Chapter 20

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 20

Chapter Title: A Marriage Built on Deception

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"Did you come here to die?"

"……."

I'd always thought Kaiyan wore that cold expression like he was perpetually angry.

But the moment I met his truly furious gaze, a chill automatically ran down my spine.

'There's no way I could have completely hidden it.'

I'd prepared myself mentally for this.

Although I'd managed to conceal my coughs and spitting blood up until now, there was no guarantee my luck would hold out forever.

Besides, unlike the doctor at Valmond Castle who had lied to Hanna and everyone around us on my behalf, if Rowen Castle's physician properly examined me before I died, it would be impossible to keep the outbreak a secret.

"How long? Judging by your condition, it must have started before the marriage."

Kaiyan couldn't hide his rage.

'Why is he so angry?'

I'd assumed there was no reason for him to be this upset, so Clodel countered.

"Isn't this for the best?"

"What?"

"I'm a Vermonte, after all. Wouldn't it be even better if I disappeared sooner?"

Kaiyan scowled as if he'd heard something outrageous.

"This isn't a marriage you wanted."

Clodel averted her eyes.

She could feel, layer by layer like peeling an onion, the fact that Kaiyan didn't want her.

Like at the wedding, where he'd merely scrawled his name on the marriage vows and family registry before leaving without so much as a greeting.

On that day, the only words Clodel heard from Kaiyan were a curt "Yes" in response to whether he would take Clodel Queen Vermonte as his wife, followed by his retreating back as he turned and walked away without even seeing her off, shouting over his shoulder, "I have to leave immediately—prepare the horses!"

And on their wedding night, he hadn't even known the name of the woman he'd married.

'Don't make me say it twice. I asked your name.'

'Clodel Queen... Vermonte.'

The nobles all marry like this, she'd told herself. It was a marriage by royal decree, and with the palace so far north or south, it was unavoidable not to see each other's faces properly beforehand.

She'd clung to that thought alone, but the moment he asked her name, something shallow she'd been holding up inside her crumbled.

'That damned Vermonte.'

At Kaiyan's mutter, Clodel had realized exactly where she stood.

Just a random boulder that had suddenly fallen into the enemy's territory.

An eyesore of a daughter from the enemy house that needed to be cleared away to feel any relief.

Even if the lack of a wedding gift was due to Antyone's scheme causing a misunderstanding, he had turned a blind eye to her being ignored even by the maids and servants in Rowen Castle.

Until the day she saved him from the crocodile attack.

"Does an unwanted marriage mean it's okay to deceive me?"

"……That's."

"How ridiculous. So now an unwanted marriage has turned into one built on deception."

Kaiyan said sarcastically.

"Daring to send a flawed bride to the lord of Rowen? The old Vermonte fool must be senile."

His words made Clodel's eyes widen.

"I'll make sure nothing in Valmond territory is left alive or breathing…."

"No!"

Clodel said urgently.

"It was me. I did it. Duke Vermonte... my father knows nothing."

She'd blurted out a lie in the heat of the moment.

A man who mentioned Valmond territory wasn't speaking idly.

Somehow, she ended up defending him.

In the name of Vermonte.

"He knows nothing?"

Kaiyan sneered.

"Does his ignorance make it so I wasn't deceived?"

"Ah…."

Clodel gripped the blanket with trembling hands.

It hurt.

The tragedy that Valmond territory would face from his directed rage felt more vivid than ever, as if she could see it with her own eyes while facing this angry man.

She'd thought she could just endure her own death.

She hadn't imagined that her entire house could be implicated in collective punishment and become the target of Kaiyan's wrath.

She'd considered Duke Vermonte's plot to stab House Temneth in the back as something after her death—not her burden to bear.

Kaiyan snapped.

"You won't die peacefully."

His words pierced her like a blade forged from sharpened ice.

"Not if I don't allow it."

Leaving her trembling from the shock, Kaiyan vanished from the bedroom, not bothering to hide his frustration as if he couldn't stand the sight of her.

Late at night, heavy footsteps echoed roughly through the castle corridors.

"Damn it."

Kaiyan felt a burning heat rising to his head, as if his hair would stand on end.

He'd never been this angry in his life.

"My lord."

The butler hurriedly followed behind.

"Bring me some liquor."

"Liquor?"

Kaiyan rarely touched alcohol unless there was something to celebrate.

It was only natural for the butler to be surprised by the sudden request.

"The strong stuff. Now."

Heading to the bedroom, Kaiyan regretted it the moment he opened the door.

He muttered a low curse.

Due to the special structure with the ceiling opening up, the sight of the large, empty bed sitting starkly in the spacious room immediately brought to mind the disheveled Clodel from earlier, lying there above.

"The study. I'll go to the study."

A short while later, he downed the strong liquor and clutched his head with both hands.

Even after several shots of liquor potent enough to make his whole body burn with just one, his mind remained too clear.

His sharp, lucid thoughts egged him on, insisting it was realistically possible to wring the neck of that sly old fox, Duke Vermonte.

He felt like he was going mad.

He was so furious he could burst, yet he couldn't even understand why he was so angry.

Clodel's words were correct.

'This isn't a marriage you wanted.'

