Chapter 140
“Of course I know. There was such a girl.”
Arzena was the youngest daughter of Marquis Zandir’s family, one of the founding families of Obelit.
She had been raised in luxury from a young age, beautiful and intelligent to the point that people envied her. Before she even came of age, she was known for her beauty throughout the kingdom. After her debut, the Empress selected her as the most beautiful flower of the season.
She had been courted by many noblemen from respectable families, but she chose the most distinguished family’s heir. That was the previous Duke Krygen, Markus Wester de Krygen.
Arzena married Markus, becoming the Madam of a great noble family that dominated society, and soon after, she gave birth to a son who was to become the next heir. Everything had gone smoothly until her son, Rubens Krygen, fell ill with the Zandir family’s hereditary disease.
This disease was said to appear once every five generations. For it to affect Arzena and Rubens in consecutive generations was an extremely rare occurrence.
At the time, Arzena’s disease had not yet been discovered, so Marquis Zandir had advised her to keep it hidden.
If the fact that the family carried an incurable disease became known, it would ruin future marriages within the family. Worse still, if the Duke’s family and the imperial family found out that they had married while hiding such a disease, it would endanger both the Empress, Arzena’s sister, and Arzena herself.
That was why Arzena, who could only wait for her son’s death, moved to the village of Lettern to care for him while keeping the disease hidden from everyone.
In the meantime, Markus Krygen fell in love with a maid who had been attending to his bedroom. Since their marriage had been devoid of love, Arzena was not deeply shocked that he had fallen for another woman.
But it would have been fine if it had just been a love affair. Unfortunately, from that relationship, an illegitimate child was born.
The illegitimate son, Kallen, gained entry into the Krygen family with ease due to the Duke’s favor towards the maid. Kallen soon became a significant threat to Arzena.
Rumors began circulating that the maid had even taken on the role of the Duke’s Madam, and when Arzena heard that if Rubens didn’t recover and passed away, Kallen would inherit the position of Duke, she was consumed by fear.
When Arzena returned to her family home, she was gripped by the anxiety that she might no longer have a place in her own life. She had once been the belle of the social scene, the queen of the social circles. Now, all that remained was the position of Duchess to a powerful noble.
‘Somehow, I must save Rubens.’
To hold onto her place, she believed the only option was to save Rubens. But the Zandir family’s incurable disease was a terrifying illness that, once contracted, would surely lead to death.
What was she supposed to do? She was wrestling with these thoughts when it happened.
“Ah, Duchess, you’re here already?”
At that time, Arzena frequently visited the tailor’s shop to keep up with the fashion trends, even though she was in the countryside. As she entered with her attendant, the shop’s matron rushed out of the back when she heard the bell ring on the door.
Through the curtains in the back room, Arzena’s gaze was caught by a boy.
His bright blue eyes and pitch-black hair stood out immediately. Though his figure was still youthful, with a boyish grace, there was something about him that unnervingly exuded a masculine energy that made any woman tense.
His clothes were worn, but his face was so strikingly beautiful that it made up for the rags he wore. For a moment, Arzena couldn’t take her eyes off him, inspecting him from head to toe.
“Duchess?”
“Who is that boy?”
“Oh, haha. He’s no one,” the matron stammered, waving her hands.
“He doesn’t seem like ‘no one’.”
Arzena replied, narrowing her eyes.
“Well… he’s a shoeshiner from the shop across the street. He said he was hungry, so out of pity, I gave him something to eat.”
Pity?
Arzena turned her gaze back to the boy, who had a few crumbs of bread around his mouth. What struck her even more was that, despite his lower status, the boy showed no sign of shrinking in the presence of someone of her standing.
His gaze, when it met hers, was unusually indifferent. He didn’t look intimidated; instead, he met her eyes directly as though challenging her to look away.
“How dare you! A lowly boy daring to look a noblewoman in the face!”
Her attendant shouted as he saw the boy’s gaze.
The boy sighed silently, then with a casual nod, took the envelope of money from the table. He slid off the couch and began heading towards the door.
“Madam, I’ve eaten well. Please invite me again next time.”
He left the tailor’s shop. A smile gradually crept onto Arzena’s face behind her fan.
‘That boy…’
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