The Debt Of Fate-Chapter 259: Abandon Her

General Ernest stood in the open courtyard of his estate, the dusk sky casting long shadows over the training grounds. His soldiers trained in silence, their rhythmic movements precise and disciplined, but his mind was elsewhere—on the woman who had just severed herself from everything she once knew.

Anastasia’s public confession had stunned the entire kingdom. It had thrown her reputation into the fire, leaving her vulnerable and disgraced. The palace gossips were ravenous with the tale, and nobles feasted on her downfall. Yet amidst the storm, what troubled Ernest most was not what had been said—but what might come after.

Would she come to regret her choice? Ernest wondered. He hadn’t worried about this question before. Even though he had warned Anastasia about the king’s plan to bring her back to the palace, there was still a chance she now regretted the path she had taken.

Ernest took a deep breath and stepped forward, his boots thudding against the stone floor as he walked toward the edge of the grounds, brow furrowed. It was a rare thing for him—uncertainty. On the battlefield, Ernest moved with clarity and conviction, but with Anastasia, there were no clear lines, no enemy to face down. Only questions.

He knew Anastasia did not love him, but he didn’t want her to regret choosing this path. He had remained in the military so he could protect her. He loved her dearly, and what mattered most to him was her happiness.

"Am I being selfish?" Ernest could not help but question his own decision.

"She said she wanted to be free," he muttered under his breath, his hand tightening over the hilt of his sword. He didn’t want to stand in her way.

When he first realized his feelings for her, he hadn’t planned to make a move. It was the king who had failed to treat her right... and so Ernest took the chance.

Now, the decision had been made, and the world believed it. When Anastasia confessed, she had not mentioned his name. She had only said "a man who was not her husband."

Ernest could imagine what the rumors would be like once the two of them truly came together.

"Or could it be that she no longer wants to go through with our marriage agreement?" Ernest wondered.

He couldn’t guess Anastasia’s true thoughts. He knew she was stubborn and would never show her weakness.

He paused, then exhaled deeply, brushing a hand over his jaw. He had spent years in command—feared by enemies and respected by allies. Yet before one woman, he felt powerless.

He had wanted this marriage. He thought it would give Anastasia a new beginning, and perhaps, in time, a reason to love him. But now he was unsure of everything. After all, once, he had believed she was deeply in love with the king.

"What if she never learns to love me?"

"What if her courage was only rebellion?"

At that moment, a soldier approached from the barracks, offering a salute and a message scroll, but Ernest barely glanced at it. His mind remained on Anastasia.

"I won’t chain her," he murmured. After thinking it through, Ernest felt it was best to speak to Anastasia directly—and to respect whatever her decision might be.

---

The next day, Ernest prepared a few gifts for the Duke’s residence. Although he had no desire to compete with the king, he still selected valuable items. He wanted to help restore some of Anastasia’s dignity.

Since he was a feared and respected general, marrying her after their ’drunken encounter’ would at least reduce the vicious rumors. People would no longer speak of her so harshly.

Although he was eager to send the gifts, Ernest thought it best to speak to Anastasia first before taking another step.

He ordered his men to place the gifts into carriage before he got in. He would first visit Anastasia cottage. If she accepts his proposal then he would send gift to the Duke residence according to custom.

The wheels of the carriage rolled steadily along the cobbled road, its creaks and rumbles barely audible over the quiet murmur of the city waking to scandal. General Ernest sat inside, his broad frame stiff against the leather seat, one hand resting loosely on his sword hilt. He had intended this visit to be private respectful.

Outside the carriage window, the voices of passing townsfolk slipped in through the narrow slits in the shuttered glass. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Did you hear?" one woman whispered to her companion. "The Duke has cast her out. Said she’s no longer his daughter."

"Serves her right," the other replied sharply. "To lie with a man outside her vows, then confess it in church for all to hear. What was she thinking?"

"She’s ruined now. From the daughter of a Duke to a queen, now she is nothing," the woman said.

"Right, to think I had once thought of her as kind and grateful," the second woman said.

"What graceful... I think it disgrace...."

Ernest’s jaw tensed, his eyes narrowing. He shut the window with a curt movement, blocking out the rest of the gossip—but not the bitterness it left behind.

So Duke Thompson had disowned Anastasia. He did not expect to hear such news. Having grown up as the son of a mistress, he understood the fate of the child of a mistress but Duke Thompson was her father. How could he be so ruthless.

A heavy silence settled in the carriage. Ernest leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his fingers interlaced. He had expected resistance, cold stares perhaps, whispered rumors. But not this public abandonment from her own blood.

He had known the Duke to be a prideful man, but to sever ties with his daughter entirely? He did not anticipate.

"No wonder she did not return to the Duke residence after leaving the palace.?"

Ernest suddenly felt that compared to his life Anastasia’ must have suffered so much. He could not understand why a kind and pure girl like her would have to endure such hardship.

He had never wanted her to face such consequences. Her courage at the church, he thought it was to make the king give up on sending her back to the palace. He already spoke to the king, there was no need for her confession but she guess that Anastasia’ too such action to clean any possibility of going back to the palace.

"You brave, stubborn woman," he muttered under his breath.

His heart ached at the thought of her being cast out—not just by the court, but by her own kin. The very people who should have protected her. And now, her fate rested between two extremes: isolation or alliance with a man she did not love.

The carriage slowed.

"We’ve arrived, General," the driver called.

Ernest didn’t move at once. He stared at the closed carriage door, feeling the full weight of what this visit had now become. This was no longer about quiet intentions or courtship. Anastasia had been exiled. His proposal—if she accepted it—might be the only shield left between her and the wrath of society.

He stepped down from the carriage slowly, his boots meeting the stone path with a quiet thud. He looked toward the snall cottage, if she agrees to his proposal he wanted to bring her to his side as soon as possible.

But whatever the case, he had made a promise to himself.

He would not abandon her now.