ITMHIAM 36

Chapter 36

It was well past six o’clock.

Johannes sat in the Schultz family’s carriage, his indifferent gaze fixed on the burning tip of his cigarette. He glanced at his watch multiple times.

He had assigned escorts and didn’t think Edith would cause any trouble.

Yet, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

‘If you continue like this, Madam will never open her heart to you.’

Was it because of what Fret Gunner had said?

Pointless. Johannes flicked the cigarette off his fingers.

When he snapped out of his thoughts, they had arrived in front of the house. Warm light spilled from the windows, along with noisy, cheerful chatter.

She must be having a good time—so much so that she lost track of time.

Had that woman ever chatted away like that before? He couldn’t help but feel oddly irritated.

At his nod, the Schultz family’s coachman knocked on the door.

“Who…?”

A moment later, Mrs. Pensler appeared with a puzzled look. She glanced back and forth between the carriage and Johannes, then hurried inside with a surprised face.

Not long after, Edith Prim appeared, her expression stiff, a flush on her cheeks.

Somehow, her gaze felt subtly wary.

Every time they spoke, her expression changed. At first, she seemed slightly happy—then it darkened almost instantly.

What was going on?

As Johannes tried to figure out her reaction, she said something entirely unexpected.

“Johannes, I know you love me dearly, but you really don’t need to come pick me up like this.”

Her face was twisted as if someone had forced her to speak in a sweet voice.

“What…”

Just as Johannes furrowed his brow slightly, the door burst open again and Mrs. Pensler cried out in an exaggerated tone:

“Edith, I think I kept you far too long! You’re newlyweds—I should have known better!”

She let out a hearty laugh.

As she quietly stepped outside, the door remained half-open, revealing the inside of the house. From the entrance, you could see straight through to the kitchen and living room—it was a small place.

Johannes’s thick eyebrows drew together.

Only then did he realize why Edith had felt so different. He let out a short, dry laugh.

“A Scandian continental?”

I couldn’t say a word on the way back to the Evanstein estate.

Johannes had noticed that Sina was afraid of him and didn’t care at all. He even went so far as to check her identity, wondering if she was staying in Dochilia illegally.

I understood why he acted like that, at least logically. But still…

As soon as I stepped out of the carriage, I went straight to the office. Ahin approached me as if she had been waiting.

“My lady, a letter arrived for you.”

“A letter…?”

Who would send me a letter? I tilted my head as Ahin handed it over.

“Yes, it says it’s from Mrs. Pensler.”

Did Mrs. Pensler mention sending me a letter? Maybe I forgot.

“Thank you.”

I opened the letter she handed me. But when I saw the stationery, I froze.

It was the same stationery that had filled the mailbox in front of the house earlier.

Which meant it wasn’t from Musen.

‘Did Mrs. Pensler send it from somewhere else?’

I didn’t think much of it at first—until I saw the writing at the top. Then I couldn’t move at all.

‘Father…?’

The handwriting on the letter was unmistakably my late father’s.

Thoughts of Johannes vanished instantly.

I must’ve stood there frozen for quite a while, because Ahin asked in a worried voice:

“My lady, is it bad news? You don’t look well.”

“Huh…? Oh, it’s nothing.”

[Edith, I cannot reveal myself now, so I send this letter instead.]

I shook my head at the opening line. Since he said he couldn’t reveal himself, I couldn’t tell Ahin it was a letter from my father.

Ahin didn’t seem to believe me, but she politely nodded.

‘I don’t even know if the letter is real…’

My hand clenched around it.

Once I dismissed Ahin, I sat down and read the rest of the letter.

It was full of strange things.

He asked if I remembered things he’d told me while he was serving. He claimed he was actually alive but in hiding, unable to come forward.

He even asked me not to tell my husband and to come find him.

“What is this…?”

The handwriting was definitely my father’s. But my father is dead. Even if he were alive…

‘He wouldn’t have contacted me like this.’

If he had wanted me to recognize him, he would have chosen a different method—one that didn’t unsettle me.

‘Who would pull such a cruel prank?’

