Chapter 021
He took it as a rejection.
It must have been hard to outright say that he didn’t want to meet anymore, so he avoided the situation.
It was disappointing, but it was his own fault for not capturing her interest sufficiently.
Having promised Ella to keep quiet, Sioden didn’t tell anyone about that night’s events. It was the same even when his aide, worried about his sudden disappearance, asked where he’d been. He didn’t want to cause rumors that the woman wouldn’t appreciate.
The next day, as he prepared to attend the banquet again, which he initially said he would only attend for one day, Ben spoke to him.
“If you’re looking for someone, please tell me.”
Sioden glanced at his now graying aide through the mirror. Perhaps because he had known him since childhood, Ben still thought of him as twelve.
After tidying himself up, Sioden checked his appearance once more. Confirming that there were no crooked or excessive or insufficient parts, he replied.
“There’s no one like that.”
Ben’s wrinkled lips twitched. It felt as if he could hear a voice stretching out the words “Your Excellency.”
Even though he knew Ben wanted to lecture him just like he did over a decade ago, Sioden pretended to look into the mirror.
There were already words he had spoken.
“If you only wish to meet and part ways with Ella and Den, then I will do so.”
But how could he describe her appearance to his aide and find out her identity?
He didn’t want to be a narrow-minded man who reversed his words in just a day.
He knew the world he belonged to was one where even if the world turned upside down overnight, one had to live with the same face as yesterday.
Both the deceased Lerox and Capren Lowen, and even the emperor beyond, all lived like that. Even if today changed drastically, they looked at each other with eyes that were as strange as yesterday.
Nothing represented the aristocratic society as much as the endless obsession with normalcy.
But because the woman he met last night seemed to live a different kind of life, Sioden wanted to pretend to be honorable in front of her.
In reality, he couldn’t help but care about how he appeared in the eyes of others, even more so.
Ben looked at him with exasperated eyes.
“There’s no harm in knowing who she is.”
“It’s fine not to know.”
The woman’s intention was to keep her distance from Sioden Raslet, even if she was willing to take a walk with Den.
The probability of something happening that Ben thought was almost nonexistent.
Wanting to see such a person from afar was purely his own greed.
The intention wasn’t even that special.
He was only curious about whether her foot had been treated properly and if she had changed into comfortable shoes.
That was all he cared about.
After taking one last look at himself, Sioden turned away. As he followed, Ben spoke again.
“Well then, at least let’s find out her status properly…”
“Being of noble blood doesn’t guarantee anything, so why bother?”
There was no need to look far; just thinking about his own family was enough to understand.
Sioden didn’t care much about what family Ella came from.
That was until the woman appeared in disheveled attire and revealed her father.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
“My name is Iella Rowen.”
“…….”
“My father is Capren Rowen.”
When Sioden first heard those words, he did not fully understand their meaning.
The components of the sentence were all clear enough to avoid confusion, yet it felt strangely distant.
For a moment, losing his ability to comprehend, Sioden stared blankly at Ella.
Even in the darkness, the woman’s eyes stood out, and under the light, they were so beautiful that it seemed that was all he could see.
Starting with the slight moisture in her eyes, Sioden slowly recognized the features of her face. Clear, transparent light green irises. Bright platinum-colored eyelashes framing her gaze. The white cheeks beneath. The place where her dimples would be is now invisible. A mouth that looked stiff, as if she were sad.
With such a face, Ella, or rather, Iella, made a request to him.
“So please forget about what happened yesterday.”
The woman turned her back. Sioden stood frozen, watching her frail figure draped in a white shawl move away. He still hadn’t fully processed what had just happened.
At that moment, a cold raindrop fell on his cheek.
The warning-like chill brought him back to his senses.
“Please wait a moment!”
Sioden hurriedly chased after the woman, who had already distanced herself.
He didn’t know what he would say once he caught up to her. However, he felt that he shouldn’t let this possibly final meeting end like this.
As if mocking his desperate feelings, the rain suddenly poured down heavily.
Still, Sioden did not hesitate.
A group of people trying to escape the rain blocked his path. Their voices, bustling and blaming the weather, drowned out all other noise. Sioden stepped aside to avoid them.
Right after the group of strangers passed by without noticing him, Sioden realized that Ella had vanished somewhere. He stopped and looked in disbelief at the direction she had been heading.
Before long, Ben and a knight serving as his aide came out to look for him.
“Your Excellency! It’s pouring rain, so why…”
Sioden followed them into the building.
Ben handed him a towel. In a daze, he accepted it and wiped his face, which was dripping with rainwater. The wet clothes clung coldly and heavily to his body.
As he began to regain awareness of his physical sensations, he felt something in his hand. Sioden looked down.
The blue gemstone he had given to the woman had returned to him.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
The Lady of Rowen was famous.
Capren Rowen cherished his only daughter, the sole offspring of his second wife, who had died.
His two sons also cherished their sister. Iswen Rowen, of course, and even Demian Rowen, known for his unruly behavior and violent temper, pretended to be a decent brother in front of his sister. This was a fact known even in the North.
The cruelty of the Rowen family was also well-known, leading some to call their behavior a rare paradox.
While it was common for parents to care for their children and blood relatives to look after one another, it was difficult to act as if one would not sell another’s child while refusing to part with one’s own daughter for a fortune.
“Are they not afraid that their wickedness will return to their daughter?”
Some said this about Capren Rowen’s duplicitous attitude.
Sioden had not paid attention to those words.
She was a woman he had never seen before. In a world overflowing with detestable people, he had no room to despise someone he had yet to meet.
Among those harmed by Capren Rowen, some twisted their anger to wish for his daughter’s misfortune.
Sioden thought their wishes were meaningless.
As long as Capren Rowen was alive, there would be no calamity for his daughter. If a child’s suffering becomes a parent’s pain, then surely that parent would do anything to prevent their child’s hardships.
If Capren did not protect his daughter, and if she suffered as others wished, it meant that her pain would not become Capren’s pain, and thus there was no reason to wish for the woman’s misfortune.
His thoughts about Iella Lowen were just that.
The woman who had approached him, engaging in almost coy behavior to try to connect, was her—until he learned that fact.
“My name is Iella Lowen.”
The woman’s voice lingered with him throughout that night.
There was no reality like this in any future he had anticipated. Sioden thought it didn’t matter that she was the daughter of a knight, but he had never considered that she might be the daughter of his enemy.
Among the many fathers in the world, Capren Rowen was the only one. Among the countless beloved daughters, Iella Lowen was just one.
It was unfortunate that he had encountered her.
That night, Sioden concluded their meeting in such a way. This was a stark contrast to his previous belief that meeting the woman had been fortunate, but the world he lived in was one where everything could turn upside down overnight without surprise.
What Iella had said was reasonable.
“So please forget about what happened yesterday.”
Even without necessarily respecting her wishes, he had to do so.
Knowing this, Sioden still mulled over her clear green eyes and her crescent-like dimples several times. Perhaps it was because he had never seen such things in his life that they were hard to forget.
However, when dawn broke, all impulses were buried beneath reason.
Seeing the sun rise, Sioden resolved to return without further hesitation. He had failed to find anything good in the capital. Everything Evelyn loved ultimately did not suit him.
Future attempts would also be meaningless.
He had to focus on the reality at hand without hoping for better things to happen.
After finishing his thoughts, Sioden made his decision known to those around him.
At that point, he had no idea he would be caught by an unexpected presence.
