🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 26
“You—!”
Merchelli realized what Esselian meant.
He’d been found out.
Instinctively, he cast an anxious glance at Naiven, who was watching them.
“Don’t tell me…!”
Contrary to Merchelli’s expectation, the gun barrel was lowered.
Those red eyes that had always made him uneasy swept over Merchelli from head to toe.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know? That you dared to covet the Grand Duchess.”
Merchelli, too, adjusted his grip on his gun.
“It would be better not to deny it. Unfortunately for you, the mercenary you hired spilled everything.”
“……”
“You didn’t even have the decency to cut out his tongue. It’s not hard to guess whose bright idea it was to assume he’d never get caught.”
They had failed to kidnap Princess Titiana on the wedding day.
Missing such a perfect opportunity was entirely Merchelli’s fault.
Naiven had been cautious.
Merchelli was certain that if he followed Naiven’s advice, he would never get his hands on the antidote.
Growing impatient, he told the mercenary that the plan had changed.
That was how everything went wrong.
“Still, I decided to let you live. At least that much, for the sake of family.”
But you see—
Esselian dragged out his words and smiled lazily.
Merchelli swallowed without meaning to.
“A viper, you were. Where did you get the damned nerve to bring something like that?”
“What?”
“Someone foolish like you—anyone will do. I’m simply returning the favor. I can’t rest unless I give back what I’ve received.”
Esselian looked at Merchelli, who stood frozen in place, with a gaze full of contempt.
Even when he motioned for him to go forward, Merchelli didn’t move.
Esselian raised the gun again.
Click.
The sound of the chamber being loaded echoed quietly through the forest.
“Run.”
“Esselian…!”
“If you’re still alive by the time I run out of bullets, I’ll let you go. While I’m giving you the chance—run.”
“H-Hey, you…!”
What kind of gift was that supposed to be?!
About to protest, Merchelli caught sight of Esselian’s finger on the trigger and hastily turned away.
Merchelli had a gun in his hand as well, but he knew.
Esselian was far superior to him. And if they pulled the triggers at the same time, the outcome was obvious without even seeing it.
Merchelli tried to run.
He would have—if, at that utterly unexpected moment, the Grand Duchess hadn’t appeared.
“Your Highness!”
Bang—!
Silence fell in an instant.
Flap.
The sound of a bird taking flight drifted in from afar.
Esselian raised his brows and looked at the suddenly appearing Grand Duchess.
Her eyes were wide with shock.
Her reddened, stiff fingers were gripping a basket tightly.
“Damn it…”
Esselian noticed the Grand Duchess just as he was about to pull the trigger.
At the sight of the familiar face appearing out of nowhere, he muttered a curse and hastily twisted the muzzle aside.
The fired bullet buried itself in a tree completely unrelated to them.
It seemed the nearby game had fled.
A rustling sound cut through the heavy silence.
The Grand Duchess looked at the rigid Merchelli, the tree and Esselian, and then toward the place where the animal noises had come from.
Then she looked back at Esselian.
Esselian couldn’t read the meaning of her gaze.
For some reason, it looked almost like pity.
“Th-That startled me…”
Shuwen pressed a hand to her wildly pounding chest.
She’d come to bring snacks and nearly had a heart attack.
For a brief moment, she’d thought Esselian had fired the gun in her direction.
But in the blink of an eye, the bullet had gone somewhere far from her.
Shuwen alternated her gaze between the rustling spot and the tree Esselian had shot.
“Well, I guess he might just not be good at shooting. The original story never said he was good at it, either.”
There hadn’t even been a hunting episode.
Someone could wield a sword well and still be terrible with a gun. Unexpected, maybe, but not strange.
Merchelli wiped his face with a pale hand.
With one hand, Shuwen patted her chest, calming her startled heart—and the rabbit.
“Madam.”
“I thought you might be hungry, so I brought some snacks.”
Let’s pretend we didn’t see anything.
How embarrassing would this be otherwise?
Shuwen approached, lifting the basket with a smile.
It was the kind of survival smile meant to avoid being chased away.
“But there doesn’t seem to be a proper place here to—”
As Shuwen looked around and then back at Esselian, she saw his face tightly drawn.
“You startled me by appearing so suddenly, Madam. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m fine. I was startled, but only a little.”
Unlike Shuwen, Esselian didn’t look fine at all.
“This is awkward… Should I acknowledge it?”
Esselian was a man who lacked nothing.
He had led countless wars to victory.
Even in Shuwen’s mind, there was an unfounded belief that he must be good at everything.
“That’s a prejudice, really.”
“I heard Your Highness had sent for me, so I came for a walk.”
And to earn some points, too.
Shuwen swallowed her true intentions.
A hand clad in black leather gloves swept back his snow-white hair.
It was a sharp, irritated gesture.
Shuwen thought, He’s really in a foul mood.
Well, it couldn’t be helped. She’d soothe him.
