“Let’s go back to the castle. I have a present waiting for you.”

It was a blunt rejection and a dismissive remark. Rowena bit her lower lip instead of responding.

The gift he mentioned was a ‘person.’ On top of that, she was a person she knew well.

“Lady…”

“…Melissa?”

Rowena’s eyes widened at the moment she saw Melissa standing in the entrance hall. Killian had gone to his office right after going off the boat, so the only person she could ask was the person in front of her.

“What’s this all about? How did you ……?”

“I’ve been hired again. Joanne and I will be serving you together, Miss.”

Unlike Rowena, whose eyes were wide open with surprise, happiness, and wonder, Melissa’s gaze had dropped down; she answered slowly.

“Please take care of me from now on….”

“Melissa!!!”

It was the first time she had seen Melissa’s face in five years. Before Melissa could finish her sentence, Rowena walked up to her and gave her a big hug.

“Oh my god. I’m so happy to see you. Joanne told me you were doing well, but I didn’t know you were hired again.”

It was a face she remembered every once in a while when she was busy working and raising her child. The face of a friend who was warm, outspoken, and kind.

The last day they were together was a disaster. Still, she clearly remembers how Melissa tried to comfort her even after discovering that she meant nothing to the duke.

“It’s really nice to see you again. I told Joanne I wanted to see you, but… You weren’t forced to come here by any chance, were you?”

Rowena, who had been chattering for a long time while hugging her friend, whom she hadn’t seen in years, relaxed her arms when she sensed the strange air.

“Melissa?”

“…”

“Why does your face look so pale?”

Unlike Rowena, who was flushed with joy, Melissa’s freckled face was pure white.

“Do you feel sick somewhere?”

With a worried look on her face, Rowena placed her hand on Melissa’s forehead. Melissa couldn’t keep her mouth shut as she felt guilt pressing down on her chest.

― Yeah…Lady…no, Miss Philone is …She was cheating on the lord. She even asked me to help her dress as a man to avoid the gaze of others

It was a nightmare that she often had even after she stopped working as a maid for the duke and returned to her hometown.

Whenever she woke up from her sleep, drenched in sweat, she felt an overwhelming wave of shame over what she had done.

‘I didn’t want to do this! I gain nothing from it.’

However, at the threat of Baron Sussex, the duke’s right-hand man. It was a helpless situation, as her family was caught in the middle.

Whenever the guilt got too much, she made excuses as if she was reciting a spell to herself.

The young lady was still the duke’s mistress, wasn’t she? So she would probably still live a very rich life even if he left her.

But the description she heard from Joanne was completely different.

[She’s thin and looks haggard. It was hard to believe that five years ago, she had been famous for her beauty.]

Although Melissa didn’t know the details, she was certain that Rowena had had a difficult time. 

Sometimes she didn’t realize that one word could be so powerful that it could affect one person’s life.

“Miss …”

“Melissa. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Melissa, who swallowed her saliva, clenched her fist. From the fact that Rowena was welcoming herself just like in the past, clearly, she was still unaware of anything.

Besides, they said that she had a child. But Melissa knew the truth; Rowena had no other man besides Killian Devonshire. Therefore, there was no doubt that the child was the Duke’s.

There was only one thing she could do for Miss Rowena and her son, is to reveal the truth that she had kept quiet at the time. What had happened five years ago, and why had she had to be so cruelly abandoned?

She had to reveal all the facts she knew and ask for forgiveness. 

Having made up her mind, Melissa was about to slowly open her mouth.

“Look who’s here, isn’t it, Miss Philone.”

An unfamiliar voice echoed through the large hall.

At the same time, her whole body went cold, as if someone had splashed cold water on her head. The man approached with a leisurely pace and stopped behind Melissa’s back.