You Said You Wanted Us to Break Up - Chapter 50

After encountering Wendy in the hallway, Lerox visited the Ethel territory several times.

Each time, Hesen’s expression grew darker.

Dark enough for Wendy, who was about to turn seven that winter, to notice.

“Papa, do you dislike His Grace the Duke?”

Wendy asked while taking a stroll in the garden, nestled in Hesen’s arms.

On the night she disobeyed and went out into the hallway, Hesen and Lerisa hadn’t scolded her much. She was scolded less than when she climbed on tall furniture to catch beetles or played near the fireplace.

So Wendy thought that leaving her room without permission might not have been such a big deal.

But despite not scolding her much, Hesen’s expression kept growing gloomy.

Wendy asked her silent father again.

“Do you dislike it when His Grace the Duke comes to the castle?”

Hesen finally shook his head.

“No, my princess.”

Wendy didn’t believe him and pouted.

“Lie, lies.”

Hesen adjusted his daughter to a more comfortable position in his arms.

“Why would I say that?”

“When you pretend to be okay, you do this to your mouth.”

A chubby index finger, still retaining baby fat, poked Hesen’s downturned lips.

When the frail Lerisa was sick or when he couldn’t fulfill his daughter’s every whim, Hesen had a habit of unconsciously turning down the corners of his mouth.

Hesen’s expression became a subtle mixture of neither laughter nor tears in response to his daughter’s observation.

Wendy hugged her father’s neck, trying to force a reassuring smile.

“I’m glad I can go outside now that His Grace the Duke comes.”

Hesen’s hand, which had been patting her back, paused.

After Lerox and Wendy met, the Ethel couple let their daughter roam freely. Wendy was completely satisfied with the expansion of her world.

But if she had to choose between going outside and Hesen’s happiness, the answer was clear.

Wendy snuggled closer to Hesen.

“But if Papa dislikes His Grace the Duke, I’ll dislike him too.”

Hesen didn’t immediately answer his daughter.

Some time later, as Wendy, starting to doze off, was put to bed for her nap, Hesen whispered,

“Papa is fine.”

A large hand gently stroked her head. Half-asleep, Wendy mumbled softly. “Lie.” The poorly articulated word failed to convey its meaning properly and became sleep talk.

Hesen kissed his daughter’s forehead and said,

“I’ll make it alright for our princess and Mama.”

After that, Hesen never showed a gloomy expression in front of his daughter again, so Wendy forgot about that incident.

Until the day Lerox visited Ethel Castle.

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

At that time, Wendy was two weeks away from her seventh birthday.

Hesen and Lerisa always celebrated their daughter’s birthday, but that year’s birthday was especially significant. It was the first birthday after Wendy was allowed to roam freely around the castle.

Hesen and Lerisa decorated the castle with birthday decorations so their daughter could enjoy exploring everywhere. Wendy was so happy to be able to go everywhere that she almost forgot her birthday was still two weeks away.

Lerox’s visit to the castle was one night during those happy days.

Lerox, accompanied by Rupid, who was still quite young at the time, and several retainers, came to Ethel Castle. As he always did when visiting, he called for Wendy.

It was quite late, so Wendy, rubbing her sleepy eyes, went to the hall where the guests were gathered. She held a reindeer doll in her arms, made by Lerisa from leftover fabric as a birthday present.

Hesen didn’t want to bring his daughter before Lerox. Wendy sensed unease from her father’s downturned lips and his constantly fidgeting hand on her back. But whenever he looked down at her and met her gaze, Hesen always smiled.

As if to reassure her that nothing would happen.

Creak.

The door opened, revealing the brightly lit interior of the hall.

Lerox and the knights and retainers he had brought were gathered inside.

Lerox, sitting in the center of the group and conversing with his retainers, looked toward the door. The moment Wendy met his piercing blue eyes, she involuntarily flinched. It was more of an instinctive reaction than a reasoned one.

Lerox gestured to Wendy. With a gesture implying she should come closer, Wendy hesitantly walked toward him. Hesen followed behind his daughter.

Lerox, looking at Wendy, looked silently up at Hesen once both father and daughter stood before him. But Hesen didn’t let go of his daughter’s hand. Wendy sensed Hesen’s tension through the slightly tightened grip of their joined hands.

The dark blue gaze lowered again. It scanned Hesen’s chest, the black hair of the child who resembled neither Hesen nor Lerisa, and the reindeer doll in Wendy’s arms.

