Chapter 19: Beloved Duchess?
She thought her voice sounded a bit cute, but looking at Kylus’s stiff face like a stone statue, it clearly wasn’t a pleasant sight for him.
‘Let’s pause this.’
Eleanor, who had been smiling lightly, quickly erased it and became expressionless.
“Kylus. Won’t you cooperate?”
She whispered quietly, and a rough voice came from him.
“Let go.”
She muttered sarcastically.
“I don’t want to. Who else can I trust if not you?”
“Ha.”
Even with a blank face, Eleanor did not let go of the hem of his clothes.
And even though he said no with words, he didn’t push her hand away either.
Everyone around them stared in disbelief at his actions.
Someone whispered.
Has our master gone crazy? Does he know who that woman is?
“Dear.”
Every time she said that word, the people of Carniel groaned in shock.
Oh no, that devil. That wicked woman is bewitching our master!
Some even cried out so sorrowfully that Eleanor laughed to herself inside.
Who’s bewitching who?
In the first place, it was that cold man who had enchanted her when they were young.
With his deer-like eyes and a pitiful look like he might die if left alone, he had held onto her childhood.
It was Eleanor who had been bewitched in the past.
“I didn’t know I’d be treated this coldly. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I still feel sad and disappointed.”
She whispered in a fake, sad tone. She looked down and spoke in a trembling voice.
“But dear, why are you staying silent?”
Of course, even now, she kept a straight face. Kylus, right in front of her, saw every bit of it.
“Hey.”
“We’re married, and I’m your wife. Who my father is doesn’t matter. I’m being humiliated like this, and you’re going to ignore it?”
“I…”
“Yes. That’s just cowardly.”
“Cowardly?”
“Isn’t it?”
Her soft tone, despite her blank face, must have seemed strange.
Either way, Eleanor’s words had some truth she couldn’t say before.
She had always wanted to say it.
If she ever got the chance, she wanted to shout it out.
I’m your wife. But you completely ignored me. You never even gave me a chance to talk. I wanted you to see me. I even hoped we could become a real couple, maybe away from Father’s eyes. But you were the one who broke that hope. I really wanted to do well…
It was all in the past now.
But this scene would definitely reach her father’s ears and the duchess’s eyes. That was enough.
She just needed it to look like they were a couple showing signs of love.
Eleanor suddenly pulled the hem of his clothes she was holding.
“Kylus.”
“…”
The strong sword of the Empire didn’t resist and simply bent toward her.
They came closer and could smell each other’s scent.
“This won’t work.”
“What do you mean?”
Eleanor felt dizzy for a moment, but she bit the inside of her mouth to endure the spinning feeling.
“You guide me instead. That’s better.”
“…”
His heavy gaze, those steady purple eyes that didn’t waver—they looked just like they did in the past.
He looked like the husband she had lived with for ten years.
Before the pounding in her chest could even calm down, his large hand covered hers.
He removed the grip she had on him.
Her hand suddenly felt empty.
Eleanor blinked slowly and stared at her now-empty hand.
The people of Carniel watching cheered, thinking their master had finally come to his senses.
But—
“Let’s do that.”
The words he spoke took Eleanor’s side.
Even though his frown looked annoyed, Kylus spoke again.
“I’ll guide her.”
“L-Lord? You’ll do it yourself?!”
“Do I need to explain again?”
“…”
“Move.”
His fierce eyes swept over the crowd like he was telling them all to shut up and get lost.
* * *
Marie Anne Loren knew the second young master she raised very well.
Who would believe that this grown-up Duke used to be a soft and delicate boy?
But Kylus had once been like a fragile glass—sensitive and weak-hearted.
When he learned that his father and older brother had died because of him, Marie saw the exact moment his soul broke.
Though he survived, the Duchess—who had lost her family—couldn’t fully love her second son.
Harsh words and mad stares made their emotional distance grow deeper.
From then on, the path to becoming the young Duke of Carniel was never easy.
