This Life, I Will Save The Duke (20 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 117

“Anna, the Count’s household at Ridius sent word to the palace. They’re asking us to send you back. ……Are you all right?”

Anna let out a deep sigh. About a month ago, she’d finally lost patience and cautiously brought up marriage, but Lemon had said nothing at all. Since this relationship had been entered into with some resignation from the start, Anna quietly gave up. She knew all too well that pushing things out of selfish desire would only end in pain for them both.

“……I’m fine.”

Ariel knew very well that she wasn’t. Anna had been sighing far more often lately, and one morning her eyes had even been swollen.

“Did Lemon accept the separation willingly?”

“Lemon…… doesn’t know yet. I’ll tell him once summer ends.”

The gap between noble and commoner was an insurmountable wall. Even if they somehow crossed it, time would inevitably wear them down through the people around them, leaving them battered and broken until they parted ways.

“My Lady Ariel, please don’t worry. That’s just how noble life goes. After all, how many people actually get to marry the one they love? Even you yourself—ah! Let’s stop talking about this. It’s your birthday today. Let’s only think about happy things.”

“You’re right. Let’s do that.”

Fortunately, the conversation that had started so gloomily ended on a bright note. Meanwhile, Kai and El flew onto the terrace.

Though the children hadn’t undergone their first growth phase yet, their skills improved daily, and they’d grown slightly bigger, so now they were regularly taken along to the Duke’s mansion or Tiana’s. What truly surprised Ariel was people’s reactions—perhaps because dragons had been absent for so long, or perhaps because of their small, cute appearances, everyone simply treated the young dragons as clever pets. It could also have been due to people’s familiarity with monsters from the long demonic war, but Ariel never bothered correcting their assumptions.

“Anna, could you change my hair ribbon?”

Remembering it was her birthday, Ariel went into her bedroom and took out a black box she’d kept separately in her vanity drawer. Inside lay a golden ribbon, neatly coiled—the very one Kaius had tied for her on the day of Letiana’s Festival. Since this would be the first and last birthday she’d spend with him, she wanted to preserve at least this small memory.

As Anna replaced the ribbon on Ariel’s loosely braided hair, she took another look at her. The blue dress, low-heeled golden leather shoes, and sapphire necklace had all been birthday gifts from the King and Queen last year.

They’d given these precisely to soothe the disappointment of not being able to celebrate her birthday together. Thus, unintentionally, the only thing on Ariel that wasn’t hers was the Duchess’s blue ring.

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