After All This Time, I Thought You Abandoned Me

Cain brushed his bangs slowly and entered the carriage, bending on one knee.

“Lari, are you trying to escape?”

She stared at Cain, who met her gaze without saying a word. Perhaps he didn’t come here to capture her.

Cain’s white skin, bathed in moonlight, shimmered. Her heart raced at the sight; he was like a painting coming to life. However, at the same time, an indescribable sense of unease bloomed deep in her chest.

When Cain lightly tapped the carriage wall, the fear that had overwhelmed her dissipated as easily as it came, and the carriage came to a halt.

“Lady.”

Lariana gently laid Kalix on the carriage seat and looked at Sorelle. She continuously stroked Sorelle’s small back, who cowered in fear. Sorelle, with tears streaming down her face, quickly nestled into Lariana’s arms.

“Sorelle! What are you doing?”

There was a moment of silence. Starting with the roaring of Duke Isis, the situation became noisy with the commotion caused by him.

“Come down immediately!”

“M-Master, please forgive the young lady.”

“Lari… No, Duchess Delacroix. No need to call me master…”

Lariana pleaded, bowing her head, and the Duke Isis, who had come along, corrected her in surprise.

However, the one who was more surprised than Duchess Isis was Lariana herself. She didn’t know what to do with her master’s sudden change in attitude.

“Anyone, quickly come and take Sorelle!”

Two knights tried to climb into the carriage, but Cain stopped them.

Seeing how closely Lariana and Sorelle were intertwined, if the knights tried to separate them, inevitably they would touch Lariana’s body.

Unwilling to allow that, Cain entered the carriage himself.

“Let go of Lady Sorelle.”

“No, I can’t. If I send her away now, surely she’ll be scolded severely.”

“Not now, but eventually, the scolding will come.”

“Just wait until the master’s anger subsides.”

“Lariana, Duke Isis is not your master. There’s no need to address him as your master. Lady Sorelle, please get up and go back now.”

Sorelle threw a fit instead.

“I hate it! I said I hate it! They said you divorced her! So why did you come looking for Lari now? I was going to find Lari’s parents for her! Leave!”

The Duke and Duchess of Isis were astonished as they witnessed Sorelle screaming and even resorting to hitting Cain. In an instant, his face contorted into a sinister expression.

“Oh my goodness! Sorelle, can’t you keep your mouth shut?”

“Your Excellency, I’m truly sorry. Please, kindly overlook the naive girl’s outburst.”

Despite being of the same rank, there was clearly a hierarchical difference between being a Duke in Serren and Martessen. Unable to hold back, the Duke of Isis personally climbed onto the carriage, gripping Sorelle’s collar tightly and drag her out.

“Lady!”

Cain grabbed Lariana, who was about to get off the carriage. She forcefully pushed away his cold touch, even displaying strong resistance, but Cain remained unaffected by her rude and strong refusal.

He sometimes seems cruel. That was why Lariana couldn’t trust him even more.

“Lari, we need to go.”

“Duke Delacroix. What on earth are you saying?”

“We have to go back to our home.”

Lariana nervously protested.

“I can’t go. This is my home.”

She firmly drew the line and got off the carriage.

“Lari! You can’t go with Duke Delacroix! Mom, Dad! If we let Lari go like this, do you think my brother will forgive you?”

“Darling, please shut her up!”

“Lari, don’t go. We promised to be together forever, remember?”

Lariana tried to reach out to the pitifully extending hand of Sorelle, but the knights of Duke Isis were faster.

Under the Duke’s order, the knights covered Sorelle’s mouth, dragged her forcefully, and placed her in the carriage.

Sorelle’s screams seemed endless. Leaving behind the helpless Lariana, the carriage gradually moved away, turning into a tiny dot and eventually disappeared.

Now there was no Sorelle on her side.

The Duchess of Isis approached her with a smile on her face.

How long had it been since she last saw that smile of hers?

In fact, the Duchess of Isis didn’t hate her from the beginning. For a while, she dealt with the pregnant Lariana with sympathy and treated her well.

However, everything changed when something happened in the Duke of Isis’ mansion.

Before Lariana appeared, the Duchess of Isis had everything. A harmonious family with a loving couple, a son who she could be proud of and a cute and playful daughter.

However,… her son, Jue, who brought Lariana from the streets, secretly had that unknown girl in his heart.

No wonder the Duchess of Isis hated Lari. Lari, too, felt the affection from Jue, so she considered the Duchess’ anger toward her to be natural.

