/
At that moment, Erin finally realized why the old man had imposed such an unreasonable terms on Raymond.
He clearly wanted him to sincerely apologize to Erin.
He also wanted him to apologize to her in person, and hope that he could make her feel better.
‘What if Raymond had apologized for what he had done and truly asked for her forgiveness?’
Erin wasn’t sure what she would have done.
What she did know was that she was not obligated to travel all the way to the Imperial Palace for a person with no conscience.
“I don’t see why I should help you. You agreed to the divorce.”
“You agreed to the divorce, too, and now you’re coming out and blaming me?”
Raymond sounded incredulous.
“I’m sorry, your highness, but I don’t resent the divorce in the least. On the contrary, I’m grateful for it. Forcing me to sign those divorce papers was the only good thing you ever did for me.”
“Then why do you resent me?”
“I don’t resent you.”
Now I didn’t have the heart to resent this man.
Resenting others is also something that requires attention and energy.
Erin didn’t resent Raymond, nor did she hate him.
She just despised him.
But Raymond didn’t believe her.
“Is it because you resent me that you showed up at the ball with Calix tonight?”
“What? What did you just say?”
What the hell was he talking about?
They were still talking about the divorce, so why would he suddenly bring Calix up?
Erin couldn’t understand.
“So I was not supposed to go with Sir Calix?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Raymond stared at Erin in disbelief.
“How long have you been divorced, and then you show up at the ball with Calix as your partner, what do you think everyone will think?”
“
 Not coming from a man who’s been living with his mistress even before the divorce.”
“Is that the same thing?”
“Well, indeed you can’t compare it to what you did Raymond, after all I’m divorced.”
“Ha!”
Raymond couldn’t believe his ears.
“Well, I’m a member of the imperial family, the noble heir to the empire, so I’m entitled to live with a mistress for as long as I want.”
“Are you saying that I, on the other hand, should live a life of modesty even after the divorce?”
It was a contemptible mindset.
“Out of all the men in the world, why did you choose Calix..!”
Raymond continued to rant.
“What does it have to do with Sir Calix?”
‘Why are you overreacting like this?’
She hadn’t had a chance to really look into it, since Calix was barely in the capital, but Raymond’s contempt towards him was a bit unusual.
‘Strange.’
Erin thought.
‘Why does he hate him so much?’
Why would he hate his brother, who was five years younger than him.
He wasn’t even his biological brother. Calix was adopted, he couldn’t possibly be his rival?
His biological father had died protecting Raymond’s father, the Crown Prince.
Shouldn’t he at least be polite to him for that?
“Don’t change the subject.”
“I’m just curious, that’s all.”
‘Since there’s nothing to talk about he should leave.’
Erin stood up from her seat.
“If there’s nothing else to talk about, and I can’t help you, then you’re on your own. I don’t want to talk about it anymore, please leave.”
“Hey!”
Raymond stood up and grabbed Erin’s wrist.
Erin jerked away.
“Don’t you dare grab me! Get out of here. Before I call for people.”
“What, what?”
“You show up at someone’s house in the middle of the night and don’t leave when they tell you to, then I just have to call the neighborhood watch.”
The neighborhood watch were the officers who were assigned to patrol the neighborhood and catch thieves, pickpockets, and other miscellaneous criminals.
The neighborhood is a residential area, so the security was very good.
All you had to do was call and they would send someone right away.
“People will recognize Your Highness’ face, you don’t really want to be embarrassed in front of the commoners, do you?”
“Ha!”
Raymond stood dumbfounded, his mouth was open in disbelief.
He glared at Erin for a long time before finally giving up and turning away.
“I’ll come back for you.”
“Don’t come back. We have nothing to talk about.”
With those words, Raymond turned and left.
⚘
Erin walked through the darkened garden and into her house.
The living room was deserted, which made it seem more alive today.
Her body ached with exhaustion.
‘I’ll just go upstairs, wash up, and go to bed.’
She’s already tired, but she even wasted her time over something unnecessary.
Originally, Erin had planned to come back early and prepare a dessert to share at the Cafe before she fall asleep.
“He’s such an annoying person.”
Melly was already asleep, and the lights were off throughout the house.
So Erin crept upstairs, careful not to wake her up.
As she made her way up the stairs in the dim light, she suddenly heard a strange sound.
Erin suddenly halted.
Rustle.
A strange sound came from the kitchen.
It was the sound of something rustling.
Rustle. Rustle.
It sounded like crumpling paper.
Through the half-open kitchen door, the sound of drying paper leaked through.
‘Paper..?’
Erin jumped back downstairs in surprise.
The sound was clearly coming from the kitchen.
“Melly, Is that you?”
Suddenly, the rustling stopped.
But there was no answer.
There was only one thing she could tell at that moment.
It wasn’t Melly.
‘Was it a thief?’
She wondered if this was supposed to be the time for her to call the night watch.
Erin reached into her arms and pulled out the dagger she carried around for self-defense.
She clutched the small blade, cautiously walked over and peered through the open doorway.
Her eyes took in the dark, empty place.
There was no one in the kitchen.
She peered in for a while, but there was nothing.
She cautiously, opened the door and stepped inside, feeling the cool air blowing on her skin.
Cold moonlight shone through a small glass cabinet.
Erin looked around using the light from the moon.
The kitchen looked the same as usual.
Nothing had changed.
‘What was that?’
As she looked around, Erin noticed one oddity— the window to the house was wide open.
Normally, the kitchen window was barred and locked before going to bed.
Beyond the door was a trail of fences, and behind it was the woods.
Wild animals could get in there, and for safety’s sake, she always kept the windows up and locked.
‘Did she forget to lock it and leave it open?’
‘No way.’
She’s always so meticulous about locking the window.
‘Why is it open?’
Anyway, she had to close the window first.
As Erin walked over to close the window, something snagged on her foot.
It was a torn piece of paper rolling on the floor.
Upon closer inspection, it was a tattered paper bag used to wrap desserts.
White crumbs were scattered through the tear.
‘What Is this
?’
Erin realized what it was— It was a chocolate flower she had left in the kitchen.
There was no place to put them in the storage locker, so she’d put them inside a paper bag, then left them on the window to keep them from melting.
‘Why is this here?’
Erin hurried to the front door and peered out.
There was nothing outside.
All she could see was a ramshackle fence, white in the moonlight, and a small black forest beyond.
Erin felt an eerie sense of DĂ©jĂ  vu, so she quickly closed the door, and slammed it shut.