“Then where is she?”

“In the Panis estate.”

That far away?

Not only was it more than a hundred miles from the capital, but it also had no connection to the duke’s family.

“Why there?”

“The duke sent her. I don’t know for sure…”

Oz trailed off. It seemed she didn’t actually not know, but couldn’t tell.

And there must be a reason she couldn’t speak. Melly didn’t want to pain her.

“Alright. You don’t have to say. I’ll ask him later…”

Melly once again pondered what to call Edric, but only unpleasant titles came to mind. So she spoke omitting any title.

“…I’ll ask him later.”

By the way, what could it be? What could have made Edric drive out his own mother?

He wasn’t a filial son, but he did well enough not to disappoint his parents. Moreover, the Pelton family had long held filial piety as a family virtue. Yet he drove out his mother.

Regardless of the reason, she thought he had gone too far.

“Whatever it is, he should have endured. It’s not like she has other children to rely on.”

“My lady, you shouldn’t say that.”

Melly’s eyes widened at Oz’s sudden rebuke.

“The duke must have had his reasons. No… he surely did. He’s not the type to commit such an unfilial act without reason, is he?”

It was strange that Oz, who rarely took Edric’s side, was defending him.

There must be something.

When Melly looked at Oz with hard eyes, Oz chewed her lips with a troubled face, then suddenly got up and peered at the dining room entrance.

She seemed to be checking if the butler Russell was nearby or not.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be there. She returned with a relieved face.

“Everyone told me never to speak of it, but I don’t think I can keep that promise.”

Oz said in a lowered voice.

“The duke had a very hard time after you left, my lady.”

“That… I know.”

After all, it was no coincidence that the man she thought would give up easily found her three years later, in a village of foreigners far from the duke’s mansion.

But Melly’s imagination had its limits.

She was underestimating Edric’s obsession.

“Then do you know this too?”

Oz said with sad and wistful eyes.

“The duke tried to take his own life.”

“…”

For a moment, Melly felt her mind go blank.

She stared at Oz without even breathing, as if hoping she would say it was a lie. But Oz’s resolute eyes indicated that there was no falsehood in her words… no, rather that there was something even more shocking.

Melly’s dark brown eyes clouded with shock.

“What… what did he try to do?”

“He tried to die.”

Oz said each word clearly and firmly. Melly felt her heart sink.

“But… why?”

“Because he thought you had passed away.”

“…Me? I did?”

Melly asked, placing her hand on her own chest. Oz nodded and continued.

“Not just the duke. We all thought you had passed away. Why wouldn’t we? The crematorium keeper said he had cremated you months ago, and even produced your wedding ring as evidence.”

“The wedding ring?”

As she briefly retraced her memories, a glimmer appeared in her eyes.

She had lost the wedding ring in the forest on the very day she left the duke’s mansion.

After barely managing to remove the ring that clung to her like a part of her body, she couldn’t throw it away immediately and held it in her hand.

Then a lightning-struck tree seemed about to fall on her, and in the process of avoiding it, she ended up dropping it. It seems someone had picked up the ring she dropped then and kept it, only to meet with misfortune.

“I didn’t know that had happened.”

“Of course you wouldn’t have known. But now you should know.”

Oz peered at the doorway once more. The butler was still not in sight.

“My lady. If the butler and I had been just a little later, the duke would no longer be in this world.”

“…”

“I’m still sometimes haunted by nightmares of that day. I drove the duke to death because of my selfishness. Even though I suspected the crematorium keeper’s words weren’t true, I didn’t tell the duke.”

Her voice became increasingly choked with sobs.

“Because I wanted you to be free from the duke. I knew how much you struggled living with him. So… I hoped the duke would think you were dead and stop looking for you…”

As her sobs deepened and the boundaries between words blurred, Oz finally buried her face in her palms.

Melly rose from her seat and approached Oz. She pulled Oz’s trembling head and held it to her chest.

The memory of that dizzying day seemed to flow from Oz’s mind into her own heart.

Edric had tried to take his own life.

He must have pointed the gun barrel that had been aimed at Hudson at his own head, with his finger on the trigger.

