I let the moment linger.
The weight of it.
The tension that crackled in the air, thick as a storm waiting to break.
Then, slowly, I turned my gaze back to the Duke, meeting his golden eyes without the slightest hesitation. There was fury in them, tightly leashed, restrained only by the discipline of a man who had spent years mastering control.
And then—
I turned to her.
To Madeleina.
She had not moved. Not an inch. But I could see it.
The way her fingers curled slightly against the fabric of her dress. The way her breath remained measured, too carefully even. The way her gaze locked onto me, unwavering, but no longer out of pure defiance.
There was something else.
Something simmering just beneath the surface.
I smirked.
“Tell me if I’m wrong,” I said, my voice smooth, even, yet carrying a quiet edge beneath it. “But what you truly wanted wasn’t just to remove Aeliana. No—” I tilted my head, studying her, savoring the way she watched me now, “—you wanted to be seen.”
Silence.
Not a flicker of reaction.
Not a single word.
But silence is an answer, isn’t it?
A moment passed. Then another.
And then—
“…What of it?”
Her voice was quiet. Not weak. Never weak.
But there was something in it that wasn’t there before.
A shift.
An acknowledgment.
A challenge, even.
I chuckled, shaking my head.
I turned my gaze back to the Duke, my smirk lingering as I exhaled lightly.
“You see, Your Grace,” I murmured, my voice laced with something dangerously close to amusement, “that’s the problem with people like her.”
The Duke’s golden eyes flickered, his jaw tightening just slightly, but he said nothing.
So I continued.
“Even now,” I said, tilting my head toward Madeleina, “she still doesn’t believe she’s done anything wrong.”
The words fell like a stone into the heavy silence.
And then, slowly, the Duke turned to her.
His gaze bore into her, searching for something—an answer, a denial, anything.
“Is that really true?” His voice was quieter now, but it had lost none of its edge. “Did you really think of my daughter like that?”
******
For the first time, Madeleina’s breath faltered.
Just for a fraction of a second.
Then—she inhaled, steadying herself, and raised her chin ever so slightly.
Aeliana’s hands clenched into fists at her sides, her shoulders taut, her entire body brimming with rage she had barely contained up until now.
The silence stretched, thick and suffocating, but Madeleina did not lower her gaze.
She could feel the weight of Duke Thaddeus’ stare, feel Aeliana’s fury burning into her skin, feel the way that wretched man—Lucavion—watched her, his gaze sharp and prying, like he was enjoying the unraveling of everything.
But she did not waver.
Instead, she straightened, inhaling slowly, deliberately, and then—she spoke.
“I will not deny it.”
Her voice was steady. Clear.
“Lady Aeliana was the one holding you back.”
The words fell like a dagger, sharp, precise, slicing into the tension with cold efficiency.
Aeliana’s shoulders stiffened, her breath sharp, her teeth grinding together. But she said nothing.
So Madeleina continued.
*”She has always been a weight around your neck. A weakness that the world saw, a burden that drained you—that drained the Duchy.”
She did not stop, did not let the anger in the room intimidate her.
“The illness that plagued her, the pity she invoked, the stagnation she caused—”
She turned slightly toward the Duke, her gaze burning now, not with defiance, but with something deeper.
“Do you think I did not see it? That I did not feel it?”
Her fingers curled slightly at her sides.
“Every time you sat outside her chamber, refusing to leave. Every time you turned away from matters of state, from opportunities, from everything, just to watch over her.”
Her voice grew sharper, more insistent.
“Do you think I did not notice how much of yourself you lost? How much of the great man you once were withered because of her?”
Aeliana exhaled harshly through her nose, her nostrils flaring, but she still did not move.
Not yet.
“And what did she do?”
Madeleina’s eyes flickered toward Aeliana now, her gaze as piercing as steel.
“She took from you. She drained you. She kept you from reaching the heights you were meant for.”
She lifted her chin slightly.
“So, yes. I did what was necessary.”
And then—
Pain.
Sharp. Immediate.
She barely flinched.
But she felt it.
Aeliana’s nails.
Piercing into the skin of her wrist.
Tearing into flesh.
For a single moment, the pain lanced through her, hot and vivid.
Aeliana’s fingers clenched tighter, her nails digging in further, and yet—she still said nothing.
Nothing at all.
And for that reason, Madeleina felt something cold settle in her chest.
Satisfaction.
She knew.
She knew this silence meant something.
That it meant she was right.
If Aeliana had truly believed she was wrong, she would have screamed. She would have cursed, would have struck her, would have done anything but remain silent.
But she didn’t.
Because some part of her—some deep, buried part—understood the truth in her words.
So Madeleina did not stop.
She would not stop.
“This Duchy suffered under your presence, Lady Aeliana.”
She did not falter, even as blood trickled from where Aeliana’s nails cut into her skin.
“And I did what was needed to save it.”
SLAP!
The sound rang through the chamber like a thunderclap, shattering the suffocating silence.
The impact sent Madeleina’s head snapping to the side, the force of it leaving her momentarily stunned. Her vision blurred for a fraction of a second, her breath catching in her throat.
Then—
“Ah…”
Her fingers slowly rose to her cheek, trembling slightly as they met the burning heat blooming across her skin.
A deep, red mark was already forming.
And standing before her—
Duke Thaddeus.
His golden eyes blazed with something far beyond fury.
Disgust.
Disbelief.
Betrayal.
Madeleina’s breath hitched.
She knew the Duke’s strength. If he had truly struck her without restraint, she would have been dead before she hit the floor.
But he hadn’t.
He had held back.
And somehow—somehow—that made it worse.
His hand was still raised, shaking. His fingers curled slightly, as if restraining himself from delivering another blow.
His chest rose and fell with the weight of his emotions, barely contained, barely restrained.
“What…”
His voice wavered. Not with weakness—but with something far more dangerous.
With something broken.
“What made you think that you have the right to do something like this?”
Madeleina’s lips parted, but no words came out.
She could only stare at him.
At the man she had devoted everything to.
The man she had served.
“Did you really think removing my daughter from my life would solve things?”
His voice was sharp now, cutting through the room like a blade.
“Do you think I would be happier if the only one in my family was gone?”
A breath.
A step closer.
“Is that what you thought?”
His words hung in the air, heavy, suffocating.
Madeleina inhaled shakily.
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This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
He was supposed to understand.
He was supposed to see.
Not look at her like this.
Not with those eyes.
Not like she was nothing.
Madeleina’s breath came sharp and uneven.
Her cheek burned, but the pain was nothing compared to the fire searing through her chest.
She had expected anger. Expected punishment.
But this?
This disgust?
This betrayal?
Her fingers curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms, shaking with something—not fear.
No.
Rage.
Why don’t you understand?
The thought screamed in her mind, echoing, clawing, ripping through her restraint.
Her vision swam, but not with tears.
With frustration.
With agony.
Why don’t you see it?
“Don’t you see that I’m the one who cared about you?!”
————–A/N————–
It appears that I have mistakenly posted a chapter that is not one before the other one. Please read the previous chapter first, if you haven’t read this one.