Finally, Lerox spoke.

“You’ll be seven soon.”

Wendy nodded, tightly clutching the doll.

Lerox asked,

“When that time comes, will you go to your ancestral home?”

The ancestral home that Lerox, the head of the Raslet family, referred to was Raslet Castle, the heart of the North.

Hesen’s grip tightened.

Lerox reached for the doll tucked under Wendy’s arm. The fingertips of the man in black leather gloves lightly touched the reindeer’s nose. Wendy’s gaze automatically followed.

Lerox’s words fell from above.

“There’s a child about your age at the ancestral home. My son. You two could become good friends if you meet.”

It was the first time she’d heard that.

Wendy looked back. Hesen, whose face had been rigidly stiff, belatedly forced a reassuring smile when he met his daughter’s gaze. Even a child could see it was a strained expression.

Lerox’s voice came from behind her.

“Do you dislike it?”

Wendy turned back to the front.

“What about Mama and Papa?”

She didn’t want to go to a place where Hesen and Lerisa weren’t.

Lerox replied,

“There are many others there who will take care of you, besides the Count and Countess Ethel.”

Didn’t that mean Hesen and Lerisa wouldn’t be there? Wendy frowned slightly. It was then that Hesen hid his daughter behind him.

“My daughter is still too young.”

The hall, which had been filled with murmuring conversations besides Lerox’s voice, fell instantly silent.

Lerox stared intently at Hesen. The two men’s gazes met in midair. An ominous tension ran down Wendy’s spine. Overwhelmed by an almost instinctive anxiety, Wendy tugged at Hesen’s fingertips.

“Papa, I’m sleepy.”

Hesen didn’t hesitate to lift Wendy into his arms. The dark blue gaze turned to Wendy. The frightened Wendy burrowed into her father’s embrace.

After briefly watching the father and daughter clinging tightly to each other, Lerox said,

“Take the child to her room.”

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

That night, Wendy had a restless sleep.

Her dream featured a tall, dark man. His face was obscured by the light behind him, but he reached out to Wendy. The hand, encased in dark leather, was as large as Hesen’s.

When Wendy tried to escape his grasp, the man snatched away the reindeer doll. Wendy struggled desperately to rescue her mother’s gift before finally managing to open her eyes.

It was already late dawn, and the room was dimly lit.

Confirming the reindeer doll was under the covers with her, Wendy breathed a sigh of relief. Clutching the doll, she looked around. Lerisa wasn’t visible, but light leaked from the small room connected to the child’s room.

Wendy swung her legs off the bed.

Holding the doll, she approached the slightly ajar door.

She was about to call out, “Mama,” but Lerisa’s sobs came from inside the nearby room.

Wendy involuntarily held her breath and peered through the crack in the door.

Lerisa was sitting in a rocking chair in the center of the room, her face hidden in her hands. But even though her expression was hidden, the sound was audible, and Wendy realized her mother was crying.

It was unusual. Lerisa didn’t usually cry. Of the three of them, Wendy was the most tearful, followed by Hesen.

But now it was the opposite.

Unlike Lerisa, Hesen didn’t shed tears. As if trying to comfort his wife, he knelt before her and reached out to her face.

A trembling voice leaked through the gap between Lerisa’s hands.

“I can’t send her to that damned place.”

“I’ll find a way.”

Hesen murmured, stroking his wife’s ear.

“Even if we need to accelerate the plan…”

Before Hesen could finish, Lerisa reached out to her husband. Hesen embraced his wife tightly.

Wendy watched her mother cry like a little girl in her father’s arms. Hesen’s lips were downturned, just as they had been in the garden during their walk with their daughter.

The next morning, Wendy went to find Lerox’s entourage. She had moved secretly while Hesen and Lerisa momentarily took their eyes off her.

Lerox’s entourage was preparing to leave the castle.

The knights and retainers greeted Wendy with smiles and warmth. However, none of them felt friendly.

Wendy searched for Lerox among the knights, who seemed like a grove of fir trees. No one stopped a child, who was merely a count’s daughter, from meeting the Duke of the North.

Lerox, appearing shortly, smiled when he saw Wendy. Objectively, his handsome face could be considered beautiful, but to Wendy, it was only ominous.

Wendy took a step back, avoiding the man who reached out to her.

“I’m not going to the ancestral home.”

Lerox’s raised lips hardened. Wendy swallowed hard.

“I want to live with Papa and Mama.”

Lerox stopped smiling.