Unable to avoid the humiliation of being dragged out, Vivian strongly resisted with outstretched legs, but it was useless. Surrounding Vivian, who was covered in livestock excrement and urine, were the neatly dressed people of the mansion.

Her body gained freedom just as she passed through the barn doorway. The distance to Edwin also became that much closer, but she backed away under the shadow of the barn, widening the gap.

Though she wanted to run away as far as possible, she couldn’t because she knew the next humiliation she would face wouldn’t end with simply being dragged out. She felt she would inevitably kneel before those cold and heartless blue eyes.

“Why are you doing this, Duke? Why on earth am I……”

Her gaze traveled from Edwin’s clean face down to his feet. Standing there in perfect and flawless form, Edwin seemed unreal, like a mirage or illusion.

It felt like if she reached out her hand, he might disappear like mist.

“Why?”

His well-polished black shoes stepped on the ground and reached her tattered leather shoes. The eyes that traveled up confirmed her body covered in filth.

Drops of filth that had trickled down along the fabric drew a picture around Vivian as they fell from the hem of her skirt, and her hands gripping the skirt were stained with dried animal manure from the heat.

“Look at yourself. You ask why?”

She felt the back of her neck burning hot. Through countless torments, she had never shown tears in front of them. She didn’t want to isolate herself by showing tears.

An intense wave that was hard to endure surged up her esophagus to her throat. No matter how many times she tried to cast a spell, her vision blurred when she discovered the dark grime under her fingernails.

Edwin, looking down with arrogant eyes, would surely mock the sight of her rolling in the gutter. What made her unable to hold back tears was Edwin, who would be pleased.

The fall of the 14-year-old girl who had saved her life, disguised as kindness masquerading as authority. She even made the vile conjecture that perhaps all the torment until now had been ordered by Edwin.

“Go bring Sophie.”

Vivian’s head suddenly lifted from the mire of misery. As if anticipating the reason for calling Sophie, her gray eyes shook unsteadily.

Panting breaths crossed over the shadow of the barn. The breath mixed with heat and crying was a mess.

“…D-Duke.”

A pitiful tone flowed between her heavy lips.

“Clear out Miss Eveline’s quarters and move her belongings back to her original room.”

The heartless Edwin did not consider Vivian’s circumstances. Vivian took a step towards Edwin but, realizing her state, returned to her place.

“Duke. What do you mean all of a sudden?”

“The farce ends here.”

The emotionless voice uttered without inflection rendered futile all the time she had fought so fiercely. Coming without warning to humiliate her and strip away her dignity, now he was even snatching away the only hope she had clung to.

“Just go back and do your embroidery as usual. Sell it to make money or decorate cushions, do as you please. Miss Eveline will now return to her original place.”

“I-I don’t know what mistake I’ve made, but I’ll try even harder. Duke, I’ll work two times, no, three times harder than now.”

Eveline, who had fallen from the protagonist of a masterpiece filling the lake to a poor work, anxiously tried not to sink into an even deeper mire.

Edwin’s deep blue gaze slowly swept around the barn filled with stifling heat and odor. The woman standing still amidst it all seemed to have made great efforts to fit in here. But the inherent nobility in her foundation could not be concealed even in filth.

“I see no special competitiveness in you. Rather, you’re incompetent. Given that, you’ve disrupted the order of the mansion and plunged it into chaos – that’s reason enough for dismissal.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying at all. What competitiveness I lack, what order I’ve disrupted, what chaos I’ve caused – I don’t understand any of it.”

Thick tears fell to the ground, soaked in biting criticism. Those tears also reflected a faint anger. She could not accept the unreasonable situation she found herself in.

“I want to keep working, Duke. You allowed me to do this job, didn’t you? You respected my choice, didn’t you? You even praised me. But suddenly……”

The surging emotion choked Vivian’s voice. But the time she looked back on proved Vivian’s limitations, and sorrowful sobs burst out involuntarily, panting like a child.

“Suddenly dismissing me with words I can’t understand. I worked so hard all this time until my body turned to powder. Every night I was in pain, walking was difficult, I got hurt and cut but not once did I slack off or show that it was hard.”

For the first time in her life, she realized her own pain and hardship, that the world would not acknowledge it. The pampered one, always surrounded by people who treated her as noble, had to fight alone in utter loneliness.

Until the Duke took it away, until he disparaged it with scornful ridicule, it had been a time filled with meaning and hope, endured strongly even in loneliness.

“Did you think a servant’s work was just about overworking the body? If you want to do this job without even that much perception, it means you haven’t learned anything in all this time, Miss Eveline.”

“Du……”

“You still don’t understand even like this?”

Edwin, growing bored, cut off Vivian’s desperate call. The unwilling and unpleasant situation only accelerated his tedious mood. Just then, Sophie appeared with another servant and, discovering Vivian in the barn, ran over with a pale face.

It was time to hand over that tiresome woman to Sophie and turn away.

“I’m not incompetent!”

A defiant cry, almost a scream, rang out to Edwin as he was about to turn away. His weary, jaded eyes turned to Vivian, who had raised her hackles stiffly even while holding back tears.

“I’ll be acknowledged and move forward. I won’t do foolish things like staying cooped up in my room doing embroidery and waiting for my parents.”

