My 'Wife'.
Before I could even be surprised at his attitude toward me as a Grand Duchess even at this point, a twisted smile spread across his lips.
"Your husband came back from the dead, so you should at least look at him. Is it okay to just ignore him like that?"
Now that you mention it, I can't ignore you any longer. I keep avoiding his gaze and fix it on him.
His face was now completely visible in my field of vision. He was stilI smiling faintly.
It was a dry and twisted smile, but a smile is still a smile.
So I clung to a faint hope. Maybe he wouldn't treat me so cruelly.
And just like he did to my father, he shattered my barely held hopes.
"Oh, is it so you don't want to look at any man other than Duke Herssen?"
"...!"
"When I was dying at the hands of an
assassin, you were engaged to the Duke, right? You even had an engagement ceremony before your husband's life or death was confirmed. How deep must your love have been?"
Duke of Herssen. The moment I heard that name, my breath caught in my throat.
It felt like even the smallest ray of hope had faded before my eyes.
'You knew about that too. Of course, you didn't know, right? Then now this man also.. me.'
This is Kishian, who knows me as Letie. In his eyes, I must have been a woman who had betrayed our marital duty and become engaged to the Duke of Herssen.
The reality that I had tried so hard to ignore in the desperate hope that he didn't hate me was finally coming into focus.
"If it had been Duke Herssen who had returned from his journey, you would have run to greet him and hugged him, wouldn't you?"
Even after saying such shocking words, Kishian's lips were still forming a curve.
If a cat were to laugh while playing with a mouse that it was about to eat, it would probably laugh like that.
"I'm truly sorry. You must have had a great time with the Duke, but I came back alive like this without any sense."
"...No. How can you say that you're sorry for coming back?"
"..."
"The Duke of Herssen was only a political marriage partner, and I never had any special feelings for him. So I was happy that the Grand Duke returned safely, and I had no reason to think badly of you..."
"Oh, really? There are a lot of interesting rumors about you and the Duke..."
My shoulders trembled as I listened to his words, which became meaningfully blurred..
'How much do you know? No way... No way, you even knew about the rumors of an affair from a year ago?"
It could have been. My sister Letie could not properly hide her lewd affair with the Duke of Herssen, and the news spread everywhere.
As I glanced at Kishian's face to gauge his thoughts, I heard him snort.
"Yes. I see. I guess you haven't prepared your excuses yet, so I'll give you some time. Let's talk about it later."
He nodded, nodding, just as he had done three years ago when he had called me to bed. It meant for me to get out of the carriage.
He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, and then his eyes immediately crumpled violently.
"Are you going to hold out until the end...?"
Although I hesitated for only a moment, he did not give me a chance to explain myself this time either.
Before I could say anything in response, he nervously bent down and lifted me up.
"...!"
I was so surprised by the sensation of my body floating that I unconsciously hugged the back of his neck.
Before I knew it, I was out of the carriage and in Kishian's arms.
In that situation, it was an irresistible force that made me hug his neck as if it were my lifeline. How could I just stand by and do nothing while thousands of the Grand Duke's soldiers stood there, emitting a menacing atmosphere?
Even though he knew I was cowering in fear, he offered me no tender comfort.
Although he made sarcastic remarks disguised as affection.
"Yes, now is the time for you to hug me. The Duke of Herssen won't come to rescue you on a white horse like in a fairy tale."
He came up to my black steed and put me on the saddle...
After that, he also climbed on behind me.
"It is not the Duke's white horse, but this black horse that you will ride from now on..."
Kishian, who was sitting right behind me, turned his head closer to mine.
A rough and worn-out voice, like a long-used sword, clung to my ears.
"I am the man who will take you, not the Duke. Accept that you have no other choice. For your own sake."
After leaving a grim warning, he gave orders to his soldiers.
"I'm going back!"
The thousands of soldiers who had been standing in rows and columns like swords finally took their eyes off the palace.
Thanks to this, the palace was saved from being burned down.
But I, who was offered as a sacrifice to protect that palace...
'What should I do? He thinks of me as a total traitor.'
I was scared. I could tell what my situation would be like after arriving at the Grand Duke's residence just by looking at Kishian's attitude.
'Should I lock him in a corner tower and continue to torment him until he gets his revenge? Or is he planning to use me as a hostage to pressure my father...?"
Until just now, I had been thinking rather complacently that this situation might be an opportunity for me.
I used to think that maybe God was giving me a chance to escape, having lived my whole life in Letie's shadow.
I dreamed of living a life as a 'Grand Duchess' rather than a 'Useless Princess'.
Looking at Kishian's attitude now, it seemed unlikely that I would be treated properly as a Grand Duchess.
It was the same even though I was currently disguised as Letie, the revered and called the savior of the empire.
He must have asked for Letie not because of her usefulness, but because of pure revenge.
The only thought in his head would be to make Letie suffer and take revenge on my father.
So, it would be inevitable that I would be locked up in some remote tower, and I had to consider even worse luck.
"..."
I checked by running my tongue inside my mouth.
Luckily, the thing I had brought hidden under my tongue was still there, safe and sound.
***
When they got some distance from the palace, the march stopped.
The place where they stopped was a quiet forest far from the city, where military supplies were hidden, seemingly prepared in case the deal with the palace did not go smoothly that is, in case the palace was attacked.
Everything that had been prepared for me was there too: a black carriage for me to ride in, and three maids who would pretend to serve me and watch my every move.
Kishian gave orders to the maids.
"Take the Grand Duchess into the carriage and search her thoroughly... Make sure she's not carrying any dangerous weapons."
Even if I had a weapon, I already knew that I wouldn't have the strength to stab him. But he still acted very thoroughly.
I thought, "I guess he's really scared of getting stabbed because he holds a grudge," but when I heard the orders he gave to the maids. I realized that wasn't the case.
"Find every single blade, even the smallest one as long as your finger. Even a silver spoon, if sharpened well, can be turned into a weapon to cut one's wrist."
So, he wasn't worried that I would stab him. He was worried that I would kill myself by cutting my wrists.
I looked at him with a bewildered heart and he came to me.
Then he gently stroked my hair.
"I'm afraid that my precious wife might make an extreme choice. It's not right for you to just leave on your own like that. And it hasn't even started yet..."
It was a talent to be able to make such a soft tone so creepy.
At that moment, I habitually moved my tongue to feel what was in my mouth.
The only lifeline that will save me when unbearable pain comes.
Still, I had no intention of using it right now.
I came here because I wanted to live, so I wanted to survive a little longer.
If I continue to live like that, I might find my own happiness in the distant future.
He looked at me, who was speechless, with his characteristically mad, affectionate gaze, then sent me to the maids.
"Your Highness, let me help you undress."
The maids really searched me thoroughly, every nook and cranny, just as Kishian had said.
They emptied everything, including the small bag I had been carrying on my wrist the whole time, as well as my body and the hems of my clothes.
It was fortunate that the poison I had secretly hidden in my mouth was small enough that they could not detect it.
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