“Please take me to the ball.”
“To the ball?”
“Yes.”
The women who had been standing far away exchanged glances at Antjone’s sudden behavior, as instructed by the Marquis who had been receiving the guest.
Attending a ball held at the royal castle was an honor that was only worn once in a lifetime for those of lower status than the nobility.
Of course, the person who was invited was the family’s name, but just being able to follow the host was a great privilege.
What was the inside of the castle like in person?
The orchestra’s performance was top-notch. She had tasted the famous gold-dusted food.
While waiting in the hallway after taking the host to the lounge, she made eye contact with a palace official and a servant.
“To the ball?”
“Yes.”
The women who had been standing far away exchanged glances at Antjone’s sudden behavior, as instructed by the Marquis who had been receiving the guest.
Attending a ball held at the royal castle was an honor that was only worn once in a lifetime for those of lower status than the nobility.
Of course, the person who was invited was the family’s name, but just being able to follow the host was a great privilege.
What was the inside of the castle like in person?
The orchestra’s performance was top-notch. She had tasted the famous gold-dusted food.
While waiting in the hallway after taking the host to the lounge, she made eye contact with a palace official and a servant.
The Marquis of Frean had not yet given his title.
“The Duke of Vermont. I will definitely avenge my son’s injustice.”
The resentment between families was not easily forgotten.
But if you keep going down that path, won’t you end up like Vermont and Temnes?
Many bad things were happening between them, and many people actually died, and the King had a hard time mediating between them.
In reality, they only lost the lives of those in high positions in the family and gave the King money as if they were paying a fee, so objectively, the Marquis Frean thought that they were both fools.
‘I can’t be among those fools, right?’
He didn’t want to be on the same level as the Duke of Vermont, but it was hard to just bury his son in his heart.
If he was going to take revenge by any means, he would rather end it with his own hands than have his eldest son, the successor to the family, be buried in his younger brother’s misfortune.
So he persistently spread malicious – but not fabricated – faults about the Duke of Vermont in the capital’s social circles.
Since he had married his own son to him, he knew well how picky the Duke of Vermont was about choosing the man who would become his successor. He thought that simply preventing the Duke of Vermont from finding a good son-in-law would be a great blow to his character.
'If I had known this would happen, I should have married him to Princess Bianque.'
If he had married the Princess and received immunity from military service, would his child still be alive?
Thinking back to his tall, red-haired, gray-eyed son, he felt guilty that he was still alive when he had turned white. Instead of becoming the husband of a reckless Princess, he sent him as his son-in-law so that he could become the Lord of Valmonde and pursue the great ambitions that he had not been able to achieve under his brother.
"Black hair is from Temnes..."
Muttered the man who had been looking Antjone up and down.
"Now that I think about it, I heard that Princess Irena will become the Duchess of Temnes after the national wedding."
The Marquis swore that he would never see the Duke of Vermont marry someone as great as his son again.
“King Valquiterre and the Duke of Temnes are both going to take your daughters as wives?”
The heavens are truly heartless.
The two men who were considered the best grooms in the kingdom are both falling into the hands of the Duke of Vermont.
The eyes of the Marquis of Frean were filled with anger.
“Please take me, my lord.”
Antjone whispered to him.
“I will make sure you won’t regret it.”
A vengeful flame flashed across her blue eyes.
When Madame Cronach and Hannah closed the door and disappeared, a sigh escaped her lips.
“Ha.”
In the end, he decided to meet Claudel at the palace as Madame Cronach had said, but unlike what he had said, Kaian didn’t know what to do.
He looked down at the baby in his arms.
When he saw the baby’s beautiful red hair, he would always think of Claudel in his arms.
So he didn’t know that holding a baby in one position without moving would be so hard. He couldn’t tell Madame Cronach properly.
Kaian knew where his fear came from. He had brushed it off by saying that Claudel was unhappy by his side and that she had hated him, but he still had regrets about the happiness that had left his hands.
“The Duke of Vermont. I will definitely avenge my son’s injustice.”
The resentment between families was not easily forgotten.