And closing his eyes, leaving behind all earthly things that had made him honorable, he must have gradually applied pressure to his fingertip. If the door had opened just a little later, surely…

Bang-!

At the gunshot echoing in her imagination, Melly suddenly felt dizzy.

“My… my lady!”

Oz barely caught Melly as she staggered, losing her balance, and said,

“Are you alright?”

“…Yes. I’m fine.”

But she was not fine at all. Her face had turned pale.

“I’m sorry, my lady. I guess I shouldn’t have said anything after all.”

“No. You did well to tell me.”

Melly comforted the self-reproaching Oz with a faint smile.

She returned to her seat with Oz’s support.

‘I wasn’t too late.’

Suddenly, Edric’s words took on a new meaning.

‘It’s only too late for me when you’re dead. As long as you’re alive, nothing is too late.’

She had thought it was just grand resolve to persuade her, but now Melly could understand the true meaning of those words.

She felt like a coward. She shouldn’t have ended things that way.

She should have boldly declared that she could no longer live with him and formally gone through the procedures to end the marriage.

It was selfish to run away without a word just because she was hurt.

“…”

Melly felt her vision blur. The dahlia in the centerpiece looked as forlorn as the violets seen through the frosted window outside.

The reunion that provoked many thoughts came to an end. When she came out, a black car was waiting instead of an open carriage. It must have been Edric’s consideration to let her travel comfortably without worrying about people’s eyes.

He was still nowhere to be seen.

“I’ll come visit the tea shop often, my lady.”

“Take care of your health, my lady.”

Melly got into the car, sent off by Oz and Russell. Through the rear window of the car, she could see them waving until the car disappeared.

The lingering feeling in her chest was deep and long like the ringing of a gong.

She regretted running away from there without a word three years ago.

What she had judged to be the best action at the time now seemed utterly foolish in retrospect.

Haa-.

Melly clutched her chest and exhaled as if sighing.

The thought that she had caused pain to everyone tormented her.

She was certain that the former duchess’s banishment to the countryside was also related to her running away.

Normally, she would have asked him about it. But now she couldn’t ask. She felt she had no right to do so…

She turned her eyes to the car window, trying to escape her self-reproach.

Some familiar faces passed right by her without recognizing her.

It must be thanks to the black film applied to the glass.

Thanks to Edric’s consideration, Melly was able to return much more easily.

When she arrived at the shop, Wilson was doing a pile of dishes, probably just after the customers had left. He was quite skillful and efficient. As expected of Edric’s executive secretary.

“Was it busy? I’ll take over now.”

“No, it’s alright. I’ll just finish this. Please rest for a moment, my lady.”

Wilson politely declined Melly’s offer.

He was a man who only followed Edric’s orders. Therefore, Melly could not persuade him further.

Clatter clatter.

The clear sound of dishes colliding soothed her troubled mind. Melly looked around the shop with that sound as background music.

The shop she returned to after just an hour or so looked somehow different.

She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, but something had changed. What could it be?

“…!”

Melly’s eyes, scanning the shop carefully, finally stopped at the shelf.

The built-in shelf had been lowered by a hand span. In just one hour.

“Wasn’t that not in that place originally?”

“Ah, that.”

Wilson answered her muttered words.

“His Grace fixed it. He said you might find it inconvenient because it was hard to reach.”

“…”

Having diligently finished the dishes, Wilson now showed her each table, saying,

“He changed these here and here too.”

Melly could see that the sharp corners of the tables had been rounded. She used to occasionally bump into them and get bruises.

‘When did he notice? I thought he was just reading books.’

Melly gazed at the rounded table corners with wistful eyes. Then she bit her lower lip gently and said in a stiff tone,

“He didn’t need to do that. He shouldn’t have bothered.”

But a corner of her heart had already begun to stir.

His small consideration moved her. Much more than his offer to buy the shop.

“Anyway, tell him I said thank you.”

She said. Wilson bowed politely instead of answering. He probably meant she should tell him directly.

Come to think of it, Edric would be visiting soon, so that might be better.

‘Now stamp the documents.’

‘Alright.’

‘When?’

‘Tomorrow.’

From now on, Melly will be waiting for tomorrow.

While holding her heart firmly so it doesn’t waver anymore.