A Butterfly Through the Mist - Chapter 79

The moment he loosened his grip, the butterfly left the boy’s hand.

Having had its wings held for a while, its fluttering was weak at first. Escaping from the boy’s grasp, the butterfly tumbled onto the garden grass, trembling its wings as if to catch its breath.

For a brief moment, Ilex wished that its wings were damaged, forcing it to remain in his care.

But his wish did not come true. After crawling hesitantly on the grass for a short while, the butterfly eventually spread its delicate wings and flew beyond the fountain.

As if blessing its regained freedom, the spring sunlight shone brilliantly on that white afternoon.

Ilex rubbed the faint white powder left on his fingerprint, recalling the sensation from just a moment ago.

For a fleeting instant, the butterfly had been under his protection. It had trembled, tickling his fingers as it struggled.

No matter how gently he held it, that beautiful creature never ceased its desperate fluttering.

It must have been a signal to let go. A struggle that meant it longed to be free.

An unexpected surge of frustration and irritation rose within him, and Ilex stomped his foot once more.

Yet, the feeling of the butterfly leaving his grasp, soaring away, was so vivid that it refused to fade from his memory.

“Well done, Ilex.”

Unlike him, Preston smiled gently, patting his grandson’s shoulder before taking his hand and leading him back to the mansion.

When they arrived at the bedroom, Preston placed a ring into Ilex’s hand—the very shape of the butterfly he had just released, set in amethyst.

“This was one of Agatha’s favorite accessories. I’m giving it to you as a gift.”

As the boy gazed in wonder at the jewel in his palm, Preston spoke kindly.

“It is a token of promise.”

“A promise?”

“Yes. A promise that you will continue to live kindly, just as you did today.”

With an expression of quiet longing, Preston looked at Ilex, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening.

“I trust you, Ilex.”

“……”

“I truly believe it. That you take after my second son, not my first.”

Ilex, staring at his grandfather who looked strangely sorrowful, lowered his gaze again to the ring.

His grandfather had always given his grandson anything he wished for, yet his grandmother’s possessions had always been different.

Preston had cherished the belongings of his late wife with great care.

Thus, this was the first heirloom from his grandmother that Ilex had ever received. As he watched the butterfly’s wings shimmer for a while, the boy slowly nodded.

“…Yes. I will.”

At that response, Preston gave a smile tinged with both bitterness and satisfaction, stroking the child’s hair for a long time.

Perhaps, even until the day he died, Preston never realized. That because of the token he had accepted so easily that day, Ilex had been forced to endure so many moments of helplessness.

That because of a promise made in his naïve childhood, he had spent years suppressing his own worth.

After his grandfather’s passing, in a life where no one praised him anymore, Ilex consciously made sure never to surpass his brother.

He pretended to be incapable of things he could easily do. He deliberately refrained from breaking limits he could have surpassed without effort.

Because of his promise to his grandfather. Because of his vow to resemble his uncle, not his father.

Because of the warmth that had once been like a beam of light in his lonely childhood, but had ultimately turned into shackles.

Entering the Royal Academy as the top student had been nothing more than an act of rebellion. After his grandfather’s death, it was the first time he had revealed his true ability.

And it would be the last. Because he had long ago decided so.

Just as his father, regardless of merit, had chosen to place his eldest son as duke, Ilex, too, had determined never to cross the set boundary.

Yet, even while knowing his fate was already decided, Ilex had never resented his grandfather.

Never—until he met Tilia Ambrose, and his heart was shaken to its core.

“…Grandfather.”

Lost in deep thought, Ilex slowly walked back toward the portrait. The promise token from that day was still held in his hand.

“The butterfly hates me.”

His murmuring voice carried a hint of childish petulance, reminiscent of the spring days of his youth.

“Is love always…”

The words he had never spoken to anyone before, words he had never even dared to admit to himself, spilled out in a hushed whisper.

“…so miserable?”

But merely acknowledging the thought made him feel wretched.

No response came.

Just as Preston’s countless greetings to the portrait had never been answered.

