WDTD 05

Chapter 5

“Maybe I lost my mind last night. I can’t believe I dared hand you divorce papers. You were right. I wanted your attention. But I realized that methods like that would only earn your hatred, so I waited desperately for dawn to come. I wanted to apologize to you.”

I completely threw away my pride and begged for forgiveness like a brainless woman.

“So that’s why you came here?”

“I wanted to feed you something delicious and earn your forgiveness.”

Smiling brightly, I held out the lunchbox full of food that had gone bad after spending the entire day searching for Demon.

The moment I opened the lid, the smell of rotten food spread everywhere.

“Put it away.”

“At least take one bite.”

With a desperate expression, I pushed the food right under Demon’s nose.

“If you eat it, then I’ll eat it too. Or perhaps… should I feed you myself?”

“…I get motion sickness from carriages, so my stomach already feels terrible. And after seeing a pack of wolves today, I’ve been frightened enough for a lifetime. Ugh!”

In the end, I slammed the lid shut and covered my mouth, fighting nausea.

After glaring at me in extreme displeasure, Demon finally spoke.

“You saved His Highness Valentine, so I won’t say anything more. Return to the estate immediately.”

“At this hour? I’m scared.”

Honestly, being with Demon was far scarier.

He seemed to have realized I was scheming something strange. But I needed him to mistreat me in front of Valentine.

And I also needed to find out what exactly was happening here.

“I’ll assign knights to escort you. Go back.”

After speaking coldly, Demon turned away.

At that moment, Valentine approached while leaning on crutches.

“The physician said I avoided serious injury thanks to Lady Craig. I’ll have your scarf washed and returned.”

“It is only because the Goddess is watching over Your Highness. Then I shall take my leave now.”

Even though I had stubbornly intended to stay no matter how much Demon tried to chase me away, I suddenly rose weakly to my feet instead.

“Where are you planning to go at this hour?”

“Because I mustn’t interfere with my husband’s work. I’m already sure he sees me as burdensome enough.”

Completely immersed in the role of a pitiful woman, I spoke with tears trembling in my eyes.

Looking at me, Valentine seemed heartbroken with sympathy.

“Baron Craig. There are proper manners between husband and wife. How can you ask the Baroness to return alone this late at night when wolves may appear again?”

“Your Highness, my husband is not at fault. I came here without permission and spent all day wandering around searching for him, only to bring spoiled food.”

“But that means the Baroness herself hasn’t eaten either. I think it would be best if we all shared dinner together before you return with the Baron. What do you think, Baron Craig?”

Demon glared at me as though he wanted to tear out my throat before growling,

“As Your Highness commands.”

The instant he finished speaking, I wiped away my tears and beamed brightly.

“Really? Is that truly alright? Oh, how wonderful! Demon, eating dinner together with you feels like a dream. Since our marriage, I think we’ve only shared dinner together twice. Ah, no, since you walked out in the middle of one meal, this will actually be our third time.”

Clasping my hands together, I rejoiced like a child.

Seeing that, both men frowned for entirely different reasons.

“Ahh, this is fun. So fun. Teasing Demon so much makes me feel completely refreshed.”

After dinner—and wine—I became pleasantly drunk.

Then heavy rain began pouring down, and Valentine insisted it was too dangerous to descend the mountain at night.

Following his advice, I decided to spend the night in Demon’s room.

The spacious bedroom was filled with furniture showing signs of long use.

It seemed Demon usually stayed here whenever he spent nights away from home.

If that was true, then this place was undoubtedly very important.

“Milady, there were no nightclothes available, so I brought one of the master’s tunics.”

After my bath, Miranda handed me one of Demon’s tunics.

Even though it had clearly been washed and dried thoroughly, the faint scent of musk that belonged to Demon still lingered on it.

Suppressing the strange fluttering in my chest, I removed my robe and changed into the tunic.

It had sleeves, but they were so long the cuffs drooped all the way down near my waist. The tunic itself was enormous, brushing my feet and dragging across the floor.

On Demon’s tall, sturdy frame, it would probably only reach his knees. But on me, it looked like I was wearing a potato sack.

“There don’t seem to be any maids here. Only male servants, right?”

“That’s right. And every one of them looks terrifying. I went to ask the laundry servant for the master’s tunic, and I was so frightened I thought I’d die before I could even speak.”

“As expected, this place is suspicious.”

What exactly was Demon plotting in this secret place hidden deep in the forest?

The original novel had never explained it in detail, so I couldn’t even guess properly.

“By the way, tonight is officially the first night you and the master will share a room as husband and wife. But there’s nothing here to help you dress up. What should we do?”

“Share a room?”

Pfft!

I burst out laughing.

There wasn’t only one room here. There was no way Demon would sleep in the same room as me.

Honestly, that was a relief. I had absolutely no desire to be held by a man who didn’t even like me.

“Miranda, don’t worry about anything and go rest. Which room were you assigned?”

