TMET 22

Chapter 22: A Disgusting Voice
 

“The young duke looks rather pleased. Seems he likes his brother’s bride.”

“At the wedding, even the duke and duchess appeared deeply moved.”

Damion wasn’t the only one who noticed Kardian standing face-to-face with Ansi.

Voices around them rose with excitement, speaking to Damion. Everyone thought this marriage was a loss for him, and they assumed House Orphe would be dissatisfied.

Their assumptions were correct—except the people of Orphe were simply skilled at hiding their true feelings behind masks.

That trait worked in Damion’s favor. Though they might see his spouse as a disgrace, they didn’t see her as a threat. Thus, they didn’t stop the marriage and even put on happy expressions.

However, Kardian de Orphe’s actions were not quite what Damion had expected.

Kardian was not the type to approach others first.

And yet now, he had danced with Ansi. And more surprisingly, his face as he stepped off the floor was filled with curious amusement.

Kardian’s toy.

A familiar phrase came to mind.

An instinctive unease wrapped around Damion.

His gaze immediately flicked to Ansi’s face.

Ansi heard the voice while catching her breath, facing a wall amid the bustling crowd.

“Welcome to the Orphe family.”

At the sudden voice, her body stiffened.

It felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her heart.

It was a voice she could never forget.

Soft as a feather, calm as a lake.

And thus, all the more revolting.

Ansi clenched her skirt tightly. Her knuckles turned red, then white. Her eyelids trembled.

The glass cups placed around the hall. The sharp ornaments in people’s hair. Her eyes darted like shards of broken glass.

But this wasn’t the time.

She had come too far.

She had taken the name Ansi de Orphe.

So the ending she would gift that bastard had to be even more humiliating. The price for ruining what was precious to her had to be the loss of everything, the fall into ruin.

Ansi swallowed dryly, her lips pressed tight. The breath she forced down scraped her throat.

And then, she turned around.

Kardian de Orphe wore a faint smile. His noble golden eyes glowed serenely and peacefully.

“…Thank you, Young Duke.”

Her voice came out with a trembling edge, despite her effort to suppress it.

To hide that tremble, Ansi smiled as brightly as she could. The upward curve of her lips turned into a sharp blade stabbing into her own heart.

“Would you dance with me too?”

Kardian held out his hand.

Ansi slowly raised her own. Her wrist felt weighed down as if tied to an anchor. Her pounding heartbeat rang in her ears.

Just then, a prelude began for the next dance. Those who would dance moved toward the center of the hall, the rest to the sides.

There was no time to hesitate.

Ansi placed her hand atop Kardian’s. Even with gloves on, it felt like touching snake scales—her whole body shivered with disgust.

“May I call you Ansi?”

“Yes, Young Duke.”

“I believe this is our first meeting… isn’t it?”

As they moved close together, Kardian asked softly.

After a moment’s silence, Ansi replied in a voice that feigned nonchalance.

“I once came to see you last year. But I wasn’t able to meet you in the end.”

“Why were you looking for me?”

“Because of Count Rubelsa—my father.”

“Ah.”

With a sighing tone, Kardian narrowed his eyes. Tilting his head slightly, he asked,

“Why didn’t you wait?”

The veiled reproach in his tone nearly caused Ansi to spit out a curse.

She had hoped that mentioning Count Rubelsa would make him flinch. Maybe even create a scene in front of all these people to expose his crimes.

But his reaction wasn’t what she had imagined.

No remorse. No guilt. No change.

Ansi had killed him over and over in her mind.

But on the surface, she lowered her gaze and answered politely and meekly.

“I realized it was rude to visit without an appointment.”

Kardian raised one brow slightly and stared at her.

Was her answer lacking? Ansi opened her mouth again.

“At the time, I just wanted to understand why my father made that decision. I thought hearing your reaction when he proposed the ceasefire might help.”

“Do you think differently now?”

“…Yes. Now I know. It was meaningless.”

The words were hollow, but Ansi smiled bitterly as she said them.

That seemed to relax Kardian a bit. He smiled faintly, kindly.

“I understand. It’s never easy to acknowledge a family member’s wrongdoing.”

“…Yes.”

Her body felt suffocated, squeezed tight. Her smile cracked.

Thankfully, just then, they turned as part of the dance, hiding her expression from Kardian’s view.

“It’s reassuring that you care about family, Ansi. I hope you’ll take good care of Damion.”

“…I will.”

She answered obediently, turning back around with an even brighter smile.

“Yes, I will,” may have sounded like a cliché reply, but it was the result of intense rehearsal.

And it seemed to please Kardian to some extent.

“This summer, come visit Sobelevio with Damion. We can enjoy some sports or theater together.”

Sobelevio was the name of the Orphe family’s country house in northern Celsia.

His gracious offer stirred a bitter pleasure in Ansi’s chest.

As Kardian’s guard lowered, Ansi’s heart pounded harder. The noise rang through her head. She felt dizzy, like the blood had drained from her body.

Ansi concealed it and gave a light exclamation.

“Oh! Would it be okay if we watched a polo match?”

“Polo?”

“Team Volby is famous in Celsia, right?”

Kardian’s eyes gleamed with interest. Finding a shared topic, he responded pleasantly.

“So you like polo?”

“Yes. What about you, Young Duke?”

“There’s a polo field near Sobelevio. I watch almost every day in the summer. It’ll be even more enjoyable with a new family member.”

Ansi smiled deliberately with delight.

“I’d be honored.”

The short dance ended soon after. Standing tall, biting the inside of her lip, she bowed to Kardian.

When she raised her head again, her dizziness worsened.

It was difficult to keep her feet on the ground.

Could she keep going? The fear crept in.

And then—

“Ansi, are you alright?”

A familiar, gentle voice reached her. Though it came from some distance, it felt like a whisper directly in her ear.

Ansi paused, then turned her head.

Damion was striding toward her. His furrowed brow showed his concern.

“You haven’t looked well for a while now.”

At a reception, the bride and groom traditionally don’t speak to each other. Breaking that unspoken rule so easily drew everyone’s attention.

“I’m fine,” Ansi replied firmly. Whether she looked well or not didn’t matter now.

She couldn’t stir up any trouble in front of Kardian. Besides, she was still fastening the first button of her plan. She didn’t want her revenge to begin with the image of a sickly bride who failed to take care of herself.

“There’s a saying that if the couple talks during the reception, their marriage won’t be happy.”

Ansi lightly touched Damion’s arm as she spoke.

She looked like the perfect bride trying her best for a happy marriage.

The guests stared without blinking. Normally, it might be rude to watch so openly, but since they were the stars of the wedding, it was practically expected.

“Don’t overdo it. You’re more important than some old superstition.”

Damion, seemingly throwing wedding rules to the wind, looked only at his bride, his voice full of concern.

From their first meeting to now, this couple of the century was on track to dominate the gossip columns with their wedding alone. As if thinking of their countless readers, their wedding and reception were full of stories.

“Don’t worry,” Ansi said.

Unfortunately, the drama seemed to end there.

Ansi de Rubelsa was not the kind of woman to cling to her husband with whines. Quite the opposite—she was dry and distant. Even before the downfall of the Rubelsa family, she had been known that way. If nothing else, she was consistent.

People began to turn away, expecting the scene to end neatly and uneventfully.

But Damion’s reaction defied their expectations.

His furrowed brow deepened. He looked at Ansi for a moment, then reached out and cupped her cheek.

Ansi’s blue eyes shook, and she stumbled back a step.

Seeing that, Damion swept her up into his arms.

It was a light, effortless motion.