He had no intention of telling her until the end.

Not because he was tight-lipped, nor out of consideration for others… simply because he liked that feeling.

Francis had felt great pleasure in keeping secrets to himself since childhood.

The neighbor’s affair, a friend’s theft, lovers’ lies.

When he stacked those things up one by one in his mind, he felt like a rich man.

‘Mister, when your wife gets pregnant, take a good look at the child’s features. Friend, if people knew everything you’re wearing is stolen, would they still like you?’

It was especially fun when he was in front of couples.

On the surface, they seemed like the loveliest couple, but in reality, it was a naive rich woman dreaming of a rosy future and a conman excited about the prospect of taking his cut and leaving.

Could there be a funnier sight than this?

Francis had lived life enjoying mocking people’s fake exteriors, using secrets as his mirror.

Sometimes he helped people who seemed pitiful, but mostly he turned a blind eye.

‘Why should I get involved in troublesome matters?’

People’s secrets only made the world a bit more interesting for him to observe. There was no need to go out of his way to draw attention to himself.

Well, unless it benefited him. Like when he used Melly Enwood’s secret to provoke Edric Pelton’s jealousy. Like when he broke off Rosalyn and Duke Pelton’s engagement.

In the end, it only ended up benefiting others…

Francis sighed and stared at the portrait again.

Ugly Melly Enwood.

‘If you marry your long-time crush, shouldn’t you live well?’

After going through the trouble of fulfilling her wish, even getting hit once, instead of becoming prettier from being loved, she had become even uglier.

A more distinct appearance due to systematic care and meticulous grooming, expensive clothes, and delicate jeweled accessories adorning her ears, neck, and wrists.

But all the accessories she wore only made her presence more faint.

He saw Melly at a ball he secretly attended under a false identity.

She stood alone like a shadow, unable to blend in with the group her husband had assigned her to.

The women didn’t include her in conversations unless Edric Pelton was present.

Tsk-.

Francis felt guilty seeing her lowering her gaze while fiddling with a cocktail glass starting to form dew.

He regretted provoking Edric Pelton’s jealousy and causing their love to progress rapidly.

If only he had left it alone without meddling. Then she might have been heartbroken over an unrequited love, but at least she wouldn’t be living as such a miserable loner.

He wanted to help her somehow. He felt he should.

That’s why when he met Melly again at Jeina’s studio, he hinted:

‘If there’s anything I can help with, let me know.’

She understood what he meant by those words.

Yet she refused.

She didn’t want to obtain love through such means.

Rather than using tricks to make love blaze, she wanted to preserve the faint embers remaining with her own strength.

‘Ugly fool. It’s because you try to live so honestly that you always get taken advantage of.’

Francis felt sorry for her, but there was nothing he could do.

He didn’t feel the need to persuade someone who refused help to accept it. It’s not like this woman would become his woman anyway.

Instead, he felt he should tell her just this one thing.

‘Don’t take that medicine. Understand?’

She was addicted to something. Francis recognized it immediately.

When he briefly went on a sea voyage after quitting as Adel’s assistant, all the women in the brothels at ports he occasionally visited had cloudy eyes like hers. It was due to medicine they took long-term to avoid creating responsibilities.

Perhaps someone who sees a person after a long time notices abnormal signs better than someone who sees them every day.

‘You must never take that medicine. Understand?’

He urged her again, and though she looked dubious, she nodded in agreement.

Francis thought he had done his part with that.

He didn’t tell her what the medicine was.

Partly because of his habit of keeping secrets to himself, and partly because he didn’t want to be put in a difficult situation because of it.

And he thought it would be better if she didn’t know. There’s no good in knowing that the most dangerous enemy is the closest one.

‘Melissa, hasn’t she come here?’

But that day, after hearing from Edric who came looking for Jeina that she had disappeared, Francis realized.

He shouldn’t have let Melly go with just that random warning.

‘Don’t waste time on futile things and walk an honest path.’

At that moment when he laughed at her earnestly trying to persuade with such obvious words, his life changed.

That woman cleared his eyes that had been blurred by the stimulating relationship with Rosalyn, who tempted him saying life is lived only once, so let’s enjoy it while we can.

He should have spoken more clearly to her, not given vague hints.

About the medicine. About her current physical condition.

If he had, she wouldn’t have disappeared with her fate unknown like now…

Hoo-.

