Chapter 231
“Well, I can hardly picture a grown man like Eren crying, but if he had high expectations, wouldn’t his disappointment have been even greater?”
“That’s not what I mean. Eren isn’t acting this way because he likes me. But people always assume he does, and that bothers me…”
As Macy shared her uneasy feelings, Arzena calmly responded,
“It could still be love. Sometimes people don’t realize the value until it’s gone, or they regret what they’ve done to Macy. I believe that’s possible.”
Macy looked silently at Arzena, wondering if she was sincere.
She had thought Arzena knew Eren well, but maybe not. Or perhaps she was just teasing with a mischievous streak.
Noticing Macy’s guarded gaze, Arzena chuckled lightly and added,
“Don’t worry. I would never betray Macy to Eren at this point. I despise unnecessary fuss.”
“Where are you going?”
Since Macy arrived, Arzena hadn’t left the mansion.
Though Macy was inching closer to death each day, Arzena’s health was even worse.
Yet now, she spoke as if she was leaving far away.
“I didn’t want to leave in winter, but here we are.”
Her eyes turned toward the window. While they talked, snow began to fall.
The flakes were quite large, and inside the warm room, they looked like soft, cozy cotton.
“…always hated winter in Lettern village… that worries me.”
Her muttered words had no subject, but soon Macy understood who Arzena worried about.
* * *
“Lady Arzena Krygen passed away.”
“…”
“I heard Duke Krygen will attend the funeral.”
The one who hated winter in Lettern was Eren. And Arzena’s departing words echoed in Macy’s mind:
“Macy, come as late as possible. Wouldn’t it be so unfair if your life ended like this?”
What did she mean by that?
Macy’s heart, thought to have grown detached, suddenly quickened.
* * *
“Let’s go.”
After hearing of Arzena Krygen’s death, Rubens finally set out on a long journey.
She had been unwell for over a year, so it wasn’t surprising she held on this long.
When the news came, Rubens merely thought, “So Arzena is gone, too”, with little else.
He once wished for her death so badly he even sent poison. He found it uncomfortable that Arzena, who knew all his secrets, was still alive.
But after Macy left, he wondered what difference it made.
He, as Duke, had begun tearing down the tower of power he had built.
The Emperor who might have suspected, or Ottilie Krygen who doubted his origin, showed no movement.
‘Of course, revealing the truth now and replacing the family head would be difficult for them.’
Or perhaps, despite knowing, they couldn’t act because of all that Rubens had built.
The old Rubens believed he still needed more strength and position—but that was proof he had enough all along.
If only he’d made Macy his Duchess sooner, made her his wife, and handed her the things he built, one by one.
Regret came bitterly.
The time when Macy’s name disappeared was a chilling memory that still sent shivers down his spine.
“Scratch it off! Tear it away so Macy’s name shows again!”
Rubens ordered at the fading Name.
“What? But touching the Duke’s body like that—”
“I’ll do it.”
When Kronen hesitated, Rubens scraped at the Name himself. Yet the skin grew smooth and healed.
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