Episode 67
“That’s….”
What would happen if Killian found her and Damian? At that sudden assumption flashing through her mind, every hair on her body stood on end.
She had hidden Damian’s identity, and on top of that, she had faked her death to escape.
Having wounded his pride so deeply, she was certain he wouldn’t leave them be. No doubt he would make them suffer far more than simply killing them.
For example, he might lock her away somewhere and keep her from ever seeing Damian again…. Or, though Damian was his own child, since the boy wasn’t in the peerage registry, Killian might send him to a terrible military academy.
But more than anything, the scariest part was that she could no longer predict Killian’s thoughts or actions.
Because she had deliberately looked away, she had only learned of it today, but he had seemingly forgotten his declaration that he would marry another woman right away and had not remarried even now, half a year later. Not only that, he had built a grave for her, who had died six months ago, and had even announced that he would publish her portrait.
He had always been an unpredictable man, but even the few rumors she had heard felt tinged with a faint madness. Rowena did not think deeply about the cause of that madness. He was a man who discarded his possessions, but he was always the one doing the discarding. She hadn’t expected him to change like that simply because something he owned had run away, but—
A frightening man. The thought sent a chill up her spine. As Rowena hugged her shoulders, her lips parting in fear, Cedric, who had likewise been silent for a moment lost in thought, suddenly asked.
“How do you plan to hide after leaving here?”
“We’ll have to settle down in another country, anywhere.”
“For life? You’re going to live on the run for the rest of your life? Taking Damian with you?”
“….”
“You can’t do that. You know it too. Even with your uncle Jeremy Dish supporting you, there’s a limit. And for Damian’s upbringing, a wandering life is the worst possible environment.”
Cedric added calmly, as if soothing a child, and looked at her with a serious expression he rarely wore. Rowena inadvertently saw Jeremy’s face superimposed over his. She had thought him a man of many faces, but despite an age difference of only four or five years, he now looked impossibly mature.
She had tried so hard not to rely on anyone, but when she was exhausted and struggling, she inevitably needed someone to lean on. Her maternal uncle, Jeremy, had been that person for her.
“Still, I can’t stay here….”
Her thoughts were brief. She opened her mouth again with a bleak heart, but a hand approaching her cut off her words. Cedric flicked the end of her disheveled long blonde hair and suddenly spoke.
“I’ve been thinking, Diana. I think black hair would suit you too.”
“…What?”
“And I think blonde hair would suit Damian.”
As Rowena furrowed her brow, wondering what he was talking about, a thought struck her like a flash of lightning.
“Are you telling me to disguise myself?”
“Since you’re already using an alias.”
“…How did you know it was an alias?”
It felt like being struck by lightning twice in a row. When Rowena raised her head with a dazed face, Cedric, who had risen at some point, strode over and bent down swiftly.
“It’s not perfect, but since you’ve revealed one of your secrets, I’ll reveal one of mine too.”
At the suddenly closed distance, Rowena hunched her shoulders and opened her eyes wide like a rabbit caught in a trap. Cedric stopped at a precarious distance where their noses nearly touched and whispered quietly.
“How did I know? I suppose you didn’t realize you’re a bad liar.”
Without realizing it, Rowena pressed herself flush against the backrest and gripped her skirt hem tightly at the name that followed. Cedric’s smile deepened as he glanced at her.
“Let’s greet each other again. Nice to meet you, Rowena Philone.”
* * *
To Cedric Godwell, his first impression of Rowena Philone had been a fresh shock.
A woman who looked exactly like his niece who had died long ago. Though Rowena Philone’s eyes and the corners of her mouth were different when examined closely, she looked so similar that one might mistake them for twins at a glance.
The moment he learned her identity, intense curiosity flooded in. A woman who, despite having been abandoned once, had borne the Duke’s son and could have claimed the position of Duchess, yet had cunningly faked her death and fled to a distant foreign country.
He was curious about the circumstances that had made her run away on her own from a position that countless women were desperate to obtain, but more than anything, the boldness and decisiveness that had enabled her to do so captivated him.
It was remarkable enough that a woman famous merely as a pretty doll had fled to this distant foreign country with her son, but it was also fascinating that she possessed the talent of a novelist, inheriting her maternal uncle’s blood.
—“For some reason she lacks confidence, but she definitely has talent.”
—“Isn’t that just because you’re viewing her favorably, Sister?”
