Chapter 11: 11

“Mother? You said you’d come here in a few days, so why…”

At Madame Rubia’s appearance, Duke Rubia rose from his seat.

“Grandmother.”

Joshua also got up and straightened his loose posture.

“It’s been a while, everyone. You’ve grown a lot since the last time I saw you. My youngest grandson is already an adult.”

“I’ll bring all the children.”

“No, you don’t have to do that. I came suddenly, so I can’t blame you for not being ready.”

Duke Rubia and Joshua looked at her.

“By the way, I want to hear more about what happened just now.”

“Mother, that is…”

“I declared that I would no longer care about what happens in Rubia anymore, so I can’t interfere. However, it is difficult to ignore the marriage of your grandchildren.”

She must have heard the conversation between Duke Rubia and Seraphine.

There was no way to get out of this.

Duke Rubia sighed, thinking that the timing was too bad.

* * *

Seraphine returned to her room as she had a headache and touched her forehead.

I haven’t looked in the mirror properly, but my complexion is probably pale.

While she was catching her breath, the door opened with a knock.

It was still before she ordered her to come in.

Seraphine, who had a cold expression on her face at the maid’s rude behavior, spoke without looking back.

“I’ll take care of it, so you don’t have to stay by my side. I’ll call you when the time comes.”

However, there was no sign of the maid returning.

She didn’t know who it was, but to think that there was still a maid who dared to be so presumptuous, Seraphine turned her head.

“Now!… I mean… Brother?”

Surprisingly, Erez was there.

Erez, who thought Seraphine was crying, saw that his sister’s eyes were dry and made up his mind again.

“Brother, can you leave me alone for a moment?”

“Apologize to your father.”

“…What?”

I told you to leave me alone, so what do you mean by apologize? Confused, Seraphine asked back.

Erez spoke to Seraphine in a blunt tone that had no emotion.

“This is an engagement that you proceeded with because of your stubbornness. Your situation wasn’t good because you begged father, but the Imperial Family did you a special favor. Nevertheless, have you ever thought about how the Rubia family would lose face if you arbitrarily break off the engagement?”

“……”

“If you were going to break off the engagement, you should have brought it up first to the Imperial Family. Your actions alone have made both the Imperial Family and the Rubia family a laughing stock. Go ahead and apologize to your father and to the Crown Prince as well.”

“Did you tell me to go to the Crown Prince and bow my head?”

“Yes. Father treated you nicely because you were sick. But looking at your actions–you’re going too far. Just complaining doesn’t seem to be the answer.”

“The only perfect ending to this engagement that brother paints for me is to die early.”

“Seraphine von Rubia.”

As Erez warned her, he called her name.

However, it was Erez who caused trouble for her.

“I’m going to die soon, so do I have to obey and follow my brother like a dead person? My fiancé is showing his affection to another woman, and my younger brother blatantly ignores me. The same goes for you, brother.”

“Seraphine, that’s a misunderstanding.”

“It’s a misunderstanding? You came all of a sudden and blamed me that it was all my fault, but you said it was a misunderstanding?”

“I’m not here to argue with you. Don’t be emotional.”

His words and actions were cold enough to make her blood run cold.

​​At that moment, Seraphine saw the shadow of the first princess, who was originally her sister in Erez.

“I’m a pair, so I can’t completely beat my brother who is the successor. And how stupid are they? If it’s my brother, I won’t be able to produce the results I want at once.”

The first princess, like her own king, put the royal family first.

Therefore, he did not understand Seraphine, who refused to build the ninth weapon and agreed to her death with his father.

Taking a brief breath, Seraphine revealed one thing she knew.

“The Imperial Family is demanding huge sums of money to maintain this engagement in the name of the price of my life.”

Erez’s eyes widened slightly in shock, perhaps unaware of that fact.

“It started with my stubbornness, so please let me finish it with my stubbornness. I don’t want to continue living with love and money anymore.”

Seraphine raised her tired voice.

“If there are formal talks about ending the engagement, the Imperial Family will waste time using my life as an excuse to collect even a little more money. He can’t be the father who killed his daughter, so father will have no choice but to nod.”

“……”

“But if I strongly express my intention to end the engagement, as if I were an immature child, things will change.”

Erez, who thought Seraphine was acting on a whim this time, became a little embarrassed.

“Brother, you said that Rubia has become a laughing stock, right? You’re welcome. Brother is the one making fun of Rubia now.”

“……”

“You said that my honor is Rubia’s honor, but you told me to bow my head.”

“…I didn’t know you were thinking that far.”

Erez muttered with a look as if he had been hit in the back of the head.

Seraphine laughed bitterly.

“I’ll apologize to father later for saying harsh things because I was swept away by the atmosphere. But answer me. Should I just have laughed when Joshua mocked me? What choice did I have?”

“If you had told me about it during dinner, I wouldn’t have misunderstood.”

“You wouldn’t have believed it.”

“What?”

“Also. You would have thought that I was scheming to get attention, thinking that I had other intentions.”

That was right.

Erez didn’t immediately believe what Seraphine said and doubted her.

