CH 39

“….”

There was no moment more frightening than when a madman is kind. She might have been relieved if he had been rather indifferent to her. It was terrifying that Elysia had to continue her life like this every time from now on.

Her mouth was dry, and her heart was beating like it was going to explode in fear. She had forgotten how to breathe through her pounding chest, and her head became dizzy.

‘…He will kill me. This man is going to kill me.’

In her head, a beeping sound continued unstoppable. Elysia rubbed her damp palms against her dress but to no avail as it sweated again.

“Elysia?”

“Yes…?”

Damon’s hand grabbed her shoulder, and she lifted her head in surprise.

In front of her was the man gazing at her strangely.

It was a face she couldn’t get used to. Even looking at her life, it seemed that she would not get used to it until the moment of her death. It wasn’t enough to just say Damon’s looks were beautiful. No matter how beautiful a woman appeared, they could not defeat him.

“Where does it hurt?”

“Oh, just a little… tired.”

From the moment he appeared until now, Elysia realized that she had only been staring at her floor. This was natural behavior. After all, few people would be able to make eye contact with Damon… No, maybe there wasn’t one.

When she stood in front of him, she kept getting nervous and trembling. It was the same as the survival instinct of the prey towards a predator. When she saw his face, she would forget he was a dangerous person.

So, Elysia wouldn’t know whether she had unconsciously looked into Damon’s face or not.

“Come on, give it to me.”

“What…”

“The veil.”

She couldn’t hold the veil that was slipping out of her hand without a moment to say no.

Knowing that the fabric was slipping through her fingers, she couldn’t catch it. Every time she met his face, emotions ran through her at will.

She was terrified, but she wanted to see his face one more time.

“At that time, I couldn’t stop you, but Grand Duke, you shouldn’t do this.”

If Damon embroidered from start to finish, no one would believe it was her skills. Estelle would be the first to suspect.

“You always tell me no.”

“Your Grace…”

What did he mean, she couldn’t say no…? It was comfortable for one day because he embroidered for her instead, although he couldn’t do the whole thing.

“Your Grace?”

Elysia didn’t know what to do when she saw Damon staring at her softly without saying a word. His eyes were getting darker, and he had a hard expression, and she couldn’t take her eyes off of him even though she was scared.

That was why she didn’t want to see it at all.

…Because she knew that once she saw it, she could deny it.

It didn’t seem like he was born in nature. A creature that collected only the beautiful and cruel things from all over the world — Damon’s very existence was disharmony. She didn’t think it would be this big when tinkering with the novel settings…

“You act like you know something. It’s fascinating.”

* * *

He felt a tingling pain as if someone was clutching her heart. Her mind was confused as to what to answer.

“So, are you saying that the wife can’t because I’m too good at it?”

“What? No, that’s right.”

As if she had said that, Elysia naturally fell for Damon, who turned the topic around. She seemed used to this. Still, she was astonished at herself for making it happen in an instant.

“It’s a problem if I’m too good.”

The playful Damon felt like a human for the first time. Although the dangerous atmosphere still hasn’t disappeared in one corner, it was much easier to deal with him than before.

“I will do it from now on. So you don’t have to come.”

“You’re like a tree frog*.”

[ T/N: Tree frog is an ancient Korean folklore that symbolizes obedience and would always do the opposite as intended, read more about it here: http://www.sejongsociety.org/korean_theme/korean_folk_tales/green_frog.html ]

“…Yes?”

Elysia tilted her head when he said that she was like a tree frog. She didn’t know why a mention of the tree frog was coming out here.

“If I tell you not to do it, you want to do it more.”

So, that was why he said she was a tree frog. Knowing that, she was so agitated that only her lips were puckered.

‘Who was the one who is being pushy…!’

“Still, I have to. If this is the case, I will not be able to embroider on Your Grace’s justaucorps.”

“Justaucorps?”

“Yes, isn’t that why you leave it behind?”

It wasn’t until she learned that from Estelle that there was such a culture that she realized why Damon had left his justaucorps.

“Or, should I put it on Your Grace’s robes?”

