If You Leave Without a Word - Chapter 169
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
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Four months ago, Rubens had come to the capital at Agatha’s request to bring Liana back. He had planned to go straight to the south with Liana, but an unexpected obstacle had kept him here for the past three months.
Rubens knew that he had not been able to get Liana out of the Marquis’s estate. He had repeatedly asked for her release, citing that she was supposed to serve Duke Kristin, but every time he received no response.
He assumed that Marquis’s absence made it difficult for any decisions to be made, but the thought of Agatha struggling with her current condition made Rubens anxious. He had even planned to break down the estate’s gates if he did not receive any word by the end of the week and forcefully take Liana out.
But unexpectedly, Cain had come here in person. Rubens squinted, scanning Cain’s figure from head to toe. The last memory of Cain in his mind was that of a young boy, still naive despite his tall stature, and with a build too slender for a knight.
Compared to that time…
“You’ve grown well.”
The words slipped out before Rubens knew it. When they had been together in the Kristin Order, Rubens had taken special care of Cain at the previous Duke’s orders. He had personally taught him swordsmanship and had even been a companion to him, seeing as Cain had no family to write letters to.
So, despite everything that had happened, seeing his former pupil now grown and gallant gave Rubens a fleeting sense of pride. But as soon as he realized what he’d said, his face darkened again.
Past matters were past. The man in front of him was now the very one who had disrespected both the late Duke and the current lady Duke—someone Rubens could never feel warm toward.
Thinking of Agatha’s pale face as she gently rubbed her belly, made him want to punch Cain’s smug face right then and there.
“Sir Rubens still have that same composure.”
Cain too meant his words. Though his memories of the Kristin Order weren’t exactly positive, he could still recall the moments with Rubens, the one person who had treated him with some kindness during that time.
In the midst of the emptiness caused by Agatha’s absence, a small part of Cain found solace in the pleasant memories of the past. He now understood that Agatha must have called the former Kristin Order in to help establish her place as the head of the house. She truly was a wise woman.
Although Cain didn’t have any information about Agatha’s actions, just knowing that she had brought the old Kristin knights together made him feel a bit more at ease.
“I’ll be direct, since you came back to serve Kristin.”
Rubens would surely know the answer. The butler could always deny knowing where the Duke had gone, as he might not have had the details, but Rubens would not.
Cain wasted no time after the formalities and got straight to the point.
“Agatha, my wife… where is she now?”
Cain’s question made the room grow cold. Both Ethan and Vaclav stiffened with tension, but only Rubens continued to smile calmly and with ease.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“You must know where she is.”
“No, what I meant was, why does the Marquis want to know?”
“Pardon?”
“You and she, as far as I know, are no longer together, are you?”
“…No, that’s not true.”
“Is that so? I heard that Duke Kristin sent over divorce papers.”
“You’ve been with Agatha recently, haven’t you? Just tell me where she is. Where is Agatha now?”
“I still don’t understand why the Marquis wants to know. You’ve already become strangers, haven’t you? Why would you come all the way here to ask where she is?”
Cain realized then that Rubens had no intention of telling him anything about Agatha.
Why was Rubens even here? Was Agatha still here in the estate?
Cain’s gaze swept across the reception room, passing over Rubens. If necessary, he would search the entire house to find her.
Rubens noticed Cain’s intense and obvious gaze, and his brow furrowed. Cain was clearly revealing his thoughts with his gaze, which was not something a knight should do.
“Surely, you don’t believe that the Duke is here?”
“Why wouldn’t she be? Since you won’t tell me where my wife is, I’ll have to suspect every place.”
Cain said anxiously. He was even nervous.
It was strange. The Cain that Rubens remembered had been a boy with no emotions. He’d never shown distress, even when enduring senseless bullying from his superiors one or two heads taller than him, and he had always borne beatings that he didn’t have to, without complaint.
It was hard to reconcile this image with the Cain standing before him now. Even when he wasn’t fully trained as a knight, Cain had never allowed his emotions to show. But now, as a seasoned knight, to see him with such a troubled expression was baffling.
