It's Too Late for Regrets - Chapter 8.11

Beneath the black robe he wore, a glimpse of an ornate ceremonial uniform could be seen.

 

On one of the extravagant brooches pinned to his left chest, there was a silver sword design wrapped in red rose vines. That alone was enough.

 

‘So he’s the Grand Duke.’

 

The King of Eleanor, who was said to be mad.

 

“…”

 

In the brief moment when Ines looked at him, the man was also looking at her.

 

His presence was so intense, it truly felt like he could cut someone with his gaze, as the saying goes.

 

It had been less than three days since Clara warned her not to even glance toward the silver-haired man, and now here they were, face to face.

 

Ines blinked in confusion, unable to find the right words, then quickly came to her senses and lowered her head.

 

“Greetings, Your Highness, the Grand Duke.”

 

She didn’t know how she knew to do it, but she had a Jenaireal idea of how to behave when meeting a royal or a high noble in an unofficial setting.

 

She had to bow first to someone of higher rank. Whether the greeting would be acknowledged was up to the other person.

 

Since it was an unofficial situation, there was no need for complex titles or formal bows… unless it was a royal.

 

But this was different. The Grand Duke of Eleanor was a member of the Lezan royal family and the king of a nation.

 

Though her mind raced with complicated thoughts, Ines decided not to overthink it. She would just wait until he said something that implied he accepted her greeting.

 

Then she would turn and hurry to the square. There wasn’t much time left before evening.

 

With that in mind, Ines fixed her gaze only on the golden buttons of the man’s robe.

 

But even after a few more seconds, no response came from above her head.

 

“…?”

 

Instead, the man, who had been standing about three steps away, moved. One step forward.

 

Ines flinched and instinctively straightened her back, stepping backward.

 

But he closed the distance faster than she moved away. His presence pressed down on her, rendering her polite gesture useless.

 

The murderous intent that the Grand Duke exuded without even trying felt like thousands of needles pricking all over her body.

 

Her heart tightened in anxiety.

 

‘He really is as terrifying as they say…’

 

A frightening man.

 

Even if his killing intent wasn’t aimed at her, it was enough to make her feel like she had become one of the many things that annoyed him.

 

He was the type of person who would rip apart anything in his way without blinking.

 

His eyes stayed on Ines’s pupils for a moment, then slid down her cheek to the red hair that hung below her shoulders.

 

Finally, his dry lips parted.

 

“Irope?”

 

His voice was very low and dry.

 

Ines hadn’t expected the Grand Duke to know Celia Irope. She barely managed to keep her surprise in check.

 

“Yes, Your Highness. I’m Celia Irope.”

 

“…Celia.”

 

It was as if he was silently repeating the name to himself.

 

Ines suddenly remembered how the real Celia had been deeply in love with this man, and felt slightly embarrassed.

 

They said Celia had bothered the Grand Duke more than once—was that why he remembered her name and face?

 

But it had been the former Celia who had pursued him, not Ines.

 

So Ines had no choice but to act bold and unbothered.

 

She had to make it clear that she, at least, no longer had feelings for the Grand Duke—not even the slightest interest.

 

“If it’s not rude… Your Highness.”

 

She would leave quietly so she wouldn’t provoke him any further.

 

“I’d like your permission to leave first.”

 

Just facing him made her knees weak and filled her with tension. She didn’t want to stay a moment longer.

 

Actually, that wasn’t the whole reason.

 

Ines looked at his noble face, as if covered by a translucent glass wall, and compressed the subtle feeling she had into one thought:

 

She disliked this breathtakingly beautiful man.

 

Even if she hadn’t heard how insane the Grand Duke of Eleanor was, she would’ve disliked him anyway.

 

It wasn’t the same as awe mixed with fear.

 

She didn’t know the exact reason, but sometimes feelings themselves are the answer.

 

What came out of her mouth next even felt arrogant to her.

 

“I have somewhere I need to be. I don’t want to waste too much time.”

 

Clara trembled as if she were about to faint at those words. The poor maid bent her back at a sharp angle and looked like she didn’t even dare breathe.

 

The Grand Duke’s eyes scanned Ines—from her face to the red hair flowing past her chest, and down to the hem of her dress.

 

His face still showed no expression. After a moment of silence, his lips moved in a detached voice.

 

“As you wish.”

 

As soon as she heard the short permission from his lips, Ines turned away.

 

She realized too late that she should have bowed once more, but she didn’t care much.

 

She was sure he was still watching her back, but she felt no need to turn around—nor any value in doing so.

 

“Let’s go, Clara.”

 

They were just two people who could part ways right then and there.

 

Rayan kept his eyes on the retreating red hair for a long time.

 

From a distance, a woman who looked like a maid rushed to hold up a parasol for Celia Irope.

 

Though something about the way she was served felt awkward, overall, the woman looked like a noble lady used to being treated well.

 

As soon as Rayan saw her beautifully braided red hair, he recognized her as the daughter of the Irope family—standing under the restaurant window just a few hours earlier.

 

Normally, he would have felt disgusted right away.

 

But while Celia Irope had spoken those presumptuous words, Rayan hadn’t really been looking at her.

 

He had been thinking of Ines when he saw that rose-colored hair.

 

Unlike the woman’s neatly styled hair, Ines’s had never looked that well cared for.

 

When they first met, the ends were damaged and tangled. Later, when she was briefly dressed up in the Eleanor residence, her hair had been cut to her chest.

