

But Eliano knew better.

He wasn’t sending her home because he was worried about her.

He simply wanted to keep an eye on her.

To make sure she didn’t do anything foolish.

Eliano no longer searched for affection in his words.

She didn’t become happy when he praised her.

She didn’t become sad when he ignored her.

She simply listened.

And obeyed when necessary.

Nothing more.

As she left the Sanders family mansion with her knight escort and walked toward the carriage, her thoughts began to race.

“Why were you so quiet today?”

The knight beside her chuckled.

“I heard you had a disagreement with Lady Sanders.”

Eliano opened her mouth to answer.

Then stopped.

In her previous life, she would have told him everything.

She had been so afraid of her father that she was terrified of even being cold toward the Rosana family’s knights.

They were his eyes and ears.

He changed them frequently, too, as though he feared she might grow close to one of them.

So Eliano had never truly formed a bond with any of the knights.

And yet, she had always been kind to them.

Because from childhood, she had been taught that noble ladies should be gentle and courteous.

But now she understood.

A duke’s daughter didn’t have to smile at everyone.

She didn’t have to treat everyone kindly.

Kindness was something to be given to those who deserved it.

The old Eliano had never understood that.

She had been pitifully naive.

“My lady?”

The knight’s voice pulled her back.

“You should answer.”

Eliano looked at him.

Now that she knew what disrespect felt like, she couldn’t tolerate it anymore.

She suddenly understood why her younger sister often snapped at people.

How dare they?

Know your place.

Eliano thought about her father.

Duke Rosana wouldn’t care if she insulted a mere knight.

“Do I have to answer every question you ask me?”

Her voice was colder than she expected.

But beneath that coldness, there was still a faint tremble.

Old habits were frightening.

No matter how much she had changed, her body still remembered the fear.

Still, her voice did not shake.

That alone was enough.

The knight’s face stiffened.

“What did you just say?”

Eliano didn’t answer.

She simply walked past him.

Her posture remained graceful.

Her expression remained composed.

And the corners of her lips held a faint, polite smile.

Starting is always the hardest part.

Now that she had done it once, she could do it again.

She took a slow breath.

How strange.

The people inside the Rosana household were far more difficult to deal with than the nobles she met at social gatherings.

For the first time, Eliano almost wished she could borrow her little sister’s sharp tongue.

At least she knew how to put people in their place.

Soon, Eliano reached the carriage.

She stepped inside—

And frowned.

The knight had followed her.

He climbed into the carriage as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Get out, Sir.”

“Pardon?”

The knight looked genuinely offended.

“But I must protect you from danger.”

Eliano stared at him.

They were traveling through the capital.

They weren’t heading toward a battlefield.

There was no reason for a knight to sit inside the carriage with her.

It was nothing more than an excuse to remain close.

“What danger could there possibly be in the capital?”

“There’s a slum area on the way.”

A lie.

Why would the carriage of the Duke of Rosana pass through a slum?

Did he truly think she was stupid?

Eliano briefly considered asking the coachman.

Then she decided against it.

There was no need to make a scene.

“Then that’s exactly why you should stay outside the carriage.”

“…What?”

“What if someone throws a stone?”

The knight’s expression twisted.

Eliano continued calmly.

“Besides, is there really a slum on our route?”

Silence.

The knight’s face became ugly.

He had been caught.

“Get out.”

After a long pause, he finally climbed down.

The carriage door closed.

Eliano leaned back and closed her eyes.

The moment her father’s spy was gone, she felt considerably more comfortable.

Even if he was only a knight, she now understood why he had dared to behave that way.

Because the old Eliano had allowed it.

She had been like a flower raised inside a greenhouse.

Protected.

Sheltered.

And deliberately kept ignorant.

Her father had wanted her that way.

And she had never realized it.

You lived in luxury because you were Lady Rosana.

I gave you that life.

So repay me.

Those words still haunted her.

Because she had been born into a noble family, she had been expected to repay that privilege.

And her father had decided what that repayment would be.

He sold her into marriage with an enemy country.

She had paid the price once.

No.

She had paid it many times over.

In this life, she would give him nothing.

Eliano closed her eyes.

Ever since returning to the past, she often dreamed about her previous life.

Sometimes she dreamed of leaving Bianteca in tears.

Other times, she dreamed of the days when she had been happily married in Zacador.

Those dreams were the worst.

Because she knew exactly how that happiness had ended.

She remembered the voices of the nobles.

A lowborn illegitimate child, becoming Empress?

I would rather die of shame.

Eliano’s lips curled bitterly.

Who exactly were they calling lowborn?

Zacador was a country where men proudly boasted about having multiple lovers.

Some nobles had more than one wife.

Others had wives and mistresses at the same time.

Yet those same men treated illegitimate children as if they were worthless.

How disgusting.

At least in Bianteca, a man hid the existence of a mistress.

Because having one was considered shameful.

Even children born to mistresses, if officially acknowledged, could possess certain rights.

They might not be treated well.

But compared to Zacador, it was almost humane.

The knight Eliano had just dismissed was rumored to be an illegitimate child of a viscount.

Yet he had been knighted.

He had been accepted into the Rosana household’s guard.

And despite that, he had still dared to flirt with her inside a carriage.

Eliano almost laughed.

In her previous life, she hadn’t even recognized that behavior as inappropriate.

She had simply endured it.

She had endured everything.

The servants.

The knights.

Her father’s manipulation.

Her husband’s betrayal.

She had been so ignorant that she had mistaken submission for kindness.

But now she understood.

And that realization made her strangely proud.

People didn’t change easily.

But Eliano had suffered enough to become someone entirely different.

She had grown.

She had finally become an adult.

Then a bitter thought crossed her mind.

But what is the point of growing up?

I trusted love.

And love brought me nothing but misery.

Her eyes opened.

Outside the carriage window, the lights of the capital passed by one after another.

Eliano watched them in silence.

Love had once been the center of her world.

Now it meant nothing.

The only thing that mattered was survival.

Her future.

Her freedom.

And one decision she would never, ever break.

Eliano clenched her hands beneath her sleeves.

I must never marry the Prince of Zacador.

This time, she would not become Empress.

This time, she would not sacrifice herself for love.

And this time—

She would live.