Chapter 35: Realization
—SEBASTIAN BLACKWOOD—
"I wanted to tell her," Cynthia said quietly after a long pause. "Several tis, actually."
"But you did not."
Her expression dimd slightly.
"I was afraid."
The honesty in her voice left little room for judgnt.
For several monts, silence settled quietly between us while the afternoon breeze drifted through the balcony.
Then Cynthia spoke again.
"When I first arrived here..." she said carefully, "Lady Aria was actually the first person who greeted warmly."
My gaze shifted toward her again.
"She looked surprised to see ," Cynthia admitted softly. "But instead of making things uncomfortable, she imdiately tried to ease the situation."
And once again, against my will, I rembered Aria smiling brightly while practically pushing Cynthia toward .
’Please take good care of her.’
At the ti, I thought she was rely behaving strangely.
Now however...
That mory unsettled deeply.
Because I found myself wondering whether Aria had already known exactly where she stood long before the rest of us did.
"At first, I believed she disliked ," Cynthia continued softly. "I had already heard many rumors about Lady Aria before arriving at the capital."
"That is unsurprising," I replied quietly.
Cynthia smiled faintly at that.
"Yes. Most people speak of her rather harshly."
The statent carried no malice.
If anything, she sounded uncomfortable acknowledging it aloud.
"But then..." Cynthia hesitated briefly, "Lady Aria thanked for coming."
I frowned slightly.
"Thanked you?"
"She said the estate had been too quiet recently," Cynthia answered with a small smile. "Then she told I was beautiful."
I nearly exhaled sharply at the mory that imdiately surfaced.
’You are so pretty!’
Aria truly possessed no understanding whatsoever of moderation.
"At the ti," Cynthia continued carefully, "I assud she was rely trying to be polite. But afterward..."
Her voice softened slightly.
"She looked relieved."
My chest tightened unexpectedly.
Relieved.
Relieved...
That contradicted nearly everything I once believed about Aria Valen.
For the longest ti, I had viewed her possessiveness as selfishness.
Her desperation as manipulation.
Her attachnt as emotional immaturity.
But recently...
The more I observed her, the more uncertain those conclusions beca.
Cynthia lowered her gaze toward her tea once more.
"I truly intended to tell her the truth eventually," she admitted quietly. "But after that first eting, I beca frightened."
"Because she treated you kindly?"
"Yes."
A soft sigh escaped her afterward.
"She had every reason to resent ."
The words lingered heavily between us.
Because unfortunately...
She was correct.
An illegitimate daughter suddenly brought into the estate.
A daughter Duke Valen clearly favored.
Any noble household would have expected conflict.
And yet Aria had welcod her instead.
No.
Not rely welcod.
She had attempted to hand over to Cynthia personally.
The realization unsettled more than it should have.
I leaned slightly back into my chair while staring absently toward the gardens below.
The fountain waters shimred beneath the fading afternoon light while servants moved calmly along distant pathways.
Everything looked peaceful.
Yet my thoughts remained entirely disordered.
"...Your Grace?"
I glanced back toward Cynthia.
She hesitated briefly before speaking again.
"May I ask sothing honestly?"
"You may."
"...Did Aria truly wish to end the engagent?"
The question caught off guard imdiately.
Because strangely enough...
I no longer knew.
At first, I assud her actions were impulsive.
Temporary.
Another emotional outburst that would eventually reverse itself.
But now?
Now I rembered her expression too clearly.
Calm.
Resolved.
Almost detached.
I slowly lowered my gaze toward the teacup resting between my hands.
"She said she wished for my freedom," I answered at last.
Cynthia remained quiet.
"She apologized as well," I continued slowly, recalling the conversation with growing clarity. "She said she regretted forcing the arrangent upon ."
A faint sadness crossed Cynthia’s expression.
Then unexpectedly, she smiled faintly.
"You miss her."
I imdiately frowned.
"That is absurd."
"Is it?"
"Yes."
Cynthia lowered her gaze politely, though amusent briefly flickered across her face before disappearing again.
"...Forgive ."
I exhaled quietly while rubbing lightly against my temple.
Annoying woman.
No.
Annoying situation.
Because logically, none of this should have affected .
Aria stepping away should have solved everything.
The engagent had always been inconvenient.
Unwanted.
Suffocating at tis.
So why did her absence feel so unbearably noticeable now?
This emptiness bothered .
I disliked the realization imdiately.
Cynthia carefully lifted her teacup at last before speaking again, her voice soft enough to almost disappear beneath the breeze.
"If your broken engagent truly does not affect you..." she began carefully, "...then do you perhaps consider as a potential wife?"
The question caught entirely off guard.
My gaze lifted toward her imdiately.
Cynthia herself looked mildly embarrassed after saying it aloud, though she still maintained her composure far better than most noble ladies would in such a situation. Her fingers tightened slightly around the delicate porcelain, and I noticed the smallest hesitation in her breathing, as though even she was surprised by her own boldness.
"I apologize if my words sound too forward," she added gently, lowering her eyes for a brief mont before forcing herself to et my gaze again. "But father clearly wishes to arrange such a future between us eventually."
I remained silent.
Not because the idea itself shocked .
Truthfully, this outco made perfect sense politically.
Cynthia possessed everything noble society would have admired without hesitation.
Grace.
Intelligence.
Refinent.
Beauty.
A reputation unburdened by scandal.
And unlike Aria, she carried herself with elegance rather than chaos, with control rather than instability.
A woman like Cynthia would undoubtedly beco an excellent duchess soday.
Objectively speaking...
She was the ideal choice.
There was no flaw in her etiquette, no rational reason to reject the possibility outright. If I had been asked this question in any other circumstance, I likely would have answered without hesitation. It would have been simple, even expected, the sort of arrangent that secured stability for both houses without unnecessary complications.
Yet strangely enough, the mont she asked the question...
Sothing inside shifted almost instantly.
As though my thoughts had been cut off before they could form properly.
Another face surfaced inside my mind imdiately.
Dark hair slightly disheveled.
Bright eyes filled with playfulness, too alive to ever remain still for long.
A loud woman, running around without regard for dignity, clutching her skirt too high while laughing at sothing entirely inappropriate.
A woman who spoke too freely, too loudly, too honestly, as though etiquette was rely an optional suggestion she enjoyed ignoring out of principle.
And for so reason...
That image did not feel distant.
It felt familiar and..fortable.
I exhaled slowly, almost as if to dismiss the thought, yet it lingered stubbornly in place, refusing to dissolve like it should have.
Cynthia was still speaking softly in front of , but her words blurred slightly as my attention drifted inward instead of outward.
I should have been considering her offer properly.
I should have been evaluating the political advantage, the stability, the convenience of it all.
Instead, I found myself rembering sothing completely irrelevant.
The way Aria had looked when she laughed without restraint in the middle of the street.
The way she spoke when she was not carefully filtering herself through noble etiquette.
The way she had pushed people together as though the world itself could be arranged with sheer will alone.
I let out a faint, quiet chuckle before I even realized it, the sound barely audible even to myself.
Only then did I finally understand what I was feeling.
"...I see." I muttered under my breath.
User Comments
0 comments from readers