CH 96

It was her first time going out properly, so her heart raced with anticipation.

Up until now, Elysia had been living almost imprisoned in the County. The Countess would not allow her to go out, lest she would run away. All she did was occasionally run errands amongst the maids, so there was no way she knew about the outside world.

Her first outing was when she ran away from the County. And, of course, the person she met that evening was that man… a man lying on the ground with blood all over his body. It was a good thing she didn’t pass out, too startled by his near-death look.

It was the first time she had seen such a large amount of blood, but it was fine. She was scared, of course, but she didn’t collapse on the spot.

“Elysia?”

“Ah… yes.”

She stopped thinking about it, more precisely, she forgot that since she was with Damon now. Elysia only met that man once, and she didn’t even know his name or last name, so she didn’t know why she kept thinking of him.

Was it because the meeting was so intense? He never left her mind.

“I was thinking about something else… I’m sorry.”

“…No, no.”

His face hardened for an instant when she said she had other thoughts. It was a slightly narrowed eyes. Although it immediately returned to his usual expressionless face.

“Come on, let’s go eat.”

“Th, thank you.”

Even though Damon didn’t have to be that nice to her on purpose, she was taken aback by his overbearing attitude. Rather, it was politeness that made the recipient not know what to do because it was burdensome.

Elysia hesitantly grabbed his hand and climbed out of the bed.

Just getting out of bed… did she have to get down like this? She had doubts, but she couldn’t even deny him.

“The meal is not cold.”

“I put a warming spell on it.”

“Ah…”

To her surprise, he put a spell on the food. Among the common people, magic was a very difficult and expensive skill.

Since it was something that no one could do, it was only when magic was really needed that a wizard was invited for a lot of money. But now, Damon was only fearing that the food would get cold, so he ccasta spell.

Of course, using magic for him would be as natural as breathing, but it wasn’t for her.

From this point on, she could feel the difference between him and her. And as she knew, each wizard had different abilities, so he didn’t use much magic. It was said that if they used up all of their abilities, the burden would come on their body.

Usually, it was not normal to use magic like this unless it was during a war or an emergency.

“I have a reservation at a good restaurant for dinner.”

“A restaurant?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Elysia quickly lowered her head when Damon even put the spoon in her hand. Every time he acted like this, she was at a loss for what to do.

“….”

She stared blankly at Damon as he ate.

How could he eat food so perfectly? She also learned table etiquette from Estelle in her own way, but she was still lacking a lot, still, he seemed to come out of a textbook. Smooth movement and clean mouth. He didn’t seem to be eating.

“Is there anything on my face?”

“No, no!”

Rather, she fumbled for something on her face. It would be more credible than what he asked.

“Come on, eat. They must have made breakfast properly, right?”

Elysia declined to answer because she really could eat breakfast now. That, too, was an improvement. Had it been before, she would hardly have eaten. At least, it was because he was paying attention to her diet.

“Is there a place to eat outside the annex?”

“Sure. The annex is also a place where people can live.”

Where could people live… could it be that Damon lived in an annex as a child? If that were the case, it would make sense to have an office here. It could have been because he was used to the annex.

“Tell me… did you stay in the annex when you were young?”

“At first?”

At first…?

So after a while, did he go back to the main palace?

“Before I controlled my powers, I lived in the annex. I wasn’t a very useful card to the previous Grand Duke.”

Useless card. Even if they had many children as a successor, Elysia was surprised that humans use the word card. However, Damon was talking like it was something obvious. Maybe he was not really treated as a human being.

“Mostly weak children lived in the annex.”

“Weak children?”

She still couldn’t believe Damon could ever be weak. He seemed to have always been strong. He was a predator who would have dominated someone since he was born. Nonetheless, there was a time when he was weak.

Whenever he said he was weak, she couldn’t control her face. All she could do was nod her head with a confused face.

“The Grand Duke intensively managed children who showed potential. There was only one child who could go to the main palace.”

Just one.

Only one out of so many children can live in the main palace… it was like a completely competitive society.

