Chapter 31

Raphael, lying on his side, put his chin on his hand and stared at Annette’s sleeping face. Having been tossed around by Raphael many times, she was sleeping like a log. Unlike Raphael who had sleep problems, Annette was the type who could fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Stretching out his hand, Raphael habitually touched Annette’s forehead and neck to check her temperature. Fortunately, there was no fever. It was difficult to check her right hand because of the bandage, but at least when he saw her exposed wrist, it only seemed to have a slight injury.

Raphael regretted overworking Annette who had just woken up from her fever. He chastised himself for not controlling his desires. Knowing that she was a weak, little woman who couldn’t be treated so roughly, he decided to be careful with her next time. Annette’s eyes, which had become slightly sore from all the crying, made his chest ache in a strange way. As if a small thorn was stuck inside his heart.

Raphael’s deep blue eyes slowly skimmed over Annette’s sleeping figure. Annette’s sleeping posture was unusually straight. She slept peacefully with her hands in front of her chest. Even her little sleeping posture perfectly represented her exemplary disposition. Although he was a little irritated at seeing that, he still couldn’t help but smile at her. Raphael was stunned when he realised he was smiling at her and soon hardened his face.

“Fuck.”

If he wanted to hold that woman and toss her as much as he wanted, it was normal to do so and leave without looking back. They were in a formal marriage anyway, and this was just sex without emotion. But why was he looking down at the face of this passed out woman and smiling like a madman?

Raphael swept his hands down his face, and rubbed his eyes roughly until they became sore. However, he still found Annette’s face pretty enough to want to swear. The faint tear marks left on her cheeks, her swollen lips, her blond hair scattered over her forehead and cheeks were all very pretty.

‘What the hell am I doing?’

Raphael was very confused with himself. Even now, when he recalled the insulting remarks and actions of Annette’s father, Allamand Bavaria, he couldn’t help but clench his teeth in anger. The Duke of Bavaria, a vile pure-bred supremacist, and Raphael , an illegitimate child, were literally the worst match together. But why did he find that damn Allamand Bavaria’s daughter so pretty? Feeling confused and ashamed, Raphael was suffering as he rubbed his forehead against the bed sheets. A muffled groan came out from his mouth.

“Umm.. Raphael?”

At that moment, Annette, who was asleep, looked at Raphael with sleepy eyes. She couldn’t open her eyes properly, so she struggled to turn towards Raphael. Then she reached out and stuttered, while stroking his bare shoulder.

“It’s all right, Raphael. You’re safe now. No one will hurt you. I’ll……….. I’ll protect you.”

After suffering from the arduous love affairs, her voice had become a little hoarse. Seeing her utter such strange words, Raphael looked at her with a frown, wondering what she was talking about. However, Annette, who was half-asleep, did not notice this. She was very drowsy, but she still tried to comfort Raphael.

“You did nothing wrong… So don’t suffer. The war is over, so… now relax and…”

Annette’s voice eventually faded, unable to finish her words. Her small hand, patting Raphael’s shoulder, eventually slipped onto the sheet. Raphael looked at Annette’s face for a while. At first he was puzzled, not knowing what Annette was talking about, but soon he realized what she meant. She knew about his crappy illness.

Raphael’s eyes darkened. He thought she didn’t have a clue. He remembered the time when Annette had fallen asleep in his room. And just a few days earlier, he had found himself in her bedroom. At this point, she would be a fool if she didn’t know. She must have lied to save his pride. She knew he valued his pride and didn’t like to show his weaknesses. So she simply closed her eyes and pretended to not know anything, to not get caught.

“Ha.”

A dejected sigh came out of his mouth.  Annette Bavaria found the weakness that he had been trying so hard to hide from others. ‘That damn Bavarian woman.’ In addition to this, after seeing his unconscious behavior while sleeping, it was clear that Annette pitied him.

It was such a fucked up situation. At this point, the wounded pride made him see red, but it wasn’t enough to blow his top.  Infact, he felt less sleazy than he thought.  Looking at Annette sleeping defenselessly next to him, he felt no urge to wring her slender neck to bury his secret forever. Ironically, Raphael felt very desperate.

After removing his arm wrapped around her, Raphael got up and left his bedroom. Right now, his thoughts were very complicated, so he didn’t want to see Annette’s face. He thought he had a little trophy called Annette Bavaria, but in fact it was he who was struggling in her little grip.

The shadow of the man in agony lingered in the hallway.

