It had already been three days since I last saw Cassel. Noah, of course, and even the employees seemed to sense something unusual, as they all kept glancing at Riena from time to time. But they didn’t make it obvious.

Riena also pretended to be fine, but in reality, she wasn’t fine at all.

She would wander around the living room, wondering if Cassel might be in his room, and even put her ear against the connecting door to spy on the situation inside.

Then, on the afternoon of the fourth day, Amy, who had been pretending not to notice, finally lost her temper as she handed over a letter.

“I didn’t think the Duke would be like this, but he’s really too much.”

“Huh?”

“Even so, how could he not come to see you for days? Not even for breakfast, let alone dinner together.”

As Riena received the letter, she found herself defending Cassel without realizing it.

“I was the one who said we should take time to think separately. He’s probably being considerate of me.”

“Still!”

Seemingly unconvinced, Amy raised her voice even more.

“He should be thinking about how to comfort you. Who actually stays away just because they were told not to come?”

Having Amy get angry on her behalf made Riena feel a little better about her disappointment with Cassel.

There was a hint of amusement in Riena’s voice as she asked Amy a question.

“Is that so?”

“Of course!”

“How do you know so well, Amy?”

Amy puffed up with pride.

“It’s all thanks to books.”

“Books?”

“Yes! Romance novels are extremely popular in the capital these days!”

“Really?”

“Yes. Would you like me to bring you one?”

“Sure. It might be fun to read one.”

After wrapping up the conversation, Riena waited for Amy to leave the room before examining the letter. As expected, it was from Raoul.

She opened the letter with somewhat hasty hands. The letter, written in a familiar handwriting, wasn’t very long.

The letter, which began by saying that he wasn’t angry with her and she didn’t need to apologize, also contained answers to the questions Riena had left.

To summarize, Raoul said that he and Cassel didn’t have any particular friction. They were a bit awkward when they were young, but not to the point of being problematic, and after that, they hadn’t met face to face.

He said he only saw Cassel in passing from afar when he came to the palace to have an audience with the Emperor.

Everything was still shrouded in mystery. But the dream she had a few days ago kept bothering her.

“Ah, I don’t know.”

She had been pondering all day and didn’t realize how time flew by until it was already evening.

Riena, who had gone down to the dining room holding Noah’s hand, was surprised.

Cassel was already sitting in the seat that had been empty for days.

“Uncle!”

Happy to see him, Noah let go of Riena’s hand and ran over.

“Are we eating together now?”

“Yes.”

Cassel lifted Noah up and sat him in the seat next to him. Then he nodded slightly at Riena.

Riena wanted to say something to him, but couldn’t think of anything appropriate, so she sat down silently.

There was no special conversation throughout the meal. Riena’s mind was so complicated that she couldn’t tell if the food was going into her nose or mouth. It seemed the same for Cassel, as he barely touched his food, only helping Noah with his meal.

Still, Noah seemed happy that all three of them were together, chattering enthusiastically unlike his usual self.

After the meal, Riena entrusted Noah to a maid.

“Can you take him to his room?”

“Yes, of course.”

She waited until the child had completely left the dining room before turning to Cassel.

“Have you sorted out your thoughts during this time?”

“…Yes.”

“Then shall we go to the study and talk?”

A maid, sensing the atmosphere, asked,

“Should I prepare some refreshments?”

“No, I’m fine. What about you?”

“I’m fine as well.”

“Since the Duke says he’s fine too, there’s no need to prepare anything. Just make sure to keep people away from the study.”

“Yes.”

Riena headed towards the study, seeing that Cassel was following.

Even after sitting across from each other at a table in the study, there was no particular conversation between the two.

Normally, Riena would have been the first to speak, unable to bear the silence, but she didn’t feel inclined to do so.

After about ten minutes had passed like this, Cassel took the initiative to break the ice.

“Amy came by earlier.”

“Amy did?”

Riena now understood why Cassel had appeared. Amy, who was quite angry with him, must have given him a piece of her mind.

“Oh, Amy… She didn’t need to do that.”

“No, thanks to Amy, I realized something I hadn’t thought of before.”

“What’s that?”

“I had decided not to appear before you until your anger subsided. But I realized I hadn’t properly considered your feelings.”

Riena listened to his words quietly.

“I thought it would be better to have a thorough conversation with each other rather than taking time apart, so I came to see you like this.”

Does that mean he’s now willing to tell me why he acted that way?

Riena spoke carefully.

“Then will you tell me now what happened with Raoul? Raoul said that as far as he remembers, there wasn’t any special friction with you.”

“…”

“But there could be something that Raoul doesn’t remember. Like you two fighting when I was briefly away when we were young… We often forget things from childhood.”

Yet Cassel still remained silent about it. Instead of the answer Riena wanted, he offered a different response.

“I admit that my behavior that day was excessive. He came as your friend and guest, and such an attitude was not appropriate. It was also disrespectful to you. I will sincerely apologize to Lord Berna for my rudeness later. If you wish, I think it would be fine to formally invite him for dinner.”

Cassel drew a subtle line.

‘Your friend,’ he says. Does that mean he doesn’t consider Raoul a friend?

‘Well, I guess it was the same for Raoul too.’

When she heard the story of cowardly Cass, Raoul didn’t seem particularly pleased either. It seemed like he only recalled, ‘Oh, there was such a child back then,’ after Riena brought it up.

“Does that mean you’re not going to tell me after all?”

“I’m sorry. I want to be honest with you about everything, but this time it seems difficult.”

“…”

“However, I promise that such things won’t happen again in the future.”

Still, nothing was being resolved. But as Cassel earnestly appealed, Riena’s heart softened.

Moreover, he said he would formally apologize to Raoul, so was there any reason to keep pressing the issue?

Maybe by uncovering his secret, she might end up hurting Cassel even more.

Riena sighed.

“Alright, let’s say that’s settled. Thank you for saying you’ll apologize to Raoul. But there’s still something I don’t understand. What did you mean when you asked if I trusted Raoul?”

Riena recalled the dream she had a few days ago.

The betrayal of Raoul, whom she trusted more than anyone.

At the time, she tried to brush it off as just a dream, but as she mulled over her conversation with Cassel, something seemed odd.

Cassel acted as if he knew what was going to happen in her dream.

‘Maybe I had that dream because I heard such words.’

The cause and effect relationship between the two events wasn’t clear. She was asking Cassel to find that answer.

“I’m sorry.”

“You can’t tell me that either?”

Seeing Riena’s disappointed look, Cassel explained a bit more.

“No matter how much you trust someone, you never know when they might stab you in the back. I know you’ve known Lord Berna for a long time and depend on him a lot, but you never know what might happen with people.”

“So you gave that advice to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances?”

“…You could say that.”

Who does he think he’s fooling with such a lie?

Cassel’s face was serious, but his words were clearly false to anyone who saw them.

Feeling needlessly defiant, Riena spoke rather sarcastically.

“Isn’t the same true for you?”

“…”

“Strictly speaking, I’ve spent much more time with Raoul than with you. He’s also a close childhood friend, and because he’s a disciple my father trusts, I followed without hesitation, but by your logic, doesn’t that mean I can’t completely trust you either?”

“Yes.”

He answered firmly.

“I would never betray you, but you shouldn’t trust me completely either.”

Riena felt deflated. If Cassel had argued here that ‘You can trust me, I’m different from Raoul,’ her distrust towards him would have grown instead.

But to say don’t trust him.

It was quite an unkind thing to say to Riena, who had trusted and followed him.

She felt both disappointed and yet found his honesty reassuring, a mixed emotion.