CH 36

Just as the reapers had intended with their small prank, Pilsburg’s carriages rattled severely.

The buffer spell on the carriage’s wheels had no effect as they passed through the numerous embedded stones on the road. And the passengers would have definitely suffered from motion sickness.

Riggs smiled as he saw that even the horses pulling the carriages looked weary.

“Kiel, you did something that I didn’t even command. We’ll discuss the schedule of your vacation reward after the conference.”

Isabelle couldn’t hear Riggs’ voice clearly.

She was focused entirely on the door of that carriage.

Pilsburg’s coat of arms, as it was emblazoned on the carriage, looked so unfamiliar to her.

That coat of arms was also a representative symbol of her lineage—her heritage.

‘I never thought I’d get the chance to utter the word ‘heritage’.’

Though she had been determined to greet the person inside that Pilsburg carriage calmly, she couldn’t do so now that she was faced with it.

For Isabelle, who had never ever met anyone who she could call a ‘relative’, the approaching carriage seemed like a huge box.

A box that was much too large. She didn’t know if she could handle its contents.

Just thinking about how a relative of hers was inside made her heart pound heavily. She really couldn’t stay calm.

Whether a distant or close relative, this person was someone she shared blood ties with.

Even if it was Roiqan, perhaps the very person who sent those spies to her.

She had been abandoned by her family, but also had been sent spies by her family. She imagined a thousand different ways how this meeting would go.

She wondered if his first words would be ‘I’m sorry’.

Maybe they were being eaten up by guilt, refusing to even look her in the eyes.

However, as soon as the carriage doors of the Pilsburg’s entourage opened, these fleeting thoughts vanished immediately.

“Duke Cardiago, thank you for inviting me to this place that has been hidden away from the outside world.”

Isabelle watched Roiqan Pilsburg as he stepped out from the carriage, speaking well without one hint of motion sickness in him,

His light gray hair was something that would be rarely seen in the Cardiago domain.

The murky emerald hue of his eyes was also a characteristic of someone from the capital.

He gave off a gentle impression, not one hint of a sharp or angular line, like a portrait drawn only in curves.

He wasn’t the hammer-wielding monster that Isabelle had previously imagined.

‘Why…’

That’s why Isabelle wanted to deny it even more.

Roiqan looked so much like Isabelle. No other person she had met before had this much resemblance to her and this included the saintesses from the temple.

They were this similar.

If they were compared side by side, they looked like each other so much that one might even believe them to be siblings.

But then… Why was it that while he was looking at her now, he didn’t seem to even bat an eye after having sent people to kill her?

“I also greet the Duchess of Cardiago, who has become the new lady of the house. I am Roiqan Pilsburg. On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor, I will be representing House Pilsburg.”

As Roiqan bowed politely with his eyes curved into crescent moons, Isabelle couldn’t stay calm any longer.

That man wasn’t shaken at all.

“I heard that the Madam had been attacked not too long ago.”

“……!”

“It is such a pity. During the Imperial Conference, Pilsburg would definitely not easily let pass the tension brought upon by this unfortunate mishap.”

His laughter was airy.

It was so different from the picture of evil that Isabelle had drawn in her head.

At a loss for words, Isabelle could only stare at him.

Her gaze gradually hardened and became unfriendly.

The inside of her lips, which she had bitten to hold back the urge to cry, began to taste of metallic blood.

“We have prepared rooms at the main palace for all Pilsburg’s representatives. You must be tired from your journey, so do feel free to rest.”

Isabelle had felt that there was only Roiqan and her in the world at that moment, but Riggs’ voice suddenly brought her back.

His tone was aloof and unhesitant.

‘It’s not the time to be so swept away by emotions.’

It was thanks to Riggs’ voice that Isabelle could barely escape the darkness she was feeling within her.

The estate’s competent butlers guided the guests from PIlsburg to their respective rooms.

“Isabelle. You endured it well.”

When only the people of Cardiago were left around them, Riggs said this as he wrapped an arm around Isabelle’s shoulders.

She didn’t even know she was crying until he raised a hand to wipe the tears on her cheeks.

* * *

Pilsburg’s entourage arrived first, but soon, the other guests came in one after another.

Cardiago’s people spent the entire day welcoming the guests.

Now that the sun had already gone down and the moon was lighting up the dark sky, Isabelle thought that the day passed by better than she expected.

When more people came in like a tide, there was no time for her to think about Roiqan Pilsburg’s shameless face.

She was busy just trying to put a name to the new faces she was seeing, according to what she had memorized before.

Isabelle had to admit that she was oblivious to her own inner feelings.

It was arrogant of her to think that she could remain calm even when she finally faced Roiqan Pilsburg.

‘I don’t even think of him as family.’

She never expected a warm hug or a sweet greeting of ‘I missed you’.

Officially on paper, her name had never been Isabelle Pilsburg. She was Isabelle Cardiago.

