The next day, Whitney hadn’t slept a wink, but her heart felt light. She planned to completely renovate the spaces where Cecilia and Melissa had stayed. She also decided to sell unnecessary luxury items and entrusted this task to the butler.

“It shouldn’t take too long. If there’s anything you’re unsure about, ask your aunt.”

“Yes, I will do that.”

She nodded to the butler and finished her preparations. Whitney had something she needed to complete before returning to the duke’s residence. Isn’t the conclusion always important in all matters?

She had to tie up loose ends and finish things properly. Whitney boarded the carriage to return to the royal palace.

“Be careful on your journey.”

“But you speak as if I’ll never return to the royal palace again.”

“…Is that so?”

“Whitney. If there’s anything troubling you, tell me. I’ll find a way to help you no matter what.”

Fortunately, her aunt had readily agreed to look after the duke’s residence while she was away. In fact, she had said she would return quickly as it probably wouldn’t take long.

She smiled brightly without answering. The carriage door closed, and soon she could feel the sound of wheels passing over the dirt road. Whitney closed her eyes to shake off her complicated thoughts.

Strangely, the more she tried, the more thoughts came and became clearer. Various thoughts intertwined, making it impossible to sleep. Eventually, Whitney opened her eyes and looked out the window.

‘Looks like it might rain.’

The sky had darkened, filled with heavy clouds. She took in the scenery of the gray sky and the landscape with slightly lowered saturation due to the lack of sunlight, which wouldn’t be strange if raindrops started falling soon. She frowned at the poor visibility caused by the thick fog.

‘Is it trying to substitute for my heart?’

She rather wished it would rain instead of her. The heavy downpour might make her heart feel a bit refreshed. The heavy weather, as if the summer rainy season was approaching, with added humidity, was unpleasant. The rain-soaked air clinging to her skin kept her mood down.

Whitney opened the window. Indeed, the damp air made her feel uncomfortable even sitting still.

‘I’m sorry to Lady Elenia… She’ll be very disappointed, won’t she?’

She couldn’t promise to stay by her side until the end, so perhaps she had anticipated this. Whitney’s steps back to the royal palace were heavy. More than having many things to do, the relationships she had to end made her heart heavier.

Now that there would be no more unjust deaths because of him, she had done all she could. From the beginning, he wasn’t so weak that she needed to protect him. He probably wished that others wouldn’t die because of him, and maybe he was tired of everything and wanted to quit.

This time, she wished the carriage would move a little slower. It was the first time she felt like she didn’t want the return journey to be quick.

[This is the timeline separator]

Cheston crossed his arms and looked out the window.

“It might rain.”

“Given the poor weather, don’t you think we might get a shower?”

“I hope it’s just passing rain. But somehow, I don’t think it will be.”

He had received a report that Whitney Orlean was coming to the royal palace. What’s the rush? Does she want to end her relationship with him quickly?

He bit the inside of his mouth. He thought it would take her longer to return. He figured she would have a lot to deal with and many issues to resolve regarding money matters entangled with relatives.

“I didn’t know that being too capable could be a problem.”

“…Pardon?”

If she had struggled and couldn’t immediately inherit the family head position, he would have stepped in. However, she reclaimed the family head position cleanly and quickly, just as he had expected.

He realized that everything had ended when he received the newspaper this morning. When he saw her tearful figure entering, he was worried and couldn’t take his eyes off her. He was concerned that the leech-like people clinging to the family might use despicable methods to avoid being shaken off.

However, she made even that concern pointless. She had settled everything in just one day.

The truth about Lady Orlean! The young family head’s efforts to restore honor.

The story of the Orlean duchy was plastered on the front page.

[The woman known as Lady Orlean, who had been leading as the temporary head of the ducal family, has caused a stir by deceiving everyone.

The one we knew as Cecilia Orlean, no, Cecilia Weston, no, Cecilia Ervin, her real name is Louise Ann. Not the daughter of a noble family, but a commoner whose mother was in the slums and whose father was unknown, she maintained her livelihood by selling her body.

Her greed knew no bounds. Disguising herself as a widow with a child, using her beautiful appearance, she exploited the kind hearts of nobles and committed various crimes.

Louise Ann not only committed fraud but also committed the heinous acts of driving those who cared for her to death. Attention is focused on the actions of Whitney Orlean, who has become the family head. As the fiancée of Prince Cheston and the new head of the Orlean family, her…]

While it claimed to be paying attention, the content was largely skeptical about her taking the position of family head. It was an unusual event for a young woman to become the family head, so it seemed that everyone was already pouring out interest in how the Orlean family would fall.

