A Butterfly Through the Mist - Chapter 84

“Hey, it’s no secret that Baron Ambrose is about to seal a contract to sell off his daughter! You knew, didn’t you? That’s why you approached Tilia! Then why am I the only one—!”

The nonsense spewing from Mackenzie Fitz’s mouth as Ilex beat him was not something to be ignored. A chilling sensation ran down his spine.

Come to think of it, even after he had warned Cecilia Clayton for showing up at Tilia’s lecture hall, she hadn’t reacted much. When she had spouted nonsense at the lakeside, he had smashed a cabinet to shut her up—but even then, there had been no significant response.

Sensing danger, Ilex quickly left the academy to assess the situation. He had long confirmed that Tilia harbored no feelings toward her family other than disgust. If necessary, he was prepared to dispose of them both cleanly.

However, the very next day, as soon as he began his investigation, he realized something.

The crisis she was facing was far worse than he had imagined.

While he had been lost in delusions about staying by her side, his enemies had been methodically preparing to drag her into ruin.

***

“Why that terrifying face, Ilex?”

That was the day Ilex discovered the reason Baron Ambrose had fallen into insurmountable debt.

The largest investor in the obviously fraudulent Ambrose mining operation had been the Clayton family. As a family with immense influence in Arkansis, their investment prompted countless others to follow suit, scrambling to pour in their funds.

When Baron Ambrose, desperate for collateral, was at his wit’s end, Cecilia had oh-so-casually remarked that his household had the perfect collateral already. And the contract, which should never have been approved under the law, had been pushed through under the Clayton name.

He didn’t even need to see it to know exactly what had been carved up and offered as collateral in that wretched contract.

“Relax your expression, will you?”

Once the contracts were finalized, the Claytons withdrew immediately.

And then it happened. Rumors began spreading that the supposedly gold-rich mine was nothing more than a pile of rocks.

Had it ended there, Ilex could have resolved it. But the real problem was that the brokers transporting the fake gold were also involved in weapons smuggling.

Arkansis was a country bound by diplomatic marriages and peace treaties with various nations. Which, if looked at differently, meant Arkansis was a precarious nation that could only secure peace through strategic marriages.

The country Arkansis had been most cautious about recently was Ontaroa. When it was discovered that Ontaroa had secretly sent an envoy to Ouna, a nation that had not yet signed a peace treaty with Arkansis, Parliament’s vigilance skyrocketed.

It was during this heightened scrutiny that a broker linked to Baron Ambrose was caught attempting to smuggle in iron—coated to disguise its use as raw material for weaponry.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been settled with just a fine. Or, at worst, only the direct perpetrators would have served a prison sentence, and the matter would have been hushed up.

“Doesn’t your fiancée look scared, Ilex? Cecilia’s right, you should ease that scowl.”

If only Gilbert Davenport hadn’t deliberately blown the issue out of proportion.

Trapped in the underground prison of his family’s estate, Ilex stared coldly at his brother.

His mother, a member of the Ontaroan royal family, had likely played a role. She was a woman who knew exactly what sacrifices were necessary to maintain household harmony.

Had he been just a little more cautious, he would have noticed the danger. But like a fool, he had been too elated, too blind to the fact that it was right in front of him.

Pathetic idiot.

Grinding his teeth in self-loathing, Ilex muttered icily, “Let me out.”

At his demand, Cecilia Clayton and Gilbert Davenport, standing beyond the iron bars, only chuckled.

“Why? So you can go rescue Tilia?”

“Don’t worry, Ilex. That girl you’re so obsessed with is going to live happily.”

Gilbert, as if relishing the drama of the moment, waggled his eyebrows and whispered gleefully.

“She’s going to have multiple wonderful husbands.”

Cecilia let out a piercing laugh, her shrill voice echoing eerily through the underground prison.

The powerlessness of it all made him sick. The sheer fury of failing to protect his woman, letting her fall into ruin, seethed within him.

“Tilia Ambrose… let her go.”

But he knew. Right now, even anger was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

Slowly, Ilex sank to his knees and bowed his head before the very people who had ruined his life.

“What’s this?”

Cecilia, who had been laughing hysterically, abruptly stopped and looked at him. In contrast, Gilbert watched with amused fascination, as if he were witnessing the climax of a grand play.

That alone was enough to tell him—his best bet was to negotiate with Cecilia Clayton, not Gilbert. Unlike jealousy, possessiveness was a far easier emotion to manipulate.

Making his decision quickly, Ilex lifted his gaze to Cecilia and rushed to offer his deal.

“It’s me you want, isn’t it? I’ll be your fiancé. You’ve won. Tilia is leaving for Ontaroa anyway. So—”

“Ilex, you becoming mine is inevitable.”

Cecilia cut him off with an irritated expression.

“And that mutt who dared to covet what’s mine? It’s only natural that she gets sold off.”

Scoffing, she leaned in, her painted lips curling into a sneer.

