You Said You Wanted Us to Break Up - Chapter 84

Tomorrow night?

Isn’t that too soon? We were planning to stay at this villa for about five days. That meant we had more than a day to spare.

I remained silent, as I couldn’t quite understand the decision to leave without even properly grasping the structure of the manor, so Apple continued.

“It is a bit early, but tomorrow night is the best time. Security will become stricter after that.”

As I listened to her explanation, a piece of information came to mind.

“Is it because of Iswen?”

“You mentioned that the Duke of Raslet told you the new Duke of Rowen would arrive soon.”

Apple briefly sucked on her lower lip and then released it.

“Maybe that’s why?”

“Raslet and Rowen already have a bad relationship. Since Iswen, who inherited the title, is moving in person, it’s understandable to be cautious.”

The two families had only joined forces briefly during the rebellion; they were fundamentally enemies.

Speaking of which, why did Iswen cooperate with Sioden?

No, no need to think about it. He must have acted rationally. If Demian was emotional, Iswen was the exact opposite.

Even if he didn’t have that personality, their circumstances were none of my business anyway.

Perhaps wanting to reassure me, Apple quickly began to explain various details.

“We agreed to meet at the port two hours after the midnight bell tolls. A carriage will also be prepared on their side, so we only need to confirm the escape route from the manor tomorrow during the day.”

I waited until her explanation was finished before speaking.

“There’s something I want to say.”

Apple’s gaze turned toward me. I met her warm, dark brown eyes.

“Even if this fails, I will definitely protect you. Understood?”

It was one of the reasons we were leaving from Raslet, not Rowen, which was closer to Emerta.

Perhaps Apple found these words hard to believe. From her perspective, I would already be someone who had failed once. When the organ was damaged, Apple asserted her innocence, and I was unable to help her claim become reality.

Although it was later revealed that it was a scheme orchestrated by Rowen, several years had passed by then.

Just as I was about to ask if she could, just this once, believe my words, Apple nodded.

“Yes.”

She spoke in a voice devoid of any doubt.

“I trust Milady.”

This was the exact sentence I wanted to hear from her right now.

* * *

The next day, after I finished breakfast in the bedroom, Sioden came to see me.

“Is there anything you would like to do today?”

“Can I look around the villa?”

Sioden froze for a moment and then answered a beat late.

“Do you want me to assign someone to you?”

He seemed to think I would not want to walk around with him.

However, I didn’t need anyone else for my purpose today. I spoke to the man, who remained still as if waiting.

“I’d like to go with you.”

Sioden was silent for a moment.

Suddenly, I felt that my previous statement was overly self-centered.

“Oh, if you don’t know the structure of the villa well either…”

“No.”

He shook his head slightly.

“I just didn’t expect you to make such a suggestion.”

“You were the one who said you wanted to change this relationship.”

Sioden readily agreed with my excuse.

“That was the case.”

A brief smile flitted across his profile. Although it was a clear smile, it looked strangely bitter, but as the expression didn’t linger, I couldn’t scrutinize it further.

Afterward, Sioden took me around various parts of the villa. I tried to memorize every scene he described. This was a choice I made just in case, even though Apple, who was following behind me, would surely be embedding everything in her mind.

When I felt I had a grasp of the superficial structure of the first floor, I pointed to a room and asked.

“What room is this?”

It was a question intended to give Apple a chance to wander off alone, but Sioden seemed flustered. He paused briefly before answering.

“It’s a room where private belongings are stored.”

“Would it be awkward for me to go in?”

I intended to tell him to feel free to say so, as we could just go somewhere else.

Sioden, for someone who was flustered, negated my words without showing distress.

“No, it would not.”

Since his agreement was secured, the rest was according to plan. I looked back at Apple, who was waiting behind me, and ordered.

“You go finish the luggage organization.”

After uttering the line we had planned beforehand, I looked at Sioden.

“You said it was a private space. So it’s okay for me to go in alone.”

Sioden nodded a beat late. He gripped the doorknob. Apple also bowed to me and turned her back.

Now, Apple would be wandering around to find the route we could take to escape without being noticed.

This had been planned even before I asked Sioden to show me the manor.

The room felt slightly cluttered overall. It was more spacious and ornate than a storage room, but it was filled with so many items that it was inconvenient for a person’s movement when using the room.

“The organization is lacking, so please be understanding.”

I nodded to Sioden and looked around, when several dress boxes with a familiar pattern caught my eye. It was the pattern used by Latilde’s dress shop, which runs in the capital.

In the past, those boxes were practically scattered all over Rowen Manor.

Still, I hadn’t expected to encounter them in Raslet.

Sioden seemed to have realized what I had found. He began to speak.

“Ah, those are…”

“You don’t have to explain.”

Where else would women’s belongings in Sioden’s possession have come from?

Although I now bore the Raslet name, in the past, he had an unofficial fiancée.

It was a matter of indifference to me now, regardless.

But Sioden didn’t seem to feel the same way. He walked toward me and said.

“You may open them.”

“I really don’t have to…”

“Would you open them?”

If he insisted on it, there was no reason I couldn’t comply.