 

When they reunited in Apael, it had been so short it didn’t even reach her shoulders—but over the course of their marriage, it had slowly grown to reach her lower back, just like this woman’s.

 

Still, it had never been this full or healthy.

 

It was fine, calm, and often clung to her pale skin…

 

“How ridiculous…”

 

Rayan scoffed at himself for remembering even the changes in his wife’s hair length so clearly.

 

Why was he thinking such pointless thoughts while looking at this annoying woman, not even when he saw the real Ines’s body?

 

Maybe it was because he saw something familiar in her golden eyes.

 

The clear, bright gaze he used to look for in Ines’s body was now shining in the honey-colored eyes of this woman.

 

And when she turned away without even greeting him, a sharp pain struck his heart.

 

It reminded him of Ines’s pale, thin back turning away from him long ago.

 

He really did think of her in the strangest moments. Rayan wiped his dry face with his hand and roughly ruffled his hair.

 

Now it seemed like everything—from a woman’s dress to her hairstyle and even her jewelry—would remind him of Ines.

 

The daughter of Irope should be grateful that she reminded him of Ines. Remembering how she had clung to him at the funeral still made his blood boil.

 

“Your Highness. What should we do with her?”

 

A knight approached quietly, waiting for orders.

 

“Shall we bring her to the mansion?”

 

“…Yes. Lock her up on the top floor and keep her under close watch. Rotate the sorcerers so they don’t miss a single word she says. We need to find out who she really is and how she found and took over that body—everything.”

 

Rayan spoke quickly and took a deep breath.

 

“…Of course, not a single scratch should be allowed on the body.”

 

No matter who was inside it, it was still Ines’s precious body.

 

He didn’t like the idea of another woman living in comfort, but he still wanted to care for her body with the utmost attention.

 

Much prettier and healthier than that passing Celia Irope.

 

So that if she ever came back, she would no longer be in pain…

 

“Yes, Your Highness.”

 

Rayan pulled his hood back up and turned away from Celia.

 

But before he could take a single step, a strange feeling of unease hit him.

 

“Oh, right… Irope.”

 

A few months after Ines’s funeral, he’d heard that the count and count’s daughter, who had stayed in the duchy, had an accident while returning to Lezan.

 

The count was unharmed, but the daughter had suffered a serious head injury and nearly died—then woke up.

 

With no memory.

 

Two years ago. In the duchy, of all places…

 

“…Ah.”

 

At that moment, pieces of information he had thought unrelated began to connect.

 

And from that center, a clear chain of cause and effect formed.

 

“Your… Highness?”

 

The knight who had tried to follow him stopped, startled by the sudden change in Rayan’s expression.

 

The lord slowly turned his head.

 

For a moment, the knight thought he was the target of that gaze and froze, but Rayan’s eyes passed him—looking far ahead.

 

Toward the noblewoman with red hair, now no bigger than a fingernail.

 

 

 

It wasn’t just his gaze. Rayan’s whole body turned completely toward her. His stopped steps began moving again.

 

“My lord!”

 

The knight called out to him in a hurry, but Rayan kept walking as if something was strangling his throat and pulling him forward.

 

By the time Celia Irope, with her red hair, disappeared completely beyond the street, Rayan was already running.

 

But before the distance between them could close again, a carriage stopped far away.

 

The red-haired woman took the hand of her maid and got into the carriage.

 

The carriage carrying them began to move away at a speed far faster than before.

 

Rayan stood still in the middle of the street, staring blankly at the scene.

 

People around glanced at him strangely, but he had no time to notice.

 

They are leaving.

 

Showing their backs to him…

 

Suddenly, something brushed his cheek and fell down. A round wet mark appeared on his robe collar.

 

The tear trace on his cheek quickly increased to two, then three.

 

Rayan lowered his head, dazed.

 

At the same time, the liquid falling from his eyes left dark marks on the ground as it soaked in.

 

His breathing was steady, unlike someone who just ran a short distance.

 

His face did not change as if he had suddenly started crying.

 

The man, expressionless as if all humanity had been stripped away, just stared at the departing carriage while tears fell.

 

It was not pitiful or sorrowful…

 

It gave off an uneasy tension.

 

Beneath Rayan’s very thin calm surface, something crouched and hidden began to stir slowly.

 

He stayed silent until the carriage completely disappeared from sight, then finally lowered his eyes.

 

Rayan slowly raised the back of his hand and wiped the faint tear stains on his cheek.

 

“…Celia Irope.”

 

Then, softly, he muttered.

 

“Irope. Irope… Irope.”

 

“My lord.”

 

“Irope….”

 

The knight was restless and kept watching Rayan’s expression carefully.

 

If a fight broke out in the street, it would be a big problem. Especially today, when Rayan had failed repeatedly again.

 

“…Go, find out.”

 

But Rayan’s voice was clear.

 

The knight realized late that those were orders for him and quickly bowed his head.

 

“I understand what you mean, my lord.”

 

“Gather all information you can find about Celia Irope and bring it to me. Today.”

 

“Understood.”

 

“And set up surveillance. Watch how that woman lives at the count’s mansion. Who she meets, what she does, where she goes—everything.”

 

“…Your command.”

 

After giving this order, Rayan slowly turned his head forward. Then his steps began.

 

In the green eyes the knight glimpsed, a fierce light was hiding.

 

It was the look of someone who clearly recognized the target they were chasing—something the knight had seen before.