CH 37

“Were you in the study?”

Adeline, who was clinging to the ladder to take out a book from the high bookshelf, was startled and lost her balance.

It felt like she was falling through the air because of this, but Kael hurriedly approached and held Adeline in his arms, falling backwards.

Kael’s firm arms wrapped around Adeline’s waist, and her body rested on his.

There was not enough time to fully support her, so he used his body as a cushion to ease the shock that Adeline would receive.

“Kael! Are you alright?”

Adeline looked at Kael urgently in astonishment.

“I’m fine. You don’t have to be so surprised.”

“How can I not be surprised!”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Their reunion after a few days was too chaotic.

Only after confirming that Kael wasn’t hurt was Adeline able to breathe.

“How could you come in like that without making any noise… If you had just made a noise coming in, I wouldn’t have fallen off the ladder.”

There was no sound of the door opening, no sound of footsteps coming in.

“There’s no way I didn’t make any noise.”

“You didn’t. At all.”

“Wasn’t it that you were focusing too much on the book and didn’t hear me?”

“You really didn’t. I am very sensitive to people’s presence.”

Adeline genuinely complained of her injustice, and Kael smiled at her slightly angry appearance.

“Next time, please make a noise…”

Adeline, who was telling him to make some noise in the future, suddenly blurred her words in embarrassment.

It was because she belatedly realized that she was on top of Kael.

Adeline was startled and walked away from Kael.

“I’m sorry.”

Knowing the reason for her embarrassment, Kael smiled a little and replied, “It’s alright.”

“Ahem, anyway, I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

Feeling the heat on her face, Adeline changed the topic, somehow trying to change this atmosphere.

She wanted to talk about something else.

“It’s the first time I’ve stayed in the capital until the end of the debutante season. I was gone for a few months, so I had a lot of work to do.”

“Aah.”

Adeline nodded in understanding.

Kael had been extremely busy ever since they arrived at the northern castle.

He had taken care of a lot of things while he was in the capital, but there was a mountain of things to check and see for himself in the north.

There was no chance to meet Adeline because of that.

“I heard what happened at the tea party.”

“It was very chaotic for my first tea party, wasn’t it?”

“But you also gained a lot from that party.”

“That’s true. Getting a good handmaid was the best outcome.”

The topic of conversation naturally moved on to the tea party from last time and Melissa.

“I heard she’s the daughter of a baron.”

“Do you think her title is insufficient to become the grand duchess’ handmaid?”

“As long as she has the ability to go beyond her title, there’s nothing wrong with it. I just asked because it isn’t common.”

Kael was a man who didn’t care about titles as much as Adeline, or perhaps even less than she did.

When he heard the news about Melissa, he was simply amazed, he didn’t think at all that she was undermining the grand duchess’s prestige or that she was lacking.

“She’s a very smart lady. The closer I observe her, the more I think about how capable she is.”

Adeline smiled brightly, saying she was very satisfied.

Her face was full of pride that she had found a good person.

“I also heard that Countess Boyd was praising you left and right. She’s erasing the rumors with her own hands, saying there’s no need to listen about curses or whatever.”

“Yes. I’ve heard it.”

Adeline’s expression, which had been perfectly joyful, grew slightly dark.

Adeline’s plan to leave her falling reputation intact without trying to remove the label of a cursed woman failed miserably.

It felt like a failure the whole time she was finishing the tea party and seeing her guests off.

The faces of the wives and young ladies looking at Adeline showed their favor.

Some looked at Adeline as if they were very impressed.

Everyone acted as if the word ‘curse’ had been completely erased from their minds.

In addition, Countess Boyd, who had been fighting against Adeline, actively defended her as if she had never done so.

Rather than ruining her reputation, she only heard louder voices of excitement, saying that a blessing had come to the north.

“What you said was right.”

“What I said?”

“You said I shouldn’t intervene. That you had to deal with it yourself to make things easier in the future.”

“Ah…”

Adeline smiled awkwardly and avoided his gaze slightly.

It may have seemed like that on the outside, but in fact, she had prevented Kael from intervening in hopes that things would get twisted.

However, it was very uncomfortable to face Kael, who was genuinely admiring Adeline and acknowledging her abilities without knowing the situation.

‘Thinking about it, there’s no reason to be uncomfortable. What kind of relationship do we have? There’s no need to feel sorry or uncomfortable.’

There was no reason for any sense of debt or discomfort to exist.

Their marriage was a contract, it was about to be broken, and Kael would eventually take Adeline’s breath away with his own hands.