“It’s only natural to be fierce to become one of them… The fight never stopped.”

“Fight…”

Obviously, that fight would have been a brutal fight that could cost them their life. Damon was muttering his words lest she was startled. She thought the Grand Duke was crazy, but the former Grand Duke seemed especially crazy.

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The more she listened to him, the more she became dismayed.

“I was bullied, but fortunately, I was left behind in the competition between my brothers.”

“How long have you… lived in the annex?”

“Until we become one.”

Until they became one? What did that mean? Was he saying that he couldn’t go from the annex until everyone died?

“I made it so that one person remains.”

“….”

Elysia was speechless, and she lowered her gaze to the bowl.

It seemed that, at this moment, she would not be able to make eye contact with Damon. She wasn’t sure she wouldn’t scream. Elysia didn’t know what it meant to be one. It was that he slaughtered everyone from the moment he had power.

“So, I don’t have very good memories in the annex… I wanted to get out of this dark and stuffy place.”

Dark and stuffy…

Of course, both the castle and the exterior were all black, but they were subtly different. Contrary to the main castle, the outer castle had a strong underground feeling. It was shady, and a damp aura came up. So, when she first came to the annex, she thought she was headed for a dungeon.

It felt like there was no sunlight. It was even more so because there was not much light in the hallway.

Raising children in a place like this was almost like neglect. It seemed that there was no one to even take care of them. If there were adults to take care of them, there was no way they would let such fights go unchecked.

“But it’s the same when you go to the main palace.”

“Your Grace…”

“By the way, wife.”

Elysia was startled when she suddenly called her and almost jumped up.

“Yes, yes.”

“How long are you going to call me Your Grace?”

“What?”

“Didn’t you decide to call me Damon?”

Did she say she would call him Damon? She said she would try, but she never said she would call him that…

“I am…”

“Please call me with that. Did you think of calling me Your Grace even though it’s our first date today?”

…First date?

With the first date mentioned, Elysia’s mouth didn’t stop. She didn’t know that going out to buy a dress for the party turned into a date. She had never heard of such a thing. If he had said it was a date, she would never have allowed it.

“A date…? Wasn’t we just going to buy clothes and jewelry?”

Of course, she heard that there are couples who go on dates by shopping though she never expected that it would be her and she would be him.

“Yes. But it’s the wife, and I’s monumental first outing, and so also a date.”

“Your Gr… talking like that….”

She somehow shouldn’t have passed by when he mentioned that he even made a restaurant reservation. He wouldn’t go on a date with her. There was no way that a formal couple would go on a date. She was resentful as to why he kept confusing her. She wanted him to please tell her exactly what he wanted.

“Have you finished eating?”

“Yes, yes… It is, but…”

“I don’t want to be told to be strict on a first date.”

That meant he wanted her to call him by his first name right away. She didn’t know what would happen just by calling him by name that made him so persistent.

“….”

“Have a safe trip, you two.”

After the meal, as if Damon had called then, Rachel and Chloe appeared and dressed her up. She changed into outdoor clothes, and as her hair and makeup were done after a long time, she started to feel that she was really going out.

Like the first day, Elysia came to the Grand Duchy, she was greeted by servants in front of the castle gate. It was different this time as they were seeing her off.

“Wife.”

“Yes, thank you.”

She climbed into the carriage, helped by Damon, who casually held out his hand. Since she entered the Grand Duchy, she never thought that she would go out with her body intact. But now she was getting out of the castle quite intact.

“Do you like to look outside?”

“No… it’s just… I feel strange.”

If she was to leave the Great Duke’s castle, she knew that that would be the day she would run away from the Great Duke’s castle altogether.

“I’d like to open the window, but I’m afraid I’ll draw attention.”

“That’s okay.”

The Grand Duchy’s carriage stood out even from a distance. It was the inevitable size and magnitude. From his point of view, even a simple outing could have been stressful as it would attract everyone’s attention.

“I don’t like it when someone sees the wife’s face.”