Vivian’s momentum with her hands tightly clenched was impressive. Yet it still failed to spark any interest. A long, bored sigh stretched out. As the desire to elegantly break this stubborn woman bottomed out, the urge to drag her out directly surged.

“It seems Miss Eveline is under a grand delusion.”

Suppressing the fifth impulse, Edwin sneered mockingly with contempt.

“Even if you like the lead role you played in this play, that’s enough now.”

Vivian, standing precariously, confirmed that her rebellion had not worked and shed tears of despair. The air between the confronting Edwin and Vivian sank further.

“Don’t disrupt my world any further, Miss Eveline. This isn’t advice, it’s a warning.”

Edwin, wrapping up the conversation, nodded to Sophie. After confirming that the sobbing Sophie was supporting Vivian, Edwin also left the place.

The sound of weeping fluttered faintly on the wind. The summer breeze, hotter than ever, was unpleasantly scorching.

***

Abernathy watched the broad back of his master walking ahead with worry. Unlike his undisturbed expression, he read his master’s irritated footsteps. And realizing that the path he was heading led to Charlotte, Abernathy swallowed bitter regret.

Even when he heard that Charlotte’s maid Marian was leading the bullying of Eveline, he had only thought of the usual mockery.

That it was an underestimation became clear right after confirming Eveline in the barn.

That Edwin, who rarely took direct action, was going to find Charlotte himself was an important example showing how far his anger had escalated. The prediction that a great storm would sweep over the mansion due to what would unfold afterwards was unlikely to be wrong.

Standing in front of Charlotte’s room, Edwin opened the door without proper procedure. Charlotte, enjoying her afternoon tea time, screamed in surprise, spilling hot coffee.

Marian, startled along with her, made a fuss saying she would bring ice, but Edwin’s blue eyes were like a calm sea under dark clouds.

“…Duke? What brings you here?”

Charlotte, calming her startled heart, dismissed Marian who was crouching down trying to clean up the wet dress.

“Marian.”

Edwin’s deep, low voice that passed over the question aimed at none other than Marian.

“Yes… Duke.”

“Pack Charlotte’s belongings right now.”

The eyes of the two people, more surprised than by Edwin’s unprecedented sudden visit, grew wide. Charlotte, not knowing what was going on, looked dumbfounded.

“What do you mean? Why do I suddenly have to pack my things?”

“I no longer have need of you.”

The cold and brusque tone was hard to believe for those who had grown up together since childhood. Charlotte tried to repeat what Edwin had just said, but the more she did, the deeper the wound grew.

“Duke. How could you…”

“Take care of what your servant has done on your own. I’m telling you to wrap it up by leaving this place.”

Charlotte’s face crumbled miserably. Her pale complexion was like a corpse, and her soul, wounded by the cruelest words, evaporated. Saying to leave without warning, saying she was no longer needed, with the most calm and casual eyes – it hurt Charlotte.

“W-Wait a moment. Duke!”

As Edwin turned away, Charlotte, who had rushed over, began to ask what on earth was going on.

“Why are you doing this? Is it because I said I wouldn’t get married? But isn’t this too harsh? Telling me to leave the mansion right away without time to organize? Where am I supposed to go? Huh?”

Edwin’s lips did not part further. He only gave a cold nod towards Abernathy. Abernathy had to reluctantly carry out his master’s order.

Abernathy quietly gave Marian a sharp look. He hoped she would quickly realize whose actions had led to this and prostrate herself.

Large tears also fell from Charlotte’s eyes, faced with an unexpected situation.

Already the second time today.

Despite making two women cry, Edwin felt no guilt whatsoever. He only brushed past with tired, indifferent eyes.

“Duke!”

Marian, who had run over, blocked Edwin’s path as he turned away and fell to her knees at his feet. The quick-witted Marian realized that the cause of this trouble lay with her, and that it was related to Eveline.

Abernathy quietly exhaled a breath of relief, though not completely relaxed. This much should be enough to get past the crisis for the wronged Charlotte.

“I-I-It was all my doing alone! Lady Windler knew nothing about it at all.”

The wet eyes that had been despairing at Edwin’s heartless attitude fell on Marian. Both Edwin, who was suddenly giving notice, and Marian, who was reproaching herself for something unknown, intensified Charlotte’s confusion.

“It’s all my fault. The lady really didn’t know anything. I just… the lady was so upset because of Eveline, so I…”

“Eveline?”

Marian, who had been looking up at Edwin, realized her mistake and covered her mouth with both hands.

It was around then that a quiet shadow fell over Edwin’s blue eyes. Rather than eyes holding a storm, they were not this severe. The deep and calm eyes, whose limits were unknowable, made it impossible for anyone to predict what would happen next.

“Since when did Miss Eveline become friends with Windler’s servant?”

“Th-That…”

“You say she’s friends with a mere dressmaker, so everyone wants to be her friend.”

Marian, pale as a sheet, tried somehow to correct her mistake, but her overwhelmed soul could only struggle. His emotionless eyes turned to Charlotte, who had slumped down in despair.

In his gaze resting on her, not a trace of anger, disappointment, or self-reproach could be seen.

That pained Charlotte even more.

What hurt while looking at those eyes that were so close yet so far away was because she still loved him, because her loving heart could not be discarded.