Chapter 11

Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────Chapter 11

“The Lady is strange.”

Surely, a gentle hand is stroking her cheek, though why is it so scary? It was the act of stroking the most precious and weak thing, yet Elysia was so afraid.

“Acting like someone who knows something…”

Every time he spoke, the way he opened his mouth was like the mouth of a viper with large fangs… She herself was a weak beast trembling before him—A pitiful beast who doesn’t know when and where its fangs will pierce the nape of the neck.

“Weird.”

“You…You must be mistaken.”

“Yes, I hope.”

Damon’s hand fell, and she let out a sigh of relief.

For a moment, she had been mistaken. Living in the same house with that man, no matter how much she thought about it, would be impossible. Damon Raphael was a man no one could handle. She was mistaken because she hadn’t met him yet.

Even if she married him, it would be fine if she divorced him. However, the Damon he met in person was never a person who she could safely divorce.

“The next time we meet, I hope I can call you wife.”

Elysia swallowed her breath at the hot lips that fell on her forehead.

A kiss on the back of a hand or a kiss on the forehead between a man and a woman was common. Though doing it with Damon Raphael meant something else. As far as she knows, Damon had never had physical contact with anyone.

He was reluctant to touch anyone. The same was true for the Emperor and the Empress. Damon didn’t even kiss the Emperor on the back of the end for respect. Yet he was now kissing her forehead…

Then, he disappeared suddenly like that while Elysia was taking the time in a daze because she was so startled.

All that was left of her was the justaucorps on her shoulder and two cold cups of tea…

“Safe divorce from Damon Raphael… That is impossible.”

It wasn’t until she met him like a fool that she realized.

“…Am I destined to die according to the original story?”

She didn’t want to die.

Is it because she died so painfully in my previous life? If there was a next life, it was her wish to live a long, pain-free life. Even now, it was her greatest dream to die comfortably while enjoying all of the heavenly powers as Elysia.

“It’s a dream that never came true with Damon…”

If it was by his side, it was an unconditional killing route. There would never be a comfortable death. She doesn’t know if it’ll be more painful to die than anyone else. There is no such thing as a comfortable rest for Damon.

“Can I come in?”

Knock, knock.

The sound of the sudden knock pulled her out of her thoughts. No matter how much she thought about it, nothing changed. She had to marry Damon, and he even came to visit her in person.

“Yes.”

Before Elysia could answer, the Countess came in with an anxious expression on the door that swung open. She seemed to have been concentrating outside for quite some time.

“Madam.”

“Call me mother.”

“Mother.”

It was funny when she told Elysia to call her mother, although for now, she decided to match the Countess’ rhythm. As soon as Damon returned, it was obvious she’d be visiting.

“Has the Grand Duke left?”

“Didn’t you know before you came in?”

Pretending not to know about Damon, then came to see Damon when he was there and watched to make sure, what the Countess did made Elysia angry.

“Yes, it looks like he left.”

The Countess already knew everything, yet pretended not to know… that made her trembled in the hypocrisy. From that day forward, seeing the Countess face to face was a pain.

“….”

She knew where the Countess’ eyes were gazing at. It was probably gazing at his coat over her shoulder. And, when she saw that look, she had no idea what the Countess was going to think.

“What are you looking at me so deeply for?”

“Nothing.”

“Did you come here to see if mother’s plan worked?”

Elysia picked up the cold teacup and drank it.

When she faced the Countess, her mouth was bitter, and she had to lull it with a cold tea.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t have to pretend you don’t understand.”

It was obvious that the maids were meant to dress her like this. It was enough to frown at the seemingly obvious intention.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“What you’re talking about, I don’t understand.”

“Yes. Then, I’ll pretend I didn’t know that I was deliberately dressed like this to meet the Grand Duke.”

“You…! What are you talking about now!”

At the sight of the Countess, who was quickly glowing red, she smiled a little. The Countess really thought Elysia wouldn’t know.

“What did I say wrong? Mother.”

All Elysia had was old dresses like the maid uniform. Of course, it would have been impossible for her to wear these clothes without the Countess’ orders. That said, all of this was planned by her.

