I Don't Need the Grand Duke's Regret - Chapter 83
Mirabel wasn’t curious about what she had left behind.
The biting cold of the north wind, the disdainful cold stares, and one domineering man.
The cruel person who called her Armilla and tormented her.
To forget that person, Mirabel still had to toss and turn under the covers every night.
‘I’ve forgotten. I’ll forget.’
Longing sometimes glorifies the past.
Mirabel wanted to remember Ricardo’s beautiful smile gazing at her, the firm and warm embrace from behind.
How that same mouth spewed cold words, how those warm hands pushed her away, those facts faded into the background.
“…Mirabel?”
Lost in thoughts of Ricardo’s cold face, Mirabel jolted at Ophelie’s call. Her fearful blue eyes fluttered aimlessly.
“Mother, I don’t want to remember.”
Mirabel’s delicate frame trembled. Despite the warmth filling the bedroom, she felt as if she was engulfed by the chill of Renato.
Ophelie, seeing her daughter shiver, spoke with a heavy heart.
“If it’s a memory that torments you, you don’t need to recall it.”
Ophelie sat her daughter down on the bed. She held Mirabel’s cold hands and changed the subject.
“Recently, the Grand Duke of Arcangelo held a funeral for the Grand Duchess. I came today to talk about that. He was someone connected to you once.”
Ophelie’s words made Mirabel’s eyes widen.
A funeral for the Grand Duchess?
A funeral for ‘Armilla’, held by Ricardo?
‘Impossible.’
Confused, Mirabel bit her lip. Her face paled as Ophelie asked in surprise.
“Mirabel? What’s wrong?”
“…I think I’ve caught a cold.”
Mirabel turned her head away from her mother’s gaze, murmuring. She didn’t need a mirror to know how pale her face must look, but she couldn’t manage her expression well.
“Let’s call Asil. A healing spell will make you feel better.”
“No, I’ll just rest a bit. Charles cried all night yesterday, so I didn’t get much sleep.”
“That’s why I said to let Charles sleep with the nanny.”
Ophelie clicked her tongue at Mirabel’s excuse. Perhaps due to the hardships of childbirth, Mirabel was exceptionally attached to her child.
Typically, the women of the Segolinde royal family would completely entrust their children to nannies after giving birth. It was common to visit the nursery occasionally to check on the child’s condition.
But Mirabel did not do that.
She kept only one nanny and was always by her child’s side.
Ophelie didn’t specifically oppose this style of parenting. If Mirabel wanted it that way, she wanted to let her have it.
However, if it affected Mirabel’s health, that was a different story.
“Consider hiring more nannies for a while. That way, you can rest properly.”
“Yes, I will.”
Mirabel hastily agreed and then, with Ophelie’s help, lay down in her bed. After ensuring her daughter was comfortably settled, Ophelie left the room.
“Rest well.”
Left alone in the room, Mirabel clenched her eyes shut.
Ricardo is a Grand Duke of the Empire. News about him would reach Segolinde.
Therefore, Mirabel had been anxiously awaiting news of Ricardo’s marriage, thinking she could reveal her return to the outside world by then.
Ricardo, having married, would have completely forgotten Armilla by then.
Perhaps he had already forgotten.
Unlike Mirabel, who had been fretting over him for more than a year.
“Huh…”
Suppressed sobs escaped through Mirabel’s clenched teeth.
Having held Armilla’s funeral, Ricardo would marry another woman. Probably soon.
So now, Princess Mirabel could publicly reappear.
It was also a good thing for Charles.
Though it was something to be happy about, strangely, her heart ached.
Tears streamed down as Mirabel clutched her chest. Breathless gasps escaped her red lips.
Mirabel’s heart pained when she thought of Ricardo. The Mirabel who once loved and was thrilled and happy with him now suffered in pain when she thought of him.
Mirabel gritted her teeth and hypnotized herself.
She had forgotten the past of Armilla.
She would forget.
Ricardo’s face, his voice, everything.
* * *
Ricardo groaned and grimaced.
His body felt heavy. As if someone had drained his energy, his limbs wouldn’t muster strength.
Ricardo struggled to focus his blurry vision as the room buzzed with activity.
“His, His Grace is awake!”
Following Nasir’s shout, chaos ensued, and the sound of approaching footsteps filled the air. Ricardo blinked wearily at the noise, still dazed.
People entered the dark room, eyeing Ricardo with great tension.
Just days after the Grand Duchess’s funeral, the Grand Duke had mysteriously disappeared.
It was the maid, Luce, who found him.
As she came to the Red Room to take care of it, she was met with the sight of the Grand Duke collapsed on the floor, prompting her to scream.
The Grand Duke was found lying atop a pool of red.
Those who entered the room at Luce’s scream were shocked immensely when they saw Ricardo. He was soaked in blood, faintly smiling as his eyes closed.
In the room where Armilla had been confined, he had sl*t his own wrists.
“If the bleeding had continued a bit longer, you could have died from shock.”
Hearing the doctor’s words, Ricardo looked down at his wrists. He gave a pained smile at the now tightly wrapped white bandages.
“I even wished to die on the same day as her.”
In Ricardo’s eyes was a deep resentment for those who had saved him. His words cast a heavy silence over the dark room.
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