My Ruin to You - Chapter 176

Roseline muttered softly as she watched the carriage recede into the distance.

Perhaps because they were in the north, it was noticeably cooler compared to the capital or other territories. Whenever the occasional breeze brushed her cheeks, her tangled thoughts seemed to settle, if only slightly.

Just as Valen doesn’t trust me, I don’t trust him either. He says he’ll let me go once the training is over, but he only said he wouldn’t hold me—he didn’t declare an end to our connection. When the time comes, who knows what excuse he’ll make to reappear? “Just see my face,” he says. But he’s not the kind of man to be satisfied with just that.

Honestly, I’m tired of devising strategies. It’s utterly unfair that I have to think about him incessantly like this. He’s the one who should be racking his brains and worrying.

Since it’s not an outcome I can change through effort, I need to shift my perspective. There’s no point in lamenting a life swayed by the words of someone of high status. It’s natural for tree branches to shake in strong winds. If they don’t break no matter how much they’re shaken, then I’m not the one who should be anxious or regretful.

“I greet Your Highness the Grand Duke. May glory follow you.”

Just as she passed through the estate gates and entered the garden, several young ladies walking toward her bowed their heads in Roseline’s direction—or rather, past her. Only then did Roseline turn around. Valen was there, a few steps behind her. How long had he been following?

“I greet Your Highness the Grand Duke.”

Roseline acted as if seeing him for the first time and offered a calm greeting. He looked down at her pink-haired head and smiled softly as he moved forward. By the time he passed her, even the faint smile had vanished. There were no unpleasant incidents like addressing her or inviting her to a meal. He passed by Roseline indifferently, treating her thoroughly as a stranger.

It must not be just the Young Lady’s mood.

The casually thrown remark was heard only by Roseline. It was a belated response to the muttering she had done after getting out of the carriage. In other words, Valen had been walking behind Roseline the entire time since then.

Roseline consciously cut off her thoughts. With one last glance at his retreating figure, she went on her way.

By the time she entered the estate, it was mealtime. When Schnitzel, waiting in the dining hall, asked where she had been, Roseline honestly replied that she had gone to the chapel. Instead of probing further about her early morning visit to the chapel, Schnitzel gave an uncharacteristic smirk. It was a highly suspicious smile.

“How rare. I quite like this. Wait and see. Who knows? The goddess, moved by your sincerity, might bestow her grace upon you.”

Such excessive encouragement was also unlike Schnitzel. Her twitching lips seemed almost eager to spill a closely guarded secret.

On the other hand, Malsen was like a corpse. Perhaps because she had cried her eyes out last night, her eyelids were swollen red, and she didn’t say a word. She had no appetite, only picking at her pudding, so Roseline offered her own untouched portion. Malsen glanced at it and silently accepted the bowl.

Near the end of the meal, Roseline addressed the false rumor she had spread.

“The one I have feelings for is not Sir Merrick. I just found his reaction amusing and played a little prank, but I didn’t expect it to blow up like this. I was careless. I’ve already apologized to him, and now I apologize to all of you. I’m sorry.”

“Wow, what a perfect morning.”

Schnitzel shot up from her seat and clapped her hands. Clap, clap, clap. The cheerful sound of her palms meeting echoed through the room. Thanks to that, the attention that should have been on Roseline was entirely diverted to Schnitzel. Even Malsen, who should have pressed about who the real love interest was, kept her mouth shut, and no one else stepped forward. They just glanced at Schnitzel with bewildered expressions.

Schnitzel was in high spirits all day. Throughout the carriage ride, she smirked for no reason, occasionally even humming a tune. When asked if something good had happened, she shrugged as if it were nothing and giggled again. Was she possessed by an evil spirit?

Malsen’s condition was just as concerning. Every time they stopped to rest the horses, she didn’t even get out of the carriage, as if she had never once lingered near Valen.

Valen also underwent a change. The unpleasant incidents of him unnecessarily striking up conversations or using Merrick to propose meals disappeared. Even when their eyes happened to meet, he treated her with the same indifference as any other manifestor. Though it was suspicious—wondering how he might betray her next—she didn’t dwell on it.

As expected.

The moment they entered the Grand Duchy and began unpacking, he revealed his true colors.