“Um, Your Highness, this might sound silly coming from me, but… it’s okay.”
Esselian gave her a look asking what she meant.
“I was going to pretend I didn’t notice, but you seem bothered by it.”
“By what, exactly?”
“Even if your shooting is terrible—or, well… just a bit lacking—it’s really okay.”
Esselian had grown up fed on the expectations of the people of Ranied.
Naturally, he must have felt a strong compulsion to excel at everything.
In The Cure for the Mad Duke, which was told from the heroine’s perspective, Esselian’s point of view never appeared—but it wasn’t hard to infer.
“Especially with me, you don’t have to feel embarrassed at all. I’m bad at things too—and we’re married now!”
Even if it was only a six-month contract.
“Hah.”
Haha.
Esselian laughed, genuinely dumbfounded.
No need to be ashamed even if his shooting was bad?
What on earth was inside that head of hers?
Even when an unsharpened dagger had stabbed his arm without hurting him, the Grand Duchess had behaved in ways he couldn’t understand.
Thinking of how she had screamed his name loudly enough to rupture eardrums, Esselian couldn’t stop laughing.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to let her keep thinking whatever she wanted.
If he told her the truth—that the bullet should have gone into Merchelli, not the tree, and that because she’d appeared so suddenly he’d nearly blown her head off—he could easily imagine her reaction.
Compared to that…
“Only close relatives knew…”
Esselian touched the curve of his smiling lips.
He forcibly stopped laughing.
“It’s embarrassing, having the Madam find out.”
Reassuring his timid, mouse-hearted wife would probably be less troublesome in the long run.
And his mood wasn’t entirely bad, either.
“No, really, there’s no need! You’re a warrior who’s led countless wars to victory. You only need to be good at one thing!”
It was almost funny. Knowing all that, yet assuming his shooting was poor.
Esselian suddenly found himself wanting to pry open that head of hers and see what was inside.
Even a lack of awareness like that bordered on illness.
When Esselian finally burst out laughing, Shuwen laughed along with him, not even knowing why.
Then she shook the basket she’d brought again.
“Let’s eat together. I made it myself!”
A little distance away, there was a bench.
Perhaps it was maintained regularly; the outdoor table and bench were spotless, without a speck of dust or moisture.
Sophie opened the basket and took out the food one by one.
“Did you make all of this yourself, Madam?”
“Yes. Will helped me.”
In truth, Will had made everything, but Shuwen shut her eyes and lied.
Since she’d already coordinated the story with Will before leaving the kitchen, she felt no guilt.
Esselian picked up a piece of sandwich and brought it to Shuwen’s mouth.
Caught off guard, Shuwen accepted it—and a moment later realized his intention.
“Did he make me taste it because he’s worried it’s poisoned?”
Just like with the peaches—using people as royal tasters.
Narrowing her eyes, Shuwen deliberately ate the entire sandwich in front of Esselian.
“Ah, I’m full… I can’t eat anymore.”
Sophie looked back and forth between Esselian and Shuwen, clearly brimming with things to say.
Shuwen sipped the tea Sophie poured for her, warming her cold hands.
Noticing Merchelli and Naiven looking uneasy, Shuwen casually offered them tea as well.
Whatever the case, they were Esselian’s relatives.
That they were on bad terms with him was just Shuwen’s assumption; it might not be that bad.
After all, they’d come hunting together.
“It’s warm. Please warm your hands.”
“……”
Merchelli’s lips twitched.
But no words came out.
If the Grand Duchess hadn’t appeared, Merchelli would have become the madman’s prey.
White breath shattered in the air.
Shuwen paid Merchelli little attention.
“Did Merchelli and Naiven have a fight?”
That was all she thought as she looked at Merchelli’s deathly pale face.
Surely he hadn’t argued with Esselian?
“For some reason, that’s hard to imagine.”
Soon, Shuwen withdrew even that small curiosity.
“Please eat. It’s not poisoned.”
When she glanced at Esselian, he hadn’t taken a single bite of his sandwich.
The moment her words ended, his reply came as if he’d been waiting.
“I wasn’t suspecting you. I gave it to you because I thought you’d enjoy it.”
Shuwen didn’t believe him.
“With so little trust in me, how are we supposed to live together for six months?”
“This is bleak. Really bleak…”
Under Shuwen’s questioning gaze, Esselian had no choice but to take a bite of the sandwich.
“Will’s cooking.”
He wasn’t a gourmet.
He ate only enough to survive, and to him, all food tasted the same.
He’d eaten Will’s cooking since childhood—there was no mistaking it.
“It seems there’s nothing you’re bad at, Madam.”
“Haha…”
Seeing her look embarrassed by the compliment, Esselian felt like laughing again.
Barely holding it back, he asked,
“Who was the admirable person who told you we were in the forest, Madam? Thanks to them, I was able to taste something you made with your own hands. Shouldn’t they receive a reward?”
