There Is No Paradise Where I Ran Away To (14 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 2
“…What do you mean by that, Mr. Shepherd?”
Theo had left, and what came with the night was despair. The chirping of insects sounded gentle, yet the news Mr. Shepherd delivered with a shamefaced expression shattered Vivian.
“I’m sorry, Miss Ebelline.”
“…”
“He bid one million mori. The money Mrs. Ebelline handed over was only seven hundred thousand mori. It wasn’t possible to offer more, and one million mori is truly an absurd amount…”
“I’m truly ashamed, Miss Ebelline. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help.”
Shepherd’s continued apology never truly reached Vivian.
“Have courage, but do not worry.”
Her father’s parting words, relayed by Theo, crumbled all too easily.
“Miss Ebelline. Though misfortune keeps striking, there is some good news.”
Her voice caught in her throat. Clenching the hem of her only dress tightly, she held back the surging tears of sorrow.
“The buyer of this mansion is Duke Edwin Beitnes, Miss Ebelline. Do you know Duke Beitnes?”
Vivian fell into thought, then shook her head. Among those who had come to view the mansion just before the auction, no one bore the surname Beitnes. That meant this person had paid such an enormous sum without ever seeing the residence he intended to occupy.
“He’s a well-known figure in Newway in many respects. He’s also impeccably clean in reputation—so much so that he’s never been linked to any offensive scandals. Among Newway’s nobles, he’s one of the very few who enjoys both immense wealth and not a single blemish, earning fervent admiration from the people. I’ve already spoken with the Duke briefly and made a request.”
“A… request?”
“That you be allowed to stay here until Mrs. Ebelline returns. Had anyone else won the auction, I wouldn’t have dared ask. It was only possible because the buyer happened to be Duke Beitnes.”
Vivian’s crimson lips remained tightly shut. If Shepherd trusted this person, Vivian wouldn’t hesitate either. Her lifelong trust in Shepherd, whom she’d known since childhood, now extended directly to Duke Beitnes.
She wondered what Edwin Beitnes had said in response to Mr. Shepherd’s request—that thought arose immediately.
“So… did His Grace grant permission?”
“Well… He hasn’t given permission yet. He said he’d like to speak with you himself tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? So he’s coming here tomorrow?”
The thought of being abruptly evicted from the mansion without preparation triggered Vivian’s fear. Her grip on the dress tightened until her knuckles grew numb.
“As the new owner, it makes sense he’d come. So please speak with him well tomorrow, Miss Ebelline.”
A bag containing seven hundred thousand mori was placed before Vivian.
Shepherd asked once more about the money’s origin and shared the same concerns as Theo. Recalling several past instances when, as a steward at the Viscount’s estate in Preston, he’d received kindness from her father, Shepherd even proposed that if things grew too difficult, they could move south together.
He added that his own family would understand, so she shouldn’t worry or feel indebted. But Vivian firmly refused. She said she had no face left to make further requests of Mr. Shepherd and would stay here to wait for her mother.
Exhausted, Vivian gave only vague assurances to Shepherd’s repeated urging that she write letters, then bid him farewell. Shepherd looked back at her several times, but she managed to offer him a now-familiar, reassuring smile as she waved goodbye.
She returned to the mansion with the mysterious seven hundred thousand mori. The ownership of the grand estate had irrevocably changed hands. That surely meant her life would grow even harder.
“Mother…”
After closing the door, Vivian sank to the floor and wrapped her arms around her legs.
“Father… I miss you so much.”
She buried her face and wept silently. Even as her sobs echoed through the mansion, no one came to look.
She was alone. The place where she should have been with family was filled only with hollow echoes.
[This is the timeline separator]At some point along the long, dark corridor, light seeped through. The confident stride that swept past the full skirts of her dress faltered as she neared the glow spilling onto the floor.
Charlotte, now standing before a door, turned toward a painting hanging on the corridor wall behind her. Using the light from the crack beneath the door, she hastily smoothed her hair and adjusted her attire before turning again.
Knock knock. She took a deep breath and summoned her courage. Upon entering, Edwin’s blue eyes, previously occupied with seated paperwork, landed indifferently upon her. Though he surely hadn’t expected her visit tonight, his expression betrayed neither surprise nor curiosity.
“What is it?”
Couldn’t he at least set down those documents before asking?
