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Episode 111
A Married Couple’s Duty
The desire in Johan’s gaze was utterly blatant. My face flushed bright red.
“Suddenly?”
“I wouldn’t call it sudden.”
Johan smirked, raising the corner of his mouth.
“Think about how long we’ve been married.”
“……”
“It’s time we did what married couples do. Don’t you agree, my wife?”
What married couples do.
“It’s not like we’re on bad terms, either.”
His meaning was perfectly clear. Johan’s hand, carrying a subtle yet palpable desire, brushed my shoulder and then slowly trailed down my spine.
Even through my clothes, the sensation from his touch was vivid.
Every single hair on my body stood on end. His handsome face seemed more tempting than ever today. If I let my guard down even a little, I felt I might be utterly bewitched.
“As you are now fully aware, the Blanchett Ducal house currently has no extended family. That makes our role even more important.”
I had thought this day would come eventually, but I never imagined it would be right now.
‘This… this is too sudden.’
His fingertips, firm yet delicate as if handling a priceless work of art, caressed the small of my back. Without realizing it, my breath quickened.
“Of course, all that is unimportant.”
“Then?”
“I want you.”
Johan’s red eyes stared at me without a single blink. Under that sharp gaze, I felt as if everything about me was being laid bare. Johan whispered in a low, hushed voice.
“Do you want me?”
“I—”
My voice caught in my throat. I nervously fiddled with the edge of the blanket, trying to calm down, but my hands were tense.
“I… want you too.”
I want you.
I like you. I love you.
‘I wish your hands wouldn’t stop.’
My back, where his touch lingered, twitched with a strange sensation. He knew I was tense, and I knew it too. I couldn’t even hide my body’s reactions.
Mwah.
His lips brushed against mine so lightly it was ticklish.
“Don’t say it.”
Johan, meeting my eyes, smiled, the corners of his eyes curving softly.
“You don’t need to say any more.”
“…Need to say what?”
“Do you still have hesitation in your heart?”
Johan’s forehead touched mine. The hands that had been stroking my waistline moved to cup my cheeks, and he gazed into my pupils.
His long eyelashes and sharp eyes drew a little closer.
When I first saw them, I was afraid of Johan’s eyes.
The eyes of a predator.
They were the cruel eyes of a hunter who never lets its prey escape.
I felt that if I showed even the slightest weakness, I would be torn to shreds.
Johan was still the same now. No matter how much he loved me, his essence was that of a cold, rational man.
Lying to Johan was useless.
I looked up at him intently and spoke.
“You’re right.”
“What are you afraid of?”
His gaze was arrogant and confident, as if declaring he would erase all my fears. It was the self-assurance of someone who had seized everything for himself and emerged victorious.
I looked at him and gave a faint smile.
“It feels like I don’t deserve it.”
“Don’t tell me it’s because of the illness?”
That was a reply I hadn’t expected at all. But Johan seemed to interpret my fluster as having been caught.
“So it is because of the Sleeping Princess.”
‘…But I’m completely over that.’
In reality, since then, I rarely experienced prolonged sleep anymore.
‘Should I tell him I’m fully recovered now?’
I didn’t want to lie to Johan anymore.
But the falsehoods I had feigned ignorance of in the past were now blocking my words. I mocked myself inwardly.
‘Even if Johan heard everything, would he still look at you the same as before?’
This was different from the abuse in Libertan.
Even if Johan no longer sought revenge on me, it was the same.
‘There would be no more trust left between us.’
[The beautiful monster ended up killing his bride.]
I recalled The Beautiful Monster, the book I never finished reading.
The monster killed his bride, yet could not let go of his feelings for her, endlessly craving her affection.
[Why was I born a monster? It’s not like I chose to be born this way.]
[But that doesn’t change the fact that you are a monster, does it? You are a monster.]
[Then what was I supposed to do? If you’re born a monster, does that mean you don’t deserve to be loved by anyone?]
[You should have at least told me you were a monster!]
[Then would you have loved me?]
Of course, the dead woman offered no answer to that. The dead, by nature, say nothing.
Johan promised me in a tender, subdued voice.
“Don’t worry about the illness, or any other problem.”
“How can I not?”
“It’s fine. I’ll take care of everything.”
Johan let out a soft laugh and drew his body closer.
