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Chapter : 09
“Is that what you say in front of Gael’s grave?”
“Gael… I wanted to become family with your sister.”
Briseis wondered what he was even saying, then sighed and responded.
“You’re already family to me and Gael. We’re like siblings.”
“That’s not the kind of family I meant.”
Calisten chuckled and came closer to her. Then he gulped down rum like he was thirsty. Half of the large bottle disappeared in an instant.
“Here.”
Briseis looked at the drink he handed her and sighed.
“I have class tomorrow, you know.”
Still, she wanted to drink it badly. Maybe it was because it was Gael’s memorial day, but the death of someone she had followed loyally like family could never feel indifferent.
Impulsively, she took the drink he offered. Then she slowly drank it just like Calisten, blowing bubbles through the bottle. Normally, she wouldn’t behave so uncouthly, but now she had no energy to care.
Damien, whom she had wanted to keep dignity for, had broken their most important promise. Gael, who had felt like her real family, was dead. Even if she gave up one marriage now, another marriage arrangement would obviously continue.
She felt trapped in a maze with no way forward, walls blocking every direction.
“Ugh…”
The drink burned her throat, and she couldn’t help making a sound.
“Ugh…”
“Quiet, Cal.”
Seeing her tipsy expression, Calisten also made a sound without realizing it.
“It hurts because of your expression. You look strange.”
At his words, she handed him the bottle she had been holding. He stared at her silently.
Even though it was night, her red hair was vivid in his eyes. And her blue eyes seemed awake despite the late hour.
“Don’t touch.”
When he tucked her hair behind her ear, Briseis swatted his hand away.
“Hmph…”
Briseis groaned softly from the lingering pain from rolling down the stairs earlier.
“What’s this?”
Her small reaction made Calisten’s eyes flash as if he realized something.
“Cal!”
He roughly dropped the bottle to the floor, grabbed her wrist, and pulled up her clothing. Then he checked the bruise underneath.
“What is this?”
“Ugh… It… just…”
He ripped off her jacket roughly and looked at her seriously.
“Do you want to tell the truth, or should I see it myself?”
“What do you want to see? Are you crazy?”
“Yes. I am already crazy.”
He pulled her sleeve up further, revealing the bruise under her elbow up to her armpit.
“Cal!”
“Did the Grand Duke hit you?”
“I fell down the stairs.”
“The Grand Duke rolled you down the stairs?”
“I rolled down myself, by accident.”
“Don’t lie.”
Calisten’s eyes flashed like fire. Briseis couldn’t help but stare at him as if hypnotized.
“Be honest before I check any further.”
“I already told the truth. I really fell down the stairs…”
He kept staring at her, reading her expression without blinking.
“Damien didn’t do this.”
“Tell me honestly if the Grand Duke did this to you.”
“No. And even if he did, what does it matter to you?”
He laughed lightly at her words.
“It matters if the Grand Duke did this. Otherwise, it’s different.”
“…Cal.”
“I plan to divorce you. But if the Grand Duke hurt you like this, I will make sure you’re widowed instead.”
“You’re crazy.”
“I said I’m already crazy.”
“Stay out of my business.”
Briseis said coldly. He didn’t even blink.
“I told you. If you saved me, you’d be mine. And you’ve saved me every time since you were five.”
“That wasn’t intentional.”
“Whether it was or not, I’ve already decided. So tell the truth. Did the Grand Duke do this to you?”
Her head felt clear despite being slightly tipsy.
“If he had, I wouldn’t have let Damien go unpunished first.”
She said that and picked up her jacket from the floor.
What Calisten wanted was different from ordinary love. He was like a child wanting something he couldn’t have.
Perhaps if she fell into his hands as he wished, he might be satisfied. But he always grew tired of the things that became his possessions.
The moment she resigned herself to do as he said, he would grow bored of her. At least, that’s how Briseis felt.
Even all the events she endured to save him were schemes for him to possess her. Briseis knew this now—she was no longer a five-year-old girl.
“I really want you, Bri.”
She stayed silent, staring at him. He smiled and continued.
“Your pretty eyes, your full lips… everything.”
“Dreams are free, Cal.”
She said that, sighed, and turned her body first. He followed her. She glanced at him as he followed to the carriage, pretending to be polite, then got in.
“My dream will be fulfilled with you too, you know?”
She didn’t answer, but he seemed satisfied and closed the carriage door.
Briseis tried to tidy her messy hair and headed toward the Grand Duke’s mansion.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Kyaa!”
Briseis frowned as soon as she returned to the mansion. She was already in a bad mood, made worse by Damien and Delilah.
“Damien! W-wait! Put me down!”
“Then say you love me.”
“Ah… well….”
Damien lifted Delilah’s waist and spun her around in front of the main entrance, laughing. He spun her so fast that her skirt fully flared.
Delilah was wearing Briseis’s clothes.
“Isn’t that my dress?”
Both of them looked at her at once.
“Did you have to wear the dress my mother gave me?”
Briseis felt strange seeing Delilah in a dress her mother had specially made for her wedding, which never had a reception. Damien had skipped the reception to spend time with her instead.
“Then it’s fine. Delilah looks better in it than Bri ever would.”
He slowly put Delilah down. The dress was a little big on her, with some parts cut or stretched oddly. Briseis’s curvy figure was more pronounced; Delilah was more elegant, so the dress looked slightly large on her.
“Enough.”
Briseis didn’t want to say more and tried to enter her room.
“Bri.”
Damien grabbed her arm and spun her around.
“Did you drink?”
“Yes, but…”
“How dare you drink outside at night without your husband’s permission? And you didn’t attend the celebration either?”
“I told you not to attend the celebration, Damien.”
Damien looked at her angrily. He noticed the worn button on her sleeve and some sticky glue on her skirt and stockings.
“Have you been having secret meetings behind my back?”
“What?”
“I wonder if you’re still pure.”
“Do you really think someone who has kissed another woman can question me about that?”
“I am your husband. Men having mistresses is common.”
She felt exhausted arguing with him over and over.
“Jeron.”
Damien called his servant.
“Yes, master.”
“I must check if Bri is pure. Bring a doctor.”
“What?”
Briseis clenched her fists, unwilling to cooperate.
“Do you think I would go along with this?”
“Why not? Were you with some man while I was away at war?”
“You’re really crazy.”
“Yes. If it’s not the first time for a woman, it shows. So we must check today.”
“And if I’m not pure? Will you divorce me?”
“Of course not. You are still my wife. But…”
He came close, looking down at her and sneered.
“I wonder what will happen to your dirty lover. And if you’re not pure, you won’t leave this room until you have a child.”
Delilah gasped, covering her mouth, pretending to be shocked. Her expression behind Damien was visible only to Briseis.
“Follow me. I must test you myself.”
“Let go!”
Damien roughly led Briseis up the stairs to the third-floor bedroom.
“Your Highness! A g-guest…!”
As they argued going upstairs, the servant quickly approached.
“Say we’re busy. And hurry with the doctor…”
“Dare to refuse me?”
The only person allowed to enter without permission was the Crown Prince.
“Crown Prince?”
Damien looked surprised. Calisten stared silently at Briseis’s arm, as if he had confirmed something.
“Today is Gael’s memorial, and even on such a day, you strike your wife?”
He said it, glaring at Damien like a predator.