He had never wished for this marriage.

But he hadn't rejected or completely ignored it either.

How much had he pondered whether all noble couples in arranged marriages lived this awkwardly distant?

He'd even swallowed his pride and asked the butler.

And after Clodel got hurt in his place, he'd tried to treat her a bit more generously.

'I'm a Vermonte, after all. Wouldn't it be even better if I disappeared sooner?'

Her calm, emotionless voice felt like it had exposed his vulnerabilities.

The life of a noblewoman ignored by her husband wasn't long.

She either withered away from big and small torments within the castle or ended her own life when she couldn't bear it—those were the two paths.

If she endured even that steadfastly, she was shipped off to some distant convent.

Kaiyan knew this but hadn't reined in the castle servants.

Even without House Temneth blood, everyone in Rowen territory cursed Vermonte.

It was only natural Clodel couldn't win their favor here.

He'd seen it as something that didn't go against reason—no need for him to intervene.

"That doesn't mean I wanted you to die."

Muttering to himself, Kaiyan sensed the flaw in his words.

In other words, he hadn't been unaware that leaving the castle's harassments unchecked would lead to her early death.

He knew his claim of trying to treat her as a wife on his part couldn't serve as an excuse.

Clodel's indifferent voice quietly condemned him.

What's the difference?

Dying like this or that—it's all the same, isn't it?

Only then did Kaiyan understand why Clodel had saved him.

While he idly wondered if it was this hard for husbands to talk to their wives, she had stood on the front lines of death.

Accustomed to being revered, he felt offended by the fact that she'd saved him "just" because— that she would have saved any random person in the territory.

Precisely because of that, he hated that it wasn't because he was special.

But learning that she saw his death whenever it came as the same as any other made him angry.

He got angry, then sad, then so furious he punched the wall, and whenever Clodel let out a small groan or a light cough, he feared the reaper was drawing near, its scythe's tip barely scraping the dry, handful-thin woman.

"I'm going insane. I should have just waged war on the territory, even if it meant treason."

Especially—he planned to execute all of Vermonte's kin with his own sword.

It held symbolic meaning, ending the long blood feud between enemies.

If things had gone his way.

He would have beheaded Clodel himself and savored the joy of victory, where only House Temneth remained on the land after a long, drawn-out battle.

But now, just the fact that he'd condoned and allowed the violence that led her to death's door stirred a whirlwind of emotions.

Rumors about Clodel spread quickly through Rowen Castle.

"She hacked up a fist-sized blood clot. I saw it myself."

"Oh my. Horrifying."

With Kaiyan carrying her unconscious, blood-vomiting form back, and multiple physicians from inside and outside the castle being summoned, the stories they saw and heard became common knowledge in an instant.

"It's not contagious, is it?"

"Herzol only afflicts people from Valmond. Even then, only those living around Valmond Castle in the southern lands."

"That's what you get for acting all high and mighty—cursed by the Ice Witch."

Curiosity and rumors about her Herzol dominated.

"At least it's a Vermonte who's dying."

Everyone nodded at that sentiment. Those who sensed Kaiyan's attitude change after the Crocodile Hunt took a bit more care of Clodel and Hanna. But the rest remained the same.

"With a limping lady like her, we'll never have a proper ball. Only when a new lady arrives will this place feel alive again."

Amid them, the bedroom where Clodel lay felt like an isolated island.

The floor she stayed on had always been sparsely populated.

They'd tormented her for a while at first, but when Clodel showed no reaction, it grew boring and dull, so they all stopped.

But once the rumor spread that she'd caught a terrifying disease that only ended when an entire village died, no one dared approach.

Even if it didn't afflict the south, who wouldn't be scared?

Eventually, Hanna discovered they were leaving Clodel's meals on a tray, stealthily placed on the floor at the end of the stairs, and flew into a rage.

"Ugh... I had no idea."

Hanna sobbed uncontrollably.

"If something happens to you, miss... Waaah. They even shoved money at me to bring you straight back to Valmond, so I thought the duke had some conscience after all."

Wiping her streaming tears with her sleeve, Hanna ground her teeth, her face red and swollen.

"I'll kill the duke."

"Hanna."

"No. I'll kill Miss Irena. The duke should lose what he cherishes most too."

The moment she said "what he cherishes most," Hanna burst into tears again.

"It's what I wanted. I wanted to do something when the kids were starving."

"Just shut your mouth! Clodel! Every word you say right now pisses me off!"

Hanna finally shattered the barrier of status in her fury.

"How could you do this to me?"

Clodel fell silent.

Because Hanna had just said she was angry no matter what Clodel said.

She gently patted Hanna's back with her limp hand.

At that moment, a chilling voice cut between them.

"Out."

With tears dangling from her eyes, Hanna looked at Kaiyan.

Visibly reluctant, she dawdled before finally withdrawing from the room.

Having chased Hanna out, he simply stared at Clodel in silence.

"I have a favor to ask."

"A favor?"

"You said you'd grant anything I wanted."

On the day she collapsed.

A sneer curled at Kaiyan's lips.

"You think you're in a position to ask for favors?"

"Even if I die, please don't cut off food supplies to Valmond territory."