“You just need to think about your own feelings.”
Between the parted fabric of my undone top, I could see his well-defined collarbone and firm muscles. The memory of his stimulating physique I’d seen before surfaced, making my cheeks burn again.
But I didn’t avoid his eyes and spoke as calmly as I could.
“What if I have no idea what my own feelings are? What will you do then?”
Johan let out a short laugh.
“So it’s true that you haven’t fully decided yet.”
“Why do you think that?”
“If you were sure, you wouldn’t be able to doubt any further.”
Somehow, it was a statement I had never anticipated coming from Johan.
“If that’s how your heart is, then I’ll just have to try harder.”
“Even though Johan has already tried his best?”
“You already love me, don’t you?”
Johan slowly sat up, crossing his legs.
“All I need to do is make you certain. What’s so hard about that?”
His tone was playful, as if to be considerate of me.
“Just fall for me, and I’ll make it so you can’t escape.”
The more Johan showed his desire and consideration for me, the more I felt like I was sinking into a quagmire.
‘Should I have bared everything to Johan from the start?’
Should I have taken that risk with a man who only saw me as an object of revenge?
‘I probably couldn’t have done it.’
The Johan now was different from the Johan back then.
‘Because the Johan now… values me, at least a little.’
But even if he learned the truth—the truth that I had deceived him from the very beginning—would he still value me?
After all, Johan had already achieved his original goal of revenge.
Conversely, I, as a person, had no use. If Johan’s heart were to leave, I wouldn’t even be able to stay in this position.
‘Why am I so complicated?’
I thought I loved Johan, yet here I was, calculating and weighing things about him. I found myself disgusting and disillusioning, but I couldn’t help but reconsider and judge.
“No. There’s no need for that.”
I forcibly turned my mind away from such thoughts.
“Today, I was just flustered because the situation was so unexpected.”
“Then?”
“I like you too, Johan.”
I pulled the seated Johan into a hug and gave his cheek a quick peck.
“After the trial is over, I want to become your true wife.”
Johan froze for a moment, looking dazed. He blinked slowly a few times, his lips parting and closing. Then he pulled my face to his and kissed me deeply.
Our breaths mingled.
He devoured me voraciously, as if trying to steal my very breath, before finally pulling away.
“I need to finish this trial right away.”
The Empress didn’t wait long and secretly sent me an invitation.
‘I knew this would happen.’
How anxious must she have been, having an opponent who holds her weakness, just staying quiet? As it was a secret summons, I was only given the location and set off alone.
‘Shouldn’t I accompany you? We don’t know what tricks the Empress might have prepared in the palace.’
‘But having an overt escort might feel like a threat to the Empress.’
After much deliberation, it was decided that Betty would secretly follow at a distance to guard me.
Near the entrance to the Empress’s palace was a sacred garden. It was a garden decorated with statues of the god Athea.
‘Cardinal Simon?’
In front of one of the statues, Cardinal Simon was offering a prayer.
‘He’d be troublesome to deal with, so let’s pretend I didn’t see him and pass by.’
I tried to turn away nonchalantly, but Cardinal Simon, who had opened his eyes, called out to me.
“What brings the Duchess Blanchett here?”
“I’m just passing through on some business.”
“Business at the Imperial Palace… I see.”
Behind Cardinal Simon, I saw a black light. Looking closer, it wasn’t coming from him, but rather, it was emanating from inside the statue.
‘What is that?’
It was something I’d never seen before, so I tilted my head in confusion. The Cardinal seemed to have interpreted my gesture differently.
“Duchess Blanchett, do you believe in the god Athea?”
“Yes.”
Like all Imperial citizens, I was technically a follower of Athea. Believing was a separate matter.
“Then why do you seek to reject the Saintess?”
“Wasn’t it the Saintess who rejected me first?”
“Do you not think that perhaps the Saintess intervened because you have some problem, Duchess?”
Cardinal Simon asked me with an expressionless face. I thought he was just trying to frame me as the villain again as usual, but somehow his face seemed strange.
‘Why does he look so uneasy?’
Looking closely, his hands, hanging down beneath his long priestly robes, were clenched into fists and trembling. Finding it intriguing, I looked into his eyes and asked.
“Do you truly believe that?”
“Are you suggesting I distrust the Saintess?”
