"I...It's okay."
I walked past them and stepped again.
"Ma'am!"
"Where are you going?"
Malcolm and Betty followed me.
"Where am I? I should meet in person and listen to the story."
"Ma'am..."
Betty cried out sadly. At that moment, I heard the door of the Duchess's room open. The moment I saw the man appear through the door, I felt like I had woken up from a sweet and pathetic dream.
"I thought you were looking for me by now."
"..."
Brandt, who had planned all of this, looked at me with a calm face. My head was cold.
'Yes. Brandt was like this.'
A person who expresses affection with a friendly face but can quickly become annoyed.
'...Still, this is too much.'
Something hot came up from my chest.
"Everyone is out."
Brandt said with his eyes fixed on me. The butler and servants left the drawing room, muffling their footsteps.
'Sending out servants is too serious a preparation for a marital fight...'
In the quiet drawing room, Brandt and the other two people were stunned. But now, I couldn't back down just because I was dead.
'How did you get married just one day later, so that... After all, can you do something like that and do this in one day?'
I was ashamed of myself for trying to get rid of a jewelry necklace.
"It's going to be uncomfortable, so sit down."
Brandt pointed to the chair and said.
"Or will I let you sit down?"
When I was told to let me sit down, I shook my head without realizing it. I should have refused with a firm voice. I regretted it belatedly, but it was too late. First of all, it was a failure to take the lead.
When I sat down on the chair first, he also sat down facing me. The tension doubled as the distance became closer.
"...Why did you send Madame Marie away?"
"I made her live in a mansion that was not in the south and received a salary that others would envy."
I was surprised by the shameless answer. He must have read my expression, but he didn't care and continued.
"I had been thinking about not bringing Madame Marie to the mansion even before the wedding."
"Why the hell... No, you could have told me in advance."
"I thought about it, not decided it. But this morning, I thought it would be better to let Madam Marie live alone in a good house."
...This morning?
I tried to figure out what was wrong. Why did he feel confident in such a decision this morning, the day after we got married?
In confusion, I muttered to myself, as if enchanted.
"I need Madmq Marie."
"We don't need her that much."
As if there was no room for further thought, his answer was firm. The anger that had faded raised its head little by little.
"You look like you didn't know I was going to do this."
"I didn't know."
I replied coldly. He was sitting relaxed. I said once again, with all my might.
"I didn't know."
"Now you know."
I quickly regained my composure and turned my gaze away.
'What the hell is wrong? What's wrong with you? Why are you rolling like this?'
His behavior of oppressing me was too consistent. But why is it this morning? I wanted to know, but fear raised its head in the back of my chest. I was afraid of the truth that his mouth would spit out.
I turned around.
"Why can't he stay with me?"
Brandt looked at me without answering in other words. It was an attitude of continuing. When I saw those eyes, I cried.
"Brandt, you know what Madame Marie is to me. Even so, I... Madam."
Sadness rose to my chin. When I heard that I couldn't see Mrs. Marie like this, my heart felt frustrated.
"Now, even when we talk normally, you call me Brandt. Just like before."
"What? What is important about that now..."
"Yes, it doesn't matter to you!"
Brandt jumped up from his seat. In an Instant, my whole body stiffened as if a hot wind was blowing through me.
He walked to the window, then came back and looked down at me. It was as if his gaze was weighing on me. It became difficult to even breathe, and my eyelids were drooping.
Then Brandt's hand touched my cheek. My eyes widened in surprise, but I couldn't raise my head or open my mouth. I pressed the back of my hand against my cheek, groped it, and held my hair in his fingers as he had before. The moment his long, hard fingers wrapped around my blonde hair, I couldn't stand it anymore. I wanted to hear the harsh truth he spoke out.
"Yesterday... What didn't you like that made you decide not to bring Madame Marie?"
Brandt's hand, which was staying near my cheek, stopped. He placed his hands on the armrests on either side of the chair I was sitting on. A big shadow completely encroached on my body.
"Do you really not know why I am doing this?"
"If you have a problem, please tell me. Don't make riddles."
"Yesterday? There wasn't. At least yesterday, there was nothing wrong."
"Then why..."
"It's a problem because I like it so much."
"What are you talking about?"
He slowly leaned down in front of me and finally knelt down in front of me with one knee on it. With both hands, he grabbed the armrest of the chair I was sitting on so that I couldn't run anywhere.
His knee touched my calf in my skirt. Last night, and all morning, his bare skin, which must have been in contact with each other, approached me with several layers of fabric between them.
Suddenly, I heard a loud breathing sound that I didn't know if it was mine or his. I barely let it out in a trembling voice.
