“Of course. But only on the condition that a medical team accompanies you.”
· · ·
“Some servants and the head butler must accompany you as well. If you participate, I will have to look into the hospitals nearby. It would be best to monitor your condition constantly beforehand just in case. Since the parade follows a set route, there is no reason you cannot go.”
He spoke as if granting him freedom, but in truth, it was merely another set of chains.
Ryan let out a dry, mocking laugh, as though he had expected nothing less.
“Why not have me carry a banner announcing to everyone that an invalid has arrived?”
“Ryan. You are indeed ill. You collapse whenever you exert yourself. I worry about y—”
“Enough. I will pretend I never asked.”
Ryan cut the Duke off sharply and returned to using his knife.
Clink, clatter.
Nothing could be heard except the quiet scraping of spoons against plates.
Anasta was certain that not a single soul at the table was enjoying their meal.
“Excuse me, I shall take my leave first.”
A few minutes later, it was Ryan who broke the suffocating silence.
Eager to escape the charged atmosphere, Anasta gladly set down her fork and knife as well.
“Wait a moment, Ryan.”
The Duke stopped him.
“I need a word with you in private. You must have something to tell me as well, do you not?”
The moment he stepped into the study, Ryan’s eyes fell upon the portrait of his late mother.
He remembered how his father had abandoned her on her deathbed during her final days just to be with the woman who was now the Duchess…
“Sit.”
“I am more comfortable standing.”
“Well, I am not comfortable with that.”
“Then please keep this brief.”
The Duke sighed at Ryan’s stubbornness.
“If that is how it must be. It has already been two months, hasn’t it? Since that girl arrived.”
Two whole months.
Ryan could hardly believe how quickly the time had passed—a sensation he had not experienced in ages.
“I observed her earlier. She seems quiet and composed. Discreet as well, but that is all. Aside from her face and demeanor, there is no real advantage to her.”
· · ·
“Above all, this engagement was arranged purely on my wife’s solitary whim.”
“What is it you wish to say?”
“Are you not uncomfortable around her?”
Ryan curled the corner of his lip in a smirk.
“How strange. The man who always indulged the Duchess’s every wish is actually asking for my opinion this time.”
“It was hasty to bring in a woman from such a lowly house.”
The Duke was far more concerned about Anasta becoming an embarrassment to House Soltaire than he was about Ryan himself.
Since this came as no surprise, Ryan offered no word of agreement.
“She does not bother me.”
“Truly?”
“For now, at least. And she has made me somewhat less bored…”
Ryan’s voice trailed off as memories of his moments with Anasta flickered through his mind.
“Regardless, she is ill-suited to you. Has she not made blunders due to her lack of proper breeding?”
· · ·
“I will find you a more respectable lady. If our house offers generous terms, we can secure a lady from high society.”
“And why would a lady of high noble birth agree to nurse a dying man? Unless she has gone mad, of course.”
Ryan suppressed a sneer as he watched the Duke scheme while claiming to have his best interests at heart.
“Besides, the lady attends to me well enough.”
Before the Duke could utter another word, Ryan made his stance clear and firm.
“There is no need to concern yourself over Anasta Winterlit. She attended the banquet not long ago and left a favorable impression on everyone.”
“However—”
“Throwing her out now will only breed worse rumors, Father.”
Ryan emphasized the word ‘Father’ with a sharp edge—a telltale sign that his mind was made up and would not be swayed.
“Ryan, do you truly favor that girl so much?”
Ryan froze for a beat before answering deliberately.
“No.”
· · ·
“I merely despise fueling further rumors. Moreover, Anasta Winterlit knows how to mind her place. There is no harm in keeping her by my side.”
“…Very well, I understand. But remember, should you ever change your mind, you need only tell me. I am always on your side, Ryan.”
‘Nonsense.’
Swallowing the word, Ryan turned to leave.
“Excuse me, then.”
He longed to return to the annex with Anasta.
Anasta was waiting quietly on a sofa in the foyer.
“Are you waiting for my brother?”
It was Duran, who had just stepped out of the dining room.
“Seeing you in the main estate feels quite different. How was the meal?”
Duran asked a question he did not truly care to hear answered.
His motive was transparent enough: his true standing within House Soltaire had been laid bare before her, and he felt a desperate urge to save face.
“They spoke of matters unfamiliar to me.”
“It was all rather dull. I am soon to begin my succession lessons, you see.”
“Yes, Sir.”
