Cecilia took a deep breath, and…

Smack!

She slapped her face with both hands.

The sharp smack stung her cheeks, but it helped clear her mind.

“Twenty-one years old…”

She had been twenty-one when she had her third marriage.

Like her previous two marriages, this one had nothing to do with Cecilia’s own will.

Her third husband, Russell Cardros, was the lord of Lagos Castle.

Immediately after the wedding, he left for his own estate.

When Grand Duke Jericho had asked, “Will you depart together with your husband?” Cecilia merely responded with, “I need time to pack my belongings.”

After that, she lingered at the grand ducal estate for several months.

It was only after being reprimanded by the grand duke that she finally set off.

It’s no wonder she didn’t feel good about a journey she was forced to make.

Five days after her departure, she fell ill.

Fortunately, there was a villa nearby, a small retreat at the edge of the grand ducal territory.

In other words, Cecilia hadn’t even left the grand duchy yet.

‘I probably stayed here for more than half a year.’

The grand duke sent people several times to coax and comfort her.

But after nearly half a year, he lost patience with her childish stubbornness.

After six months, Cecilia finally departed with swollen eyes from crying all night.

For the forty-year-old Cecilia, this was an event of the distant past.

But right now, it hadn’t even happened yet.

She closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, her decision was made.

‘There’s no point in staying here for another six months like in my previous life.’

The future where she must go to Lagos Castle cannot be changed.

‘If I have to go anyway, I might as well go now.’

She decided to make a different choice, to see if it would lead her toward an unknown future.

This was all Cecilia could do at the moment.

She called for her nanny.

“Don’t worry, Miss. You’re unwell. Just rest here until you’ve fully recovered. Who could object?”

Benjamine tried to appease Cecilia as soon as she entered.

‘His Grace didn’t specifically say to rush the Miss.’

To be honest, Benjamine also wished for as much delay as possible in reaching Lagos Castle.

‘To live in that cursed land… oh, what a miserable fate.’

If Cecilia stubbornly refused to go, Benjamine was ready to support her in that decision.

She expected Cecilia’s usual response, that the pampered Miss would coyly reply, ‘Shall we?’ pretending to be reluctant.

“Go prepare for departure.”

“Prepare for departure… Pardon? Miss, are you planning to return to the Grand Ducal residence?”

“What are you talking about? Why would I go back there? We’re on our way to Lagos Castle.”

“Lagos Castle?”

“If we want to leave early tomorrow morning, you’d better hurry. Go out and get ready.”

Benjamine blinked in surprise with wide eyes.

“And call for Sir Willa. I need to discuss the travel route with him. Why are you still standing there? Hurry.”

“…Yes, Miss.”

Benjamine replied reluctantly.

As she left the room, she glanced back several times, looking like someone who had been struck out of nowhere.

Once the door closed, Cecilia let out a bitter smile.

She could guess what her nanny was thinking.

‘Of course she’s confused. I’m not acting like myself.’

But while she was still Cecilia, she was also different from the person Benjamine knew.

‘What will she report to the Grand Duke, I wonder?’

It would be several years from now when she discovered that everything she did was relayed to Grand Duke Jericho through her nanny.

When that betrayal hit her, she would be sick for days from the heartbreak.

Now that she already knew, there would be no falling ill again, but her heart still stung.

A wave of loneliness washed over her.

Even the one person she thought was on her side wasn’t truly hers.

She had always been alone.

 

❖ ❖ ❖

 

Sir Willa, the head of her escort knights, relayed Cecilia’s orders to the rest of the knights.

“The Miss wishes to take the fastest route.”

The knights exchanged surprised glances.

“As long as nothing goes wrong, we should arrive in about twenty days.”

One of the knights grumbled,

“As long as nothing goes wrong, that is.”

Everyone understood the unspoken meaning.

‘Will things really go smoothly?’

The fastest route was also the hardest.

Cecilia wouldn’t be able to endure the journey.

If that happened, they would have to change course midway.

It would be less trouble and timesaving to take an easier path from the start.

“Our mission is to escort the Miss safely to Lagos Castle. As long as we fulfill the task entrusted to us by our liege, we must follow her instructions.”

Willa shut down any complaints from the knights.

And so, they responded in unison.

“Yes, sir.”