"If I have Madam Marie, I can get along better here."
"No. Wrong. If you have your closest aide, Madame Marie, it will be easier for you to run away from me. That's why I didn't call Madame Marie."
I was suffocated. It wasn't because I was angry or scared. The black eyes pulled me into the abyss as if to trap me.
The day before my wedding, I threw myself into the pond. In the early nights, I was wearing a cloak as if I was going somewhere right away. How can he trust me?
"Yesterday was good..."
"I'm doing this because it's good."
Brandt's mouth, which came in after cutting off my words, drew a deep line.
'No way...'
Goosebumps ran down my spine.
Brandt puzzle matched in my head. He wants to tear off my limbs and completely confine me to his castle.
My hand was trembling as I brought it to my mouth. Brandt grabbed my trembling hand and kissed my palm. I wanted to feel the touch of his hot lips, so he sucked it as if he were sucking it in. My shoulders twisted from the strong stimulus. Brandt let go of his hand and looked up at me. Without saying a word.
"On the eve of the wedding, I didn't throw myself into the pond to die. I was wearing a cloak on the grass at night... I told you. It's just because I'm ashamed..."
"Are you telling me to believe that?"
I gave the best explanation I could. As he spoke, I thought this might be a bit unreasonable, but Brandt's answer was still scathing.
"You say you believe it. The bride fell into the pond for some reason while walking on the first night of the wedding, as if she had made up her mind. But how will you explain what happened before that?"
A light of pain shone over Brandt's face as he talked about his unknown relationship with Edita. It was a bitter look of pain, as if a wound that could never be healed was opening.
"You swore an oath to run away with me, but you were betrothed to the Baron of Orleans. I abandoned my father for that oath. How do I know and believe that you will betray me after making your marriage vows?"
Brandt's eyes were red as he spat out the words. Red blood vessels dilated like spider webs on the whites.
I was speechless. Maybe this wasn't a story from the past that had nothing to do with me. Edita broke her oath of love and left Brandt, and Brandt came back to me with a blood oath on the battlefield.
I looked down at him in a rage. Strangely, my heart calmed down.
"I won't betray you."
"..."
"I will never break what I said."
Brandt's eyes trembled. I looked at them without avoiding them.
He stood still, as if he had been hit suddenly.
"You talk like you've become someone else. With the same face, the same expression, and the same way of speaking as before."
Brandt's voice contained confusion and fatigue, as if he had returned from a violent storm.
He frowned, wrapped my forehead around his forehead, and stood up.
"Edita."
Maybe it was because I was tired. His voice was softer.
"If you need anything, tell me. Except for one."
Brandt said and staggered out of the drawing room. As soon as I heard the door of the drawing room close, I felt limp like melted chocolate. If he was swept away by the storm, my heart was the storm itself.
Strangely, in the short time between Brandt and the servants' entering, I kept my eyes on my chair for a moment. I moved to the bed and put my eyes on again, but when I woke up, my body was exhausted. It was too much.
"Ma'am, why don't you take a bath?"
My maid, Betty, asked me cautiously.
"Bath?
"Yes, if you soak in warm water, your tight muscles will loosen and you will feel more relaxed."
"Is that so..."
"You liked to take a bath when you were a lady."
Betty smiled affectionately and recommended me. It was as if I was looking at Madam Marie, and I stood up happily.
Did Edita like to take a bath?
Most of what Madam. Marie told me that 'Edita' was information that I had to memorize to protect myself. However, what Betty taught me was Edita's worldly tastes that she didn't need to show to others.
'I don't have bad taste. I like to take a bath too.'
When I soaked in the warm bath water, my muscles relaxed. The muscles that had been angry all day were finally relaxed and reconciled.
After sitting in the fog for a long time, I felt like I was trapped in an ice castle.
"I'm scared."
I looked Brandt in the eye and pretended to be innocent, but I was honestly feeling a little scared.
When I placed my palm on my chest, I felt my heart pounding under the creamy soft texture.
What I said to him was not a lie. I have no intention of running away. However, I had no intention of being confined in this manner.
"It's hard to get Madam Marie back right now."
No matter how sad I was, I had to admit this fact.
"I have to gain trust from Brandt."
It would have been a long time coming, but only then could Madam Marie and other things be recovered. And only then can I get along well with Brandt.
"When the time comes, it's okay to give me a slap."
I nodded with determination.
Even though he knows what Madam Marie means to me, he throws her out at will.
I will surely give him a shot at that handsome face someday.
...First of all, look at the face that smiles sincerely at me.
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