My Ruin to You - Chapter 135

“……What?”

The fingertips that had failed to reach Lina remained suspended in the air. Instantly, his breath caught in his throat, and a sensation of something deep inside him slowly tearing apart began.

“……What did you say?”

“On the way up to the capital, sh-she, sniff, passed away in a c-carriage accident. Wha-what do we do? Sniffle…….”

Lina, who had covered her face with both hands, sobbed, her shoulders shaking. Roseline’s hand, which had been frozen in the air, fell slowly, as if collapsing.

“No. That can’t be.”

Roseline shook her head. Then, suddenly, her blurred eyes regained focus, and a sharp gaze shot past the iron bars.

“Did His Highness send you?”

“Wh-what, hic, are you talking about, Miss? Oh dear, our Miss must be in so much shock……”

Lina muttered incessantly, wiping her tears messily. She said she heard it from Lady Schnitzel’s maid, that she didn’t know the two had grown so close in her absence, that it was a tragedy that such a thing had happened to the young lady who was such a kind person. She continued to lament, her pronunciation blurred by tears.

Roseline studied Lina carefully. She wondered if Valen had pulled another trick to isolate her, but there was no trace of deceit in the innocent maid’s expression. Furthermore, all the things she had dismissed as unimportant began to come back to her, one by one. The young Countess’s puffy eyes, the black ribbons on the screaming mice, even the Marquis’s black formal wear that had looked like mourning clothes.

“Ah……”

It was just as Roseline’s head was slowly lowering. Thud, thud. Beyond Lina’s sobs and the gnawing pain, the sound of heavy footsteps could be heard. Hic. Lina, who had wiped her tears, whispered softly. They must be soldiers bribed by the Marquis. It seems it’s already time to go.

Roseline said nothing. Struggling to hold together her utterly torn-apart heart, she slowly rose to her feet. Lina, who had been crouching, also got up, holding onto the iron bars. As the presence drew nearer, Lina’s eyes widened, and she bent her knees in a formal bow.

“I greet Your Royal Highness, the Grand Duke. May the light of glory follow you.”

There was no resentment in her tearful voice. It was a welcoming voice, as if he were her Miss’s salvation. She seemed to believe without a doubt that the Grand Duke, who cherished her Miss dearly, would surely save her from this ordeal.

“So there was a guest.”

His gaze brushed over the top of Lina’s head, and as he gestured toward the iron bars with his eyes, a soldier following him quickly produced a keyring and unlocked the door.

“……Send Lina away.”

“That won’t do.”

Lina, sensing the unusual nature of the conversation exchanged across the iron bars, cautiously raised her head. It was then that the door creaked open.

“You don’t listen to me, so why should I.”

“……So, did you kill her?”

“What?”

“I don’t listen to you, I don’t move according to your will…… Did you kill the young lady too?”

“Oh dear……! Why, why are you acting like this, Miss?”

A startled Lina clung to the iron bars. Valen’s expression also contorted. ‘So I finally get to hear it.’ For a moment, it almost seemed like he had muttered those words. Valen, irritably sweeping his hand over his eyes, looked back at the soldier.

“Take her away.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Lina’s arm was immediately seized. Even as she was being dragged away, Lina sniffled, pleading that the Miss was just speaking out of turn from the shock and not to be angry with her. Her tear-streaked face kept looking back. But Roseline’s gaze remained fixed, unwaveringly, solely on Valen. The rippling magical energy around her was also unsettling.

“I understand there’s some misunderstanding, but calm down first.”

“How can I calm down!”

“Roseline.”

Valen, his tone slightly softened, moved sharply closer to Roseline. As he reached out a hand as if to embrace and soothe her, Roseline harshly batted his touch away. Valen’s eyes darted between his rejected hand and the precarious-looking Roseline before he let out a sigh, looking into empty space.

“I didn’t. I said I didn’t.”

Finally facing Roseline, he roughly tugged at his cravat as if to tear it off.

“The only thing I did was take measures so you wouldn’t hear the news of the accident. So calm down. Okay?”

“How am I supposed to believe that?”

“Roseline.”

“Think about what you’ve done to me. How… how can I believe you……?”

For a second, Valen hesitated, his pupils trembling slightly. His sunken gaze swept bleakly over Roseline’s expression. As if tracing just how much she knew.

Roseline did not back down. Enduring his persistent stare, she recalled all the things he had done in the name of love.

‘……In the capital, did you pretend not to know because I said nothing?’

‘Who would be happy if I acted like I knew? You?’

He had spoken as if he had remained silent for her sake, but looking back now, this too was a deception. He must have pretended not to know, all while being aware of how agonizing and difficult it was for her. To isolate her completely, leaving her with no one to rely on but him.

“I’ll ask just one thing. Why did you send me to the Marquis’s domain? You knew. You knew all about the Marquis’s plague scheme, yet you sent me there.”

“You know the answer too.”