Someone trying to plant false hope that my father was alive… Who could bear that much malice toward me?

Could it be the same person who stuffed the mailbox full of letters?

I pulled out the crumpled letter from my bag.

The handwriting was different, but the stationery was the same. What were the odds of two different people sending ominous letters on the same paper?

Were they really trying to ruin my marriage with Johannes?

Otherwise, why would they insist I not tell him?

But then again, who would go so far as to research my background, find out about my connection to Mrs. Pensler, and forge my father’s handwriting?

What if it really was him…?

I didn’t want to entertain such false hope—but just thinking wouldn’t get me anywhere.

‘First, I need to figure out where the letter was sent from.’

I swallowed dryly and tucked the letter away.

Will she not come tonight, either?

Johannes stared at the tightly shut bedroom door, thinking she probably wouldn’t.

She had seemed deeply shocked when he told her the truth about the murder. That night, she hadn’t returned to the bedroom but spent it working in her office.

So she probably wouldn’t come now either.

Maybe she had heard about Commander Schultz from that Scandian girl—she had started avoiding him subtly from the moment they got into the carriage.

She might start keeping her distance from now on.

Still, he didn’t feel like going out of his way to bring her back. If she felt uncomfortable, she would return eventually.

It wasn’t like he had any reason to explain himself.

He was used to being misunderstood.

Or so he thought—until the bedroom door opened and Edith walked in. Then, Johannes felt a strange sense of relief.

He straightened from where he’d been leaning on the bedpost.

There was a heavy shadow over Edith’s face. She sighed deeply as she walked over and laid down beside him without hesitation.

Gone was the wary tension from earlier. She looked completely at ease.

Her sudden shift in behavior left Johannes visibly confused.

‘Did something happen just now?’

Frowning, he looked down at her as she pulled the blanket up to her chin.

She looked troubled, and he asked on impulse:

“Did something happen?”

“No, just tired.”

Her quick reply left him more baffled.

Johannes wasn’t as indifferent as he seemed. He commanded a fleet and had led numerous battles to victory.

That meant he was more perceptive than most.

Edith, to him, remained a mystery—but a solvable one.

Maybe she was trying to make a statement.

Whatever she had heard, he had no intention of offering an explanation. But still…

“You seem like you have something to say to me.”

Surely he could at least ask that much.

Edith stared up at him. Her eyes—green as a forest—met his gaze.

Then, to his surprise, she said:

“Oh… Thank you.”

Johannes’s brow furrowed slightly.

Thank him? For what? And why wasn’t she asking anything despite looking so miserable?

He had been willing to explain—at least partially—if she asked. But instead, she was thanking him?

He couldn’t hold back his irritation.

“For what?”

“You came to get me. I thought you wanted to be thanked for that… wasn’t that it?”

Edith blinked slowly, as if to say, What else could it be?

Johannes let out a soft laugh.

“I didn’t realize you thought me such a petty man.”

Finally, a flicker of embarrassment crossed her dazed expression.

“What? I just thought you were playing the role of the devoted husband who came for his beloved wife. But you did care about me, so I thought I should say thank you…”

“You really think I treat you with such pretense all the time?”

Granted, he had told Fret Gunner this wasn’t a typical marriage. And Fret had treated him like a cold-blooded brute because of it.

But Johannes saw Edith as his real duchess. Whatever the circumstances, he had always been faithful to results.

How long that would last—he couldn’t say.

Edith sat up, the shadows on her face now gone.

“…Of course not.”

She denied his accusation.

“I know you’ve been paying a lot of attention to me. That’s why I’ve been trying to maintain boundaries. After all, we’re in a marriage without love—”

“Why are you so sure of that? People can fall in love.”

Even during their first kiss, she had acted like she hated it. She must really detest him.

Johannes, trying to ignore the discomfort rising in him, cut her off.

“You may feel the same way, but I don’t think of you as a man—”

Before she could finish, Johannes wrapped an arm around her waist and pushed her down onto the bed.

The sudden move left Edith speechless. Johannes leaned over her.

Tilting his head slightly, he asked:

“So why did you come into my bed looking like this, as if it were nothing?”