Chapter 12
Kyler didn’t hesitate. He stepped out of the bathroom, his slightly damp hair clinging to his neck, and strode confidently down the hallway. His robe moved quietly with each of his graceful steps.
It was the middle of the day, so she was likely in her room. When he opened the door to the room not far from his own, a strange heaviness filled the air.
This feeling was unusual. The windows were closed, but it wasn’t just the stale air. There was a different kind of weight in the room that he couldn’t quite explain.
Kyler stepped inside and quietly shut the door.
All the large windows, which should have been filled with midday sunlight, were covered with curtains. Even though they weren’t blackout curtains, the brightness in the room had dropped by more than half, and the quiet air felt even heavier under the dim light.
The canopy over the large bed was drawn down as well.
From within that dark, cave-like space, he could hear the sound of someone breathing.
“Sasha?”
Even Kyler’s deep voice didn’t seem to carry well in the heavy atmosphere. There was no reply. Only the faint sound of breathing continued softly from within the bed.
He slowly walked forward, approaching the bed. As he looked under the canopy, he saw Sasha sitting curled up in the shadows.
“Oh… you’re back. Thank you… for your hard work.”
Only then did she respond. But she didn’t look at him. Her voice was weak, almost too soft to reach beyond the bed.
He had found the reason the room felt so heavy. Sasha was shutting herself in. The weight in the air was coming from her. Her presence filled the room with something thick and suffocating.
“What happened?”
Anyone else would have left the room right away without thinking twice. A person’s emotions should be their own to manage, and Kyler never saw himself as someone who could help with that.
But this time, he didn’t leave. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed. He even asked a question. He wasn’t sure why, but something inside him told him he couldn’t just walk away.
There was a fragile feeling about her. Like she might break at any moment. And the truth was, she had always been the one to calm him when his own mind was sharp and restless. She hadn’t chosen to be that person, but she had become it.
“It’s nothing… really.”
She answered quickly. At first, it might have sounded like her usual voice. But Kyler, with his sensitive hearing, noticed the emptiness behind her words.
He realized that asking questions wouldn’t help right now.
He stood from the bed and began pulling open all the curtains in the room. The sound of the fabric sliding along the rods broke through the silence that had settled thickly in the air. He didn’t stop there. He walked over to the windows and pushed them wide open.
It wasn’t cold outside. In fact, the weather was so beautiful that it made him want to stay outdoors until sunset. The warm sunlight and gentle breeze poured into the room.
Finally, he lifted the canopy from the bed and drew it back completely. As the sunlight spilled in, Sasha instinctively squeezed her eyes shut against the brightness.
“I’ll be back later. Don’t close anything.”
Kyler gave his orders without waiting for a response and left the room without even looking back.
The sound of the door closing rang out loud behind him. Sasha winced and kept her eyes shut for a moment, her face tightening from the shock. Then slowly, the tension faded, and she opened her eyes just a little.
The once dark and silent room was now bright and alive. Sunlight had spread across half the space, chasing away the stale air. The pressure that had filled the room seemed to escape out the open windows, replaced by fresh, clean air that flowed in from outside.
She let out a quiet sigh.
“What am I doing…”
Sasha’s voice came out in a whisper, a soft breath of realization. She was aware of her own condition now, though that awareness didn’t immediately bring relief. She sat there quietly, taking in the changes in the room with tired eyes, remaining still in the same curled-up posture.
As soon as Kyler left the room, he saw Rose in the hallway and motioned for her to come over. She had clearly been expecting this moment, and with a worried expression, she quickly hurried to his side.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
She didn’t look frightened. Her face showed concern and unease instead. Kyler took note of her expression before he spoke.
“What happened to Sasha?”
If Sasha had been in that condition, there was no way the staff would not have noticed. Rose, especially, would have understood not only that something was wrong but also why.
“Well… from what I can tell…”
Even Rose could not easily say the words out loud. She started to speak but then closed her mouth again.
“Speak plainly. Tell me what happened to her and what happened in the duchy while I was away.”
His calm voice might have sounded frightening to someone who did not know him well. Rose, however, felt the sharpness that she had not sensed from her master in a long time. She took a breath, suppressing her hesitation, and finally answered.