Cheston ran his hand through his hair as he threw the newspaper on the table. If the engagement were to be broken now when all attention was focused on her, it would inevitably draw negative attention to her.

Of course, breaking off the engagement to properly fulfill the duties of the family head would be a plausible reason to anyone. Perhaps now would be the right time to break it off.

Cheston dressed in his uniform to go out and meet Whitney.

“But will His Majesty the King allow it? You’ve just gained a decent support base, haven’t you?”

“…That’s my responsibility.”

“Oh, I heard that the Kingdom of Petuntra arrived at the castle today. It seems the palace will be noisy with a banquet being held.”

“Strange. It’s disturbing enough that they suddenly moved up the schedule, but to hold a noisy banquet on top of that…”

“Could it be that Her Majesty the Queen is up to something again?”

“It would be quick to think that way. It means something has happened that requires attention to be diverted.”

He suddenly remembered that Whitney was coming to the palace. For the Queen, the most bothersome existence would be none other than Whitney.

He immediately left his office.

[This is the timeline separator]

Whitney’s chest stung at the sight of the palace visible through the window. Even if His Majesty the King objected, she had one card up her sleeve. The immunity token she carried with her every day.

She intended to use it. Even His Majesty the King wouldn’t be able to prevent the engagement from being broken if she used the immunity token. It wasn’t like she was turning her back on them just because she was ending the engagement, so if she explained well, she might be able to persuade him.

‘His Highness must already be preparing as well.’

He must have guessed the reason why she was returning to the royal palace so quickly. Whitney sighed involuntarily as she reached the palace.

There was still a long way to go to reach the detached palace. However, the carriage stopped, and the coachman made an incomprehensible sound.

“They say the carriage can’t go any further due to those invited to the palace today. Should we wait?”

Whitney only then noticed the carriages stopped around them. Seeing that it was full of royal carriages, it seemed many guests had arrived. Hearing the knight say that for safety reasons, no carriages other than royal ones were allowed in today, she had no choice but to get out.

“Ah! I didn’t recognize you, Lady Orlean. Shall I call for a separate royal carriage?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll walk as it’s been a while since I’ve taken a stroll. Don’t worry about it.”

The knight pondered for a moment before nodding. Then he showed her a path that wasn’t crowded with people. Whitney thanked him and walked towards the detached palace through a path she had never taken before.

‘I can just walk slowly.’

She felt rather relieved. If she had gone by carriage, it would have taken less than ten minutes to arrive, but on foot, it would take at least thirty minutes.

She lifted her head to look at the sky.

It looks like it will rain soon.

She stretched out her hand, but no raindrops fell on her palm. The gloomy energy seemed to keep consuming her, spreading from her chest. She should be happy, but with each step she took, it held her back like a swamp. Don’t go, just go back to the duke’s residence.

Whitney smiled self-deprecatingly at these hypocritical feelings.

‘How selfish.’

It was a selfish feeling that surprised even herself. With what heart? When did you push him away, and now you’re trying to hold on?

My goodness.

Whitney was afraid that these feelings would be discovered. She suppressed her desire to run away and slowly moved her feet to face her own heart.

How long had she walked? The detached palace came into view. As the knight had said, there were no people in sight. Whitney had wanted to avoid other nobles anyway because of the Orlean family’s affair that had made the front-page headlines. If unnecessary words were exchanged, rumors would swell and grow, and the damage would go straight to Cheston.

‘That’s a relief. It seems no one is here.’

She thought everyone would come flocking out of curiosity about what had happened, but it seemed they couldn’t approach directly, mindful of the guests and the Queen’s eyes. Whitney slowly walked towards the detached palace that looked somewhat empty.

She saw someone coming out of the detached palace. Even from a distance, she immediately recognized who it was.

“…”

She had hoped to encounter him a little later. Was even that desire too greedy? As she witnessed him coming out of the detached palace, her footsteps froze in place.

In fact, she might have taken a step back. Was it because her desire not to face him had grown? She hadn’t intended to avoid him, but it was unclear why her body moved differently from her mind.

Blue eyes soon found her, and their gazes intersected. With intertwining gazes, Whitney’s eyes wavered as she took another step back.

Seeing Cheston approaching her without hesitation, her heart pounded. No, he seemed to be running towards her.

“Whitney!”

The moment Cheston called her name for the first time, Whitney felt that something had gone wrong.