It was also the Countess who knew that Damon would visit the Count’s Castle. The Countess also dressed Elysia in a sultry indoor dress. It was something she could know without even thinking deeply.

“As soon as you saw me covered by the Grand Duke’s justaucorps, your face immediately turned bright.”

Needless to say, she was seriously offended when she saw the Countess’ lips twitched with joy she couldn’t hide. Elysia was like a chess piece, forced to move as the Countess intended.

“Are you satisfied that things are going the way you want?”

“…I thought you were stupid, but you’ve been hiding that temperamental head all this time?”

“Well.”

Is there really such a thing as temperamental? Had she not known the Countess and Edward’s ploys, she would never have behaved this way.

“Like you said, the Grand Duke seems to like you.”

“Yes.”

…That was a lie. Damon couldn’t like her. He didn’t even treat all the men and women as human beings. If he liked her, it was just that he showed it right.

“Be quiet until you get married.”

“What do you mean to be quiet?”

“It means that you should not get discovered that you are from an illegitimate child.

It was kept a secret that the Countess could not bear children. That was why the Count had no choice but to see her child from lowly people. She and Edward’s mother, who didn’t even know each other, would have been killed after giving birth.

“Yes, I’ll do whatever mother wants.”

***

Only then, the Countess was satisfied and left the parlor. It was right that she had come to intimidate Elysia until the very end. If Damon had not left the coat behind, the thought of how long she would have been scolded was terrifying.

As a result, it was as though his justaucorps had been protecting her.

“…You’re worse in clothes like this.”

Realistically, Elysia’s power was very weak right now. Even the clothes she was wearing were decided by the Countess. She couldn’t even do fulfilled her will at what she wanted to wear. The same was for even eating.

Damon, on the other hand, was powerful even in the clothes he left behind.

“What do I do now?”

Damon, who he met in person, was by no means a soft opponent.

It seemed impossible to divorce him safely. Elysia realized that it was not an easy task at all. Ultimately, she had to figure out why he wanted to marry and why he had to kill his wife.

“I’m scared…”

When she thought of him, her body trembled slightly. Although it was a brief meeting, the existence of Damon Raphael was deeply engraved in her mind. The saying that once fear was ingrained in your head, it cannot escape, seemed to refer to a time like this…

‘Can I really stay in a relationship with a man who kills people every night?’

Elysia was lucky if she didn’t faint from the smell of blood.

Today, she met him in good condition, and even if she was enchanted by his appearance, there was no way she could not help but see blood if they continued to live together. It was also a problem with the tremble and throb of her heart each time. Damon would soon notice something odd, and he could have eliminated her earlier than originally planned.

“Whatever I think, it’s all just a terrible route.”

Seriously, was there any way to safely escape from Damon Raphael? There was no hope in marrying him.

“After all, divorce is difficult…”

In the Kaesar Empire, it was difficult to divorce. She seemed to laugh at herself, for she made the law. Even the Countess was living without a divorce, so the hope of her getting a divorce…

“Elysia!”

As she sat quietly in the parlor, clutching the justaucorps and thinking, a familiar voice reached her ear.

“Brother Edward, you’re here?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes…”

It was sad to think that Edward, who must have rushed to the news that Damon had arrived. He was the only person in this family who cared for her. The proof of that was that he was still looking blue with a tired face, checking to see if there were any injuries.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry.”

She was still fine.

Although Elysia doesn’t know what will happen to her in the future if she ever gets married to him…

“I heard that you met with Grand Duke Raphael.”

Again, the Countess hid Damon’s visit from Edward. So Edward, who found out late, was so restless.

“Yes, we just met.”

“Did he do anything? If there is any threat to you…”

She wondered what kind of image Damon was to Edward.

As she met and felt Damon a while ago, he was still pretending to be a normal person. However, she wondered how Edward, who spent only a week in the Kaesar Empire, knew about Damon, which made him so nervous.

“No. His Grace never did anything like that.”

It was she, who was bewildered by his kindness as he spoke to her respectfully.

“No way…!”

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