Standing mutely, she felt she was worth less than the papers in his hands. She shot him a reproachful glance, but it never reached him as he averted his eyes.
“You returned home late tonight, so I thought I hadn’t properly greeted you.”
“It’s quite late for that, Charlotte.”
“…And I have something I’m curious about.”
“No need to pry—the matter of finding you a husband is proceeding smoothly.”
He was the kind of man who knew all too well how to clutch a fragile heart with those elegant hands. Charlotte gave an awkward smile, sat down, and met Edwin’s gaze directly.
Beneath his lowered lids, deep shadows lingered. His sharp, clean-lined eyes appeared even colder and more piercing in that dim light. As the silence stretched, he finally looked up—their eyes met, his irises glistening wetly blue.
“Anything else?”
“…I was just curious. Ever since I was very young, I’ve remained faithfully by your side, Your Grace. But lately, you’ve felt like a different person—even the sudden large expenditure feels strange.”
“Has my role as your guardian ever included reporting my personal expenditures to you?”
There was no malice in his faint smile—but perhaps there was cruelty in finally voicing the word “guardian,” one he’d always wanted to cast aside, knowing it would wound her.
“No….”
Charlotte’s eyes dropped sorrowfully.
“Then is there anything more?”
“Ah—by the way, I haven’t seen Mr. Loic today. Didn’t he return with you from the auction?”
Having failed to recover her position, Charlotte hastily changed the subject. Seeing her eyes dart around in search of his attendant, Edwin’s lips curved into a deeper smirk. With a shrug that concealed Loic’s whereabouts, he gestured for her to leave.
Disheartened, Charlotte offered a brief farewell and left the study without another word.
Once silence returned, Edwin set down his documents and leaned back, closing his eyes. Pushing past the faint light resting on his eyelids, today’s events floated vividly before him.
“You may or may not have heard the rumors—the only daughter of House Ebelline lives there. And now, she has nowhere else to go.”
As Edwin walked out of the auction house, clutching the deed to Rodinia’s—no, the Ebelline mansion—Anthony Shepherd had stopped him. Shepherd, struggling to voice his plea, had been desperate to the point of suspicion.
“Mrs. Ebelline will return soon. Until then, could you possibly let Miss Ebelline stay in the mansion? Though we’ve never met, I’m making this request. You may sense it from the atmosphere—if that young lady is forced to leave, I dread what humiliation she’ll suffer.”
Would it be cruel to pity her after seeing the earnest plea in Shepherd’s eyes? Yet perhaps even crueller was the truth that Shepherd’s wish had actually pleased Edwin.
“Please, Your Grace—show mercy. Take Miss Ebelline in. Her stay won’t be long.”
Shepherd should have known, as he bowed deeply, that his plea was utterly futile.
Everyone gossiped endlessly about House Ebelline’s only daughter—why did Shepherd assume Edwin wouldn’t have the same desires as those other men?
In Edwin’s view, anyone making such a request ought to have realized that refined-looking lips could, in fact, consume a helpless lamb even more ruthlessly.
As he covered his eyes with his forearm, the flickering light before him dissolved into darkness.
“Vivian. Ebelline. Ebelline. Vivian.”
Like dice tossed playfully, the name Vivian Ebelline rolled across his lips. Whichever name settled into his grasp would determine that woman’s fate.
“Ebelline…”
Lowering his arm, Edwin walked toward the window. Staring into the blue eyes reflected in the glass, he drew forth memories long buried within them.
Everyone wondered:
Why had Edwin Beitnes bought that mansion? If anyone ever gathered the courage to ask, he was ready to answer without hesitation.
“It was to fulfill a promise I made fourteen years ago. And because I received a promise in return.”
“If you don’t kill me here and let me go, you’ll regret it. Someday, I’ll surely come back to kill you.”
“I’ll regret it. So please—stay alive and come back to kill me. I’ll be waiting. Just stay alive. Please live.”
[This is the timeline separator]The weeds had grown so high they now brushed against her ankles. Inside the tall boxwood maze—too high for sunlight to reach thoroughly—such weeds flourished. Since she’d loved mazes since childhood, her father had built one out of boxwood even at the Viscount’s estate in Preston. That hadn’t changed after they’d moved to Newway.