I opened the dress box as Sioden instructed.

Inside were Southern-style dresses that were fashionable around the time I got married. The outside was made of shimmery, rustling fabric, and the lining was trimmed with soft velvet, which would have a warming effect.

It was a slightly puzzling sight to me. If the clothes were for a woman born and raised in the North, they wouldn’t have been made like this.

Didn’t these look exactly like clothes made for someone accustomed to Southern fashion so they could wear them even in a cold place?

Suddenly, I recalled meeting Sioden at Latilde’s dress shop.

What kind of expression had he worn when he looked up at me descending the stairs? As I revisited that memory, which now felt completely like ancient history, his voice came from above my head.

“A long time ago, I intended to give them to you.”

His voice was halting, like someone who had made an unexpected remark.

“Even though it would be hard to wear in the castle, I thought it would be fine here since this place is warmer than the main castle…”

He swallowed the end of his sentence.

“It was my failing that I couldn’t deliver them.”

“No.”

I unconsciously withdrew my hand from the fabric I had been stroking.

“It’s alright.”

I straightened up from my bent posture and looked back at Sioden.

“You don’t have to give me things like this.”

He did not respond.

* * *

Afterward, I spent the remaining day with Sioden. Just like yesterday, we went to see the lake, and we also shared our meals facing each other. This was to give Apple as much time as possible.

Finally, when we had finished dinner, Sioden walked me to my bedroom. Before opening the room door, Sioden spoke to me.

“My bedroom is just ahead.”

Unsure why he needed to inform me of that fact, I turned to look at Sioden, and he explained.

“As you requested, I dismissed the attendants, so I moved here in case you needed someone.”

The man, saying he would act as a servant himself without any fuss, smiled faintly.

“I will be awake late, so feel free to knock.”

I hope you have a pleasant night. With those final words, Sioden opened my bedroom door for me.

“You have a good night too.”

I returned a similar greeting to him and stepped into the bedroom.

I thought I should have turned around once when I heard the door closing, but it was already too late.

Apple was waiting for me inside the room.

She explained to me with a slightly excited face.

“I found a route where we won’t run into people. It’s near the servants’ quarters, and since not many people move around at night, we shouldn’t get caught if we use it.”

“Sioden said he dismissed the attendants around here.”

“I did notice that the knight wasn’t visible.”

We won’t need this then. Apple picked up the sleeping aid that was sitting on the small side table in the room. I gazed at the white bottle in her hand and said.

“No. I think we will need it.”

* * *

The man who said he would be awake late must not have been lying, as Sioden opened the door right away when I knocked.

“Is something the matter?”

I rolled my eyes as I looked at the man staring down at me with a worried gaze.

“I can’t sleep.”

Sioden paused for a moment and then offered.

“Would you like to come in?”

It was the offer I had been waiting for. When I nodded, Sioden opened the door behind him a little wider. Wide open, as if to invite me to come in and do whatever I wished.

After letting me into the room, Sioden stoked the fireplace a little more. After seating me in a chair near the fire, he asked.

“What do you think of the villa?”

“I like it.”

The word sounded quite bland after I said it, so I added a little more.

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

“Not at all.”

“I can do more than that if you wish.”

And Sioden began to slowly make promises to me. Countless affectionate words brushed past my ears.

“I will prepare something better for you next year. If you tell me what you desire, I will accommodate everything…”

Listening to the words, which probably contained the greatest kindness allowed to the lord, I unconsciously bit down on my lower lip.

It was uncomfortable to listen to a future that would never come.

Especially when that future was being built upon someone’s hopes.

“Iella.”

At the sound of my name, I lifted my head, and Sioden was looking down at me.

“I want to do anything for you. I mean it.”

“I believe you.”

I felt that it was time to stop this conversation. I swallowed hard and brought up the real reason I had come to see him.

“Yesterday, you asked me what kind of snack I bought. Do you remember?”

“Yes.”

“It’s this.”

I took out the small glass bottle I had brought in the velvet pouch and showed it to him.

“The knight you assigned to me bought it for me when I first went out… and I thought of it again afterward.”

I held the bottle out to him.

“Would you like to try one?”

Sioden accepted my offer without hesitation.

“Isn’t it too sweet?”

“Yes.”

The man nodded. However, he didn’t look like he intended to reach out for more.

One is not enough.

I had to make him eat one more before Sioden realized this was no ordinary candied preserve.

But offering another one here would look strange. In the worst-case scenario, he might realize something was amiss and refuse to eat it.

I only need to make him swallow it…

It was at that moment that a thought led to an action. I took another candied tea leaf out of the glass bottle and put it in my mouth. Sioden, who was sitting across from me, stretched out his arm toward me with a surprised look.

“Iella, that…”

Before his sentence could be completed, I got up from my seat and moved toward him. Our lips soon met.

Sioden, who had been momentarily stiff, slowly began to follow my lead.

The moment he had completely swallowed the second preserve, the hand that had been cupping his cheek slid down.

I opened my eyes, which I had kept tightly shut to avoid being caught, and assessed the situation. Sioden already had his eyes closed.