“Oh, Ilex.”

She whispered softly, as if lamenting something.

“You really love her, don’t you?”

“……”

“But what will you do? Just because she was loved by you, she’s now about to become the lowest of the low.”

Her red-tipped fingers trailed teasingly down his cheek.

“I knew it long ago.”

Stroking the tear-stained cheek ever so gently, Cecilia whispered sweetly.

“She was always destined to be your greatest failure.”

With a short, mocking laugh, she straightened up.

The door slammed shut.

The fool who had once thought himself a prince come to rescue his princess now clung to the prison bars, shaking them in vain, as he realized the truth of his situation.

***

“Are you really not going to eat?”

Cecilia’s composure vanished on the fourth day of his hunger strike, when he had refused even a sip of water. Pacing furiously in front of his cell, she kicked the iron bars in frustration.

“Do you think I’ll let Tilia Ambrose go just because you’re doing this? Don’t be ridiculous. The only thing you’re achieving is making me even angrier!”

Despite her irritated outburst, the man inside the cell remained silent. Cecilia glared at his turned back before muttering darkly.

“…I’ll kill her.”

Her voice, filled with spite, dripped with venom.

“If you keep this up, I won’t just make Tilia Ambrose a prostitute—I’ll really kill her!”

Only then did the long-silent Ilex react.

“If you kill her.”

His voice, hoarse and broken, was still clear enough for Cecilia’s sharp ears to catch every word.

“I will love Tilia Ambrose for the rest of my life.”

“……”

“Because I will never have to see her grow old and wither, she will remain forever as my fresh first love in my heart.”

Lying on his side with his back turned, Ilex strained his ears to catch any reaction from behind him.

There was no sound. But silence alone was enough to tell him—Cecilia Clayton was uneasy and wavering.

Just a little more. Ilex narrowed his eyes and spoke the words he had prepared.

“I will never forget her, not even in death. How could I? The woman who perished because of me. The woman who, as you said, fell into ruin because of me.”

There was no need to feign weakness in his voice. This was his absolute truth.

He would never forget the woman who had been doomed because of his mistakes.

“…But if you send her far away instead.”

The next words came slowly, deliberately. The sound of Cecilia biting her nails anxiously came to an abrupt halt.

“Then maybe, just maybe, I might be able to forget. If I believe she has found another man and is living well somewhere far away, perhaps someday I’ll be able to return to reality.”

Still, no sound came from beyond the bars. But instinctively, Ilex knew—she was weighing his words.

“…Don’t try to trick me, Ilex Davenport. I know you’re just saying this to manipulate me.”

“It is a trick. But so what?”

At Cecilia’s long-delayed response, Ilex turned to face her as if he had been waiting for this moment. In the dim light, his blue-gray eyes pierced through her.

“If Tilia Ambrose ends up in misery just as you wish, I will never forgive you. Even if I pretend to stand by your side, in my heart, I will always be waiting for the moment to stab you in the back.”

“……”

“No, perhaps I won’t even pretend. Marrying the woman who killed my first love? I’d rather die than live like that.”

Cecilia’s sharp blue eyes locked onto him, just as cold and dangerous. Yet, despite her glare, Ilex saw the subtle tremor in her gaze.

That was when he softened his tone and spoke gently. “But if you let Tilia go. If you agree to send her far away and be satisfied with that.”

“……”

“If you allow me to end this with my own hands… then perhaps, I might come to acknowledge the woman who granted me that mercy.”

“…‘Acknowledge’ me?”

“Yes. Surely, you didn’t expect to hear the word ‘love’ from my mouth, did you?”

Tilting his head slightly, Ilex chuckled.

“That would be the real deception. As I am now, I am utterly incapable of loving you.”

It was done. The peak was near. Seeing her eyes waver more than ever, Ilex slowly pushed himself up and walked toward her.

Standing with the iron bars between them, he reached out and caressed Cecilia’s cheek.

The disgust rising in his throat was enough to make him retch, but if it was for the sake of rescuing Tilia, he could endure anything. Even if the creature before him was not a woman but a rotting corpse, he would lick the maggots from its feet if it meant saving her.

“But who knows what time will bring? If Tilia Ambrose becomes nothing more than a past memory, and if you—who are standing here so beautifully—remain.”

Cecilia, who had closed her eyes slightly in bliss at his touch, opened them again to stare at him.

“Release me, Cecilia Clayton.”

Swallowing the bile of his revulsion, Ilex murmured sweetly.

“Let me go finish this. Open the door so I can return.”

Cecilia lowered her gaze, hesitating as if she couldn’t bring herself to say no.

But Ilex already knew what choice she would make.

Because just like himself, those who are mad with desire have only one choice before them.

***

“It’s only a matter of time before they catch on. So you must return quickly. It’s obvious where you’ll go, and Gilbert will definitely send people after you.”

Cecilia, who had fled the prison after unlocking it, returned two days later.