Chapter 20

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At that moment, the figure of Sebastian flashed before my eyes.

Sebastian’s appearance for the first time at a ballroom long ago. He danced with a graceful gesture and soared like a golden hawk. As if it would fly away and disappear at any moment.

Soon, he approached me and gave me a handkerchief with a friendly smile.

“Are you okay, Princess?”

“How is it? I can be a very good dance teacher too.”

A low voice whispered in my ear. The past image was gone. I stared at him furiously. His gaze was fixed on me. Seductive red lips approached in front of me.

I wanted to turn away but I kept getting sucked into him without realizing it. My heart thumped.

“I told you not to mess around.”

“…”

I bit my lips. I squeezed my hands tightly and pushed him away with all my might. Sebastian was pushed back again easily. His expression darkened again.

I got goosebumps. Fear came. What the hell is he thinking? I ran and left the room. It was an obvious escape.

Bang! After closing the door with a loud noise, my legs were released. I leaned against the wall and barely supported myself. My heart was beating like crazy.

Ha. I took a deep breath.

It was already the second time. Sebastian approached me personally.

“Why is Sebastian doing this to me?”

I frowned. He was starting to get on my nerves.

***

“Sophie.”

When she saw my pale face, she was surprised and asked.

“Your Excellency doesn’t look well. What happened?”

“I don’t think I can do it. We have to send Sebastian away.”

I had to admit my mistakes. I was wrong to let him be my escort. It was my arrogance that I thought I’d be okay.

He was a man I could not handle. I realized that once again. It was hard to face the same appearance that I couldn’t understand anymore.

“He keeps bothering me.”

Sophie smiled and nodded as if it were a good idea.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll tell the Knight Commander to take action as soon as possible.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought Sebastian would soon disappear.

But soon after Sophie brought the bad news.

The next morning, I was sitting in my office looking at the documents, and Sophie approached me.

“I’m sorry, Your Excellency. The Knight Commander says it’s difficult to get Sebastian out.”

“What?”

My mouth opened slightly. I wriggled my eyebrows. It’s hard to get Sebastian out? I couldn’t understand. Not long ago, the Knight Commander said he could send Sebastian out if I wanted to.

“What is the reason?”

“Right now, he said that there are no knights who are skilled enough to escort the Duke.”

“What…… ?”

“They already have completed the staffing. Your escort is a sensitive matter, so it will take some time before we can find a good knight.”

“Ha,” I exhaled.

Silence continued. Sophie looked at me and asked.

“Should we let go of the knight commander? He can’t do his job even when Your Excellency refuses.”

“No. It’s okay. The problem is that I accepted it in the first place. It seems that the Duke’s Knights lack a lot of manpower.”

I shook my head. Yes, I accepted Sebastian first so it was unavoidable.

Anyway, I didn’t know that things would turn out like this.

After thinking for a while, I suddenly remembered something.

“Come to think of it…”

“Yes?”

Sophie tilted her head as she looked at me with her eyes lit up. I continued.

“There is a way to get Sebastian out.”

***

A few days later, I was sitting in a coffee house in the capital.

The terrace of the coffee house, which was empty, was quiet. It was when I was looking outside with a cup of steaming coffee in front of me. With a rattling sound, the door opened and a woman appeared.

A woman with impressive dark skin. She was none other than Bianca.

“Bianca, here you are.”

Bianca, who found me, came forward and bowed calmly.

“I see you, Duke.”

I pointed to the opposite seat and said.

“Let’s sit down first.”

“Yes….”

Bianca pulled out a chair and sat down, glancing at me. It was a curious look. As if why did I call her. I said with a smile as if reassured.

“I hope you don’t worry too much. Because I didn’t meet you for the same reason as before.”

“… I’m sorry. What did you call me for?”

“First, let’s start with the main point.”

Bianca’s eyes focused on me. I exhaled and said.

“Do you know Sebastian is working for me?”

