IBWCD 13

Chapter 13

It was a scar from the shackles around her ankle, from her imprisonment in the Count’s dungeon.

As he peeled off the slipper, which was the size of his palm, she held out her hand in embarrassment.

“I-I’ll do it!”

The man in front of her is not the man he used to be, even if they’ve been together for years.

But if this kind of contact continued, it would be hard to hide the fact that she still loved him.

Evelyn fidgeted with her pharynx to hide her earlobes, which were burning like an earthquake.

“I don’t think it’s polite to dare to put my dirty feet… on the grand duke’s lap.”

She strained desperately to free her captured ankle.

“Never mind, it bothers me more to see you unbandaged than to have my lap dirty.”

But the giant hand wouldn’t give her the slightest opening. Evelyn bit her lip, feeling as if her heart was being held by the icy grip.

Kalian’s eyes narrowed at her reaction.

“You seem to be sensitive to stimuli. I’m going to be gentle. The longer you hold on, the more painful it will be.”

He added, his voice emotionless as he slowly unwound the bandages and rewound them tightly, knotting them.

Then it was done.

“Ugh.”

Her eyes widened at the delicate movement of his thick, long fingers.

“…Why are you doing this?”

The strange warmth that slowly rose from her toes was the kind of sensation she had never felt before in her life.

It was like a rush of fresh energy coursing down her spine and filling her up to the tips of her hair.

Her breathing deepened and her mouth went dry, but she couldn’t show him that she was agitated.

“Hmmm, hmmm!”

She coughed and took a deep breath, her parched throat tickling uncontrollably.

The coolness was replaced by heat, and a cough poured out of her in an unstoppable stream.

She clamped her hand over her mouth.

“Kolok, Kolok.”

“There, you’re coughing.”

He emptied the cooled tea into a prepared bowl and poured her a cup of warm tea.

‘Just good manners,’ he thought.

The small gesture brought back memories of the past, and Evelyn felt tears well up in her eyes.

“Yes, thank you, Kholok!”

After he accepted her offer, Evelyn laid around all day until dinner.

Whether it was from the strain or the aftermath of the curse, her body had no strength left in it.

When her maid found her groaning like a withered old tree, she summoned the famous councilor, but he shook his head, saying it was a fever of unknown origin.

Before dinner, she was bleeding profusely.

A cold sweat broke out and dampened her spine as she recalled her bloodstained palms and the taste of blood in her mouth.

“The curse aura hasn’t already spread to my entire body, has it?”

Her mind naturally flashed back to her death in her previous life. The sensation of her body and soul being torn apart was something she had to force herself to forget.

“No, I’ll be fine.”

So much had changed in this life, it would be a simple matter of seeing the Archmage.

There was nothing to be anxious about, no reason to be.

“I’ve calmed down now, go on with what you were saying.”

When she finally managed to control her cough and lifted her head, her gaze locked with his.

Kalian was looking at her with strange eyes.

“You don’t look well.”

A large, cool palm cupped Evelyn’s face halfway across. There was a light sigh in his voice as he dabbed at her forehead.

“You’re running a fever. It’s late today, and you’ll have to make arrangements to go out tomorrow. There’s a councilman I know.”

“If there is a councilor, I went to see him a while ago, and I got some medicine.”

“An enchanted body has a different structure than a normal body. If you leave your body in the hands of an ordinary councilor, you’ll likely die without knowing the cause.”

When she gave him a sincere look of disbelief, Kalian said with a pathetic expression.

“You don’t even have basic knowledge of your own body.”

The words were sour, but Evelyn was grateful for them.

If he didn’t care about her, he wouldn’t be making these annoying suggestions.

In return, Evelyn pulled the corners of her lips into a smile.

He gave her a disinterested glance, then spoke.

“Then let’s get back to business.”

He finally let go of Evelyn’s foot, which he had been holding, and looked at the contract.

In a nutshell, he could only see succession in trust, so Evelyn was under no obligation to give birth.

“And the child held in trust will, upon birth, be recognized as the rightful heir to the dukedom.”

It was a grave matter of family succession, and he had every right to say it.

‘Still, I can’t help but feel a twinge of regret…’

That made her want to draw up the contract even more.

Kalian had changed. She was afraid that if she didn’t put it in writing, he might change his mind at any moment.

“Yes, I understand.”

His lips parted to give a model response, and Kalian’s expression hardened subtly.

“Another way of saying this is that the child that takes up residence in your belly will not be recognized as Orpheus’s proper offspring.”

“I see…?”

She nodded wordlessly, and after a brief pause, her eyes narrowed in disbelief.

“Why does that mean anything to you?”

