He watched as she stood up from her seat and again put on the cloak that she had taken off for the moment.
This time, it felt as if his heart had sunk to the very ground.
As she was now wearing the black cloak, Radis smiled slightly at him.
âMarquis, Iâm glad that you look better today.â
This smile of hers was like a bee sting to his heart.
Yves Russell was absolutely baffled.
âAm I⊠an idiot? This is an insult to both my dark angel and my pure love! My, my love⊠has turned into a lowly black cloak obsession?!â
Yves Russell almost collapsed on the spot.
On the surface, he desperately pretended to be as cold as he possibly could, but inwardly, it felt as if the entire sky had crashed.
In shock, Yves unbuttoned Radisâs cloak and took it away.
ââŠâŠ?â
There was a grim look on Radisâs face as she watched Yvesâs actions without a word.
âYou donât have to wear this anymore!â
Taken aback, Radis looked up at him with a frown.
âWell, I didnât wear it for you though?â
âNo, let me rephrase that. Donât wear this, period!â
Radis was speechless.
âSir, have you gone crazy?â
Of course, she couldnât say this out loud.
Pressing down the rising urge to hit him, Radis spoke in the gentlest tone she could muster.
âIf I angered you because I wore Your Excellencyâs clothes as I pleased, I apologize. But I donât understandâyou even asked me to wear it yesterdayâŠâ
As he listened to her response, from the nape of his neck and to the very tip of his forehead, Yves suddenly flushed bright red.
To hide his embarrassment, he clumped the cloak into a ball and threw it far, far away.
âNever mind that! Iâll buy you as many new clothes as you want, so donât ever wear that anymore!â
ââŠâŠâ
Radis stared at Yves Russell with a plaintive gaze.
âItâs really hard to match the Marquisâs moodâŠâ
Right then.
âStay away from her.â
An icy voice, as harsh as a freshly sharpened blade, cut through the air.
At the sound, Radis turned to the side.
And the next moment, her entire world turned upside down.
Itâs him.
âRobert.â
Gray eyes that resembled a stormy sky were staring straight at Radis.
He didnât ask her anything.
As if he already knew everything even without hearing it from her, he just stared at her.
In front of him, Radis had never been able to be honest.
What was the reason behind it all?
Was it because she was desperately trying to keep things as they were, even if he knew the truth?
Was it because she was carrying the guilt of deceiving him and their other comrades for a long time?
Or was it really, truly only because of useless pride?
Yves answered back with a snarl.
âWho are you?â
âThe guest you left to wait all day.â
âSo youâre the one from House Roderick? Should you even be called a guest when you came here uninvited?â
Radis wanted to call Robertâs name.
However, just as she always did, she swallowed down her voice.
He wouldnât know her.
Perhaps he misunderstood that Yves was bothering her, and with his knightly chivalry, he was protecting her from him.
With a bitter smile, Robert said.
âItâs not you that I came here to visit.â
He then looked at Radis.
âDee.â
Radisâs eyes grew infinitely wide.
She looked at Robert, gaze full of disbelief.
Seeing her reaction, a faint smile graced Robertâs lips.
Then, he said,
âIâm here to see you.â
* * *
The liar carried with her a heavy sense of guilt.
In her previous life, Radisâs guilt snowballed day by day.
If the lies she told were all for her own benefit, rather, she would not have been able to bear the weight of this guilt. She would have definitely confessed the truth far earlier.
However, her lies were all for the Tilrod householdâfor her family.
She couldnât imagine what the aftermath would be like once this pile of lies were to be discovered.
She deceived the knighthood, the subjugation squad, the members of House Willingham, the people of the southern region and the entire empire.
So, she had to carry those lies until the very end, bearing the weight of her guilt, which worsened each and every morning.
ââŠI apologize immensely, Captain.â
The first emotion that struck her as she was reunited once more with Robert⊠was not the joy of seeing him again, and nor was it the shock of finding out that she was not the only one who went back in time.
It was this excruciating mountain of guilt.
Sitting on a luxurious chair in a drawing room, the twenty-year-old Robert stared at her with eyes that resembled a cloudy sky.
Faced with that gaze, Radis could say nothing.
After a long time, Robert opened his lips to speak.