Just as the greetings of young Ilex, who no longer had his grandfather in the annex, had never been answered.

No longer a child, the man stood before the silent portrait with a desolate expression for a long time.

“…Forget it.”

After a moment, he turned away without hesitation, muttering with a scowl.

“I never expected anything anyway.”

Thud. The door closed.

The bedroom, now empty once more. In the portrait, the former duke and duchess, holding hands in harmony, simply continued to smile gently, unchanged.

***

Tilia Ambrose’s contempt for him and Ilex’s feelings for her were entirely separate matters. Even after fully realizing that Tilia despised him, his heart remained unchanged—she still looked endlessly beautiful to him.

No, it had nothing to do with personal feelings. The fact that she was the most radiant being in Arkansis was an indisputable truth, one that no one in the world could deny.

Regardless, what mattered was that even after knowing his feelings would never be reciprocated, Ilex could not stop watching her.

The intensity of his gaze only grew with time—it never lessened. Sometimes, Ilex wondered if his feelings fed off neglect and indifference, growing stronger the more he was ignored.

If not, how else could he explain the insanity of what he was doing?

At last, Ilex let out a heavy sigh and closed the thick legal tome he had been reading.

Scattered across the wide table, among the piles of books, were sheets of paper densely filled with notes. They contained various legal provisions Ilex had researched, seeking cases similar to Tilia’s.

From what he had gathered, Tilia’s father, Baron Ambrose, was planning to sell her off to some elderly earl the moment she graduated from the academy.

If that was the case, then she truly had to stake everything on securing the Foreign Affairs Consulate position in Ontaroa. There was no other way to escape the clutches of her mad father.

But even if she managed to flee to Ontaroa, that didn’t mean all her problems would be solved.

As he had suspected long ago, his damned father might just follow after her.

Under normal circumstances, Ilex would have been spending his vacation lazing in bed, idly fantasizing about Tilia naked. Yet here he was, not missing a single day at his desk, all for this one reason.

He had to get Tilia safely out of Arkansis. To do that, he needed to ensure that her family could never follow her.

For that, he needed legal measures.

For a moment, he entertained the thought—wouldn’t it be simplest to just kill them? But no matter how much he considered it, the idea left him feeling uneasy.

A man who massacred the family of the woman he loved, all in the name of her success and happiness—wasn’t that just the same as when he had stomped on all the spiders as a child, thinking he could cage the butterfly?

A more mature Ilex sought a more temperate solution.

If no legal means existed, then he would simply create the necessary laws.

Even though the Foreign Affairs Consulate in Ontaroa would be where she spent her entire career, Tilia would technically still be an employee of the Arkansis Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Diplomatic protection and foreign relations were its stated purposes, but another major function of diplomatic missions was security. And Ilex intended to exploit that fact.

While the exterior of a diplomatic mission was guarded by the host country’s police, the interior was protected by its own security personnel.

If Baron Ambrose caused an uproar by storming the Ontaroan Consulate in pursuit of his daughter, it wouldn’t be difficult to have him banned from entering the country altogether.

The problem, however, was whether the consulate would consider Baron Ambrose—simply as the father of an employee—to be an external threat.

To make matters worse, Arkansis still had numerous laws that could support Bradley Ambrose’s claim of ‘ownership’ over his daughter.

Although the Queen had undertaken sweeping reforms to abolish many archaic laws after ascending the throne, Parliament’s resistance meant the process was far from complete.

‘If I can find a way to get Baron Ambrose banned from both Arkansis and Ontaroa, this whole problem would be solved…’

After flipping through countless books for a long time, Ilex finally found something promising. Opening the book, he began jotting down sections related to victim protection laws.

If he could secure a restraining order in advance, then Tilia wouldn’t have to face Baron Ambrose even after she reached Ontaroa.

Tilia Ambrose living a happy life. Tilia Ambrose who no longer wandered out alone at night to cry, but instead simply went to bed peacefully and comfortably…

Murmuring those words, which still felt distant and unreal, Ilex pulled out a sheet of letter paper he had not used in a long time.