Another sigh escaped from Francis.

But even with his deep, regretful exhalation, the woman in the portrait didn’t come to life.

“Jeina.”

Francis finally admitted.

“You’re right. I can’t find her.”

“…”

“But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing I can do.”

Francis stood up and turned around. His eyes sparkled resolutely.

“What are you going to do?”

Jeina asked, tilting her head to one side.

Francis answered.

“I’m going to destroy it.”

The daily lives of people who hurt her and go on living as if nothing happened. Starting with myself.

“You didn’t like that kind of thing.”

“I’m going to try not disliking it now.”

“Because of guilt?”

Francis didn’t answer. He didn’t know either. Whether it was all due to guilt or not.

“You’re looking up at a tree you can’t climb, Francis.”

Jeina smiled interestedly and linked her arm with Francis’s.

“When will I be able to become your tree like Mrs. Melissa?”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think that will ever happen.”

Francis gently removed her arm and added.

“And it’s Melly, not Melissa.”

“…”

“Melly Enwood.”

“Your Excellency, you called?”

When he rang the call bell, the butler came running this time too.

Wilson had been completely terrified of his crazed master and had been hiding behind the butler for a long time.

‘That’s how people are.’

They create idols out of their own imagination, and when they feel it’s not right, they arbitrarily become disappointed and withdraw their worship.

Edric smiled wryly and ordered the butler.

“Do it again.”

The butler looked at the mountain of documents in front of him with a pale face.

‘He already went through all of this?’

He thought it would take at least seven days even at the fastest.

But the master had gone through all those mountains of documents in just one day.

He had read through the personal information reports of the empire’s maidens without getting dizzy from the tiny letters, with a manic obsession.

The butler cautiously asked.

“Was… was there no one similar?”

The personal information reports contained not only background and relationships but also physical characteristics.

It seemed likely that out of all those people, at least one person… no, about a hundred people should have resembled the missing Duchess.

But Edric Pelton said firmly without any hesitation.

“There’s no one.”

If he said there was no one, it was certain there was no one. The butler obeyed without another word.

“I understand. Then I’ll give orders to investigate again…”

A sigh unconsciously mixed into the end of his words.

Enormous manpower and effort had been mobilized to gather that information. People were sent throughout the empire to visit houses one by one to obtain the information. The butler felt daunted by the fact that they now had to repeat this process again.

He turned around weakly. That’s when it happened.

“Wasn’t that for me?”

Edric gestured to the yellowish-brown envelope tucked under his arm.

The butler handed it to him with a look of realization.

“Ah, this is an express document that the delivery boy Norman brought to the Duke’s residence just now. But…”

“There’s no sender.”

Edric said after checking the envelope before the butler could explain.

“Yes, only Your Excellency’s name is written in the recipient field, but the identity of the sender is not written, so I was wondering what to do.”

“You may go.”

Edric told the butler while keeping his gaze fixed on the document.

Even after the butler left with proper courtesy, Edric stared at the outer envelope of the document for a long time.

Somehow he couldn’t open it easily.

He didn’t think it was a letter Melly sent him. Because the handwriting wasn’t hers.

Moreover, it was an envelope used when exchanging important documents for work.

If Melly had something to say to him, she wouldn’t use this method.

Then could it be a clue sent by someone who knows Melly’s whereabouts? But even that thought didn’t allow his hand to easily tear open the envelope.

Just like someone in front of Pandora’s box, Edric’s hand gripped the edge of the document without exerting any force.

For the first time in his life, he was scared in front of something.

An instinctive intuition kept persuading him.

‘Don’t open it. You can’t handle it.’

Edric put down the document.

And he opened the drawer and took out a paper knife.

An inexplicable sense of discomfort tried to stop him, but he decided to open it.

He will not yield.

Nothing but Melly can make him submit.

The inlaid decorations on the paper knife in his hand felt bumpy. He pushed its tip between the wax seal.

The smooth envelope split open without resistance.

Inside the envelope were a few thin sheets of paper folded together, with blotting paper placed between them to prevent ink from smearing.

It wasn’t a letter someone sent him.

It was just a dry accounting ledger recording facts.

But Edric’s eyes looking at it were by no means dry.

He felt more self-loathing than when he had been pitied, more humiliation than when he had been criticized,

And a greater wound than when Melly had left.

The knuckles on his hand gripping the paper knife turned white.