However, at this moment, the only hope for her was the Duchess. Kneeling down, Lariana desperately looked at the Duchess.

“…Madam, please don’t send me away.”

“Oh, don’t do this, Duchess Delacroix.”

In response to the sudden action, the Duchess of Isis glanced at Cain and lifted Lariana up.

“Madam, I can’t believe I’m suddenly a duchess. It’s unbelievable. I can’t even believe if that person is Duke Delacroix or not.”

“Duchess… The status of Duke Delacroix can be guaranteed by me and my husband. And I will show you the locket necklace that the Duke possessed.”

The Duchess of Isis forgot to return Cain’s locket necklace, so she had it with her all along.

She was taken aback by the situation that she didn’t have the opportunity to return it, but she thought it was a good coincidence. She took out the locket necklace from her pocket.

Lariana received it. Her hands trembled so much that it was difficult for her to open the locket.

“I will open it.”

“No, I can do it.”

Lariana firmly refused and struggled with the locket necklace for a while.

“Ah…”

Finally, when she saw the portrait inside the opened locket necklace, she let out a sigh. Inside the pendant was a portrait of a young lady with light blonde hair and sky-blue eyes.

Lariana was well aware of the subject of the portrait. She couldn’t possibly not know. Every morning, she had seen the face of the maid as she tidied Sorelle’s hair, through the vanity mirror. It was her own face.

“I… I can’t believe it.”

Even after seeing the portrait, Lariana denied reality.

When Cain gestured, The Duke and Duchess of Isis moved away. As they distanced themselves, Lariana’s eyes anxiously wandered without direction.

“If I were to reveal your secret, would you believe me?”

Without permission, a warm breath brushed against her ear. The following whispered words caused Lariana’s face to instantly blush.

After finishing the conversation, he smiled playfully and locked eyes with Lara.

“I am your husband, right?”

Oh my goodness. Her mouth involuntarily opened and wouldn’t close.

He calmly and intimately described the secret features of her own body as if he had memorized them.

Lariana felt as if her entire body had been laid bare. He even spoke somewhat vulgar words, yet he maintained an unusual calmness while she felt embarrassed.

“So, come with me.”

He said with a somewhat pleading tone, and in the end, she had no choice but to board the carriage of the Duke Delacroix.

In the first place, the Duke and Duchess of Isis had no intention of taking Lariana in again. As they bid farewell, the Duchess of Isis left her with some words.

She hoped for forgiveness for her past mistakes. And… to forget about Jue.

That was how Lariana’s four-year life as a maid, which constituted her entire remembered life, came to an end.

It was a night when the bright full moon shone, but outside the carriage window heading toward the Duke Delacroix’s mansion, it was pitch black, and nothing could be seen. She stared at the dark window, unable to see ahead.

Given the circumstances, it was evident that she was indeed Lariana Heliosen, the wife of the Duke Delacroix.

Cain knew about her secret, the portrait, and even her son, Kalix.

There was no denying it. Everything pointed in one direction, yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that she shouldn’t tread this path.

The carriage of the Duke Delacroix was much larger than the one used by the Duke Isis, and one side was equipped with a plush sofa in the shape of a comfortable chair. Cain was sitting next to Kalix, who was sound asleep.

“How can he sleep so soundly amidst all this commotion?”

Cain asked, looking down at Kalix as if it were fascinating.

“He took cold medicine and used a sleeping incense.”

“I see… he really resembles me to the point where it’s unpleasant.”

Lariana’s sky-blue eyes widened. Cain, who unintentionally revealed his thoughts, seemed to realize his mistake and casually scratched his face.

Lara pouted in dissatisfaction, restraining herself from saying something multiple times.

“Is it unpleasant?”

“If he resembled you instead of the other way around, it would have been nice.”

Words failed him… yet his quick-wittedness was remarkable, making it hard to counter him.

With nothing more to say, she leaned back in the chair, crossed her arms, and recalled the beginning of her memories.

At some point, when she opened her eyes, she was being chased by unknown people. If it wasn’t for Jue’s help, she would have died.

With Jue’s assistance, she was taken to the Duke Isis’ mansion and gave birth to Kalix without fully knowing who she was, why she was being chased, or where this place was.

Looking at Kalix, who had no resemblance to her at all, she vaguely thought that he must have resembled his father. And indeed, he looked exactly like she had imagined.

“The child is a bit small.”

Cain broke the silence and casually uttered words that struck Lariana’s heart like an arrow.