Night of the Abandoned Duchess

“Didn’t I tell you? Not long ago, I sent the Duke a letter of thanks and a small gift.”

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“Yes, you did.
He helped, so of course, you should.
Finding Leo…”

She exhaled briefly.

Her mother had already told her that she had sent a letter of thanks through the maid.
The whole of her mind was complicated.
Her father’s work was not progressing, the situation in the family was not the same as before, and it felt like nothing was easy, including the unexpected Kyle…

Rosalind, deep in thoughts, fiddled with the teacup.

“Rosalind, same with this one, Leo needs a father.”

“Mother said that.
You said you were unhappy with your marriage… So do I.
My marriage has been very difficult for me, though why are you talking like that now?”

“Your happiness as a woman and the happiness of your children are different, aren’t they? Regardless of your happiness, having a father can help Leo.”

“When I was young, there were many times when I thought it would be better if father, who was mean to Mother, would disappear.
If a couple doesn’t love each other and just makes them sick… It might be better for Leo not to have a father like that.”

This might be stubbornness or self-will, although showing Leo to him was terrifying.
Rosalind was vaguely afraid and didn’t know what to do.
She never knew whether he liked Leo or not, and if he took Leo away in the name of his successor, she wouldn’t be able to live on his own.

“Of course, a bad father is not as good as nothing.
But from your point of view, do you think the Duke would be such a bad father?”

Even though the child was sad, Leo, who was picky about sleeping, fell asleep in Kyle’s castle.
She heard that Leo was talking to him until he fell asleep, and maybe Kyle wasn’t that bad.

Leo even asked if he could see the man again.

Of course, Rosaline nailed that he couldn’t.
When she was a child, she was afraid of her father.
She could say that her and Leo’s attitude was quite different.

“…So, I’ll ask something differently.
Do you really have no intention of reuniting?”

“Yes.
I don’t.”

“Without Leo in mind, do you really have no feelings at all?”

Rosalind had a blank face as if she had been beaten in the back of her head in an instant.

…Feeling?

Of course, she doesn’t have any feelings.
She didn’t know if it was even hatred.
Every time she saw him, it felt like she was reminded of her past self again and again.
Whenever she thought of him, she cried and felt nauseous as if she was on a boat.

“What is better for Leo…”

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“Madam, I have received a reply.”

“Reply…?”

The content of the reply was that she had left her clothes and that he had something to say and hoped she would stop by soon.

It was written that he would send a carriage soon.

 

* * *

 

A few days later, Rosalind headed to the castle in his carriage, as written in the letter.
The scenery seen through the small window was both familiar and awkward.
She used to stop by her parents’ house four years ago and then head to his castle as if it were natural.

Over the course of four years, several houses were demolished and rebuilt.

If she kept going like this, she would arrive at his castle, and then she would have to face that uncomfortable face again.

‘I want you, Rosalind, to continue to be a nuisance to me.
Because of that, you will still be by my side like this.’

Looking back, Kyle was right.
It wasn’t her dress that prevented her from turning down his invitation, but a kind of debt… A sense of gratitude and debt for finding Leo.

Suddenly, the sound of horses’ hooves hitting the ground gradually calmed down, and the coachman’s voice was heard saying that she had arrived.

She had arrived…

Rosalind held the hem of her dress with a brief greeting at the well-spoken voice.
The moment she reached out her hand to open the door, the door opened with a single beat.

“It must’ve been difficult to come here.”

It wasn’t the servant who opened the door, but her ex-husband.

She stared at the large hand, which had reached out in front of her.

Kyle’s hand… It was funny, though in the past, he liked holding his hand so much that she had to wait for him to get off the carriage.
His big hands, the warm body temperature she could feel through the thin gloves, and his elegant, long fingers were all good.

Hesitatingly staring at his hand, she just stepped her foot toward the floor without touching him.

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Her feet fell deeper than she thought, and she tilted slightly, unable to focus for a moment.
As she was going to fall in the dizziness, Kyle grabbed her quickly.

“…Be careful.
You’ll get hurt.”

His voice reached right somewhere in the back of her neck.
His voice, as light and subtle as his breath, made her nervous for nothing, and she swallowed a gasp.
The hand holding her body was just stiff.
Soon, he grabbed Rosalind’s arms and let them go as if nothing had happened.