She was trying to act like she was in love to get the ending she wanted, but it was literally ‘pretend’.

No feelings should exist, and feeling this sorriness was not a good sign in itself.

‘It’s not my place. He’s someone I will have to let go; a position I will have to let go of. He’s even the one who is going to kill me. Get yourself together, Adeline.’

Adeline looked at Kael with a clear mind.

She had forgotten about it because she had been busy taking care of things ever since arriving in the north, and thinking about Vanessa who would succeed her, but in fact, her first priority was to make Kael believe that she loved him.

So that she could break off the marriage, asking if he didn’t say he would let her go if she fell in love with him.

“Kael. Can I ask you one favor?”

“What kind of favor is it, that you have such a grim expression?”

“I want to take a look around the northern territory.”

If she wanted to fool Kael, they had to spend a lot of time together.

It was not enough to see him once every few days as it was now.

Adeline thought she should have as much contact with Kael as possible.

To do so, the most effective way was to go around his land together.

Kael would be able to stay with her throughout his work, and Adeline would also be able to satisfy her desire to look around the north.

“The days are very cold. With winter just around the corner, it’s getting colder. It’s not a good season to look around.”

“Rather, doesn’t that mean that now is the right time? It’s better than walking around in the middle of winter, so it’s much better to look around before winter begins.”

Adeline retorted, staring at Kael.

Her willingness to spend time with Kael somehow was noticeable.

Kael looked at her quietly.

Adeline didn’t seem to notice at all, but it was always obvious whenever she tried to pretend to be interested in Kael.

‘When will she notice?’

Kael slowly opened his mouth, slightly smiling.

“It’s not a bad idea to wait for winter to pass and look around when it gets warmer There is no reason to hurry.”

“But…”

“That means you don’t have to overdo it to spend time with me.”

Adeline’s eyes trembled as she realized Kael’s hidden intentions.

She quickly hid it, pretending not to be embarrassed, but Kael’s sharp eyes caught it.

“Ahem, I don’t know what you mean. In any case, I want to be with you when you look around.”

Adeline didn’t yield, pretending not to know anything.

Eventually, Kael grinned and took a step back.

“Then, let’s start as soon as possible. Let’s start looking around in three days. I was thinking of taking a look around the land near the castle anyway.”

“Alright.”

Adeline smiled as if she was satisfied.

“Come to think of it, that’s just in time. It will be used just right.”

“Sorry?”

As Kael spoke to himself, Adeline tilted her head.

Kael got up without telling her right away, and then Adeline, who was sitting on the floor, also got up.

“I have to go now.”

“Ah… Yes. But what do you mean it’s just in time…”

“I left a gift in your room.”

“A gift?”

“Please check it. It will be of help when we walk around the territory.”

Kael smiled softly and exited the study first.

Looking at him getting farther away, Adeline, who was left alone, was dazed for a moment.

“A gift?”

Then, she got up, and headed straight to her room.

“Your Grace!”

“Isabel. Ah, Melissa is also here.”

When she went inside, Isabel and Melissa welcomed Adeline with very flushed faces.

“His Grace has sent a tremendous gift, Your Grace.”

“I just heard about it. What kind of gift is it…”

As Isabel slightly stepped aside, she saw a long, thick fur cloak hanging over the mannequin.

The shiny white fur cloak was extremely beautiful.

“It’s a cloak made of fur from white wolves that only live in the highlands of the northwest. It is a precious animal, called a spirit creature. When it’s time for the wolf to die, it goes to the human who helped it and dies in front of it, offering its own fur.”

“…”

“Only those the wolf allows can touch its skin. Those who are not allowed are poisoned just by touching their fur.”

She had heard of the white wolf of the north a few times.

It was a very curious story, so she remembered it clearly.

“A few years ago, a white wolf came to the front of the castle and died. I heard it was the wolf that His Grace had rescued before.”

“Ah…”

“He kept its fur at that time, and it seems he now made it into a cloak for Your Grace.”

Adeline looked at the cloak again in surprise.

After listening to Isabel, she realized it wasn’t just a warm and pretty cape.

“The majority of people die without even touching or seeing it during their whole lives… This is the first time I’ve seen this skin since I was born. It really is a tremendously precious gift.”

With Melissa’s words, Adeline could hardly take her gaze away from the cloak.

‘No. You vowed not to be swayed.’

Although she had clearly made up her mind until just a moment ago, after Kael’s attack, her mind became complicated.

Adeline bit her lips, feeling the heat rushing to her face once again.

Her heart was beating a little, just a little, faster than usual.