But if you keep going down that path, won’t you end up like Vermont and Temnes?
Many bad things were happening between them, and many people actually died, and the King had a hard time mediating between them.
In reality, they only lost the lives of those in high positions in the family and gave the King money as if they were paying a fee, so objectively, the Marquis Frean thought that they were both fools.
‘I can’t be among those fools, right?’
He didn’t want to be on the same level as the Duke of Vermont, but it was hard to just bury his son in his heart.
If he was going to take revenge by any means, he would rather end it with his own hands than have his eldest son, the successor to the family, be buried in his younger brother’s misfortune.
So he persistently spread malicious – but not fabricated – faults about the Duke of Vermont in the capital’s social circles.
Since he had married his own son to him, he knew well how picky the Duke of Vermont was about choosing the man who would become his successor. He thought that simply preventing the Duke of Vermont from finding a good son-in-law would be a great blow to his character.
'If I had known this would happen, I should have married him to Princess Bianque.'
If he had married the Princess and received immunity from military service, would his child still be alive?
Thinking back to his tall, red-haired, gray-eyed son, he felt guilty that he was still alive when he had turned white. Instead of becoming the husband of a reckless Princess, he sent him as his son-in-law so that he could become the Lord of Valmonde and pursue the great ambitions that he had not been able to achieve under his brother.
"Black hair is from Temnes..."
Muttered the man who had been looking Antjone up and down.
"Now that I think about it, I heard that Princess Irena will become the Duchess of Temnes after the national wedding."
The Marquis swore that he would never see the Duke of Vermont marry someone as great as his son again.
“King Valquiterre and the Duke of Temnes are both going to take your daughters as wives?”
The heavens are truly heartless.
The two men who were considered the best grooms in the kingdom are both falling into the hands of the Duke of Vermont.
The eyes of the Marquis of Frean were filled with anger.
“Please take me, my lord.”
Antjone whispered to him.
“I will make sure you won’t regret it.”
A vengeful flame flashed across her blue eyes.
***
When Madame Cronach and Hannah closed the door and disappeared, a sigh escaped her lips.
“Ha.”
In the end, he decided to meet Claudel at the palace as Madame Cronach had said, but unlike what he had said, Kaian didn’t know what to do.
He looked down at the baby in his arms.
When he saw the baby’s beautiful red hair, he would always think of Claudel in his arms.
So he didn’t know that holding a baby in one position without moving would be so hard. He couldn’t tell Madame Cronach properly.
Kaian knew where his fear came from. He had brushed it off by saying that Claudel was unhappy by his side and that she had hated him, but he still had regrets about the happiness that had left his hands.
The way her eyes and lips would gently curve when their eyes met. The way she would hug him tightly with all her might and smile while pressing her cheek to his chest. Those vivid afterimages were gone now.
“What should I do if I feel unhappy every time I see you because of the baby?”
“What should I do if I feel unhappy every time I see you because of the baby?”
He had committed many sins, so it might be punishment.
Knowing that and trying to endure it made him feel so foolish in the past.
It was all his doing.
Every time he recalled Claudel shoving him away, it felt like a small knife that had missed was stabbing into his heart, and Kaian's heart was already so weak that there was no room to stab him with another knife.
"I'm sorry."
Kaian smiled bitterly as he ran his index finger through the baby's soft red hair. How could he have been such a lacking person?
He felt even smaller in front of the small baby he held in one arm.
Kaian was ashamed of his selfishness.
Madame Cronach was right. He shouldn't have thought of taking away the mother from a baby who couldn't even control her body or speak.
He should have tried to choose whatever was most reasonable and right as a parent. How could he have thought that he didn't want to become so miserable, imagining the dark and bleak future he would face?
"You're crazy."
Kaian cursed himself. At that moment, when the baby flinched, he relaxed his voice that had been full of strength and tried to comfort her softly.
“I didn’t say that to you.”
The baby frowned as if she understood that and fell asleep again.
The next morning, a carriage departed from Kaian’s mansion.
A carriage decorated with Temnes’s golden lions and a simple rental carriage left at the same time, carrying luggage.
