CH 43

“Welcome back, Lord Gareth. We’ve been waiting for you,” a small, chubby, middle-aged woman greeted Gareth with a pleasant expression. However, Elena couldn’t hear her words, as she was still in denial about the situation she was in.

“Who is this, my lord?” Madel continued as she glanced at Elena, who was in Gareth’s arms, with curious eyes. ‘Could it be his…?’

“This woman will be living here from now on,” Gareth answered.

Elena suddenly came to her senses, finally getting a grasp on her new reality that was now worse than living in the gutter. She wanted to scream as her heart became overwhelmed with despair. However, she managed to swallow the anguish that had surged up in her throat and opened her mouth. “Put me down, please,” she mumbled with a cracked voice.

“I’ll take you upstairs like this,” Gareth said.

Elena stared at Gareth’s growing beard, then coldly asked, “Then answer me. What that woman outside the castle said, is that a possibility?”

It was Gareth’s nature not to lie, and if Elena was asking him if they had slept together, it was true. “It is,” Gareth said.

Married or not, a man didn’t have to keep his chastity. The ‘right of the first night’ widely practiced throughout the country was evidence of this.

“This has nothing to do with you, Elena,” Gareth added on.

Elena gritted her teeth tightly and spoke again. “Put me down, Lord Gareth.”

‘Lord Gareth?’ Gareth stopped walking up the stairs. “What did you just say?” he asked, doubting his ears.

“I told you to put me down, Lord Gareth.”

Gareth sneered with a cold expression and bolted up the stairs to the second floor in an instant. He immediately kicked the door to his bedroom open and threw Elena on the bed. Elena fell backwards dangerously, but quickly rolled to the side of the bed and stood upright on the floor.

“Just what kind of game are you trying to play with me?” Gareth demanded.

“I’m doing whatever you wanted me to do.”

“Calling me ‘Lord Gareth’?”

“I…” Elena purposely stared fiercely at Gareth in order to avoid showing the tears that had welled up in her eyes. She then noticed the people in the hall who were sticking their heads in through the open door. Their eyes were full of curiosity, pity, compassion, and…

When he realized where Elena’s eyes were trained, Gareth strode to the doorway and shut the door roughly, causing a loud bang to sound. Elena clenched her fists and spoke carefully, suppressing her emotions. “Obedience is what the wife gives to her husband, but you said you wouldn’t be anything for me. That was what you said with your own mouth, so I have no obligation to obey you anymore.”

“If this is because of Lydia, then it’s none of your business. That happened before I met you!” Gareth insisted.

Elena wasn’t swayed by such words. It wasn’t Lydia who angered her, but rather the common notion that men had no obligation to keep their chastity. Gareth was one of those men who reinforced this notion as well as the idea that men were different from women and had the right to control the world. “No, it wouldn’t matter afterwards, either. You can meet with anyone and spend the night with anyone you’d like. But let me just make one thing clear: My child will never be one of your countless illegitimate children. The child will be mine and mine alone, no one else’s.”

Mixed emotions rose inside Gareth as he unconsciously clenched his fists and yelled, “Elena, what are you saying?!”

“I guess that woman will become your wife. Congratulations on marrying the king’s sister,” Elena replied with a resigned expression.

Gareth gritted his teeth and shouted harshly, “No, that’s not it!”

“We signed an employment contract. Yes, I was one of the terms for the contract… Still, I… trusted you.”

When Gareth saw how Elena’s lips had turned purple with her words, he gradually loosened his tightly clenched fists. He cursed under his breath at the uncomfortable situation he was thrown in and berated himself for his impulsive words about taking Elena as his wife. He regretted his decision, thinking he should have just relieved his desires on her once and turned away or that he shouldn’t have held Elena in his arms at all. Still, there was no use crying over spilled milk. It was all his own doing, after all.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Gareth challenged, glaring at Elena with his arms crossed. “Deciding not to obey me means you’ll be ending our contract.”

Elena wiped away the hot tears that had eventually spilled onto her cheeks with the back of her hands. She began to think about her home, her father, Rowena, Marina, and the people of Townsend estate. She wanted to cry out loud.

“Are you going to return home and sell yourself to Logan like a prostitute to extend the life of the Townsend estate?” Gareth jeered.

“Don’t spout nonsense. You have no right to say such words to me,” Elena immediately shouted with a sharp voice.

Gareth finally snapped at her words. He stomped to the door while breathing heavily, then slammed it open and called out, “Giggs, get Elena’s belongings.”

The people gathered around the door watching from outside scattered like rats, surprised by the sudden movement of the door. Giggs, who was in the middle of the crowd, scurried downstairs to retrieve Elena’s small bag of belongings that was still tied to the horse.

‘I knew she was a character, but it’s dangerous to keep irritating Gareth like that…’ Giggs thought with a troubled look on his face as he went back upstairs.

Giggs held the bag out to his boss, and Gareth snatched it away from him. He then roared with a cold voice, “All of you, get the hell out of here!”