There was a palpable sense of discomfort between Terran and Lea. Fortunately, Terran didn’t ask for a reason.

“Th… thank you.”

Lea felt almost empty at Terran’s easy acceptance.

Perhaps he had been waiting for a situation like this. She felt as if she had thoughtlessly taken up residence in the Duke’s mansion as if it were her own home.

“I’ll be going now.”

As Lea stood up and headed towards the door, Terran called out to her again.

“Grace, if you see Luke in the hallway, could you tell him I’m looking for him? There’s some unfinished business I forgot to take care of.”

She had hoped he might try to stop her one last time, but his tone was even more businesslike than usual.

Despite having just discussed their broken engagement and separation, he seemed completely unaffected.

“Yes? I… I’ll do that.”

She left the room almost as if fleeing. Terran’s cool acceptance was a bit disappointing… No, even wanting such a reaction was contradictory and greedy.

‘Rather, this is for the best.’

It was fortunate that she could leave cleanly. Lea soon saw Luke talking with James.

“Luke, His Grace is looking for you.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Luke hurried towards the office.

Lea was about to say goodbye to the butler James. However, she didn’t want to interrupt his pleasant conversation with Luke.

“James, thank you.”

“Miss Grace, why such words so suddenly?”

“I felt I should say it at least once.”

“Is that so?”

James laughed heartily, bowed politely to Lea, and then disappeared.

Only then did Lea begin to feel things were slowly coming together.

‘I can come back for the necklace later with Father.’

Come to think of it, the Courtois ducal residence was the one place Allen’s grasp couldn’t reach. Staying in such a safe place any longer would be like drifting at sea like a ship that had lost its destination.

Lea returned to her room and stood by the window, gazing at the scenery outside all day long. A mixture of emotions swirled within her, and all sorts of anguish shook her soul.

Her thoughts didn’t stop until the evening sunset stained the sky red and darkness gradually fell.

“Miss, is something troubling you? You’ve even skipped meals.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Pauline brought food to the room.

Lea, unable to delay any further, took Pauline’s hand and led her towards the sofa.

“Pauline, I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“What? What do you mean? Where are you going?”

Pauline’s reaction was exactly as expected.

“You know too, Pauline, that His Grace doesn’t love me.”

“That’s ancient history. Things seem different now…”

If anything, Terran seemed to be growing fonder of Grace with each passing day.

“How can you leave me behind and go somewhere?”

“Pauline, you need to stay here.”

“No. Take me with you. I’ve grown up with you since childhood. I came here trusting only you, all the way from the baron’s estate.”

Pauline’s resistance was formidable. Lea could only feel sorry. If it were a path they could walk together, she would readily extend her hand, but she couldn’t drag Pauline into hell with her.

“Pauline, listen to me carefully.”

“!?”

“I… I might never be able to come back here.”

‘Because I have to go to hell hand in hand with Allen.’

She couldn’t bring herself to say those words. Lea had to work hard to soothe and calm Pauline, who was crying and making a fuss.

Not telling her the real reason meant they were repeating the same questions and answers.

After much difficulty, Lea managed to persuade Pauline. Or perhaps Pauline was too exhausted and seemed to have given up on following her.

* * *

Lea left the ducal residence early in the morning. However, there was a carriage waiting in front of the main gate.

‘What’s this?’

Just then, the coachman came down and greeted Lea.

“His Grace instructed me to escort you safely to the train station, Miss.”

“Is… that so?”

For a moment, her throat tightened. If she had known this would happen, she would have at least said a proper thank you before leaving.

She felt sorry for having only conveyed her intentions as if making a declaration of war. Lea turned around to take one last look at the ducal residence before boarding the carriage.

‘I hope you all find happiness.’

She had tried not to cry, but tears suddenly burst forth.

At last, the carriage began to move. Only then did Lea roughly wipe away her tears with the back of her hand, determined not to cry anymore.

‘Don’t cry, you haven’t even started yet.’

Meanwhile, Terran stood by the window, watching Grace leave in the carriage. He then immediately turned and headed to her room.

He could hear Pauline’s crying from inside. When Terran entered, Pauline jumped up in surprise.

“Your Grace, can’t we bring Miss back?”

“What?”

“I have a bad feeling. She said strange things, like someone going to die.”

“Strange things?”

“She said she would never return. And she didn’t pack any luggage. Just like someone going to die.”

Even as Terran listened to Pauline, his gaze was fixed on the few notebooks neatly arranged on the dressing table.

He was curious about why she had been so diligently organizing newspaper clippings. He needed to know what was shaking her enough to make her leave the ducal residence.