‘Is that all?’ Duran bristled at her curt response.
“Ah, this is quite awkward.”
He adopted a practiced, dramatic tone.
“Once succession lessons begin, I will be terribly busy. I won’t even be able to see my friends, and you are the only one who can keep me entertained.”
“I am hardly an amusing person to fulfill such a role.”
“Hm?”
Anasta’s steady gaze fixed upon Duran.
Once again, beneath that unblinking, direct stare, Duran felt momentarily as if every one of his flaws had been exposed.
“In fact, I am thoroughly dull. And to be frank, dinner was not as pleasant as I had hoped.”
She spoke serenely, folding her hands in her lap.
“As I said, the conversation touched on topics I know nothing about, and I care little for heavy talk. So…”
· · ·
“There is no need for you to trouble yourself over me, Sir.”
Duran stared at the intimidating woman before him, who managed to be so blunt yet reveal nothing of her inner feelings.
This woman… had seen through his flaws, his standing, and even his flimsy pretexts for speaking to her, all from the exchange at the dinner table moments ago.
A sudden flush of mortification washed over Duran.
“If you are bored, I will do my best to make things more delightful. You will visit the greenhouse from time to time, won’t you? I shall be waiting for you.”
Creak.
Just as their conversation drew to a close, Ryan stepped out of the study. The instant he caught sight of Duran beside Anasta, his gaze turned razor-sharp.
“What do you want with Anasta?”
Ryan stepped between them, glaring icily at Duran.
“Nothing of importance. We were merely exchanging pleasantries.”
“I don’t believe a word of it.”
“Don't be like that, Brother. A man so riddled with suspicion will never win his wife’s affection.”
“Shut your mouth.”
Ryan fixed him with a murderous glare.
“Very well, I shall hold my tongue, Brother.”
The skirmish ended there. Recognizing his limits, Duran quietly backed down.
“I will take my leave.”
“What were the two of you talking about? That scoundrel wasn’t flirting with you, was he?”
The moment Duran was out of sight, Ryan turned on Anasta with a look of reprimand.
“He merely greeted me.”
“Truly?”
“Yes. It was only a passing pleasantry.”
Ryan’s suspicion gradually subsided before Anasta’s unwavering, composed expression.
“Try to avoid running into him whenever possible. Nothing good comes of him.”
“In any case, I will be leaving the ducal estate today or tomorrow.”
‘No, you won’t.’
Ryan swallowed the words and walked out of the main estate.
The moment he passed beneath the golden arched gates, the vast expanse of the open sky greeted him.
Ryan let out a long, warm breath. A biting gust of wind lashed against his cheeks as the plume of white vapor vanished into the air.
“Young Master.”
Anasta stepped closer to him.
In that fleeting moment, feeling her sudden warmth beside him, a thought crossed Ryan’s mind.
‘It seems this winter will not be entirely cold.’
“You are not leaving.”
Anasta lifted her head at the low rumble of Ryan’s voice.
“Pardon?”
“You will not be sent away.”
Anasta’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.
“…May I ask why?”
“That is for you to discover in due course.”
Ryan spoke with feigned detachment.
“Congratulations.”
A faint, mocking smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
“It has been decided that you will remain a while longer in this vile place.”
And so, Anasta’s life at the Soltaire estate continued.
She had been certain that Ryan wanted to cast her out.
What on earth could have passed between him and the Duke?
Having fully anticipated her departure, she found the unbroken flow of time within the estate utterly surreal.
“Miss.”
Even so, not everything proceeded without a hitch.
Anasta watched the maid who had slipped into her room, glancing anxiously around her surroundings.
She was a petite, slender girl with her hair tied into twin tails.
“Here, this is a letter from Mr. Duran.”
Ever since she had stopped visiting the greenhouse following her conversation with Duran, letters had begun arriving through this young maid starting yesterday.
The contents were brief—a short sentence asking why she had not come to the greenhouse.
· · ·
Without hesitation, she burned the letter over a candle flame.
Should anyone discover such notes, it would surely spell trouble, and she had never intended to go there in the first place.
Afterward, she set out to bring Ryan his medicine at the appointed hour, but—
“Where did he go?”
“He went to the library to read.”
“Then I must go to the library as well.”
Having learned of Ryan’s whereabouts from Paul, Anasta headed straight for the library.
Stepping into the room lined with books, cold and impeccably orderly, she found Ryan deeply engrossed in his reading.
END