When he put his hand on her, her stomach churned as if she was riding in the rumbling carriage again.

“Th, thank you.”

Rosalind, who followed Kyle inside, opened her mouth as soon as she stepped inside.
The servants had yet to finish the tea.

“I was so distracted that day that I left my clothes behind.
Where are my clothes?”

“I brought your clothes separately, so I think you can take them with you when you go.”

“The Duke said you had something to tell me.
What is it?”

A maid came into her and poured hot water into a teacup engraved with a luxurious pattern.
A fragrant smell lingered around.

“That’s right.
I will speak without preamble.
Whose child is Leo?”

Reaching for the teacup, she then paused for a moment.

“I think I’ve already explained enough.
You actually saw it.”

She hid her nervousness and took the teacup painstakingly to her lips.
She wiped her burning throat and answered in a calm voice.

“Leo is my child.”

“I know.
To be exact, whose seed is it?”

Suddenly, the teacup was placed on the table with a clicking sound.

Nevertheless, Kyle was not disturbed in the slightest and merely spit out his words.

“Last time I saw, there was a mole on Leo’s back.”

“What about that…”

“The interesting thing is that I also have a mole on my back.
It is also in the same location.”

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As soon as he finished speaking, it felt like her head was going white.
Like a thief with their feet numb, Rosalind raised her voice and refuted.

“…It’s just a coincidence!”

“How long are you going to insist? Not only that, but it was written in a letter from the Marchioness not long ago.
Leo is my child.”

‘Just like this one, Leo needs a father.’

As her mother’s words flashed through her mind like a flashlight, Rosalind felt as though she lost in an instant.
Her mother… She couldn’t control her frustration and chewed her pitiful lips, yet only the bitterness drifted.

“Leo was born by me so far! I raised him.
The Duke is nothing more than his blood father.
The real parents are me.”

As if she was protesting, Rosalind responded with an overly defensive voice.
She looked like a vicious herbivore.

“How far do you intend to lie to me? Investigation revealed that you were not even in a relationship with Baron Albert.”

“That…”

“Leo is a Spencer child, and legally we are still married.”

“I beg your pardon…?”

Unknowingly, Rosalind spit her words out without realizing it.

She thought it was impossible.
She had been missing for four years, so she naturally thought he would be filing for divorce.
Usually, when one of the two was close to disappearing for this long, the country granted a divorce.
So, of course, she thought he would have filed for divorce too, but why…

“So, it is right to raise the child here.”

“Not now! Never.”

Rosalind replied with a firmness that it would never be tolerated.

“No one can take Leo away from me… Without Leo, I cannot live.”

Towards her, who shook her head, Kyle responded with a softer and more gentle voice.

“I have no intention of taking Leo.
Just because he’s my son, I want to spend time with him, too.
I think it would be nice to be with Leo two or three times a week.”

“You are busy.”

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“Even if I am busy, there are things that I have to make time for.”

The words he said to her four years ago flashed past.

”Even if I am busy, there are things that I have to make time for.”

That was four years ago with Olivia and now with Leo.
Although there was a sudden bitterness, it was only for a moment.
After all, these were things that had nothing to do with her now.

“Two times a week.
Never more than that.”

As she eventually replied, Kyle nodded his head, saying he understood.

 

* * *

 

Returning to her home, Rosaline found her mother as soon as she stepped into the castle.

“Mother! How can you do that?”

Her mother, who had been quietly embroidering her hobby, responded with a puzzled look to her enraged voice.

“Why?”

“…You know I treat Leo as my life.
How could such a person do that without even a single word of discussion? You’re too much.”

When she got on the carriage and came home, Rosalind was just thinking about arguing.

A handful of words of resentment fluttered in her heart.
However, when she arrived at her house and saw her mother sitting there, the words she had stored in her were not easy to come out.
Why does her heart weaken when she sees her face?

She said, muffling her lips, a little upset.

“…Why did you say that Leo is the Duke’s son? Of course, you did it on purpose, but… you may have discussed that with me first.
I’m so upset and saddened by that.”

“What do you mean?”

However, Helen had a face that she did not understand what she was talking about as if she had never heard of it before.

“I never said that.”