The younger sister he knew wouldn’t do that.

“Not long ago, the maids looked at me and said I smelled like the gutter. If I didn’t like them, I would rather retaliate than shout at them.”

He recently heard that all the maids were kicked out.

However, he had no idea such a thing was happening behind the scenes. Even if it happened inside the mansion.

“Brother is just like them. No, worse than them. I don’t have any expectations of you, so I’m not going to listen to you.”

At the comparison between the maid and himself, Erez frowned. However, he couldn’t find anything to refute.

“I don’t want to die. But I don’t want to live like this.”

Erez’s eyes shook as he heard his younger sister’s heart, which was more honest than ever.

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“I shouldn’t have said that. Brother is not interested in me.”

“Seraphine.”

“Get out.”

Seraphine firmly pointed her finger at the door, as if she would not allow any excuses.

“As usual, pretend you didn’t hear and leave. That’s what my brother is a master at.”

Hesitating, Erez stared at Seraphine. He wouldn’t be surprised if she collapsed immediately.

That’s more like brother.

As soon as he heard that, Erez vaguely realized that he had passed all the responsibility onto Seraphine. What a cruel mess it was.

Realizing that no words could comfort her, Erez turned around.

Seraphine sat on a nearby chair, collapsing only after confirming that Erez was leaving. After a while, she heard someone knock on the door.

She would be surprised if it was Erez again.

However, when she heard the voice that followed, she breathed a sigh of relief.

It was her maid.

“I want to be alone.”

“I have news you must know. So I’ll tell you outside the door.”

“What news do I need to know?”

There must have been a reason why she came in a hurry. Seraphine asked the maid to come in.

“What? My grandmother came back?”

“Yes.”

“I should say hello.”

It was a while ago when she declared a bomb and turned her back, so Seraphine was reluctant to do so, but she couldn’t just ignore it.

Seraphine, who was about to get up from her seat, couldn’t focus for a moment and stumbled.

The maid rushed to catch her.

“My Lady, you don’t have to push yourself too hard. Madame said that since  the young lady is not feeling well, she will come to visit when she has time.”

“But she’s an elder. It’s not that I’m uncomfortable moving around, but I need to go.”

“That’s…”

The maid hesitated.

“What’s the matter?”

“Madame knows what happened in the dining room.”

Somehow.

This was different.

Seraphine, who read her intention to admonish her later, sighed.

“Yes, let’s do what grandmother wants.”

And the next day.

The house felt like a storm.

Seraphine, who was calmly waiting for her grandmother’s call, became rather impatient as no one contacted her.

Originally, she felt at ease when she was ready early.

“I’m going to get some fresh air. I’m only going to walk around the garden, so you don’t have to follow me.”

“All right, My Lady.”

Seraphine wore a thin shawl and went out to the garden.

The maids who saw Seraphine leaving were startled as they spoke amongst themselves.

“What? Madame is in the garden?”

“Shouldn’t you tell the lady?”

The maids shouted and belatedly set out to find Seraphine.

Meanwhile, Seraphine, who was quietly walking, found a modest flower blooming among the colorful flowers.

It was such a small, non-existent flower that if you did not look closely, you would have passed by it.

Seraphine lowered herself and observed the flower. Then, when she felt a presence and raised her head, she made eye contact with another person.

‘Are you a gardener?’

The old man in his cotton robe, looking around the garden, looked nothing like a gardener.

Seraphine, who was looking at the flowers a little more, questioned why the gardener was coming closer.

Then, thinking she was interfering with the gardener’s work, she stepped aside.

​​The gardener looked at the flowers Seraphine was looking at.

“Are you trying to pick one?”

The gardener remained silent.

Seraphine accepted that silence as an affirmation.

“I hope you don’t do that. Even if you pick it, don’t throw it away and move it to a place where it can grow easily.”

“Why should I do that?”

He spoke in a very rude tone.

However, Seraphine did not want to be angry with the old man.

It was also because she didn’t feel any malice.

“In the past, I thought it was right to sacrifice small things for big things.”

“You seem to have a different opinion now.”

Seraphine nodded.

“There is no need for you to pluck these flowers and throw them away just because they ruin the scenery.”

“Someone will hate it because it’s a weed.”

“The miscellaneous nature of weeds is, after all, a human standard. All grass is beautiful and beneficial to people.”

“……”

“There must be some significance in the existence of that little flower. If it’s destined to bloom and lose in a moment, it’s right to respect it rather than step on it.”

Seraphine muttered as she gently lowered her eyes.

​​“And since the world is wide, someone must have given this flower a name. From that moment on, I think this flower is no longer a common weed.”

Seraphine, who did not realize that the old man was looking at her in surprise, smiled awkwardly.

“I’ve been alone lately, so I’ve been talking to myself. I have disturbed you, so I’ll leave you alone.”

At that time, a maid came running.

Seraphine, who was about to go somewhere else, stopped.

“My Lady! You were here.”

“What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing, but the Madame… oh my!”

The maid, who made eye contact with the gardener, turned blue. She hurriedly bowed her head.

“Ma, I greet Madame Rubia!”

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