You Said You Wanted Us to Break Up - Chapter 41

Understanding Sezna’s words wasn’t difficult.

Two years ago, so much happened to me.

Among those various incidents, my brief closeness with Sioden was the most striking.

In the early days of our marriage, Sioden overlooked the malicious incidents at Rowen, attributing them to the usual noises of newlywed life.

While I didn’t hear it directly, hearing isn’t the only way to know. At the time, he tended to turn a blind eye to things that felt a bit too much to question him about.

At least, until then, the incidents caused by Rowen remained within manageable limits.

Larger incidents, like the axe marks on the family heirloom or the damage to the former Duchess’s belongings, occurred later.

In any case, Sioden was basically kind to me at the time, and when he was in the mood, he acted like a man who had married out of love.

I knew perfectly well that such feelings weren’t present in this marriage. Yet, if he showed even a little kindness, I couldn’t control my weak heart and would give in.

There were always excuses I could make. Besides the fact that knowing something in your head and acting on it are different, I had a defense for this particular aspect.

Sioden, having experienced the precedent of Merwen, must have known how his actions would affect a woman.

On the other hand, I had spent my entire life confined within the Rowen estate, never having made any real friends.

In fact, even on the day we first met, Sioden readily pulled a strange woman into his embrace.

‘Will you give me your hand now?’

I still remember how calmly he said those words.

‘Thank you for your help, even though we’ve just met.’

And then, as naturally as water flowing, he took my hand and kissed it.

I don’t think Sioden deliberately seduced me using his experience. I can’t believe he would do something so despicable, manipulating people’s emotions at will.

However, I don’t believe he was completely oblivious to the impact of his actions on me.

I was too easy a target for Sioden to notice nothing. Like a book lying wide open without even a bookmark, I showed everything without ever thinking of closing my heart.

Could Sioden not have known that?

‘Are you satisfied?’

If he hadn’t known, could he have asked that question when I was so easily moved by his touch?

Even more ridiculous is that I, at the time, also knew how I appeared in his eyes.

I knew how easily I would seem, blushing at his gaze, my face reddening at his touch.

But I had no other choice.

At that time, I had never learned to hide that kind of emotion—the fluttering excitement and joy of feeling like the man I liked liked me back.

I wasn’t a bright student capable of learning or understanding anything.

As a typical dullard, my response was predetermined.

“Yes.”

Sioden was quite kind to me, someone who couldn’t even hide her open heart.

One day, he even showed me a bit of trust.

That day, Sioden took me out into the city.

‘I want to show you something.’

The man, who preferred riding horses to carriages, sat opposite me and said that. The tips of his ears were slightly red, like someone nervous, as he pretended to look out the window.

But how could I have predicted that something bad would happen?

At that moment, all I could do was faithfully await what he had planned.

The carriage pulled up and stopped at the large building’s gates. Sioden exited first, then took my hand as I alighted, keeping hold of it until we were inside the building.

In Raslet, gloves were required for outings, so our skin didn’t directly touch. Even so, the warmth from our clasped hands made my heart pound.

As we walked down the hallway, Sioden explained the building’s purpose.

“It’s a nursery run in the family’s name.”

I’d heard that lords who were occasionally generous to their subordinates paid attention to the welfare of their territories. It was something my father certainly wouldn’t do.

Sioden led me to a room. Judging by the furniture and furnishings, it seemed like an office he used whenever he visited.

Sioden opened a desk drawer and handed me a leather-bound notebook.

Upon opening it, the numbers inside caught my eye. I hadn’t handled anything similar before, but it didn’t take long to figure out what it was.

He had just handed me an account book.

Surprised, I looked at Sioden, and he slightly avoided my gaze.

“I can’t hand over the internal affairs of the castle yet. But this institution has been under my control for a long time, so others won’t interfere.”

He said that and then cleared his throat, seemingly a little embarrassed by the situation.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the ledger he’d given me.

Internal affairs? I hadn’t even considered him being concerned with such matters.

While internal affairs were the responsibility of the mistress, that was only true in normal families. With everyone in the world knowing my father was Capren Rowen, there was no way I could demand internal affairs in Raslet.

Yet that day, Sioden spoke as if he’d been bothered by this for a long time.

“Manage this institution for now. I’ll hand over what’s rightfully yours soon.”

It felt like a statement recognizing me not as my father’s daughter, but as myself, making my stomach flutter.

I nodded to him, who was watching me expectantly, awaiting my answer.

“Yes.”

I couldn’t say I’d take good care of it. I’d never held an account book before; I was sure I’d make plenty of mistakes and oversights.

But I wanted to do my best.

I didn’t want to disappoint Sioden.

I should have considered beforehand that things rarely went my way…

Not long after, one of my maids embezzled funds from the nursery.

Similar incidents had happened before. When I was still living in the main house, a servant from Rowen had been caught tampering with the castle’s supplies.

At that time, since it wasn’t directly related to me and wasn’t large-scale, moving everyone from Rowen, including me, to the annex had resolved the issue.

But this time was different.

“The young lady knew everything too.”

The maid who committed the crime claimed so, and, unfortunately, there was ample evidence to support her statement. Too much for me to overturn with my words alone.

Naturally, Sioden gave more weight to the evidence before him than my words. He said, with a look of disgust,

“If you want to say it’s not true, bring me evidence that would make me believe you.”

I couldn’t meet his demand. Not only was it true that my maid had committed the crime, but if it was, it was obvious that my father or Iswen had ordered it.

I didn’t know what was lacking in Rowen that they needed to embezzle that money, but my father and Iswen always operated that way. I couldn’t understand why, and the more I thought about it, the more frustrated I became.

Sioden, seeing that I couldn’t find evidence to support my claim, said coldly, as if he’d expected it.

“It’s alright. It’s my fault for assigning a task I shouldn’t have.”

“…….”

“Don’t worry, I won’t hold you responsible.”

Simultaneously, a fleeting, almost imperceptible twitch crossed his lips. Though not particularly perceptive, I could clearly read the emotion—scorn.

I wanted to explain myself.

It was true that those who shared my blood had harmed him, but my will wasn’t involved.

I had actually tried. Unlike my two brothers or father, I had tried to tell him that I truly wanted to get along well with him.

“There’s something I want to tell you.”

Sioden looked at me skeptically, but silently allowed me into his office.

He even listened patiently as I, blushing repeatedly, tried my best to explain my situation.

Then, when I finished speaking, he said,

“No one in the world will believe that.”

After that day, I stopped trying to explain my relationship with my family to him.

The bitter reminiscing ended with Sezna’s sharp question.

“I presume you also remember what happened two years ago, Lady Rodalton?”

Apple, who had been observing from the side, frowned sharply.

“That’s rude.”

I stopped Apple, who was about to confront Sezna with a sharp attitude.

“It’s alright.”

After all, what Sezna was referring to was the past.

It left a painful scar, but it didn’t torment me to the point of being unable to breathe.

That period was already over.

Even if I couldn’t laugh about it, I no longer cried over it.

I said to Sezna, who was stubbornly glaring at me,

“Yes, Rodalton. As you said, I remember what happened two years ago.”