'The only person that I said that to...'
'Was the gigolo from the Moon House.'
The longer time passed by, the more Cordelia's thoughts gradually became a mess, overthinking the possibilities.
'Perhaps...' She trailed. 'Did that gigolo tell Leon?"
Heaving another heavy breath, Cordelia couldn't stop her pondering. 'Or was it the brothel owner..?'
"Hah." She sighed, tightly closing her eyes.
'How much did Leon know of my visits to the gigolo?'
'And...'
'How much did he tell Leon?'
Though her mind was all over the place, a mess even, she still remained calm and quiet on the outside.
Cordelia gently clutched her cloak as she raised her head to look outside the window of the moving carriage.
Rattle
The rattling carriage passed by the familiar buildings, on the way to the brothel. As the carriage grew near, her heart also became more anxious.
Soon, the carriage stopped in front of a familiar building.
"We are here, madam." The footman spoke.
Cordelia swallowed a deep breath before going out of the carriage. Her heart had never been in such a frenzy before, so was her hands that was beginning to tremble.
Finally met with the familiar entrance, Cordelia was reluctant to even take a single step inside. But after all, she knew that her dilly-dallying would get her nowhere.
Clack
A faint sound of her tread briefly brushed her ears as she took a step. Very soon, she found herself inside, greeted by the familiar woman whose back was facing her. As it seems, they haven't noticed that someone entered.
Cordelia had one thing in mind. 'I should ask... if Leon spoke with that gigolo.'
'Or perhaps—'
"Goodness, I really can't believe what runs in the minds of high nobles." The owner muttered.
"They must have a lot of money to have nothing to do! Not only Count Hawthorne, but Marquis Elvoye as well."
As Cordelia was about to take another step, she quickly halted in the midst of setting her foot on the floor upon hearing the mention of her husband.
"Count Hawthorne has a weird taste for he only requests courtesans with long red hair and amber eyes. Do you know how many of our courtesans dyed their hair red just to have the opportunity to serve him?"
"And the Marquis Elvoye... He comes here in advance before his wife, and he pretends to be the gigolo that serves her."
Cordelia's heart sunk.
"What did you say, madam..?"
Her eyes quickly saw how the shoulders of the brothel owner, whose back was facing her, tensed.
"O-Oh..!" The lady stuttered, slowly turning around to face Cordelia. The owner's face was like an open book. Her eyes was wide open in surprise, averting away and shaking as though panicked. The lady was frozen.
"Do tell what you just said, madam." Cordelia spoke with a faint smile. A fake smile that she forced.
"T-That..." The lady let out an awkward laugh. "Marchioness Elvoye, you must have misheard."
"I heard you very clearly." Came Cordelia's immediate answer.
"Now please, tell me what it is you just mentioned."
FINALLY getting the answer to her question, Cordelia immediately left the brothel. Her breath became more shaky as she walked down the busy streets of the capital, far away from her carriage.
"Hah..." She scoffed, letting out a small laugh. She was laughing at herself for being so foolish. For until now, she still could not believe nor fathom it.
Betrayal was what she felt. All along, she thought she had made a friend. But it turns out to be very different.
'All those time... it was him pretending..?'
Another scoff left her lips. 'How idiotic of me.'
Her eyes wandered, unable to focus on what was before her as she continued to clear her head with a walk. But before she knew it, her body collided strongly with someone.
"Ugh!" A groan left the lady's lips. "Are you not looking where you are going—"
"Oh my." A sarcastic laugh erupted. "If it isn't the contracted wife."
Cordelia dejectedly looked up, hearing the familiar voice. Her eyes was void from what she discovered but still, upon seeing the person before her, she needed to force a smile. "Lady Vivian."
"Fancy seeing you here, marchioness."
"You too, Lady—"
"Oh! My apologies!" A pair of eyes filled with contempt bore onto Cordelia's, as the loud laugh loudly filled her ears. "How forgetful I am."
"Shall I start calling you Lady Lenister again? After all, you won't be a marchioness after your divorce."
Cordelia looked at Vivian without any reaction.
"Oh my, what's with that look? We're you perhaps offended?"
"Don't be! It is the truth after all." She innocently grinned.
Cordelia couldn't get a word out. After all, what Vivian was saying was the truth. She could only tighten her fists inside her robe as she heard more of Vivian's wretched words, taunting her more deeply.
"After your divorce, the Marquis will be my fiancé. After all, if not because of you, I, originally would have been the Marchioness."
Cordelia could only bear with it, but what Vivian said caught her attention.
"What... do you mean?"
A taunting smile formed on Vivian's lips. "Don't you know?"
"Leon was my fiancé before he married you."
•
For the entire tiring day, Leon was busy tidying those rumors among the palace and nobility.
Leon heaved a breath of relief as the carriage neared his estate. It was already afternoon, and his yearning heart began to feel at ease, finally getting to see Cordelia after a long day.
The neighs of horses erupted as the footman pulled the reigns. "We have arrived back, master." Spoke the footman
As the carriage halted into a stop, Leon could already hear the sound of the servants gathered outside. But his mind was deeply set into Cordelia. He was more than delighted to arrive back home, for all that he wanted was to see her again.
Confused as he is, he quickly got out of the carriage and was greeted with a complicated sight. His brows furrowed into confusion seeing a carriage parked before the stair of castle, with servants bringing luggage's inside.
Leon, who knew nothing of what was happening, asked a nearby servant.
"Greetings, master. Welcome back." The servant boy bowed.
"What is all this?" The confusion on his voice was very evident as he asked the servant.
"My lord," The boy bowed. "The madam ordered us to arrange her belongings in the carriage, master."
"Her belongings?" Leon asked, confused.
"Why?"