Occasionally, after she solved the puzzle, he would alter the maze’s layout. Later, when she grew older, she told him it wasn’t necessary to keep changing it anymore—but her father always insisted on giving her new challenges.
But now, the maze hadn’t changed. Even retracing the exact same path left her trapped within the same unsolved problem, where only weeds continued to grow.
After her father disappeared, she deliberately wandered this now tedious maze. Over time, it had become her habit: whenever her thoughts deepened or worries piled up, she instinctively sought refuge here.
Today, Duke Edwin Beitnes was coming.
He was the one who had driven Vivian into this unresolved maze once more.
“Oh—it’s raining….”
As she walked aimlessly, a cold droplet struck her forehead, making her look up. The sky, clear until morning, was now entirely covered in leaden storm clouds. Thin raindrops began to fall on Vivian’s pale cheeks.
“I should head back now.”
Murmuring regretfully, Vivian turned to leave. By the time she reached the familiar exit, Theo, holding an umbrella, spotted her and hurried over.
“How did you know I’d be here, Theo?”
“I knew you’d do something like this.”
“Huh?”
Now sheltered under the umbrella and freed from the light rain, Vivian looked up at him with puzzled eyes as gray as the storm clouds.
“You’d be wandering the maze without an umbrella.”
“Why?”
“I read the newspaper.”
A newspaper was abruptly thrust before Vivian. Hoping desperately to find news of her father, her heart leapt—but the headline on the front page plunged her straight into disappointment.
“Duke Beitnes of Newway Ruthlessly Devours the Fallen Ebelline Aristocrat of Preston.”
That was how the public perceived the transfer of the Ebelline mansion into Duke Edwin Beitnes’s hands.
“…Yeah. That’s how it turned out.”
Though the bitter twist wasn’t a smile, Vivian desperately tried to make it appear like one. She insisted she wasn’t deeply hurt, so he didn’t need to comfort her.
She thought Theo would understand that.
“Let’s go inside quickly. It’s cold with the rain—you’ll catch a cold like this.”
“Wait—hold on.”
As Theo turned to leave, tucking the newspaper under his arm, Vivian grabbed his sleeve to stop him. Briefly startled by her fair, delicate fingers, he watched as she took back the paper and began scanning its contents.
“What’s wrong?”
“He’s dead…”
“What? Who?”
The detached tone made Theo’s heart drop. If it were a death related to the Ebellines, he surely would have known—but just as he began to feel relieved, Vivian spoke again.
“…Howde. They say he’s dead.”
“Howde? You mean Caspian Howde—that wealthy man who once proposed to you?”
“…Yeah.”
That despicable man who’d stooped so low as to hurl vulgar insults at her.
Hiding his true feelings, Theo stepped closer and read the article alongside her.
“Caspian Howde, struck by a mysterious accident on his way home after yesterday’s auction, died instantly at the scene. Though the exact cause remains unknown, authorities are investigating the circumstances…”
As Vivian and Theo read on about Caspian Howde’s death, the sound of approaching hoofbeats made them both look up simultaneously.
Someone had just passed through the mansion’s main gate. Theo hurried after Vivian, who had stepped out from under the umbrella, and held it over her golden hair. He didn’t care that his jacket was getting soaked—his only concern was keeping Vivian safe from the rain.
The uninvited guest had already passed the fountain and now stood nearly before them. Two carriages lined up neatly in front of the pair. Startled by a horse’s sudden snort, Vivian clutched her chest—but Theo stepped even closer.
Don’t be afraid—I’m right here.
She thought he’d understand that meaning.
The carriage door opened, and a spotless, polished boot stepped firmly onto the ground. Even in that moment, Theo’s eyes never left Vivian. Her tiny hand, gripping her dress tightly, showed every bone clearly beneath her pale skin.
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
MANGA DISCUSSION
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Chapter Comments (4)
So he is a debt collector? Poor her. How can they left her like that. Alone and full of debt…
I can understand if he hated her but she was innocent man. The one responsibility for the sins were her parents
Oh god, what the heck with him?!!! If he wanted to hate, it wasn’t her!!! Feel bad for fl
Inline Comments (1)
Revenge against Ebelline, who had sent his family to the executioner’s block. An
But she wasn’t involved in the death of his parents.
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Blairwoods
“Edwin wouldn’t have the same desires as those other men?”
Man is man after all