Chapter 80

Edwin tilted his head slightly, looking confused.

But a moment later, as if he finally understood what I meant, his eyes shook wide.

I poured the wine I had prepared into the glass until it was full and swallowed it in one go. I felt like I needed to borrow the courage from the alcohol just to say this out loud.

“So, um, I mean, maybe it’s time for us to carry out our duties as husband and wife…”

“Ah, n-no. I mean, that is… I don’t think it’s time yet.”

“Why not. Don’t you like me?”

To be honest, I never thought Edwin would refuse.

It’s not like I suddenly blurted this out on my own.

Lately the mood between us hadn’t been bad. No, not just not bad, it was actually pretty good.

Whenever I was hurt, Edwin personally carried me around. He even assigned Gareth, his closest aide, as my dedicated guard.

And if I may praise myself a little, I’m quite pretty.

So I thought if I gathered my courage and made the first move, he wouldn’t hate it.

That’s what I thought.

“You said before you like fuller figures, right?”

“That’s not it…”

“Hmph, fine then. If you don’t want to, forget it. I can just handle marital duties by myself.”

I had absolutely no awareness of how someone who wasn’t a hermaphrodite was supposed to produce an heir alone.

My pride was hurt. I had finally worked up the courage, only to be rejected instantly, and my face burned with embarrassment. I wanted to bury my face in the table water.

I filled my glass again.

And drank it down in one go.

“Eli, n-no, that’s not what I meant!”

“Then what is it. Are you planning to let the Lombard family line explode into nothing with no heir. Or are you going to get one from another woman instead…”

Edwin tried to stop me, but I ignored him and kept drinking glass after glass.

My body was weak to alcohol to begin with. I just wanted to get completely wasted and forget everything that just happened.

I had no idea I was creating an even bigger black history moment.

In the end, Edwin couldn’t stand it anymore and took the bottle out of my hand, hiding it under the sofa.

“That’s not what I meant. My wife is only you, Eli, and I’ve never once thought of holding another woman in my arms.”

“You liar…”

“It’s just that once we spend our first night together, our relationship can never go back to how it was before. I didn’t want you to regret it, so I only hoped you’d take your time and think it through.”

“How much more thinking do I need. Do you even know how long it’s been since I married into Lombard?!”

Lombard sat at the northernmost edge of the continent, where winters were especially long.

I had married in when the first snow fell, and now winter was already nearing its end.

If nothing was wrong, it wouldn’t be strange to hear some good news by now.

“Ed doesn’t even know how I feel…”

Thankfully, no one around us was pressuring me yet. But I was the problem.

Up until now, I had thought that since I was reborn with a diamond spoon in my mouth, I should just live comfortably and enjoy myself.

I promised myself I wouldn’t sacrifice anything for anyone else.

But after going through so many things, my thinking changed. I couldn’t turn away from suffering people anymore.

I wanted to set my heart straight and truly live as the Duchess of Lombard.

And if so, the duties of a great noble naturally followed.

I’d be lying if I said the unknown world I hadn’t experienced wasn’t scary, but my resolve was already firm.

How could Edwin La Lombard, the most noble man in the north, possibly understand my feelings.

“Eli, wait. Your injured wrist…!”

“Do you know how much courage that took me!”

I smacked Edwin’s shoulder repeatedly. Why does it feel like I’m punching a stone wall. Then I stared resentfully at my throbbing fist.

The room spun from the alcohol.

“When did my fist start having eight of them?”

I felt briefly puzzled but decided not to think too hard. Things can multiply sometimes. That happens.

Accepting this truth, I slowly blinked, and at some point the world tilted sideways.

Ah, it’s not the world tilting. I guess I lay down.

I wriggled around to find a comfortable position.

But why was the pillow so hot and hard. I should tell the servants tomorrow to change it to something softer.

For now, this was fine. As I settled again, I heard a low, rough breath above my head.

Like someone was suppressing something.

“I-I’m sorry. I think it’d be better to talk about this later.”

“Aaah!”

Edwin jumped up from his seat.

At the same time, my head was tossed onto the sofa.

The sudden spin made me gag, and I could only pant for air. Realizing too late what he’d done, Edwin hurriedly picked me up and carefully laid me on the bed.

“Please get some sleep for now.”

“Nooo, wait!”

When I tried to wobble upright, Edwin rushed over and laid me back down.

Every time I stood up, he laid me down. When I stood again, he laid me down again.

After repeating this several times, I completely gave up and lay obediently under the blanket, blinking prettily.

Only then did Edwin let out a sigh of relief.

“Now please sleep.”

“Okaaay.”

After lowering the lamp, Edwin left my bedroom.

But he had no idea that my obedient act was a fake.

I jumped up at once and staggered straight toward Edwin’s bedroom door.

This mansion had the master couple’s bedrooms connected by a single door. If I just turned the handle, I could easily catch the runaway Edwin.

But there was one problem that even a genius like me failed to predict.

Click―

Why isn’t the handle turning?

Grabbing my hazy consciousness, I twisted the stiff handle desperately, only to realize the shocking truth.

Edwin had locked the door.

Before the massive wall of a lock that couldn’t be overcome by human strength, I fell into despair.

“My god, I was a fool. A fool who can’t even pick a bedroom door…”

The foolish image of my past self who believed I was a genius flashed before my eyes.

I carved a small, clear walnut into my chin, sniffled, and trudged back to bed.

And then I passed out.

* * *

At the same time, Edwin stood in front of the tightly locked door, blaming himself in a different way from Elicia.

He looked down at his stiffened waist with eyes that regarded it like trash.

“What was I even thinking in front of someone who was drunk and not in her right mind.”

Did he want her.

That was the cruelest question of all.

Edwin truly, sincerely wanted her.

Only her.

Even when the drunken Elicia sighed that what she was lying on was hard without knowing what it was, Edwin was fighting desperately to suppress the boiling urge inside him.

He didn’t want to hurt her with momentary desire.

He didn’t have the right.

‘Ah… how could I ever dare to take her.’

Even now, Edwin wandered the underground dungeon every night.

He had promised to protect her, but his foolish self had failed in the end.

No matter what reason he gave, it was all just an excuse.

He had to atone to her forever. He was a sinner who had to live bearing guilt that would never fade.

“…”

Leaning against the wall, Edwin sank down weakly.

If there was any last mercy, he begged the name of the god he hated, pleading not to be tested.

* * *

It was a night when the moon was especially bright.

Vincent sat alone on a hill overlooking the sea.

The silver moonlight shattering across the waves reminded him of a woman’s flowing silver hair.

“I never expected her to be like that…”

Vincent thought back to what happened earlier that day.

It was true that his gaze was drawn to Elicia. But he wasn’t naive enough to offer kindness without expecting anything in return.

Healing her injury had been a kind of test.

What would happen if something heretical, not an ordinary human, was exposed to divine power twice.

Vincent wanted to peel away the layers of demonic energy wrapped around Elicia and see her original form.

Her true soul.