Jade, who had come out into the corridor, removed the glove that Sharlin’s hand had touched.
“Throw it away.”
“Yes, Marquis.”
He threw the glove to the butler who was waiting outside.
“Prepare and send the engagement cancellation letter to the Winst Count’s family immediately.”
Sharlin’s thin voice always irritated Jade’s nerves.
‘To think of marrying.’
Initially, maintaining the engagement with Sharlin was purely to lower Grand Duke Usith’s guard.
It wasn’t out of pity for her, who would be surrounded by unpleasant rumors if the engagement was broken off shortly after it began.
‘I maintained the engagement because it was troublesome that Grand Duke Usith would push other ladies if I broke off the engagement with Lady Winst…’
Now, Sharlin’s insistence on actually getting married was annoying.
Becoming her husband would be of no help at all.
‘A shield to block Grand Duke Usith’s nagging, nothing more, nothing less.’
She was already becoming useless to Jade.
Even more so now that she was demanding a real union.
“If His Excellency Grand Duke Usith learns that the engagement is being canceled…”
At the butler’s concern, Jade exhaled a complex sigh.
“Why do these old men have such long lifelines?”
Including Grand Duke Usith, the Emperor also wanted the union of Rowe with his daughter, Princess Cassandra.
Jade was very displeased, as these were old men he couldn’t simply kill off.
“…Is Ayla’s wedding proceeding without any issues?”
“Yes, we are preparing in secret so that His Excellency Grand Duke Usith doesn’t notice.”
“That old man will surely try to change Ayla’s groom to his liking if he finds out. Pay extra attention to security.”
“Understood, Marquis.”
Uncle, Grand Duke Usith, was an elder who could act as the head of the Rowe family in case of emergency.
‘To think he arranged an engagement with Lady Winst, taking advantage of my seclusion.’
It had been 4 years since he returned to work, breaking his seclusion due to Grand Duke Usith’s attempt to take over Rowe.
Grand Duke Usith had tried to swallow up Rowe, seizing the moment when he briefly let go.
Jade buried Larien’s death with a sense of responsibility to protect Rowe.
Unable to forget completely, he tried to erase it intentionally.
If he didn’t, Rowe would be taken by Grand Duke Usith.
He couldn’t let Rowe, which was as good as his parents’, fall into Grand Duke Usith’s hands.
‘Come to think of it now, my parents and Larien. They all died because of me.’
His parents passed away when Jade was 7 years old.
His parents, who were on an inspection of the territory, said they would come up at dawn upon hearing that he was sick.
Although he was indeed sick, it was for the sole reason of worrying about Jade, who wasn’t even seriously ill.
Was there any need to rush in the middle of the night with heavy rain pouring, when he wasn’t even dying?
He had intended to ask why they came when he met them.
What greeted Jade was not his mother’s hand on his forehead or his father’s worried inquiry if he was alright.
It was the news that the carriage carrying the previous Duke and Duchess of Rowe had overturned on the rainy road.
There was no time to grieve the death.
At the funeral, he was attacked by collateral relatives eyeing his parents’ position.
The collateral relatives tried to disperse the power of the siblings, the only direct descendants of Rowe, by sending Ayla away for adoption.
Although Grand Duke Usith stepped up as a guardian, he had the intention of becoming an elder to swallow up Rowe.
While not separating from Ayla, he frantically tried to counter Grand Duke Usith’s power.
Thus, Jade was preparing to hand over Rowe to Ayla.
The Rowe that Ayla would manage needed to be free of any noise.
Ayla, lacking experience, was still overwhelmed to deal with Grand Duke Usith. To keep him in check, she needed to be matched with a family that had no close ties with him.
Until now, Jade had lived with the intention of entrusting Rowe to Ayla and dying.
Although he couldn’t keep Larien’s request to live smiling, even that didn’t matter anymore.
“Brother.”
Ayla called him from behind as she walked up.
“…Today is sister’s birthday, right?”
“…Yes.”
Both Ayla’s question and Jade’s answer came out slowly.
Larien, who was incomparably precious to the siblings, had become an existence too difficult to speak of easily.
Ayla would cut her hair short whenever it grew long, saying there was no Larien to brush it often.
Sure enough, this time too, Ayla’s black hair barely reached her shoulders, as if she had cut it.
“Are you going to visit sister this time too?”
Jade had created a space to commemorate Larien in a small prayer room of the Great Temple.
As Ayla said, he had cleared his next schedule to meet her.
“Give this to sister. I wrote it myself.”
“…Yourself?”
What Ayla pulled out from her bosom was a wedding invitation. The task of inviting numerous guests was usually done by a ghostwriter.
