Chapter 4
“If I want to stay here, I need to get close to that boy as quickly as possible.”
Shayla felt a sense of urgency.
This marriage was a golden opportunity. But what if the duke annulled it and sent her back to the capital?
“Nothing in the world is more terrifying than that…”
Shayla searched earnestly for Callion, but she didn’t even catch a glimpse of his tail.
“Callion, are you here?”
The bedroom was quiet. She searched every corner, even the wardrobe cracks, but found only silvery dust-like fur—no Callion.
“Even his little scent is gone.”
That meant he had returned to his own bedroom.
“Where is Callion’s bedroom?”
A servant easily told her the location of the young master’s room. It was close to her own.
“I’m not sure if he’s there now.”
The servant knocked on the door, but there was no response.
“It seems he’s absent right now…”
“Alright, you can go back now.”
“No one is allowed to enter the young master’s room without permission…”
“Oh.”
“But there’s an order against entering…”
“I’m Callion’s wife. I have the right to know my husband’s affairs.”
Despite the simple wedding proceedings, everyone treated Shayla as Callion’s wife. Some servants even started calling her “Little Lady.”
“He’s here now. I’m sure of it.”
Shayla’s sensitive nose picked up his scent.
“Even after hearing me argue outside, he didn’t come out to check? What a husband!”
Is he hiding treasure in his room? Even if entry was forbidden, the wife should be an exception.
Annoyed that he didn’t say “come in,” she decided to see his face no matter what.
Shayla grasped the door handle. It wasn’t ordinary, and the door was unlocked.
She entered quietly, and gloomy interior decorations appeared before her.
Though it was the heir’s room in a ducal family, decorated with northern-style ornaments…
“What is this depressing room?”
The massive antlers were frightening, the buffalo-hide rug faded, the wool tapestry years out of fashion.
The mirror was cracked, the candlestick covered in cobwebs, as if never used.
The antique picture frames and desk were coated in thick dust, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
Even passing ghosts might say, “This place is perfect for our home!”
While staring at the room in astonishment, she saw something.
“…”
A white lump on the window jumped to the floor and moved quickly.
“Callion!”
She chased him swiftly, but he hid under the bed.
Shayla lay flat on the floor, searching for him.
In the dark, dusty hollow, blue eyes gleamed faintly.
“Calli…”
“I told you to go back to the capital!”
When their eyes met, he shouted sharply and turned his head away, as if refusing to see her.
“Come out of there. You’ll get sick staying in a place like this for long.”
She waved her arms, but couldn’t reach him this time either.
“Cough, cough.”
Due to the dust, Shayla coughed, then suddenly turned as she sensed a presence behind her.
“Who’s there? How dare you enter the young duke’s room without permission…”
It was a man in ragged clothes.
Seeing Shayla’s appearance, he softened his expression and bowed quickly.
“You’re the young lady who married Callion. Forgive my rudeness.”
The man set down the large broom he was holding and said:
“I’m Henry. I came to clean, but I’ll return later.”
He didn’t seem like a servant working in the inner castle, from his tense movements or informal speech.
Servants directly serving nobles are trained to maintain an elegant appearance. A man like this suited being a hunting guard, not a companion to the young duke.
“Wait a moment.”
“Yes?”
“Why are you the one cleaning this room? Where are the maids?”
“Ah, that’s because… Young Master Callion doesn’t like maids. He doesn’t like servants either, but he hates maids more.”
So he didn’t even bother with basic cleaning? This man clearly couldn’t clean as thoroughly as maids.
“Even if he hates them, how can he live in a dust pit like this?”
“Why does the young duke hate maids?”
“That…”
While Henry was perplexed, a sharp order came from under the bed:
“Shut up, you idiot!”
“Ah, yes, yes.”
He scratched his head and lifted his broom.
“I’ll leave now. Talk amongst yourselves.”
He said, directing his words toward under the bed:
“I’ll come back tomorrow, Young Duke.”
“Henry!”
Callion poked his head out slightly and waved his front paw. Henry easily leaned his ear in.
Callion began whispering something, glancing at Shayla with his eyes.
“Ah, why are you really doing this?”
I don’t know what he said, but Henry waved his hand in panic.
“If I do that, I’ll really get fired!”
“Aren’t you afraid of my words?”
“Afraid, very afraid to death.”
“…You promised… Northerners keep their promises.”
“Hah, what a thing…”
Henry approached Shayla, who was watching their conspiracy.
“Young lady.”
Shayla was surprised by this title, the first time she heard it in the castle.
“The young duke says he’ll take you to the capital.”