“What…?”

Bianca tilted her head. I understood that reaction. She was unaware of the fact. How could they love each other so much but didn’t know about each other’s business?

“Sebastian was recently recruited from the Imperial Knights. And he came to my family and became my escort knight. I didn’t bring him here today because I was afraid you would be surprised.”

Bianca’s eyes turned to the escorts, who were standing far away from me. There were two guards standing side by side, but Sebastian wasn’t among them. I went out on purpose when Sebastian was taking a shift. I had to meet Bianca in secret. That was also the reason why I didn’t call her to the mansion and I came to the capital to meet her personally.

Bianca looked startled for a short moment, but then she looked at me calmly.

“Bianca.”

I looked into her lively eyes and said.

“I have no intention of disturbing the two of you anymore. I just want to let Sebastian go.”

“…”

“So take Sebastian with you. Due to the circumstances of the Duke’s Knights, it is not easy to expel him. But quitting on his own is a different story. You have to convince him to leave the mansion on his own.”

Even if I told Bianca that Sebastian works for our family, I didn’t think it would cause any major problems between the two of them.

For five years, Sebastian was alone in the cage of my family, just for Bianca.

I didn’t think his heart would cool down so easily just because of this.

Perhaps he didn’t tell Bianca because she might be worried.

But that didn’t explain the reason for the things he did to me.

I thought the problem would end there. I exhaled for a moment and then opened my mouth.

“And… …… I want to take this opportunity to apologize to you too, Bianca.”

Bianca’s mouth fell open at my words. I continued.

“I think what I did to you five years ago is an unforgivable sin.”

“…”

As time went on, I became aware of it. What I did to Bianca back then. Kidnapping: That’s absurd. How dare I try to infringe on someone’s life and trample on them. There were some things that became clearer as time went by. Such was the case with Bianca and Sebastian.

The selfishness I had at the time. Jealousy. arrogance. I was ashamed of all those ugly hearts.

“I’m not going to make any excuses. I’m not even asking for forgiveness. I just wanted to say I’m sorry for my actions at that time. It’s very late, but if you want a reward, I’ll do anything.”

So I bowed my head towards Bianca.

Bianca looked at me with her trembling eyes, as if she couldn’t believe what she heard.

After a while, she smiled and spoke.

“I felt it from the last time… …… You’ve changed a lot, Your Excellency.”

“….”

“I never thought I would get an apology like this. It’s a bit disconcerting, but…… Still, it makes me feel more at ease when you say this. So, it is a huge thing for someone like you to apologize to me.”

Bianca looked at me as soon as she spoke her words with a calm smile.

“If there’s one thing I’d like to answer, it’s that you don’t have to worry too much about me.”

“…”

“I’m the type of person who forgets the pain of the past more than I thought. I would rather look to the present rather than the past and the future rather than the present.”

Bianca shrugged her shoulders as if she was really okay. Her reaction was unexpected, and I looked at her quietly. I wonder if people like Bianca have a strong spirit as well. Still, I’m glad she looked fine.

But in the next moment, Bianca said something incomprehensible.

“Ah. And don’t worry about Sebastian either.”

“What?”

I looked at Bianca in bewilderment.

***

*TL: Okay guys, I decided to drop this novel. I can’t stand these two women. I’m actually okay with Aileen because she knows her mistakes and feels guilty and apologized, but Bianca is a witch with no remorse or guilt. She used Sebastian for her own purpose, broke up a relationship, a family, almost killed a person, and all she did was saying sorry with a smile. She did pay for her sin at the end but I just can’t like her. So I don’t want to keep translating something that makes me mad. I have no time for that. Anyway, I’ll give you the spoilers which are on NU as well.

