Marquis Belliard disliked Johannes but gave the victim plenty of money to keep quiet.

“I don’t care what you do behind the scenes. But don’t do anything to tarnish the Belliard name. I’m still young enough to produce a legitimate heir.”

“……”

“Act wisely. Like a proper Belliard.”

Afterwards, Johannes took the Marquis’s advice and acted like a perfect Belliard in public.

It wasn’t particularly difficult. Foolish people would act as if they’d give him their liver or gall bladder if he just smiled and treated them a little kindly.

Instead, he indulged his twisted desires in private.

With the Belliard name and wealth, nothing was impossible.

Then, at a party he attended without much thought, Johannes was shocked to see Riena Dyke. He thought the deceased Marchioness had returned from the grave.

She resembled her that much. However, he could tell she was a different person from her eye color and the expression she wore.

Still, he found himself constantly looking at her. At first, it was because of her resemblance to the Marchioness, but then he became interested in Riena herself.

A twisted affection sprouted inside Johannes. He wanted to receive her attention and love, while simultaneously wanting to subjugate and break her.

He wanted to possess Riena. He wanted to whisper sweet nothings of love to the innocent girl, then utterly destroy her.

He wanted to take out all the revenge he couldn’t enact on the Marchioness on her.

He felt he could experience an ecstasy he’d never known before by seeing Riena’s face, identical to the Marchioness’s, contort with fear and humiliation.

It was a warped affection, but Johannes wanted Riena Dyke nonetheless.

Without much deliberation, he sent a polite marriage proposal to the Dyke family. Considering the Belliard reputation and the reputation he had built up, he expected a positive response.

But the quickly returned letter contained a negative answer.

Though written in polite language, Count Dyke’s opinion could be summarized as:

I will absolutely not marry my daughter to someone like you.

He contacted them a couple more times, but the answer remained the same. If anything, the Count’s attitude grew more adamant with each exchange.

So he approached the Countess Dyke. He had people lead her into luxury and gambling, even making her fall into debt.

After that, he dealt with the Count and proceeded with plans for Riena’s engagement to Baron Rothman as planned.

All that remained was to rescue Riena from the darkness of despair.

But Cassel Winkler?

An unexpected variable had appeared.

That damned old man Count Dyke had managed to thwart Johannes even in death.

But it’s alright. Though Riena has slipped from his grasp for now, he’ll find a way to get her back.

If anything, not being able to have her easily only fueled his competitive spirit more.

With a crooked smile, Johannes leisurely returned to the party hall.

Riena, who had been moving further inside to avoid Johannes, stopped when she felt pain in her heel.

It seemed the shoes had caused a wound.

Madame Lachapelle had said she designed them to be as comfortable as possible and used soft fabric, but they weren’t perfect.

“Haah……”

Not only the wound, but her feet unused to shoes also ached and felt stiff. Intending to rest for a bit, she sat down on a nearby bench.

How much time had passed like that?

“So this is where you were.”

A familiar voice was heard, and Cassel appeared. As if he had been urgently searching for Riena, the cravat she had neatly arranged for him earlier was slightly disheveled.

“I’m sorry. I was looking around the garden a bit, but my feet started hurting so I was resting for a moment. Did you look for me a lot?”

“No, I didn’t wander much.”

Riena knew he was telling a white lie for her sake.

Grateful for that, she looked up at him with a smile, but Cassel’s expression suddenly hardened. He leaned towards her and gently touched her reddened eyes.

“Have you been crying?”

“…No.”

“Do you think I can’t tell your condition just by looking at your face?”

“It’s just that some dust got in my eye.”

Like Johannes before, Cassel didn’t seem to believe her either.

“Is that really true?”

Riena, who was about to answer yes, bit her lip tightly. She didn’t want to lie to this man.

“Actually, I met Raoul.”

“……”

“Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t go looking for him on purpose, I just happened to run into him on my way to the lounge.”

“I see.”

Cassel closed his mouth after those brief words. He didn’t ask what she had talked about with Raoul.

“Aren’t you curious about what I discussed with Raoul?”

“I am curious, but if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask.”

“But I’d like you to hear it. It might sound like complaining though.”

“I’ll listen. To everything you have to say.”

It was strange. As she looked at Cassel, her mood, which had been down until just now, seemed to gradually improve.

No, seeing that she was even smiling a little, it seems her mood had actually improved.

Before continuing, Riena first patted the seat beside her. Only after Cassel sat down next to her did she resume speaking.

“After reconciling with you, I sent a letter to Raoul. I said I wanted to formally invite him to dinner, that you also had something to say about the past incident.”

“Yes, I heard.”

“You also know that I sent several letters but received no reply?”

Cassel nodded slightly.

“I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding with Raoul. He’s my friend after all. If possible, I hoped the two of you could get along well. I didn’t think that was an unreasonable wish.”

“……”

“But it seems Raoul thought differently. He said he didn’t even read my letters. He asked how I could try to handle this with just letters instead of coming to see him in person after what happened.”

After saying that, Riena hesitated for a moment, fidgeting with her fingers. To fully recount her conversation with Raoul, she would inevitably have to mention how he had insulted Cassel.

She didn’t want Cassel to hear such things.

As if reading her mind, Cassel took her hand and said:

“It’s alright, whatever you say. I really don’t mind what Lord Berna said about me.”

“……”

“I’m only worried that you might have been hurt by it.”

“Why would I be hurt by something that wasn’t even said to me?”

In truth, Riena had been angered as if she herself had been insulted.

“So what did you say after that?”

Riena continued to hesitate, but finally opened her mouth at Cassel’s repeated urging.

“He said if you really wanted to apologize, you should have come in person and gotten on your knees or bowed your head. When I asked how he could say such things, he said, ‘Is even that beneath the noble Duke?’……”

Riena hung her head low, feeling more ashamed herself.

“I’m sorry. You had to hear unnecessary things because of me.”

“It’s alright. I really don’t mind.”

Cassel soothed Riena and stroked the back of her hand as if telling her to continue.

“After that, Raoul told me to choose between him and you. I was dumbfounded. Even as a child, I had never been asked to choose between my mother and father. Of course, it wasn’t a situation where I should have been asked such a question, but still.”

“So what happened?”

Cassel’s voice, which had been calm until now, wavered slightly. He seemed anxious, wondering if Riena might have chosen Raoul.

Riena looked at him with a faint smile.

“Surely you don’t think I would have chosen Raoul? The person here with me now is you.”

“…Why?”

“Just because. I no longer felt respected by Raoul, while you continued to respect me.”

Riena turned her hand to grasp Cassel’s in return. She intertwined her fingers with his large, calloused ones.

“I wonder what happened to Raoul in the capital? It seemed like Raoul developed an inferiority complex about his status after being pushed around by people. Even towards you, a duke.”

“……”

“Surely Raoul has his own reasons. But I don’t know. Can I still call this changed Raoul my friend?”

Riena smiled bitterly.

“You were right when you told me not to trust Raoul completely. I didn’t want to admit it, but this is how it turned out.”

Cassel didn’t say anything reproachful like, “Didn’t I tell you not to trust that man?”

She already knew he wasn’t that kind of person, but still, she was grateful for his silence anew.

“Cass, you told me not to trust you completely either. Was that really sincere, and not just something you said to convince me not to trust Raoul?”

“Yes.”

“Then should I really not trust you?”

“……”

“Because I want to trust you now.”

“I……”

Cassel met Riena’s gaze.

“I will never betray you.”

“No matter what happens?”

“No matter what happens.”

“That’s a relief.”

Riena let out a sigh of relief. Even if someday Cassel were to turn away from her, for now, this answer was enough.