“What…?”
Callion had hidden under the bed again.
* * *
Henry led her to a storeroom on the first floor. As expected, he was a hunting guard moving between the outer castle.
He said he raised hunting dogs in the forest, guarded the huts, and came to the castle occasionally for supplies. The place was dirty, so Shayla sat on a chair he wiped with his clothes.
“Come down quietly at dawn. The duke’s castle guard isn’t strict. I’ll prepare a horse outside, and from the outer castle, we can switch to a carriage…”
“You’ll take me to the capital?”
“Yes.”
He seemed to have prepared a cloak to hide the face, indicating a tight plan. But…
“If my father finds out, he’ll immediately send people to catch me and return me to the duke’s castle.”
“That’s why the young duke prepared secret funds.”
Henry showed a wooden box full of gold jewelry.
“He said if it’s not enough, he’ll prepare more, just tell me. Since you’re small, we can hire servants to care for you, perhaps in a quiet village…”
“Enough.”
Shayla couldn’t bear hearing more of this talk.
She followed him here, but had no intention of ever leaving the duke’s castle. On the contrary.
“I didn’t come to hear such stories.”
“Then…”
“Tell me. Why is that boy so insistent on sending me back?”
Callion seemed uninterested in talking to her, and Henry was the only one she could ask.
“Am I unlikable to him?”
“No, impossible!”
Henry jumped and denied vehemently.
“That makes me more suspicious…”
“Really, it’s not. The young duke likes you a lot.”
“Did he say that?”
“He didn’t say it directly, but it’s obvious, isn’t it?”
He said Callion wasn’t interested in marriage from the start. And he only saw the bride’s face a month before the wedding.
“I was the one who showed him your picture.”
It was Shayla’s portrait that Count Lexi carefully sent north. Honestly, it was prettier than reality.
“He stared at your picture for a long time. That’s not his usual nature.”
“What do you mean, not his nature?”
“The young duke isn’t interested in everyone. More than that… he doesn’t like others. He hates them a lot.”
Shayla narrowed her eyes.
“What, then why…”
He says I please him, so why is he trying so hard to drive me away?
“Do you know something?”
“What?”
Henry spoke cautiously:
“In the duke’s family history, there has never been a divorce.”
Graywolf considers loyalty more important than anything.
“For four hundred years, not once.”
It wasn’t hard to believe that in four hundred years of history, no couple divorced. It was shocking, but…
Moreover, northerners are known as the most conservative in the empire.
“So what?”
“I can’t understand all of the young duke’s intentions.”
Henry lowered his voice hesitantly.
“But it’s probably some kind of sympathy… He thinks you should meet another wonderful husband.”
What nonsense is this? Marry another man?
“What marriage is better than the heir to a ducal family?”
“That’s true, but the young duke’s circumstances…”
“What about Callion?”
“He’s not normal…”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s…”
“Are you saying he’s lacking something?”
He’s just cute and charming.
Shayla responded rudely, but understood what Henry meant.
Hereditary flaws are the most fatal for nobles inheriting wealth and power.
Even if someone is too tall, has long fingers, or an ugly face, they can’t marry into the royal family.
What if born an animal?
Shayla saw her twin sister Layla, still a rabbit, suffering beside her. She saw how her father treated her.
“If Layla’s existence is known to the world, our family is finished!”
That’s what Count Lexi always repeated.
He treated Layla as if she didn’t exist, refusing even to eat with her.
Shayla was the only one who brought food to Layla and introduced her to the world.
“Is Layla okay? I hope Ella takes good care of her…”
Ella, the maid and Shayla’s closest friend, was the only one she trusted. But leaving Layla with Ella was a temporary solution.
Shayla knew her father well. As long as Layla stayed in the count’s house, she wouldn’t live long.
To safely rescue Layla from the capital, Shayla must build status in the duke’s castle.
Shayla felt urgency.
She must get her husband on her side as quickly as possible. Why does this fool keep pushing her back to the capital?
“…Anyway, I understand what you mean.”
He married her under the duke’s pressure, but now wants to annul the marriage and send her home.
Because he can’t divorce.
“But what can I do? I love this marriage. And I like Callion too.”
Living with the Graywolf family until death doesn’t seem bad.
At least, it’s a hundred times better than the Lexi family.
“You seem close to the young duke, Henry.”
“He lets me get close to him.”
Callion didn’t have breakfast with his father.
Yet he allows Henry, with his heavy, dirty feet, into his room, meaning they’re more than ordinary acquaintances.
“Tell me. How can I get close to that fool?”