“You would know that answer best, Cardinal Simon. What would I know?”
Cardinal Simon pressed his lips tightly together. The black light within the statue grew darker. I walked past Cardinal Simon and approached the statue.
‘If you see something black, investigate it. It might be related to your curse.’
If this was related to the curse, it might be better to deal with it in front of a Cardinal who could use divine power.
Cardinal Simon, who had been silently watching me, asked.
“What are you trying to do right n—”
“But if there’s one thing I want to ask.”
Instead of turning to look at Cardinal Simon, I kept my eyes fixed on the black light within the statue.
“Cardinal Simon, do you believe in the Saintess, or in the god Athea?”
“Why would you ask such a thing sudd—”
“Because I see something strange.”
I poked the statue’s chest area with my index finger.
Crumble—
The black light in the statue faded and it shattered. Where it broke, a strange symbol was left behind.
‘This… I think I saw this in the barrier where the Crown Prince was.’
“…This is impossible.”
Cardinal Simon, his face pale, asked me.
“Why, why would such an unholy thing be in the statue of Lord Athea…?”
“I don’t know either. I just touched it because I saw something strange.”
Cardinal Simon, breathing heavily, asked.
“Was this not your doing, Duchess Blanchett?”
“Wasn’t it you, Cardinal Simon, who was standing in front of this statue?”
“But…”
Cardinal Simon couldn’t offer any further excuse. He was a suspicious and intelligent man. It seemed he himself was confused.
“Think whatever you wish.”
I left the Cardinal, who had slumped down in shock, and headed towards the Empress’s palace.
‘At this rate, I’m going to be late and all hell will break loose.’
Cardinal Simon stared blankly at the spot where Estelle had disappeared. Something utterly unbelievable had just happened.
‘An unholy object emerged from the statue of Athea?’
All statues of Athea are manufactured in the Holy Kingdom. There was no possibility of a defective product being imported, especially not for the Imperial Palace garden.
‘And then, that sight just now.’
Estelle touching the Athea statue.
As Estelle looked down at the crumbling statue with a pessimistic air, he felt a sense of nobility and even divine power from her.
‘Why does she feel like the Saintess?’
It was even stranger because it felt comparable to the divine power he had sensed from Saintess Stella.
‘It can’t be…’
But an undeniable truth was etched in his mind. Regardless of whether Estelle was the Saintess or not, one thing was clear.
Saintess Stella was strange.
The Holy Emperor, who surrounded himself with Stella, was the same. Their actions did not align with doctrine.
‘While the one rumored to be a villainess, the Duchess Blanchett…’
Simon looked down at the Athea statue with tormented eyes. Fortunately, or unfortunately, only the face of the shattered statue remained intact.
It was truly bizarre.
The Athea statues typically have a stern expression to express the god’s dignity. But the shattered statue lying on the ground seemed to be smiling.
As if cheering Simon on his path.
The Empress looked at the Duchess Blanchett.
‘What is she scheming?’
A villainess trailed by all sorts of evil rumors. A foolish adopted child, only pretty on the outside. Although other assessments followed her now, one thing was certain.
Everyone was watching this woman.
‘What new weapon is she going to use to threaten me with…?’
The Empress, who was not originally skilled in mind games, gritted her teeth and spoke.
“I can stop the Crown Prince on my end, but I cannot stop the Purification Ritual Masquerade itself. I’m trying to scale it down as much as poss—”
“There’s no need for that.”
Estelle smiled brightly.
“I’d like you to make the masquerade even bigger and more splendid. So that everyone can attend and witness the Saintess’s greatness.”
It was a response the Empress had not anticipated.
‘If the Saintess’s reputation rises, wouldn’t the Duchess Blanchett be in trouble?’
Estelle just smiled sweetly, looking at the Empress.
‘What is her scheme?’
The Empress would never be able to figure out Estelle’s true intentions.
From the beginning, Estelle’s goal was not the Saintess’s rapid downfall.
‘After all, the one who cursed me might be Saintess Stella.’
If that were the case, then there was only one thing for Estelle to do now. Make Saintess Stella shine even brighter, so that she would commit more reckless acts.
“Your Majesty, the Empress, simply needs to help the Saintess perform the Purification Ritual successfully.”
The next day, the Purification Ritual officially began.