He approached the dressing table and picked up the notebooks. She had even numbered them.

‘Ha! How meticulous.’

He chuckled and opened the first volume.

From the very first page, it was filled with articles about ‘Allen MacDowell’.

Terran turned to Pauline and said,

“Pauline, you know, people don’t die that easily.”

“Pardon?”

Pauline felt embarrassed for having made such a fuss in the face of Terran’s calm tone. Was the Duke really unaffected, just as Grace had said?

“I think I need some tea.”

“Yes, I’ll bring it right away.”

After Pauline left, Terran began reading the notebooks in earnest.

Most of the articles were about Allen MacDowell and the Hamilton Trading Company. There was also news of Lea Hamilton’s death. Above it, there were traces of ink slightly smudged, as if tears had fallen on it.

‘Allen MacDowell, Lea Hamilton, and Grace.’

While he could understand the connection with the first two, there shouldn’t be any link with Grace…

Just then, Pauline returned with the tea. She poured steaming hot tea for Terran.

“Pauline, when did Grace start collecting these newspapers?”

“Right after she first woke up from the flu, sir.”

That was the beginning of the change, when she suddenly rushed into the office and asked for a week’s worth of daily newspapers.

“Did Grace perhaps like this man?”

Terran asked, showing the illustration of Allen in the newspaper article.

“I’m not sure about that.”

Pauline tilted her head and thought carefully.

At first, she had assumed it was just a new hobby, but when Grace was clipping newspaper articles, there seemed to be a glint of murderous intent in her eyes.

“But Your Grace, Miss Grace isn’t very good at keeping her emotions hidden, is she?”

That was true. But that was before Grace’s changes began.

Terran took a sip of tea and continued reading the notebook. However, his emotions became increasingly tangled, and a great anger began to weigh on his chest. Even this was an unfamiliar feeling, which was perplexing.

The notebooks were filled to the brim with ‘Allen MacDowell’. What could be the reason for Grace’s obsession with this man? She had only seen him once.

‘Did she fall for him?’

Well, although Allen MacDowell’s actions were suspicious, he was quite handsome. Enough for a woman to fall for him.

Maybe that’s why she had underlined the train times to Galdensia.

‘Could she have read the letter?’

Terran stood up and headed to his office.

He wondered if Grace had read the letter addressed to him and left.

He quickly opened the drawer, and the letter was still there, sealed. The problem was that a different item had disappeared.

‘How reckless. Leaving to meet a man she’s only seen once.’

No, Allen would welcome Grace with open arms if she came to him.

Terran squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t know what this emotional whirlwind in his chest was, but it was very uncomfortable, anger was boiling, and he felt betrayed to the point his teeth were chattering.

Even trying to shift his thoughts elsewhere didn’t make the emotions welling up in his chest subside.

* * *

As soon as Lea arrived at the train station, she bought a ticket to Galdensia. Her gaze was fixed on the large clock on the station wall.

With only 20 minutes left until the train’s arrival, her heart was pounding and her palms were sweating. But the station attendants were bustling about.

“The train is expected to be delayed beyond its scheduled arrival time.”

The station attendants shouted towards the people. Most people didn’t think much of it. It was common for train times to be slightly delayed.

Lea also waited patiently for the train to arrive. But even after noon passed and afternoon came, there was no sign of the 11 o’clock train, and people eventually became agitated.

“Train operations will be suspended for several days.”

At the station attendant’s sudden announcement, people voiced their complaints and left the station.

“We’ll have to take a stagecoach.”

“If that’s not possible, we’ll have to take a mail coach at least.”

People grumbled as they gathered their luggage.

Lea was equally flustered. If she couldn’t go to Galdensia by train, she’d have to take a carriage like everyone else. But another problem arose.

“We can’t leave Rebon City?”

“I heard the police department is controlling all of Rebon to catch smugglers.”

“Then we’ll have to take a mail coach at least.”

Lea hurried along with the people. But all the mail coaches were already full, and the last coach had already left the city.

Just then, the bells from the clock tower rang out, signaling five in the evening.

“What should I do?”

Lea stood on the street, blankly staring at the clock. She truly couldn’t go anywhere now.

The trains wouldn’t run for days, and the entire city of Rebon was under lockdown. She hadn’t even brought money for a hotel.

‘Should I go back to the ducal residence?’

The problem was that she wasn’t thick-skinned enough for that.

After making a big fuss about breaking off the engagement and leaving, going back was absolutely out of the question. Lea felt utterly lost.