Hannah and Madame Lepel, holding the baby, quickly got into the borrowed carriage.
They were worried that the Temnes family’s carriage might be pursued.
Rohan, who was standing together watching the carriage moving away, asked cautiously,
“Wouldn’t it have been better to go to the estate together?”
“You can’t worry about many people at once. It would have been better to send them off quickly while Valquiterre was still being deceived.”
He remembered the moment when he first saw Claudel at the wedding hall at the Castle of Valmonde. Her red hair and golden eyes stood out more clearly than the jewels she wore that didn’t match her.
Her child resembled her.
He must have written that down in the notebook containing the family’s secrets.
The first baby born would inherit Temnes.
The baby who had not yet been named was his successor.
'What's the baby's name?'
When he asked Madame Lepel right after rescuing the baby, she lowered her head.
'No. The Duchess just called him a baby when he was still in her womb.'
Knowing that and trying to endure it made him feel so foolish in the past.
It was all his doing.
Every time he recalled Claudel shoving him away, it felt like a small knife that had missed was stabbing into his heart, and Kaian's heart was already so weak that there was no room to stab him with another knife.
"I'm sorry."
Kaian smiled bitterly as he ran his index finger through the baby's soft red hair. How could he have been such a lacking person?
He felt even smaller in front of the small baby he held in one arm.
Kaian was ashamed of his selfishness.
Madame Cronach was right. He shouldn't have thought of taking away the mother from a baby who couldn't even control her body or speak.
He should have tried to choose whatever was most reasonable and right as a parent. How could he have thought that he didn't want to become so miserable, imagining the dark and bleak future he would face?
"You're crazy."
Kaian cursed himself. At that moment, when the baby flinched, he relaxed his voice that had been full of strength and tried to comfort her softly.
“I didn’t say that to you.”
The baby frowned as if she understood that and fell asleep again.
The next morning, a carriage departed from Kaian’s mansion.
A carriage decorated with Temnes’s golden lions and a simple rental carriage left at the same time, carrying luggage.
Hannah and Madame Lepel, holding the baby, quickly got into the borrowed carriage.
They were worried that the Temnes family’s carriage might be pursued.
Rohan, who was standing together watching the carriage moving away, asked cautiously,
“Wouldn’t it have been better to go to the estate together?”
“You can’t worry about many people at once. It would have been better to send them off quickly while Valquiterre was still being deceived.”
He remembered the moment when he first saw Claudel at the wedding hall at the Castle of Valmonde. Her red hair and golden eyes stood out more clearly than the jewels she wore that didn’t match her.
Her child resembled her.
He must have written that down in the notebook containing the family’s secrets.
The first baby born would inherit Temnes.
The baby who had not yet been named was his successor.
'What's the baby's name?'
When he asked Madame Lepel right after rescuing the baby, she lowered her head.
'No. The Duchess just called him a baby when he was still in her womb.'
The precious baby had no name until now.
It was the father who was supposed to name the child, but it was heartbreaking to know why Claudel had not even given her a name.
However, this baby would become the future of Rowen, who would inherit everything Kaian had.
So his fears disappeared.
Having a successor meant that no matter what happened to him, the glory of Temnes would never be interrupted.
"You have to take good care of your wife."
"Yes. Your role is important. Rohan."
"Don't worry, Duke."
Kaian patted Rohan on the shoulder and headed into the mansion, preparing to go to the royal ball.
[Claudel. I am prohibited from entering the royal castle. Before the ball starts, step out to the bookshelf for a moment. The Duke will help you.]
There was no one else who could take Claudel out of the castle.
Irena was not familiar with the structure or the paths inside the castle, and since Vermont was not active in the capital’s social circles, there was no one else who could help her.
Madame Cronach and Hannah could not even enter the castle since Claudel had not invited them and Valquiterre had forbidden them from entering.
There was no one else who could do it except Kaian, who had some knowledge of the castle’s secret passages, and he also felt more comfortable taking charge of important matters himself.
However, this time, he was nervous in many ways.