**Okay guys, I read the entire novel in one night and I cried my eyes out at the few chapters leading to the ending. I won’t say things in order but just things I remembered. First, Sebastian fell in love with Aileen the very first time they met at the party and when he gave her the handkerchief. Unfortunately however, Bianca cast a spell of fascination on him so he refused the MC’s proposal. And that’s when the Mc’s family destroyed Sebastian’s family. Sebastian is the victim of this novel. He lost everything, even his true feelings due to the spell. I would say Bianca, the main person who created this tragedy, If she didn’t cast the spell, Sebastian would accept the Mc’s proposal and nothing would happen but then we won’t have a novel to read.

Anyway, moving on, one thing made me really mad is that when Sebastian was suspicious of Bianca, and she told him the truth, she showed no signs of guilt whatsoever. He followed her to her home where her child and her husband were eating dinner, he was so confused how come the person he loved all these years had another family. Well, Bianca came out to meet him with a smile (yes, with a smile instead of hesitation) and said “you must have many questions for me”. Then she invited him into her house, Sebastian was basically a broken doll, he asked nothing and just listened to Bianca’s story about how she cast the fascination spell on him and the person he actually loved first was Aileen. Sebastian stormed out of the house, not even yelling or getting mad or asked Bianca why or anything. And Bianca was like ‘I’m sorry, Sebastian’. That was it, she had no guilt.

After that Sebastian ran to a bridge and thought back to his memory how he hated Aileen but also cared about her. He didn’t know why he wanted to kiss her even though his mind hated her. He didn’t know why he wanted to come back to her even though she set him free. He bawled. (I cried too, it was heartbreaking, poor guy). The five years Bianca under Aileen’s surveillance was basically Aileen telling Bianca not to meet Sebastian and that was all. Bianca could go to work and make money and live with her real family that whole time while Sebastian was under the illusion that he loved her to death. To be honest, Bianca should have lifted the spell when his parents died already or somewhere when Aileen let Sebastian go. But no, Bianca continued the spell on him long long after Bianca’s family and her people settled in the empire.

Sebastian was trying to be a good boyfriend the whole time, buy her hotdog, take her on dates, he even vowed to make her happy and be a good boyfriend while she went to see her family secretly every night. Anyway, after the truth became known, Sebastian told Bianca to leave his house. Bianca left and wrote him a note “I’m sorry Sebastian, if you need anything you know where to find me.” (Seriously, seriously, that’s all she said after she destroyed his life.)

The third tragedy was Aileen’s death. She was suffering from the magic she used to fix her legs and was bound to die within 3 months. Before she knew about her limited time, she was engaged to marry Usher the crown Prince. They were actually very happy together preparing for the wedding. Usher loved and cared for Aileen the whole novel. He would do anything for her. But anyway, after Aileen knew she was dying, she asked Usher to break the engagement and told him the truth about her legs and that she was dying. Usher tried to find cures, but the sorceress didn’t know the cure, then they remembered ‘oh, Bianca is a sorceress too’. So Usher went to find Sebastian and told him the story and asked Sebastian if he knew where Bianca was. Usher and Sebastian went to see Bianca to ask her to cure Aileen, and Bianca agreed. But the ingredients to make the cure were very hard to find. Like dragon’s tooth, a soul of an old king….Sebastian led a team of knights went to collect the ingredients, and it was a dangerous trip but they got the ingredients, however, when they got back, one of the knights dropped the bottle that contained the old king’s soul. So in the end Bianca couldn’t make the cure. Sebastian said to use his soul. He was willing to die for Aileen but Bianca didn’t want to kill him after everything she had caused. Leading to the weeks Aileen died, she asked if Sebastian could take over the duchy when she died because he was the only one who could do it. He agreed and they signed the marriage certificate again so he could be legally taking over the Duchy. Aileen said after it became his, he could have a family of his own, or destroy it like her parents destroyed his family before, and she wouldn’t say anything because that will be the least she could pay for her sin. She used one week to delegate the tasks to him. Then the last week of her death, she went to a villa by herself to die without anyone knowing. But Sebastian followed her and asked to be with her until she died. The week they stayed together, Sebastian cooked for her, took walks to the sea, ate cotton candy, had a snowball fight. They were truly happy. When they had a meal one day before her death, she apologized but didn’t ask for forgiveness because she said she didn’t deserve to be forgiven and that Sebastian could just hate her forever because she deserved it. Sebastian said he forgave her and hoped that she would not feel guilt anymore. And they kissed. And they had their wedding night together one last time. And the day after Aileen died.

