CH 26

Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi

“So, that’s why. They put a dragon as a pattern because they needed some people’s fear.”

That was right.

She didn’t fully understand it, though it wasn’t absurd either. It was fitting to avoid such a family as they were scary.

“Thanks to that, I’m the only one who will die doing embroidery.”

“Fufu, don’t worry too much. Still, you improved a lot compared to the beginning.”

Although it didn’t seem like her skills were good enough, Estelle’s words raised her confidence. Somehow, looking at it again, the embroidery that looked like a black puppy looked like an ugly dragon.

“Really…?”

“Of course.”

The corners of Elysia’s lips rose upwards in her proud feeling. It was her first time to embroider in the form of a dragon.

“With a little more, I think you can put farmant not only in the veil, but also in the Grand Duke’s justaucorps?”

Farmant meant embroidery or jeweled buttons on the cuffs of a man’s justaucorps. It is usually said that it was a trend among lovers or couples, but she learned that it is a way to express affection to the other person.

“Do all noble wives embroider their husbands justaucorps?”

“Of course. Everyone embroiders at least one suit. And husbands wear them on very important occasions or to men’s gatherings. That’s solid proof that he’s loved by the wife. All men who do not have an unembroidered justaucorps are single.”

What Estelle meant now was that she, too, had to unconditionally embroider Damon’s justaucorps. Elysia remembered the justaucorps he had left behind, it was still sitting at her bedside.

“It means that everyone who was married at least has one.”

“You don’t have to worry about it yet, Your Grace.”

“What everyone else has, the Grand Duke cannot be without. I have to work harder.”

If it was Damon, he wouldn’t be bothered by those things, but she might be concerned that compared to other people, he didn’t like that he lacked things.

It was good if he cared.

The moment he thought he didn’t like her, her life would be in jeopardy.

“I’m sure the Grand Duke will like it.”

It didn’t matter what Damon liked to Elysia. She just had to avoid his anger. Anyway, in her view, her skills were not good, and even if she showed the results, he couldn’t even wear them. He might not like her more with such skills…

“Is that so…”

Estelle did not leave the County until evening.

After she appeared, Elysia’s status in Count Caitlyn was elevated. Even the Countess did not touch her. Even though she was also busy with her daily education, she couldn’t even see her face as if someone had blocked her access. That was true of all the people of County Caitlyn.

She could not see neither the Count, the Countess, Edward nor Rowena.

Edward was not leaving for the Logan Empire under the pretext of attending Elysia’s wedding. She didn’t know if he was still taking the Countess’ medicine. Elysia clearly warned him not to touch it, although she couldn’t confirm that it was actually happening.

“I’m anxious.”

Yet she was only a soon-to-be Grand Duchess. She wasn’t even a properly-recognized Grand Duchess. After her wedding to Damon was over, she was officially allowed to become the Grand Duchess.

Elysia wondered whether she would ever be able to change County Caitlyn, even if she were to become a duchess. She couldn’t possibly be the beloved Grand Duchess who could have that level of power. She was most likely to be in a position that was nothing more than an illusory position.

“…Even so, I’m trying so hard to live.”

What she felt as she spent the wedding preparations was that Damon, no matter how much money she had spent, had no intention of ending this marriage.

Even now, she had spent almost all of her budget, and he had not responded. On the contrary, the budget increased. Though the budget to the estate people had already doubled, not even a small change had occurred…

It was the same when she bought all kinds of dresses and jewelry. Even when Estelle bought the jewelry to her surprise. Damon Raphael didn’t have an interest in her at all. He didn’t care about her, no matter how much she spent or what she bought.

“Because it is impossible to want a marriage…”

Elysia worked diligently in the wedding preparations. If she couldn’t avoid it, she should at least not make it clear enough.

She, of course, also had the pleasure of attending the education, something she had never heard of before.

Except for the embroidery practice, they were all her favorite classes.

“…Embroidery. That is the problem with this embroidery.”

So far, she had embroidered like a puppy every time, now, it was to the point where she’s been able to make a little dragon-like, but it still looks a lot rougher. Still, she was able to get here because of her hard work.

If it had been the same as in the past, Elysia would have given up in the beginning and didn’t even look at it.

