On a warm, sun-drenched afternoon, a distinct shadow fell across the faded mahogany desk.

The gentle breeze softly rustled the curtains in Biare’s room, lightly tousling her hair as well.

After standing motionless for a while as if lost in thought, Biare hastily closed the desk drawer at the sound of someone approaching.

Feigning composure, she removed her hands from the desk and greeted the maid.

“Enter.”

A maid who had knocked three times soon stepped quietly into Biare’s bedroom.

“My lady, the Duke has summoned you to his study.”

“Very well, tell him I’ll be there shortly.”

“Yes, I shall do so.”

After confirming that the maid had closed the door and left, a faint sigh escaped Biare’s lips.

“What could you possibly be thinking…?”

It had been a full year. A year since she had received any communication from her former lover.

Though Biare had been waiting for Dension’s contact even now, when she actually received the letter, her heart inexplicably plummeted.

For a brief moment, she doubted whether the letter was truly from him, but Biare soon shook her head.

Although there was no sender written separately on the letter, the dried leaf of Densifollia proved Dension’s existence.

Whenever he exchanged letters with her, he would always include a dried Densifollia leaf.

‘But now, after all this time, he says he has something to say and will wait?’

She couldn’t fathom his intentions in sending such a letter now, after a year of silence.

Biare lightly bit her lower lip out of habit, twirling a strand of her curled hair before coming to her senses.

“Look at me. Father is waiting.”

Biare checked her reflection in the mirror, tidied her disheveled hair, and after ensuring she looked presentable, hurried towards the Duke’s study.

Though it was the same corridor she always walked, for some reason, her feet felt heavier today, and a damp chill ran through her body.

Thinking it must be due to Dension’s letter, Biare shook her head briefly as she approached the study.

After knocking on the study door a couple of times, a middle-aged man’s voice was heard.

“Come in.”

“Father, I heard you called for me.”

Upon seeing her, the Duke smiled warmly and playfully chided Biare.

“It’s so difficult to see my daughter’s face, I might have an easier time meeting Lord Ekarto.”

Biare merely smiled faintly without offering any response.

Ekarto was the sole deity worshipped in the Marta Empire, and the devout Duke Ruschef made substantial monthly donations to the temple.

The Duke had begun worshipping Ekarto after the passing of his wife.

Despite seeking renowned doctors and treatments from across the empire for the Duchess, who had been gravely ill, she ultimately succumbed to her illness.

For the eight years since then, the Duke had showered his two children with love, compensating for their mother’s absence.

Thus, even though her father relied on a non-existent god and made lavish offerings, she could only watch, unable to do anything about it.

While she had no intention of taking away her father’s sole source of comfort if worship was indeed that for him, the problem arose when he unnecessarily involved her and her brother in his endeavors.

On such occasions, he would usually summon her, and she would sit silently, sipping tea without uttering a word.

Just like now.

“Are you planning to hold another charity event this time?”

The Duke’s thick eyebrows slowly rose, followed by a sheepish laugh.

“…As expected, my daughter takes after me with her sharp intuition.”

Judging by his reaction, it was clear he hadn’t yet breathed a word to Gaizen.

Ever since Gaizen had solidified his position as the heir to the business and the future Duke, he had been busier than ever.

“Gaizen will surely disapprove if he finds out.”

“Yes, that’s precisely why I’m asking this of you.”

Gaizen despised religion and had clashed with his father several times over the matter.

Biare let out a short sigh as she gazed down at her father’s hands, which were clasped in hers.

Her boundless softness towards her family must be a trait inherited from her father.

“Just this once. But from now on, please discuss these matters with us in advance.”

The Duke nodded, smiling with satisfaction as he replied.

“Of course, whose request would it be if not for that!”

The conversation with the Duke ended more quickly than she had anticipated, and Biare hurried back to her room.

There was still an unresolved issue to address.

Biare glanced around the corridor, and after confirming that no one was near her room, she locked the door.

Then, with trembling hands, she retrieved the letter she had hastily stuffed into the mahogany desk drawer earlier.

Even upon rereading, it contained merely three lines—more of a note than a letter.

While her heart swelled at the mere fact of receiving a letter from him, fear also welled up within her.

She was afraid that she might be the only one anticipating this meeting.

Until a year ago, when he suddenly vanished without a trace, such emotions hadn’t surfaced.

Biare and Dension were so different in nature that no one, not even she, could have imagined them becoming lovers.

Drawn to each other’s opposing qualities, they fell in love in a relatively short time, and quarreled frequently in proportion to their love.

The day before Dension disappeared, they had a major argument over an unexpected issue, but she naively thought they would reconcile the next day as usual.

Although she had declared their breakup in the heat of the moment and he hadn’t tried to stop her, she believed they wouldn’t actually separate.

Biare still loved him and believed he loved her too.

However, when she visited the Verdeum Marquis’s residence the next morning, no one knew of his whereabouts.

As Dension’s disappearance began to affect work, even his close associates were visibly flustered.

Biare tried to reassure herself, thinking he must have gone on a brief journey to collect his thoughts.

He had always been someone who needed time alone.

She thought that he, who had been constantly managing his territory, must have been exhausted and in need of rest.

Believing this, she waited for his return.

She firmly believed that if she waited just a little longer, Dension would surely approach her first, as he always had.

‘There’s barely enough time to love you, why did we have to argue over such a trivial matter….’

When the grand tree visible from the window began to bloom on its once bare branches, she thought you would return.

By the time the flowers had fallen and the lush green leaves had turned red and fallen, she only hoped that you were still alive.

If disappearing suddenly after deciding to break up was his way, crying herself to sleep every day thinking of him was hers.

She had believed that the days spent with him were so natural that they would last forever.

The love she had believed in ultimately betrayed her, and it was they, imperfect and finite, who had loved.

It was around the beginning of winter when Biare, who had spent her days sitting by the window gazing at the grand tree, finally composed her emotions that seemed on the verge of collapse.

By this time, she could understand. That he no longer wanted her.

Recognizing that she could no longer be with her lover, Biare emerged from her bedroom, gathering her crumbling heart.

When the young lady of the house, who seemed unlikely to ever leave her room, voluntarily opened the door and came out, it’s said that the maids who cherished the Duke’s daughter wept openly.

‘Everyone was worried about me.’

Only then did Biare realize how much she had troubled her family and retainers.

Now, she had to let go of her former lover and return to where she belonged.

She had already caused them too much worry, so she promised and vowed not to do so anymore.

And yet, he appears after a year, shaking her resolve.