‘It seems I would not be able  to sleep easily tonight.’

* * *

‘Even in my second life, the morning sun rose without faiI. And a new day has begun.’

Today Annette had no schedule. So, after lightly grooming herself, she was going to read a book in the living room under the sun. That was the only hobby that she could now do with her injured hand.

At this time, she heard someone knock from the outside. Annette thought it was a maid who had come to brush her hair. So she told the person to come in without much thought. But it was a man, not a maid who had turned up. It was surprisingly Raphael.

“Are you busy today?”

Raphael, leaning obliquely against the door, asked with his arms folded in front of his chest. The posture looked just as bad as the market scoundrels, but his overly handsome face neutralised his overall meanness. ‘Yesterday you couldn’t even see my face, but today, all of a sudden, why would you show up and ask me that?’ Annette, who became puzzled, shook her head, blinking her eyes.

“No, nothing much. What’s wrong?”

“Good. If it’s okay, go out with me.”

Raphael didn’t reveal where they were going  and gave such a notice out of the blue. Surprised by this, Annette looked at him with her eyes wide open. When his eyes met Annette’s startled and curious eyes, Raphael felt his mouth become dry. He unwittingly added a little excuse.

“It’s not that far from here.”

Annette, who was staring at Raphael for a moment, smiled brightly.

“Okay, I’ll get ready now.”

Even though her hand was fractured because of Raphael, she couldn’t neglect the fact that Raphael took great care of her while she was sick. So there was no reason to refuse his request to go out. Rather, it was a rare opportunity to go out with Raphael, so she was very excited. Naturally, Annette’s smile brightened up even more.

Seeing her dazzling smile, Raphael stood like a rock, completely dazed. Every time Annette laughed, she strangely seemed to glow. There’s no way a person could glow, so he chastised himself for his stupid delusion.

Raphael couldn’t bear it and ran away. It would take Annette a little time to prepare anyway. In the meantime, he also needed to prepare his heart.

* * *

“Aren’t you going to get up?”

At the cold voice coming overhead, Annette opened her eyes. Seeing that the carriage had stopped, it seemed they had arrived at their destination. Annette realized she was dozing off against Raphael’s shoulder. She thought Raphael’s nature was not too bad, given that he had let her lean on his shoulder without pushing her away

Even though it was still daytime, it was dark outside. Because of this, Raphael’s face, a little shaded, looked more dangerous and decadent than usual. Maybe because of his black hair, he looked just like a devil or an incubus who had come to steal Annette’s soul. Annette holding his hand, got off the carriage and looked around.

“Raphael, where are we?”

Looking at the place, she didn’t need an answer to know where it was. The vast expanse of pure white marbles in the distance captured Annette’s gaze. Adding to this, the cold air and the stifling silence made the whole atmosphere more creepy and Annette couldn’t help but shudder. The place where Raphael had brought her was the cemetery.

The nobles usually had their own separate family cemetery, so it was the first time Annette had seen a public cemetery. It was obviously incomparable to a nobleman’s cemetery, but it was still very well maintained than what she expected. So she thought it was a place for gentry without connections.

“Well, if I had known we were coming to the cemetery, I would have worn a black dress.”

Annette smiled a little awkwardly. It was her first outing with her husband after her regression, but she never thought he would take her to the cemetery. She wasn’t expecting a romantic date, but this was very unexpected. Annette looked down at the light blue dress she was wearing.

“It’s all right. I didn’t tell you in advance. So, how could you know?”

Raphael unexpectedly came up with a rational reply. In fact, he found it really annoying when people dressed up in black suits when coming to this place. Annette glanced at him and then looked around the quiet graveyard. But she didn’t know why they came here.

“But Raphael, what are we doing here…?”

Annette’s eyes quivered as she asked this question thoughtlessly. Only she and Raphael had come here, but will only one person go back? Annette broke out in a cold sweat when she recalled the old ghost stories. Annette, who had already died once, suddenly found the cemetery very ominous.

Raphael just shrugged and escorted her somewhere instead of answering. Looking at his expression, it seemed that he wasn’t planning to bury Annette here. Annette gulped and followed him, somewhat nervous.

“Here it is.

Raphael stopped in front of a tombstone. Compared to the other tombstones, it was a particularly large and luxurious tombstone. Annette squinted her eyes to read the name engraved on the tombstone. When she realised who it was, she was surprised.

“This tombstone is….”