I Don't Need the Grand Duke's Regret - Chapter 98
“Stop it.”
Mirabel’s clear and distinct voice pierced through Ricardo’s shaky voice. She continued, looking somewhat exhausted.
“Regret is always too late, so it’s meaningless.”
Her beautiful face scrunched up as Ricardo clutched at the hem of her dress. He held on to her and spoke ominously.
“No, it can’t end like this. I won’t let you go. Never.”
His voice was firm, but his hand on her dress trembled. His desperate expression seemed on the verge of tears.
However, Mirabel remained unaffected by his desperation. Instead, she took a step back and said irritably,
“Let go.”
“Armilla…!”
“Armilla is dead.”
Mirabel spoke coldly and knelt down. Ricardo lifted his despair-filled eyes to hers as she elegantly lowered herself and faced him directly.
“Listen to me, Grand Duke.”
His red, bloodshot eyes stared intensely at Mirabel. She noticed the extinguished light of hope in his scrutinizing gaze and smiled faintly.
“I don’t need your regrets.”
Ricardo’s jaw quivered. Wetness welled up in his violet eyes. Mirabel continued calmly as she saw his tear-filled face.
“You knew it all. The feelings of loss, loneliness, and despair. You knew how much they can consume a person, yet you left me to endure that hell alone.”
Her eyebrows, which had been softly curved, now furrowed. Mirabel sneered as she spoke.
“Now it’s my turn. Go ahead, suffer all you want. Long for it and mourn. Not that it will change anything.”
“I will do that.”
As Mirabel tried to stand up, Ricardo, whose eyes were brimming with tears, grabbed her desperately. Gasping for air, he pleaded,
“I’ll do everything you say. I’ll reflect, I’ll mourn. So please, don’t go. Please, forgive me.”
The desperate plea from Ricardo’s lips sounded so heartfelt that it was painful to hear. His face beneath his dark hair was contorted with pain.
His broad shoulders trembled pitifully, and his large hand clenched into a fist on the floor.
Yet, as he looked up at Mirabel, her eyes were only cold. She stared at him with a detached gaze.
“Really, Grand Duke? Expecting forgiveness now? Isn’t that a bit shameless?”
Ricardo released her with a look of utter despair at the firm rejection from the woman.
Mirabel turned firmly and began to walk away.
The chilly air of the corridor wrapped around her slender frame, but she felt no cold. Her anger consumed all other sensations.
* * *
Back in her room, Mirabel covered her hands over her mouth. Alone in the dark room, clear tears overflowed from her eyes.
They were not tears of sorrow, but of fury.
‘He says he’s sorry?’
Her face contorted as she recalled Ricardo pleading for forgiveness. She had never envisioned him in such a wretched state in her dreams, nor had she wanted to.
‘Now, after all this?’
Mirabel collapsed onto the bed. Lying face down in the soft bedding, her sobs broke the silence.
“Never, never…I can never forgive.”
She remembered vividly.
The times she had desperately writhed for a scrap of affection from Ricardo.
The times she had endured Renato, looking only at Ricardo, and eventually being discarded by him.
‘He should know his place.’
The memory of Ricardo’s cold smile and icy voice made Mirabel shudder.
She clutched her chest and lay down. The green ceiling tinged with black swam into her view. Mirabel took deep breaths, fixing her gaze on the ceiling.
It was something she did whenever she remembered him. The very thought of the past made her blood run cold and her heart pound.
It was a wound that no magic could heal. A pain she must carry for a lifetime unless she chose to erase the memories.
Mirabel tightly closed her teary eyes. As her eyelids shut, tears rolled down her cheeks.
Every word from Ricardo had deeply wounded her heart. That’s why she had consciously tried not to think of him for so long.
But despite her efforts, Ricardo’s words relentlessly stormed her mind. Mirabel grimaced and covered her ears.
She couldn’t forgive Ricardo.
Even if he had gone mad enough to dig up graves, even if he knelt before her with tears streaming down his face.
The things he had done to her in the past wouldn’t simply vanish.
There wasn’t a single memory from their time together that could be beautifully wrapped up as a fond recollection.
The only thing worth keeping that Ricardo had left her was Charles.
Precious and adorable Charles.
Thinking of Charles’ smiling face, Mirabel slowly lowered her hands from her ears. Just the thought of her son seemed to bring peace to her heart.
As Mirabel longed for Charles, she bit her lower lip.
She wondered what Ricardo might do now that he knew she was Armilla. She could not allow her son that was more precious than any jewel, to be taken by him.
‘I must leave Renato as soon as possible.’
Mirabel calmed her thoughts. It seemed that she should visit Sarah’s grave as soon as day broke and then head straight to the capital.
Whooo-
The wind whistled as if sensing Mirabel’s determination.
Mirabel looked out at the swirling snow across the landscape and made up her mind
No matter how bad the weather was, it was better to leave Renato.
It was better to be buried in the snow than to stay by Ricardo’s side.
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