It was rare to write a wedding invitation personally like this.
“Brother, are you okay at night these days? Are you taking your sleeping pills properly?”
“I’m fine these days. Don’t worry.”
After Larien died, Jade developed sleepwalking, wandering around in the middle of the night while sleeping. Since it was a moment he couldn’t even recognize, he had to rely on sleeping pills when going to bed.
Since there had been instances where he almost got into danger wandering around unaware at dawn, Ayla often intervened.
“How can I not worry. You’re my only remaining family. With Larien sister gone, don’t make people anxious, including you.”
“…Ayla.”
“Brother, we lived strong even when our parents passed away.”
Ayla calmed her excitement and held back her tears.
“I can’t lose you too. So, take your sleeping pills properly and don’t have any strange thoughts.”
Overwhelmed with sorrow, Ayla soon left the place.
‘Ayla, I’m sorry to you but…’
He was tired of continuing to breathe while denying a life without Larien.
Jade, even if just a little, didn’t want to live.
He had already written a will transferring all authority of Rowe to Ayla.
Once Ayla’s wedding was over, Jade planned to let go of everything.
‘I should go meet Larien.’
Jade headed to the Great Temple, wearing the formal attire that Larien particularly liked.
[This is the timeline separator]On the way by ship, I explained the situation to Blanche, who didn’t know what was going on.
That we were going for treatment because the holy power was depleted.
At first, Blanche, who was pouting her lips as if still angry, slowly held my hand and made up.
When we arrived in Langrangsha, just as when I had left, snow was falling at the Venetian port.
Thanks to the robe Mary had prepared for me, I wasn’t cold.
The chilly winter, contrasting with Lecahe which was always full of warm spring scents, felt unfamiliar.
“Mommy, what is this?”
In contrast, Blanche was eagerly exploring, fascinated by the feeling of snow touching her hands.
For Blanche, born and raised in Lecahe, this was her first experience of winter.
“This is snow. Unlike Lecahe, it’s winter here.”
“Winter? So this is what snow from storybooks looks like!”
Blanche laughed innocently, finding her visible breath amusing, but she was shivering.
“Blanche, are you cold?”
“Noo…”
As I turned my head, I spotted the Viscount Boston’s carriage parked nearby.
When we got into the carriage, the interior was filled with warm air, and Blanche’s shivering stopped.
“Larien! I got a call from Aaron. How is Blanche doing!”
“Grandfather, Shu-shu is fine.”
“Ah, my treasure. Blanche, you don’t know how shocked this old man was when he heard you were sick.”
Viscount Boston expressed his distress while caressing Blanche’s cheeks.
I adjusted my hold on the squirming Blanche in my arms and spoke to Viscount Boston.
“You’ve heard that Blanche developed holy power, right, Uncle?”
“Yes. I heard it’s really rare for holy power to appear if one isn’t born with it, I never thought Blanche would develop holy power.”
Blanche asked the serious-looking Viscount Boston a question.
“What’s holy power? Is it good?”
“…Holy power means you’ve received God’s love. It brings both fortune and misfortune.”
While being loved by God was a sign of good fortune, it turned into misfortune if one couldn’t control the holy power.
“If you receive the Pope’s blessing, it can slow down the rate at which holy power depletes, but ultimately, you have to control it. What if… something happens to Blanche? It’s all my fault. I should have paid more attention to Blanche.”
“Don’t blame yourself too much, Larien.”
I covered my face, trying not to show tears to Blanche while considering the worst scenario.
“Mommy, Shu-shu is fine. Nothing hurts, and I don’t have a fever anymore!”
My tears flowed even more at Blanche’s deliberate cheerfulness, worrying about me.
“Blanche, come to grandfather.”
“Grandfather, why is mommy crying?”
Viscount Boston extended his hand to Blanche and sat her on his knee.
“Do you want to guess what birthday present grandfather has for Blanche?”
“Birthday present? I like it! Is it macarons, Shu-shu’s favorite?”
He skillfully diverted Blanche’s attention.
By the time I composed myself, we had arrived at the Great Temple.
“May we inspect the interior of the carriage?”
We were about to pass through. However, the gatekeeper at the entrance blocked the carriage and requested an inspection.
Why She Is Still Unmoved (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: He uses various methods to seek her affection, but she remains unmoved.
Synopsis:
Si Qingyu is a doctor who has saved countless lives and enjoys tranquility.
Luo Shaoxuan is ruthless, deeply scheming, and the top young master in the capital. He admires Si Qingyu.
Luo Shaoxuan: I want to be the only one in your eyes and heart.
Features a cold and calm female lead vs A noble and scheming male lead.
There will be both sweetness and torture towards the male after their marriage.