In the mirror, there was a neat and handsome man. There was no difference except that his face had become haggard compared to when Claudel had praised him with sparkling eyes when they had gone to the King’s Birthday ball together.
‘There was a time when I believed that anything would come true as I wished.’
It was just foolish.
How the aftermath would turn out would be known only after today, but Kaian felt his heart suffocate under the pressure as his life seemed to be at a crossroads.
When he arrived at the palace by carriage, the palace was indescribably crowded with those who wanted to attend the National Foundation Ball.
However, since the guests usually only went to designated areas centered around the ballroom, the Royal Lounge was deserted except for a few servants standing here and there in the hallway.
Kaian, who seemed to be soaking in, headed toward the bookshelf and listened to his heartbeat.
Trying to keep his composure, he picked up a book he wasn’t interested in from the bookshelf and looked for a place to sit when suddenly his eyes landed on the wide space under the windowsill.
“I want to kiss you.”
That day, Claudel, whom he saw on the bookshelf, didn’t look good. He felt her thin body, so thin that it wouldn’t have been strange if she slowly became transparent and disappeared into the air.
“I tried to do it secretly, but I held back. But I guess it’s not okay.”
It was the father who was supposed to name the child, but it was heartbreaking to know why Claudel had not even given her a name.
However, this baby would become the future of Rowen, who would inherit everything Kaian had.
So his fears disappeared.
Having a successor meant that no matter what happened to him, the glory of Temnes would never be interrupted.
"You have to take good care of your wife."
"Yes. Your role is important. Rohan."
"Don't worry, Duke."
Kaian patted Rohan on the shoulder and headed into the mansion, preparing to go to the royal ball.
[Claudel. I am prohibited from entering the royal castle. Before the ball starts, step out to the bookshelf for a moment. The Duke will help you.]
There was no one else who could take Claudel out of the castle.
Irena was not familiar with the structure or the paths inside the castle, and since Vermont was not active in the capital’s social circles, there was no one else who could help her.
Madame Cronach and Hannah could not even enter the castle since Claudel had not invited them and Valquiterre had forbidden them from entering.
There was no one else who could do it except Kaian, who had some knowledge of the castle’s secret passages, and he also felt more comfortable taking charge of important matters himself.
However, this time, he was nervous in many ways.
In the mirror, there was a neat and handsome man. There was no difference except that his face had become haggard compared to when Claudel had praised him with sparkling eyes when they had gone to the King’s Birthday ball together.
‘There was a time when I believed that anything would come true as I wished.’
It was just foolish.
How the aftermath would turn out would be known only after today, but Kaian felt his heart suffocate under the pressure as his life seemed to be at a crossroads.
When he arrived at the palace by carriage, the palace was indescribably crowded with those who wanted to attend the National Foundation Ball.
However, since the guests usually only went to designated areas centered around the ballroom, the Royal Lounge was deserted except for a few servants standing here and there in the hallway.
Kaian, who seemed to be soaking in, headed toward the bookshelf and listened to his heartbeat.
Trying to keep his composure, he picked up a book he wasn’t interested in from the bookshelf and looked for a place to sit when suddenly his eyes landed on the wide space under the windowsill.
“I want to kiss you.”
That day, Claudel, whom he saw on the bookshelf, didn’t look good. He felt her thin body, so thin that it wouldn’t have been strange if she slowly became transparent and disappeared into the air.
“I tried to do it secretly, but I held back. But I guess it’s not okay.”
Even so, if he hadn’t been captivated by a woman he saw up close and talked nonsense, wouldn’t Claudel have gotten angry and gone to Valquiterre to ask him to cancel the royal order?
Kaian’s heart thumped with anxiety as he remembered what he had thought was a mistake. Kaian awkwardly sat down on the spot where he had fallen asleep while holding her in his arms.
“Why did I have to think about that time?”
His already anxious and unpleasant mood subsided even more. However, Claudel never showed up no matter how long he waited. After a while, the sun began to set, and in the distance, the sound of trumpets and cheers could be heard, signaling the start of the ball.
“Aren’t you coming?”
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