In the evaluation of her cross-stitch performance, even in her previous life, she received a D proudly. In the end, she gave up as she couldn’t do the best with her skills, although this wasn’t something she could not give up on even if she wanted to give up.

Elysia embroidered until all ten of her fingers were sore. As she slept less, she practiced embroidery diligently. It was an effort she would have already become a master of embroidery if it had been anyone else.

“This… I’m glad I came this far.”

Thankfully, Estelle embroidered the designs in advance, so it was worth a challenge even with this level of skill. If she borrowed the craftsmanship of the expert Catherine, even in the finish, it wouldn’t be obvious.

“Still, it was very difficult to get here…”

Despite the fact that she didn’t have pretty hands because of labor, her fingers, which had been cut here and there by the stitching, didn’t look good.

At that, Catherine was surprised to see the condition of her fingers and added gloves to her wedding dress right away. So were the dresses for her reception. All five outfits required gloves.

Estelle mentioned that sometimes the brides expose their scars as decorations as evidence that she made the veil herself. But, even in her eyes, Elysia’s finger condition was serious, and she had no choice but to agree to put on gloves.

Her embroidery skills were the worst to reveal lest as a decoration.

“Ouch…!”

She stabbed her finger while she thought about something for a moment. She wore a glove for embroidery, just in case, to no avail. Elysia sighed deeply as the gloves were soaked in red, and so did the embroidered cloth. Now, familiarity came before her pain.

“I can’t use it again.”

In fact, she had heard Estelle before, and she was practicing embroidery other than dragons because it seemed like it would be easier for her to embroider into a justaucorps than to embroider a large dragon that had to go into a veil.

Elysia intended to engrave his initials with gold thread.

She was strangely reminded of the man she had met before in the reddish-gold thread. The man who was bleeding didn’t seem sane… However, there was one improvement.

As she started embroidering, she saw a lot of blood, so this amount of blood was nothing to worry about. Even though the smell of blood was still disgusting and unpleasant, it was indeed a major development.

“Haa—”

There was a sigh in her mouth. Elysia hoped they wouldn’t ignore the Grand Duchess who couldn’t embroider like her.

Knock, knock.

A knock was heard. She then glanced at the door to see if someone had come, but beyond the door there was no sound.

Knock, knock.

Nonetheless, the knocking sound did not stop, rather it was more than a knock on the door… It was a thin, clear sound.

“Who…?”

The door wasn’t moving, but she was afraid of where the noise was coming from.

She wasn’t really a believer in ghosts. Still, this place was different from where she lived in her previous life. It was strange that there were no ghosts in a world where magic and different races existed.

“Gh, ghosts…?”

Knock, knock.

At the still resounding knock, Elysia crawled up onto the bed, draped the blanket over her head, and trembled.

Now that her husband was her killer was not enough, even ghosts appeared!

…Is this her life now?

Click, creaaakk—

“Kya… Kyaaaaaaak!”

Suddenly, the sound of the door opening was heard and the knocking sound disappeared. The next moment, there was the sound of a strong wind.

“Gh… ghost! It’s a ghost!”

Elysia was so scared that she couldn’t even get out of the blanket, and she curled up inside the blanket and called out the ghost. She didn’t want to remove the blanket to see what might be a ghost.

“Mom… Why are you doing this to me.”

After becoming Elysia, she called for her mother, whom she had never looked for in this lifetime. In fact, what she feared the most were horror movies and ghosts. She knew that ghosts weren’t real in her previous life, so she was less afraid. Regardless, if ghosts were real here, it was a different story.

“Wife?”

“No! No… What?”

What kind of ghost would say that she is the wife? Besides, this voice… A captivating voice that, once heard, could never be forgotten.

“Your Grace, Grand Duke…?”

Poking her head out of the blanket, Elysia’s body trembled at the possibility that a ghost might imitate his voice.

“Oh, no… I must have surprised the wife.”

“Your Grace—”

The existence in front of her was not a ghost, but Damon. In a way, he could have been more terrifying than a ghost…

To meet Damon in the dark hours of the night meant that she would soon be killed by him.

“What to do with this…”