“The day before yesterday, the Marchioness of Ivern and her daughter came to visit.”
“Ivern… Yes, I heard they were coming. And then?”
What exactly did they do? What happened after they arrived?
Pressed for details, Rose felt her chest tighten. Since working here, she had never seen Kyler show this much interest in someone else’s personal affairs.
“Only the Marchioness and Lady Elina came. The marquis did not join them. He said he had other matters to attend to.”
That was not surprising. Sasha had never been a beloved daughter, and it was not a journey one would make lightly if there was no affection involved.
“And if I may speak honestly, it seemed that the relationship between our guest and Lady Sasha was not good.”
That figured. They must have been unable to tolerate even a few short hours together. Sitting face to face at a table, sharing a meal and a cup of tea had been too much for them.
Kyler already knew better than anyone what their relationship was like. So why had she said she wanted to invite them? Had she expected that being a duchess would change something? Had she hoped for the smallest bit of recognition?
He looked at Rose without a word. She understood what he meant. He wanted her to keep going.
She took a deep breath and continued.
“Since you asked for the full truth, I will speak plainly. Both the Marchioness and Lady Elina treated Lady Sasha with open disrespect. Lady Elina in particular accused her of stealing her place and raised her voice at her.”
Rose paused for a moment, then added with quiet frustration.
“During the argument, they accidentally knocked over a teapot. Sasha burned the back of her hand, but the Marchioness ignored her and rushed to Lady Elina, whose dress had only been slightly stained with tea.”
Rose spoke slowly and clearly, not stopping for breath until she had finished. She regretted not stepping in sooner. The way the two women had responded to Sasha’s warm greeting should have been the first sign.
Even if the teapot incident had been an accident, she should have been more alert when she briefly stepped out during tea. She had held back, thinking it best not to interfere with a family reunion. By the time she realized the severity of the situation, it was already too late.
“That is everything.”
“Yes. After that, they left. That evening, Lady Sasha seemed her usual self, so I thought she had handled it well. But the next day, she began to change. She stopped coming out of her room. She barely eats. And now… this.”
Rose confessed everything. In truth, she felt a bit relieved after saying it all. Sasha had become a presence even the staff hesitated to approach. When asked how she was, all she had offered were quiet sighs.
There was nothing any of them could do. It was something only the duke could step in and resolve.
“I understand. Rose, go downstairs and prepare a soup Sasha might like. Bring it to her room.”
“Right now, sir?”
When Rose looked up at him, Kyler nodded.
She turned and quickly went downstairs. She had to get to the kitchen before dinner preparations began.
Kyler turned slowly and looked at Sasha’s door.
No one else could give him more details than Rose had already shared. That was all there was to the situation.
The real question was not what had happened. It was why something that sounded so ordinary had left Sasha so deeply hurt.
What he had seen was someone retreating into herself, wounded and trying to disappear from the world. It reminded him of himself when he had been younger.
Back then, no one had been there to take care of him. The only thing he had left was the cursed sensitivity in his ears that he wished he could cut away. In the vast halls of the duchy, he had been completely alone.
All he could do was shut himself in his room and hide inside his own thoughts. When he curled up and focused on the darkness within, things felt easier. His body was at ease. His mind was quiet. After a while, he could no longer even feel hunger.
But it was not something he could overcome on his own. Someone had to disturb that silence. Someone had to pull him out, whether by holding his hand or grabbing him by the collar.
Kyler walked toward Sasha’s door but stopped just before reaching it. He leaned against the door with his back. As his weight shifted, the soft fabric of his robe slipped gently down along his side.
“Ivern… the Marchioness…”
The only nobles who had ever drawn his interest were those powerful enough to pose a threat to the emperor. Ivern had never been one of them. Although their land was close to the capital, they had nothing to make them truly dangerous.
“Lady Elina accused Sasha of stealing her place…”
At one point, Kyler had considered many girls of similar age as potential marriage candidates. Lady Elina had not been excluded from that list. In that sense, perhaps it was true that Sasha had taken the spot.
But accusing someone of stealing a place they never had in the first place was nonsense.
What a ridiculous sister she had.
