Chapter 71

Torre first met Lilianne when he visited her family home following their engagement. His intended meeting, however, hadn’t been with Lilianne herself, but with her father.

The House of Lemure, Lilianne’s birthplace, was a lineage that had produced many knights for the military sector of the Kingdom of Desnim for generations.

In such a household, the role of a daughter was to welcome a promising knight as a son-in-law to bring superior blood into the family, and to serve as an obedient wife who never defied her husband.

Born into the House of Lemure as a son unsuited for martial arts—or as a daughter—one was forced into a harsh existence. Lilianne was no exception; she had been subjected to an upbringing so rigorous it could only be described as borderline abuse.

On his way back from meeting Lilianne’s father, Torre found himself unable to suppress his curiosity about his future fiancée. He stole a glance into a room facing the garden, where he had been told her quarters were located.

There, a shocking scene unfolded before his eyes.

Lilianne was taking a dance lesson while weeping, while a tutor swung a whip down on her without mercy to reprimand her for her mistakes. By the wall, her mother and several maids were disparaging her, calling her “incompetent.” Lilianne had no one on her side.

Despite this, his tearful fiancée grit her teeth and desperately clung to the lesson. Torre was deeply moved by the sight of her struggle.

Having witnessed such a disturbing sight, Torre appealed to her father regarding her education. The fact that he’d been peeping no longer mattered; the blood had rushed to his head in a fit of rage.

However, the Head of the House of Lemure spoke with a face that didn’t so much as twitch.

He stated that this education was designed to crush a daughter’s self-esteem and turn her into an obedient person with no opinions of her own—a necessary process to take in a groom and protect the house. “How could that possibly be right!” Torre wanted to scream.

The idea that a house couldn’t be protected unless a wife moved conveniently like a doll was beyond absurd. It was only because the Head lacked capability and character that he resorted to such twisted logic.

That said, the Head of the House of Lemure was the Vice Commander of the Knights and Torre’s superior. That was precisely why the position of Lilianne’s fiancé had been offered to him. Raised in a knightly culture where orders from above were absolute, Torre could not openly defy his superior.

And so, he decided to wait—until the day he married Lilianne and became the Head of the House of Lemure himself.

He planned to liberate Lilianne from the traditions of her family the moment he secured that status.

But Torre had been naive. Lilianne’s heart had already been pushed to a point beyond repair. It didn’t take long for her to become dependent on Robin as a way to escape her painful reality.

Ultimately, she was disowned, left with nowhere to go, and followed Robin’s sweet words all the way to the frontier of Soutrena. There, she failed in her attempt to harm the Lord, Nazelbert, and was apprehended by the soldiers.

Before he moved to the frontier, a marriage proposal involving Lilianne’s younger sister had also been brought to Torre’s family.

But the idea of marrying the younger sister just because the elder didn’t work out was appalling. He couldn’t just move on so easily.

Though the terms were favorable, Torre politely declined. Being the third son, his parents allowed him to do as he pleased.

The reason he was able to head to Sutrena without issue was likely due to the help of a certain individual he met at the castle. Apparently, that person went by the name “Bell the Merchant” in the frontier and would get angry if called by any other name.

Regarding Lilianne’s sentence, Bell would likely handle the negotiations in the Royal Capital skillfully.

“Still, that was a close one. Lord Nazelbert truly is a broad-minded man.”

The Duke’s son, who had been driven away to the frontier, was an exceptionally virtuous person. That was exactly why Torre respected him and felt the urge to be of use to him.

Despite the attempt on his life, Nazelbert had granted Lilianne extraordinary leniency.

Having finished his immediate tasks, Torre headed to his private room at the inn to catch a nap.

As he had been swamped with work, morning had already arrived.

Incidentally, the Lord and his wife were resting together in their room.

Passing by Lilianne’s room, Torre hesitated over whether or not to enter his former fiancée’s chambers.

Kelly had just left the room to get some sleep, and in her absence, a soldier stood guard outside the door.

They had only spoken a handful of times, and his last impression was the worst possible one—trying to use violence against Robin. She likely didn’t even want to see his face.

That was how pathetic of a fiancé he had been.

Despite that, Torre had made up his mind.

If Lilianne atoned for her crimes and was released, he would ask for her hand in marriage once more.

He didn’t expect a favorable outcome, but he still couldn’t let go of his lingering feelings for her.

As he hesitated, the door to the room opened and Lilianne herself peered out. She asked the guarding soldier, “Could I trouble you for some water?” The soldier looked toward Torre, who had appeared at just the right moment.

“Lord Torre, I’ll go fetch some water. Could I ask you to watch the door while I’m gone?”

The soldier had seen right through Torre’s restless pacing and decided to be helpful.

“Ah… right. Understood.”

Torre fell into a state of panic, torn between gratitude and the sheer confusion of being suddenly thrust in front of Lilianne. He felt he had to say something, but the words refused to come.

Then, Lilianne softly looked up at him and spoke.

“I am truly sorry, Lord Torre. You were right all along, yet I was foolish enough to do whatever Robin told me.”

Torre stammered as he managed a reply.

“That’s in the past. Besides, I have things to reflect on as well… I should have noticed how you were feeling much sooner. Even as your fiancé, I had no idea you were being pushed that far. Even though I saw you making such grueling, blood-soaked efforts back at the estate.”

“…So you knew. I never spoke to you of my life, so it is only natural you didn’t know the extent of it. Please, do not blame yourself.”

“I simply wasn’t a man worthy of your confidence. I knew you were receiving an education that bordered on abuse, yet I feared my superior and couldn’t choose to save you right then and there.”

“Please, do not trouble yourself over me anymore. Even now, I only cling to life because of Lord Nazelbert’s generous treatment. I am a commoner who has lost everything and has no place to belong.”

Lilianne was still trapped in her loneliness. She had no one to rely on, spending her days blaming herself and cornering her own heart… and unless Torre, the only one who understood the circumstances and could take action, did something, that would never change.

That was why Torre hurriedly called out to her.

“Lilianne, it’s harsh to say this to someone who only knows the estate and the castle… but a place to belong isn’t something given to you while you stand still. It’s something you create for yourself by finding a role you can fulfill.”

“Is that… so…?”

“But, if you atone for your crimes and gain your freedom, and yet still cannot find a place to belong—come to me without hesitation.”

“Lord Torre?”

“I still love you, Lilianne. I love that you work harder than anyone, and that you are more earnest than anyone else.”

Torre believed the skills Lilianne had learned were not in vain. They would surely support her in her life to come.

“I will wait. Until the day you have paid for your crimes and earned your freedom.”

“It seems I have been overlooking the things that truly matter. Lord Torre, thank you. Your kindness alone is enough for me.”

“I’m serious! I want to marry you!!”

Torre shouted his proposal. As expected, his voice echoed throughout the entire inn.

His plan to wait until after her release to propose had already been blown to the winds.

“You shouldn’t say such things. At the earliest, it will be years before I am released. I will be past the marriageable age (the socially acceptable window for a noblewoman to marry).”

“I’ll wait!”

“Surely a better person will appear before then.”

“I don’t want anyone else! I want you, Lilianne!!”

Faced with Torre’s display of iron will, Lilianne’s eyes began to tear up.

“…You really have… no eye for women.”

“That’s not true!”

Torre asserted forcefully, and the two of them stared silently into each other’s eyes.

Neither of them noticed the fact that the gallery of onlookers watching them was steadily growing.