Everyone in the family respected and feared the young master, but Marie always felt sorry for him.
How nice would it be if someone could gently touch and warm up his frozen heart?
How great would it be if, like a miracle, someone from his childhood returned—someone he could truly love?
Marie had often thought about that.
Even when fake saviors appeared again and again, stirring up the Duke’s heart, she never gave up hope.
And then, the Duke got married.
And to the daughter of that family.
The daughter of Count Grace—the man Marie wanted to throw a stone at just thinking about him!
Marie felt like she would explode from anger. But since it was the late emperor’s will, Carniel had to obey.
‘I have to stay alert. The Duke must be struggling inside, so I need to support him.’
The servants were strongly against the marriage. They said the Count’s daughter was spoiled and mean and swore they would drive her out eventually.
Marie, too, braced herself. No matter how much she was insulted, she promised to hide her feelings and protect the Duke’s spirit.
That’s how she welcomed the Count’s daughter.
‘Master?’
Even if no one else noticed, Marie could feel it.
The Duke, who always kept a wall between himself and others and watched them like an outsider, looked at the blonde woman differently.
It might have seemed like confusion, anger, frustration, or being flustered because she didn’t act the way he expected.
But even so, those feelings were not like the usual Duke at all.
And what about the woman?
‘She didn’t seem like someone who would hurt anyone.’
She was supposed to be a humiliating arranged marriage partner sent by her father to trouble the Duke’s family.
‘But I want to believe in those clear, shining eyes.’
Marie wasn’t a harsh person. Some even said she was too soft and naïve—but she had a good eye for people.
Maybe this young lady—no, the new Duchess—could melt the Duke’s frozen heart.
This house was full of people who were hurting and wounded.
“Miss Marie, how could you say something like that?”
“We’re all just following the Duke’s wishes. Isn’t that right?”
“What about the Duchess’s wishes? Do you even hear yourself? Do you know who she is? She’s the daughter of that horrible man!”
“And yet, that daughter of your enemy saved you just now, didn’t she?”
The maid of the Duchess, who had gone too far earlier, had almost gotten in big trouble with the Duke.
“T-That was…”
“You’re not going to pretend you didn’t notice, are you?”
“It was just… just a coincidence!”
“Sure, maybe. But was it easy to step in front of the Duke? None of us could do it.”
“…”
When Kylus truly got angry, no one in the family could stop him.
Not even his own mother, the Duchess.
But that woman—Eleanor—stepped in for a maid she met for the first time today.
And that maid must’ve known it too.
“That’s an order. Go back and wait.”
“You’ll regret this, Miss Marie! Just because the Duchess likes you, don’t start thinking you’re the Duke’s real mother!”
“All I’ve ever wanted is peace in this family.”
Marie waved her hand as the fuming maid walked away and let out a sigh.
Something in the air felt like it was starting to change.
The Count’s daughter was not who they expected her to be.
To Marie, even in the Duchess’s clear green eyes, there was a strange sadness.
And she was kind.
‘Not bad at all.’
Marie looked meaningfully at Eleanor, who was pulling Kylus by the hem of his clothes—and at the Duke, who eventually matched her pace and walked beside her.
* * *
It was a familiar place—a hallway and bedroom she didn’t even need help to find.
Eleanor’s eyes moved quickly.
The scenery she had memorized over the past ten years was clearly printed in her mind.
Still, she couldn’t make it obvious, so she decided to fully take advantage of her cold guide.
“Yes, that room… we can use it as storage. Oh, and that one? Did you hear that, Laura? Daisy? Move all my clothes to that side.”
Kylus replied by frowning, pressing his lips, or brushing his jaw.
He didn’t say a word, and the conversation felt strange and suspicious because of that.
Especially when the man who had answered her so well in the carriage now stayed completely silent—it felt odd.
Eleanor’s husband had always been so quiet it was frustrating.
His expression was scary, and his presence cold. Even his perfectly sculpted face didn’t seem charming at all.
Then, suddenly, the man stopped walking.