“Because, like I said, not just anyone can conceive a half-man-half-demon seed.”

Her face turned white, and she unconsciously wrapped a protective hand around her lower belly.

“So you’re saying that any child that sprouts in this belly will be considered the product of debauchery, of lusting after others.”

The atmosphere, which had begun to loosen, tightened again and turned cold.

He glanced away from her hand on his lower stomach and slowly leaned back against the backrest.

“You think it’s an unreasonable clause?”

“Yes, I would like you to modify it.”

Evelyn protested softly as she watched Kalian lower his eyes to hers.

His brow furrowed in surprise at her answer, but then he nodded in agreement.

“Then we’ll add a clause about spousal infidelity.”

His voice was as calm as ever, but there was a hint of discomfort in the way he picked up his cigar case.

“There’s no harm in the Grand Duchess having a mistress.”

Thunderclap’s hair stood on end at the coldness in his voice.

He must have misinterpreted her reaction.

Not wanting to leave any room for misunderstanding, Evelyn calmly replied, her expression tense.

“I said it was an unreasonable clause because it doesn’t take into account the variable of exceptions.”

Nodding at her words, he took a hard puff on the cigar he held out.

“If that’s what you’re talking about, then I don’t have anything to worry about.”

“You mean there won’t be any variables?”

“Of course. There’s no precedent for an untrusted woman having a Protector’s child.”

Evelyn knew the story.

In the distant past, the House of Orpheus had had a child born with the Guardian’s mark.

Cailus Van Orpheus.

The first Guardian, who loved his wife so much that he ignored his oracle to awaken and watch over her.

His neglect of his duty to cleanse the dungeons led to the slaughter of many people by demons and the devastation of the continent.

“He fled with his wife,” Kalian added in a low voice.

“Fleeing with his wife, he ended the chaos by taking his own life.”

From here, Evelyn was lost.

“Why? If he had run off with his wife, at least his own life would have been happy.”

“Because he couldn’t protect the one he loved to the end.”

Evelyn’s jaw clenched and she straightened up.

She turned her gaze out the darkened window, as if she had nothing more to say.

Then, with a face that seemed to contain an indescribable emotion, he stubbed out the cigar that had been removed from his mouth.

He looked both sad and angry.

Feeling a little awkward in the subdued atmosphere, Evelyn stared at his sideways face, searching for the right words.

“I didn’t realize you had a story.”

His lips curled up in a half-smile at the sight of her sharp jawline.

He turned his head from the window to look at Evelyn.

Feeling a little embarrassed, she lifted her gaze and saw his out-of-focus gold eyes staring back at her.

His eyes were always deep and lustrous.

As she stared into those mesmerizingly beautiful eyes without speaking, Kalian’s gaze hardened, and he spoke with a meaningful two.

“Don’t worry, no matter what happens, I will not repeat the tragedies of the past.”

* * *

The next morning.

The carriage of House Orpheus turned off Redfield Avenue and headed into the heart of the capital city of Marden.

Silence fell between the two as the carriage slowly picked up speed, the vastness of the land swiftly passing by.

Evelyn’s eyes were glued to the window, reflecting on the events of yesterday.

‘The Trust seemed to be under a great deal of pressure.’

In her past life, she had been aware of the Trust, but not as blindly as she was now.

Of course, the trust wasn’t made until after her death, so she don’t know what happened afterward, but…

In any case, in her past life, she never really thought much about the child.

Her original body was weak, and she’d never gotten pregnant despite the many times she’d mated with him.

That didn’t mean she wanted to have his child now, not by a long shot.

The last thing she wanted was to have a child that would be unwelcome, especially given her own impoverished childhood.

While she was lost in thought, the carriage finally stopped at the mouth of a narrow alley.

“Is this our destination?”

The coachman opened the door, and the man who had alighted earlier held out his hand to Evelyn.

“The carriage can’t go in from here. Walk a bit, even if it’s hard.”

Evelyn stared down at the hand outstretched toward her.

The sight of it always made her heart sink.

Just remembering the warmth of those big hands, the way they had touched her, made her breath catch in her throat.

“I’m just doing what I have to do, so bear with me, even if you don’t like it.”

When she didn’t take his hand, just stared at him, his brow furrowed as if he’d misunderstood her reaction.

Stunned, Evelyn hurried to take his hand. The tendons on the back of her hand stood out under the sleeves of her blue uniform.

“Thank you.”

For a moment, Evelyn’s heart pounded so hard she could feel the pain.

She expected him to release her hand immediately.

“The path is rough, so you’ll have to be careful not to fall. If you’re not sure of your footing, don’t follow me, but stand beside me.”

He slipped his own finger between her slender fingers.