She heard that a bride who was good at embroidering sometimes also embroiders on the groom’s robes. Although she wasn’t very good, he could have wanted it.

“….”

“Oh, of course… I’m not good at it, but—”

Elysia felt embarrassed at Damon, who looked at her softly as if she was arguing about her skills. She was sure she would ruin his robe if she touched it.

“I can’t believe you might think so… In many ways, you are an amazing person.”

“Isn’t that what it was?”

“No, you looked really cold that day, so I just covered you.”

Knowing him, of course, she had no choice but to think so. She knew very well that Damon Raphael wasn’t the kind of person who would do anyone a genuine favor.

“It’s fun because you’re unpredictable.”

As Damon said that it was fun, Elysia was startled.

There was only one case when he was happy… It was when he stared into the dying eyes of a dying person…

“I am looking forward to our marriage in the future.”

Only then did he feel euphoric.

Damon was a man who took pleasure only in the moment of killing someone. There was no way she wouldn’t be afraid.

“Me, me too…”

There was no way she would have expected it. None was expected. On the contrary, the thought of wanting to run away made her even more desperate. She, too, should have stopped herself from becoming the wife of a psychopath.

Elysia wanted to turn back time more than anyone else.

Where did she go wrong? The Countess who married her to Grand Duke Raphael? Would she be able to escape when she comes back…?

“You’re very pretty to listen to.”

“….”

Elysia sat dazed enough to not be able to respond to Damon’s words that she was pretty. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing now.

Did she just notice a murder notice?

“Ah…!”

While she lost her mind, he began to embroider her. When she came to her senses, he was already holding a needle.

“Your, Your Grace…! You cannot do this.”

Elysia, startled, went to stop him. However, Damon did not stop his hand that was embroidering. It was so fast that the veil was being filled in such a short amount of time.

“Anyway, I think it would be more efficient for me to do it than for the wife to do it.”

“That’s right, but… Still, I can’t do nothing.”

In this case, it seemed that the embroidery would be completed by his hands from beginning to end. But, he wasn’t wrong either. She couldn’t be sure if it would be complete after she embroidered all night for a week or so.

Estelle did not seem to have high expectations of her in the first place. So as she had said the day before, she had come to take care of the veil. In any case, if she couldn’t finish it, she’d like Estelle to finish it, too.

“If the wife embroiders it, wouldn’t the veil be full of blood?”

Elysia wanted to say no, but she couldn’t. It was because none of what Damon said was wrong. She practiced embroidery with gloves on, lest even she would stain the veil with blood.

“If the wife has to embroider it, there is a way.”

She should have refused from the start. The problem was that she fell for the words that there was a way.

“I… What is this position?”

“Embroidering?”

“I understand that, but why do I have to do it with you alone?”

On her fingers, there was a fairly large, sharp needle, and in his large hand, it looked as thin as a sharp core. Even at a glance, her hand could not be seen due to the contrasting hand size.

“Because you will get hurt on your own.”

“No… Who embroiders like this?”

Now, Damon held her by the hand, embroidering as he moved. The large hand, which could not be compared with hers, lightly grabbed her hand. Elysia expected it to be rough, but it was surprisingly soft to the touch against her skin.

Not only that but the gestures of holding her hand and embroidering it were even more careful. He was so careful that she felt anxious.

“In this way, it’s like Elysia is making it, right?”

Even though she had felt it before, he was also very good at talking, so Elysia was often taken over by his splendid eloquence. Besides, she couldn’t even remember how she should act in such an embarrassing situation.

She just moved as he moved, but her body was so stiff that she could feel it creaking.

It was so quiet in the room that she couldn’t hear a single breath. All she could hear was the rustling of the veil as he moved his hands. She had difficulty even breathing.

‘…What if my breathing is so loud that it annoys Damon’s heart.’

He would be able to kill her with just the needle in his hand. She never knew when Damon would change his mind. Elysia trembled as she embroidered with him. It wasn’t a class of death embroidery though it looked like she was going to die.

At that moment, his low voice rang in his ears.

“The wife’s hand…”

It was so small as if it would break with a little force.