TPGV Ch# 6

“I’m sure I warned you. Don’t act like you’re my wife.”

Those were the first words her husband had spoken to her in three years, and they were nothing short of vicious. His deep voice rang out with chilling hostility.

“D-Duke… when did you arrive in the capital…?”

Elice instinctively stepped back, feeling as though her heart was being squeezed.

Her staggering body hit the cold wall, and a wave of icy chill rushed over her. Already in poor condition, facing him now made her shiver violently. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

Lexius slowly stepped closer until he was right in front of her.

His sharply gleaming eyes were filled with disgust and rage. A terrifying stench of blood clung heavily around him.

“My knight has the authority to do anything necessary for the safety of the ducal estate. It is his duty—and his right. You, who lack any qualification, by what authority do you question my knight?”

“S-Someone broke into my room! They even released suspicious black smoke! And I’m just supposed to sit back and do nothing? To play dead, no matter what happens?”

Elice trembled as she protested. She was terrified of this man, but not so much that she could endure being treated this way.

“Tch. Who knows if it was an intruder or someone you lured in?”

“W-What did you say?!”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t know your tainted past? My knight’s suspicion is perfectly reasonable.”

A cruel sneer played on the man’s face. Every brutal word he threw at her tore mercilessly at her heart.

Elice shook with fury, tears welling up from the injustice.

“You have no right to insult me! If you hated me that much, you could’ve refused the marriage! You’re too scared to oppose the emperor, so you take it out on a powerless woman instead. You’re no different from him! You’re just like the emperor!”

She screamed at the top of her lungs.

He had no right to tear her apart like this. Just because they had a wedding didn’t mean he had the right to mock and trample her.

She had tried to endure—until she could rescue Hadin, she’d vowed to tolerate any humiliation. She’d lived like a ghost for three years.

But now, she had reached her limit. There was no place for her here. No, not anywhere in this empire.

“That emperor is your father. It’s obvious why he sent you here. So, what were you doing in my house? Even using dark magic, no less.”

The man didn’t bat an eye. He questioned her coldly, his expression merciless.

“I told you—I don’t know anything about dark magic!”

“Then what? Did you bring in a dark mage yourself? Was a single slave not enough?”

“W-What did you say? You crazy…!”

Elice, unable to suppress her rising fury, instinctively raised her hand.

Just as her pale hand flew toward his cheek, Lexius roughly seized her slender wrist.

His eyes emitted a glacial glare, but Elice, consumed with anger, saw nothing.

The wrist he grabbed throbbed with pain, to the point where she feared it might break.

Still, she did not back down. She would no longer endure this humiliation.

“You’ll regret this, you bastard!”

She wanted to crush him—to make him kneel and beg at her feet.

“I regret nothing. Especially not with the devil’s daughter.”

Lexius threw her arm aside with cold disdain. Then, as if she were no longer worth his time, he turned his back.

“Everyone out. There’s work to do. We still need to dispose of the wolf carcasses.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Lexius strode to the door, and the knights followed him out.

The door slammed shut with a loud bang. Silence fell once more.

Even the howling wolves outside had gone quiet. Morning light was breaking.

Elice collapsed onto the bed, her legs giving out.

Her whole body shivered with cold. Her head spun violently, and the world whirled around her.

Her wrist, the one Lexius had grabbed, ached and throbbed. It was swollen and red.

Because she had been wearing a bracelet, the gems had pressed harshly into her skin, leaving visible marks.

Wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes, Elice glanced down at her swollen wrist—then froze in horror.

One of the bracelet’s gemstones was dislodged—specifically, the green one.

It had been set like a lid atop a small metal compartment.

Frantically examining it, she found that the green gem was twisted, revealing the hollow space inside. The small amount of powder that had been inside was gone.

“No… it can’t be…”

Her heart dropped.

It couldn’t be. It mustn’t be.

But Lexius had gripped her wrist so forcefully—it was the only possible explanation for the gemstone’s misalignment.

W-What should I do?

The powder must have transferred to his hand.

Her vision darkened. She had no idea how he would react. She didn’t even know what he would do if he truly “wanted her to death.”

No—what if the emperor had hidden some other dark spell within the powder?

Pale with fear, Elice buried her face in her hands. As much as she hated him, she didn’t want things to unfold exactly as the emperor intended.

Lexius’s red eyes, filled with loathing, haunted her mind. Everything terrified her now.