Chapter 33: The Other Daughter
—SEBASTIAN BLACKWOOD—
By the ti my carriage arrived at House Valen, I had already convinced myself that this visit was entirely reasonable.
There was nothing unusual about wishing to see one’s forr fiancée after she abruptly changed personalities, rejected him in the middle of the street, and sohow continued occupying his thoughts every waking hour afterward.
I stepped out of the carriage calmly while the attendants imdiately moved to unload the gifts prepared earlier.
The mont my boots touched the stone driveway, familiar mories surfaced instinctively.
I had visited this estate countless tis before.
Usually unwillingly.
Usually because Aria herself had demanded my presence through increasingly dramatic thods that Duke Valen always looked too exhausted to refuse.
Back then, I entered this mansion already preparing myself ntally for chaos.
Aria would either greet loudly from halfway across the hallways or imdiately begin complaining that I arrived too late despite being early.
Now, however...
The estate felt strangely quiet.
The silence unsettled more than expected.
I walked toward the entrance while servants bowed respectfully upon my arrival.
But unlike before, there was no sound of hurried footsteps echoing from deeper inside the mansion.
No excited voice calling my na.
No dramatic entrance.
For so reason, disappointnt settled unpleasantly inside my chest.
Well, what did I expect? I have been rejected.
I sighed.
I had barely stepped fully inside the entrance hall when another figure appeared from the corridor ahead.
It was the male servant who have been with Aria lately. He imdiately stopped upon noticing .
And although his posture remained respectful, I noticed at once that his expression lacked the politeness most servants displayed around nobility.
In fact...
He looked displeased seeing .
I studied him briefly while he lowered his head.
"Your Grace," he greeted evenly.
"Hm."
A short silence passed between us.
Then his gaze shifted briefly toward the attendants behind carrying several neatly wrapped gift boxes.
His expression beca strangely unreadable afterward.
"...You have brought many things," he remarked politely.
"Yes."
Another silence followed.
Oddly tense.
I frowned slightly.
Why did this suddenly feel like two n preparing for battle beneath the disguise of proper etiquette?
"...Is Aria inside?" I asked directly.
The mont her na left my mouth, I noticed sothing shift faintly in his expression.
"She is currently unavailable, Your Grace."
I stared at him.
"Unavailable?"
"Yes."
A slow breath escaped as I lifted one hand and pressed lightly against the bridge of my nose.
Already, irritation began forming steadily inside my chest.
Not explosive irritation.
Sothing worse.
The kind that built gradually the longer Ren continued standing there with that calm expression while blocking my path like so overly loyal guard dog disguised as a servant.
"...Why are you speaking for her?" I asked flatly. "Let talk to her."
Ren remained completely unmoved.
"My lady specifically requested not to be disturbed."
"She can tell that herself."
"She would still say the sa thing."
My eye twitched slightly.
What an incredibly irritating servant.
For several seconds, silence settled heavily between us while nearby maids pretended very hard not to listen despite clearly listening to every word.
I looked again toward the grand staircase leading deeper into the estate.
Sothing uneasy twisted heavily inside my chest.
"She has locked herself inside her room for several days now, which is why she could not see you," the servant finally admitted.
The mont the words registered properly, my composure cracked.
"What?"
My eyes widened imdiately.
"What do you an she locked herself inside her room?"
Ren remained calm despite my sudden reaction.
"She has been isolating herself recently."
"Why was I not inford?" I demanded sharply.
Before he could answer, I moved instinctively.
I brushed past him at once and headed toward the staircase without another thought.
If Aria truly had been shutting herself away for days, then sothing was clearly wrong.
But before I could even reach the first step...
A hand firmly blocked my path.
I stopped abruptly.
Slowly, I looked sideways.
Ren stood there beside now, with one arm stretched slightly across the staircase.
"Please do not intrude," he said evenly.
Sothing inside snapped imdiately.
"Move."
"My lady does not wish to see anyone."
"She does not decide that alone."
His gaze sharpened faintly at my response.
"With respect, Your Grace," he replied calmly, "Lady Aria is no longer your fiancée. She has clearly established boundaries between the two of you."
The words landed harder than they should have.
No longer my fiancée...
Ha! The audacity of this servant.
I stared at him coldly.
"...And since when did a servant begin lecturing about boundaries?"
Ren did not flinch.
"Since soone needed to respect them."
Silence slamd heavily between us.
Even the servants nearby froze completely.
One maid nearly dropped the tray she had been holding before another servant hurriedly grabbed it from her shaking hands.
anwhile, my gaze remained fixed entirely on the man standing before .
Interesting.
Very interesting.
This servant had beco bolder than I realized.
"Careful," I said quietly.
Ren t my gaze directly for the first ti since this conversation began.
And strangely enough...
There was no fear there.
Only firmness.
"I apologize if my words offend you, Your Grace," he said calmly. "But Lady Aria has spent days studying. I cannot allow anyone to disturb her concentration."
The protectiveness in his tone irritated irrationally.
"You speak as though you know her deeply."
His expression softened slightly.
"...Perhaps I simply listen when she speaks."
That answer alone nearly soured my mood entirely.
Because the implication underneath it was obvious.
He understood Aria better than I did.
Absurd.
I clenched my jaw slightly.
"You are overstepping."
"And you are forcing yourself upon soone who already rejected you."
The entrance hall fell completely silent.
Several servants looked monts away from fainting.
I stared at him in disbelief.
No servant in this kingdom should have dared speak to this way.
And yet Ren remained standing there calmly despite the dangerous tension rapidly filling the room.
For a brief mont, I almost admired his loyalty.
Almost.
But before I could respond, another voice suddenly interrupted the tense atmosphere inside the entrance hall.
"Duke Sebastian Blackwood."
I turned imdiately toward the source.
Duke Valen himself approached from the opposite corridor dressed in formal attire, his expression noticeably brighter the mont he recognized standing there.
Strangely enough, he looked relieved to see .
anwhile, I had to suppress the growing frustration still lingering from my confrontation with Ren before fully facing the older noble properly.
"Your Grace," I greeted politely.
"Ah, Sebastian," Duke Valen said warmly while approaching closer. "I have been aning to see you."
His cheerful tone alone already made uneasy.
"I have great news!" Duke Valen announced happily.
I forced myself to remain composed despite the lingering thoughts still occupying my mind.
"Ah," I replied calmly. "Do tell , Your Grace."
The duke stepped closer before placing both hands firmly against my shoulders like an overly emotional father preparing to announce a royal engagent.
"My other daughter has finally arrived several days ago," he revealed proudly. "I wish for you to et her."
I froze slightly.
"Uh... what?"
Duke Valen smiled broadly, entirely unaware of the strange heaviness suddenly settling inside the room.
"My youngest daughter," he repeated. "The one I spoke to you about long ago."
And suddenly...
I rembered.
Before my engagent with Aria beca official, Duke Valen once ntioned another daughter privately.
One hidden away from noble society.
At the ti, I imdiately agreed.
But shortly afterward, Aria herself forcefully inserted herself into my life and destroyed every possible direction that conversation might have taken.
But now...
The duke continued speaking enthusiastically.
"And perhaps," he added carefully, "you may reconsider the plans we originally discussed before the engagent situation with Aria beca complicated."
I flinched instinctively.
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