Though he quickly noticed how the servant's eyes widened as his complexion paled. "Did... the madam not inform you beforehand, master?"
"What do you mean?"
"This..." The servant boy glanced at the luggage's inside the carriage. The young servant, not knowing a thing, spoke carelessly upon his own guess. After all, who didn't know about their rumor?
"The madam is leaving, my lord."
Upon hearing that, Leon's heart dropped.
"What did you say?" He asked, hoping to have misheard.
Leon's heart sunk in that instant. "What do you mean she's leaving?"
"Lilibeth, her handmaiden helped the madam pack her belongings earlier, my lord... and she later called the carriage in a hurry."
'How come... Delle didn't tell me?' He thought with a sunken heart.
"Did she say why?" His lips trembled as those words left his lips.
"That... Apologies, master. But I am not sure of the reason." The servant boy slowly shook his head.
"Although..." He trailed "I overheard the madam mumbling to herself as she gave me her luggage, master."
Leon was reluctant to answer, afraid to hear the reason. But still, he mustered up the courage and asked. "What did she say?"
"It was along the lines of following an agreement for the month before the marriage marks two years— if my memory serves me right, my lord."
His heart sank even more.
'That was...'
'The agreement of our contract.'
'No...'
'No.'
'No.'
If no heir is born throughout their marriage, then a month before their marriage expires, Cordelia was to leave the Elvoye estate.
But right now, Leon didn't want that to happen. He couldn't bear to let her go. He didn't want to lose her.
It was as though he could no longer live without her, for his heart was already conquered by her.
Leon tightly clenched his fists as he turned to the servant boy. "Put all her belongings back."
"Master..?"
"Put it all back in my chambers." Not even her chambers, but his. Leon wanted to make sure that she would not leave him secretly. For if he could, he would do anything to tie her down to him.
"Move all her belongings into my chambers."
"But my lord, the madam instructed-"
"Did you not hear me? Put it all back." His glare made the servant boy pale, now scared to speak another word.
"U-Understood, my lord." He stumbled upon his words as he hurried to the carriage to take back Cordelia's luggages.
"Where is she?" He asked another servant.
"The madam, master?"
"Yes, where is Cordelia?"
"The madam is inside, my lord. I'm her chambers, I believe."
Now holding her luggage in his hand, Leon walked along the empty corridor, nearing Cordelia's chambers.
Clack!
As soon as he entered, he dropped the luggage on the floor as he took long strides toward Cordelia.
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked, angry.
When Cordelia noticed the luggage she ordered to be put in the carriage, now back in her room, in was only then that she uttered a word.
"Leon, how come-" Though before she could finish, Cordelia was interrupted for he tightly gripped her shoulders.
"Were you planning on leaving without telling me?" He asked, looking at her angrily, demanding an answer.
"Ah..." She paused as it dawned upon her, what he was upset over. "Isn't this what you have written in the contract?"
"I don't recall such agreement, Delle!"
"You wrote it, that I am to leave a month before the contract comes to an end." She answered, indifferent.
"I am only following as you've said."
Somehow, Cordelia seemed unusually cold, making Leon more desperate. She usually greeted him with a soft delighted smile whenever she saw him, but right now, she did not even bother to greet him. She didn't even seem bothered that he was angry at all.
His heart sank as he looked at her with regret.
"You did not even bother to inform me beforehand?" He asked painfully. "You won't even say goodbye?" He let go of those words, pained. But it was as though he would even let her go anyway.
"You said back then to just leave quietly when you asked me to sign that contract, have you forgotten?"
"You remember all those things?"
"I remember all of it."
"For goodness sake's, that was years ago, Delle!" His devastation was evident in his voice.
'I shouldn't have proposed that wretched contract.'
She rose a brow. "Are you perhaps upset?"
"Perhaps I am upset?" A small scoff left his lips.
"Do you even have to ask that? I'm more than upset Cordelia! Do you even care about me?!"
"I don't understand where you are coming from.."
"Was everything we did just nothing to you..?!"
"Calm down—"
"How can I calm down? Had I arrived later, you would have already left me without a word!" Leon's voice, though loud, trembled beneath her indifferent stare.
"How could you be so... heartless?" He muttered as unbeknown to him, his hands that held her grew tighter, making Cordelia wince in pain.
"You're hurting me." Was all that she said, enough to make him let go.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He gently caressed her shoulders that he held tightly, but Cordelia carefully declined.
"I don't understand..." She murmured.
"We've already signed the contract, and we've talked about this day. Everything was already settled as you've written, as what we agreed upon."
He wore a pained expression. "Are you that eager to leave?"
'This isn't like the you.' Thought Cordelia.
Cordelia was not used to the side of Leon that she was seeing. "Do you know how strangely you are behaving right now?"
"Because you are eager to leave me!"
"But you were also eager to end the contract... I don't understand why you are so upset now, Leon."
"That was the past, Delle! The present is different!"
"But you—"
"Can you not understand that I've fallen for you?!"
"What man would not be this upset when the person they love is leaving them!"
Cordelia's eyes widened, hearing those unexpected words from Leon. She was quickly taken her aback.
Normally, she would have been swayed in an instant. She would have smiled and also profess her feelings for him, but the present is now different compared to the past. Despite that, it didn't stop heart from beating faster, for it knew her true feelings.
But still, she stuck with her mind, embedded of what he had done.
"....." She was left speechless, not knowing how to respond. But in a matter of seconds, Cordelia found her hands softly stroking Leon's hands.
"You know... I would have originally been happy to have heard that from you." She spoke, not meeting his eyes.
"But now... it's different."
Desperate as he is, Leon responded. "Why is it different now, Delle? Tell me."
A low laugh left her lips. "No, you should be the one to tell me."
"Did you have fun deceiving me in that brothel?"