But at the very least, Isabelle thought that he would look agitated.

Because the cousin he had tried to kill by sending the terrene forces was still here, alive and kicking. She wanted to see him react to that.

‘I was the only one who was agitated at that moment.

Saintess Mary had taught her how to hide her emotions and skillfully overcome difficult situations, however as she had faced someone who had the same blood inside her, all her teachings had become futile.

‘Just because I’m a Pilsburg, you tried to kidnap me. But now that you’re in front of me, you pretend like you don’t know anything…’

Isabelle smiled bitterly. He wanted someone who was a direct descendant of Pilsburg to gain the support he needed.

Not Isabelle.

‘You’re completely treating me like a tool to be used.’

If that man didn’t have the same blood as Isabelle, she wouldn’t have been this miserable even if it was the same circumstance.

The fact that his first reaction to her as they met was to turn a blind eye… This was what made her collapse.

Isabelle leaned her head against Isis, who was arranging her hair at that moment without saying a word.

“Goddess Isis. I don’t need a family or anything like it. I reached this point in my life without one and…”

“……”

“I’m sorry. Can you brush my hair later? I want to be alone for now.”

Isis swept Isabelle once more and then left the room.

Isabelle hugged a pillow and cried until she felt breathless.

‘I’m not a Pilsburg. Such a family is… That family abandoned me in the first place. Even if it was done according to Isis’ will, they abandoned me.’

Isabelle cried for a long time, and when her eyes had become swollen and red, she threw the pillow.

She came to a conclusion that was tinged with anger.

‘That’s not the place where I can return. I have nothing to do with that family. The place I can return to… It wasn’t with them in the first place.’

It made her even sadder that the saintesses weren’t beside her. They had always been by her side to comfort her whenever she burst into tears.

It was at that moment that warm hands gently swept over her shoulders, which seemed to move up and down without rest.

“Isabelle.”

Isabelle turned around, her eyes swollen like sausages.

Only then did she realize that the place she could find solace in was here, in this room—in the bedroom of Riggs, her childhood friend and husband.

“Riggs… Hiic, when did you come in?”

“A while ago. I think you didn’t hear me because you were crying.”

Riggs held out a glass of lukewarm water.

Instead of accepting the glass, she opened her mouth slightly instead.

Riggs brought the glass at the correct angle over her lips. It seemed like he knew exactly how much water she could take in and how many seconds until she’d need to take in a breath again.

As she drank water comfortably, Isabelle thought.

Riggs was the only one who knew just how much she had yearned for a connection as strong as blood ties, and just how much she was forcing herself to pretend to be okay.

“I’m sorry, Riggs. I should have acted more gracefully earlier during the day.”

“What do you have to be sorry about though.”

“……”

“What Roiqan did was ridicule you. I’m the one who should be sorry. My wife was mocked right in front of me, but I could only stay still quietly and keep up pretenses as a noble.”

“You’d only be called a fool if you lost your temper here, Riggs. It’s an Imperial Conference, not a playground for kids.”

Isabelle scolded him for no reason.

For a while after that, no words were exchanged between them, as if giving each other a time to breathe.

As Isabelle occasionally sniffled, Riggs swept her eyes.

“Isabelle. I know how much you wanted to see your blood relatives.”

“You know about it better than Goddess Isis. No one knows more about me than you do.”

“Do you really believe I’m the only one?”

“Of course I do. You’re the only one I have now… Riggs?”

Isabelle mumbled helplessly, but she looked up at him.

For a moment, it felt as if he stopped breathing as his body stiffened. His fingertips felt warmer as they gently swept around her eyes.

“Do you really think so?”

Riggs’ question seemed to be carrying some weight.

Of course, Isabelle tried to let the matter slide by saying yes, but she couldn’t answer because her throat closed up right then.

She knew it for a fact. There was only one person she could trust now.

However, it was like the moment she’d say this, a mirror she imagined to be inside her would really come out clean, as though there had never been handprints on it before.

It made her so sad to face the truth, so her eyes became strained with tears.

“You’re the only one I have, Riggs. Everyone else just wants to use me as a… hiic, as a tool. But now that I said it aloud, I’m so scared that you’re really the only one I have left.”

“I know you very well. Can’t you be satisfied with just me?”

Unlike the bitter tone of his voice, his eyes were smiling.

He looked content, as though he was looking at a ripened fruit.

“I don’t want anyone else to take any space in your heart. Please, just be satisfied with me.”

“……”

“You know, Isabelle. Just me alone is enough for you.”

He sat close right next to her side.

Beneath his short hair, she saw his angular collarbone and jutting adam’s apple.

With a sniffle, Isabelle looked up at him.

Knowing exactly what was troubling her that she couldn’t stop crying, Riggs spoke.

“Isabelle. I’m the only one who knows how to soothe you.”

And, little by little, his face grew closer to hers.