—“It’s true. Just watch. She’ll start selling like she grew wings soon enough. She’ll seize fame as a novelist too.”
Lauren’s words had been true. Although it was an alias, Rowena’s name was gradually becoming known. It started in a remote countryside, but it might not be long before her influence reached the capital. Even if she walked around with her head held high, no one would say a word, yet Rowena had become even more humble.
—“The problem is that if she starts becoming famous, they might catch wind of it from over there. She used an alias and won’t attend official events, so it’s a one in ten thousand chance, but still.”
Lauren’s worry was valid. Cedric didn’t even need to ask who “they” were to understand. After thinking and agonizing over it, he came up with one solution.
—“There is one way. We just need to give her a new identity. An official one that no one would doubt.”
—“What is it?”
—“That is….”
It was a solution that Lauren had waved off as absurd the moment she heard it, but Cedric finally spat it out.
“If you want to hide perfectly, become my wife, Rowena.”
“…What did you say?”
Shocked at hearing her name called, Rowena was at a loss and doubted her ears.
“What on earth do you mean by that?”
“This country issues identification cards and residence certificates to the spouses of its citizens. If you want to launder your identity perfectly, I’m telling you to become my wife, at least temporarily. You’ll have to dye your hair, and put on a little makeup when you go outside, too.”
At the words that flowed out as if they were lines prepared long ago, Rowena was thrown into confusion. To her, unable to escape the shock, Cedric drove the final nail.
“Diana Godwell. It’s quite a pretty name, isn’t it?”
Silence fell for a moment. Rowena quietly looked at the man before her.
It was a thought she often had, but the more she saw of him, the more he was like an onion. As Lauren said, he was sometimes like an eccentric out of touch with the world, sometimes like a serious scholar; at times a dependable older man, yet at other times a mischievous boy even more so than Damian. Rowena blinked a few times and assessed him blandly.
“That’s a proposal utterly devoid of style or romance.”
“If you wait, I’ll at least go pick some flowers.”
“What?”
“What kind of flowers do you like?”
He seemed ready to get up and pick even wildflowers right then and there, and it was unclear where the joking ended. At that sight, a low laugh finally burst from her lips.
“Thank you, but then I’ll just take the flowers and refuse.”
Rowena thought his words just now were a joke to lighten the mood. He was truly a man who told jokes in strange ways. No sooner had Cedric frozen at the straightforward refusal following the straightforward proposal than Lauren’s ringing voice shattered the frozen air.
“Diana!”
Only Damian, holding Lauren’s hand hesitantly, entered Rowena’s vision. Rowena ran to her returned son and hugged his small body with all her might.
“Damian!”
“Mom….”
“Mom is really sorry….”
“No. I’m sorry too for yelling and getting angry….”
Having apparently heard some story from Lauren, Damian sniffled with an extremely apologetic face instead.
“I know Mom loves me more than anyone…. But I had such a hard time…. It’s so sad to part with people.”
“Yes. I know. I’m sorry, my baby.”
Rowena released the hug and wiped the tears streaming down his soft cheeks with both hands.
“I think Mom got too worked up. I’ll put leaving right away on hold.”
As she finished speaking, Rowena met eyes with Lauren. If Cedric had known her identity, Lauren would have been the same. Lauren looked surprised for a moment, but soon smiled faintly as if agreeing with Rowena’s thoughts.
“Really?”
Damian brightened, lifting his head as if he had never been downcast. Rowena smiled helplessly at that sight and promised.
“Yes. I’ll find another way.”
Though it had ended up drifting into a strange topic, after talking with Cedric, she felt a strange sense of relief that what lay ahead wouldn’t amount to much. It was an optimism that the worst-case scenarios she imagined wouldn’t come to pass.
Killian thought she was dead. Though he had said he would distribute her portrait, it would only be a brief topic even here, and once the mourning period ended, he would take a new Duchess. She just had to hide well until then. Fortunately, the people working in this mansion all had high loyalty based on trust in Lauren and were close-lipped. They also had little interest in the outside world.
“I really like it here, Mom!”
Damian smiled brightly and gave Rowena a peck on the cheek. As she tried to smile back at her son’s affection, a murmured whisper dug into her ear.
“Except for one thing….”
“One thing?”
Rowena tilted her head, just about to ask what it was.
“Lady Lauren!”
A butler holding something approached and held out the letter he had been clutching.
“It’s urgent.”