The same day Aileen died, Usher, Sebastian, and Sophie went to see the sorceress who had healed Aileen’s legs to save Aileen. Since Bianca didn’t want to use Sebastian’s soul to save Aileen, they asked the other sorceress to do it. And the sorceress agreed. So she performed the same ritual that she used to fix Aileen’s legs on Sebastian to take his soul. Before Sebastian died, he gave Usher the letter he wrote to Aileen and made sure Usher delivered it to Aileen after she came back to life. So Sebastian went through the painful process just like Aileen did. And Sebastian really died after his soul was removed. Aileen woke up after that and she thought she was dead and she wondered how Sebastian was doing with the duchy. But Sophie told her she didn’t die and they went back to the mansion and all the servants dressed in black. There was a casket with Sebastian in it and they were going to give him a funeral.

Usher knelt down in front of Aileen to ask for forgiveness that Sebastian died and he didn’t stop it because Usher wanted her to live too. Aileen was furious and heartbroken. She screamed and cried so much. She asked why they went against her wishes. She had already accepted her death and arranged everything after her death so why. She staggered over to the coffin, touching Sebastian’s cold corpse. “Wake up, Sebastian,” she called while crying.

She was devastated knowing that he wanted to spend the last moment with her not because she was going to die, but because he was going to die. So after the funeral, Aileen went to his house to get his belongings and she was going to donate his house under the name of his family‘Hughes’. Then she saw that there was nothing to pack up because Sebastian had already packed his luggage before he died. Aileen cried even more because now she knew that he had already decided to die for her and packed up everything in advance without her knowing. She sat down, crying as she read the letter he wrote her, telling her not to blame herself, not to be so sad, not to cry, and live well. [Take care, Aileen] his last words. (I cried non stop reading the letter)

While she was crying, she heard his voice “don’t cry”, it was actually Sebastian’s soul talking to her by her side but she didn’t know or see. She thought because she missed him so much so she heard his voice. Then after that she went to the beach where they were together before. Meanwhile, at Bianca’s house, she was stunned knowing Sebastian died. She was really sad too. Then she suddenly remembered she could save him I’d he didn’t already go to the afterlife. So she performed a ritual to save him, while wandering and going to the dead gate, Sebastian heard Bianca’s voice “ Sebastian, run!” As the dead monster was trying to get Sebastian’s soul, Bianca kept telling him to run to the portal she opened. He ran and she fought with the monster. Sebastian ran to the cemetery where his body was buried, and he came back to life. Bianca lived after fighting with the monster but she lost an arm. She then sent a message to Usher to go to the cemetery to dig up Sebastian because he was alive. So Usher went there and Sebastian got out. Usher was happy too seeing Sebastian was alive. Sebastian then asked where Aileen was, they told him she was at the beach by herself. Sebastian sensed something wrong and ran there. Aileen couldn’t stand to live without Sebastian and she was going to kill herself in the ocean. As she immersed herself in the water, Sebastian called her, but she went too far and the waves for her, she didn’t know how to swim because she was paralyzed almost all her life. Sebastian jumped into the ocean and saved her. They hugged and cried and talked. At that time, everyone arrived and saw them all wet. Bianca came too with one arm missing. Sebastian and Aileen said thank you to her, and they felt bad that she lost her arm. Bianca said it was worth it because she needed to pay for her sin too. Because of her, the tragedies happened. Anyway all went back to normal and there was no more hatred and everyone became friends. Sebastian and Aileen married officially again and together, they ruled the duchy.

***