“The room right next to the entrance. I didn’t know that and accidentally went down toward the basement, thinking the servants’ quarters might be there. The guards scolded me terribly.”

So they were hiding something important in the basement.

“You’ve worked hard today, Miranda. Go get some rest.”

“Yes, Milady. I hope you have a pleasant and comfortable night.”

Apparently embarrassed for mentioning their wedding night, Miranda bowed and hurried out of the room.

Watching her leave, I smiled bitterly.

It had already been two whole years since I married Demon.

If even the maids pitied the fact that we had never spent a single night together—not even our wedding night—then I truly was nothing more than a Baroness in name only.

‘This isn’t my fault. It’s Demon’s. What’s the point of him looking perfect on the outside?’

I had never seen him naked, but there was a nude statue of Demon standing right in the middle of the mansion garden.

I genuinely couldn’t understand why anyone would create such a thing.

Anyway, the statue got showered daily beneath the fountain water.

Even more ridiculous was the fact that the sculptor had carved him with absurdly oversized pride… yet it was apparently completely useless.

No matter how important revenge was, if you were human—if you were a man—

No. Better not think about it.

Shaking my head, I took out the bread and cheese I had secretly wrapped in a handkerchief during dinner.

Then I began searching around for a mouse hole.

“There it is.”

After spotting a tiny hole barely large enough for a mouse, I crouched down and called softly.

[If you want bread and cheese, come out quickly. Only the first mouse gets to eat.]

A moment later, a tiny mouse poked its head out.

[Squeak. Are you hiding a broom? Or a club? Squeak.]

Apparently the mice had once stolen cheese from the kitchen and gotten beaten badly with brooms.

Tempted by the delicious smell, the mouse kept sticking its head out and pulling it back in without fully emerging.

[There’s no broom or club. Look. I only have bread and cheese.]

[You’re really just giving food? Squeak. Impossible. Squeak squeak.]

[I need information about this place. Tell me—what’s in the basement?]

I tempted the mouse with a small bread crumb.

Unable to resist the buttery scent, the mouse darted out instantly.

But just as it tried to carry the bread back inside, it got bounced right out of the mouse hole.

Apparently many other mice had already gathered inside.

Realizing it had competitors, the mouse hid behind me while nibbling bread and chattering away.

[There’s no food there. Squeak. Only stones everywhere. Hard stones. Squeak. They break your teeth.]

“Stones? Pebbles? Or stones like these?”

I took off a jeweled earring and held it out.

[No. Warm stones. Hot stones. They break your teeth.]

I couldn’t understand what it meant at all.

[Hot stones? Were they heated by fire?]

[Give food. Squeak. Fire flashes. Burns whiskers. Squeak.]

Unlike the wolves, the mouse rambled in incomprehensible nonsense while stealing cheese from my hand.

Then more mice burst out from the hole, and a full-scale cheese war erupted.

“Eek!”

One mouse was manageable, but once a swarm appeared, they became disgusting.

[Go away already! And don’t come back! Hurry, go! Where’s the broom?!]

The moment I shouted, the mice vanished back into the hole instantly.

Washing my hands at the portable basin, I tilted my head thoughtfully.

“Hot stones underground…? Don’t tell me… magic stones!”

Demon was originally the son of the prestigious Count Rochen family, but after Duke Racton exterminated his family, he had hidden himself as the adopted son of Baron Craig.

The infamous madman Baron Craig lived in marshlands filled with crocodiles, but in truth he had been a great archmage who abandoned worldly life.

That was why Demon could use magic and sorcery and even craft magical tools himself.

There was probably a mine nearby producing magic stones.

He was likely using them to create magical artifacts or conduct alchemy experiments.

After analyzing both the original story and the current situation, I finally felt like I roughly understood what was happening here.

“That’s some incredible information I obtained.”

In high spirits, I flopped onto the bed.

Even the soft mattress and blankets carried Demon’s scent faintly.

Maybe that was why it almost felt like I was being embraced by him.

Even though he hated me.

Even though now… I hated him too.

It felt strange.

Time passed before I realized it, and I drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Then—

Creak.

The door opened.

Even though the candles still burned, the room suddenly felt ominous, as though black storm clouds had rolled in.

Startled awake, I snapped my eyes open.

As my blurry vision cleared, Demon strode toward the bed, completely filling my sight.

Three buttons of his shirt were undone, and his golden eyes burned dangerously as he stared down at me.

I trembled like a fish struck by a harpoon.

‘Eek! Why is he here?’

Startled, I hurriedly sat upright on the bed.

“Clarissa. How exactly do you plan to deal with the consequences of this?”

Demon growled.

He had probably gotten scolded by Valentine.

But why was my heart pounding so violently?

Perhaps because the original owner of this body had loved Demon far too deeply.

The scent of wine clung heavily to his breath.

Unlike me, who had entered the room earlier, Demon had stayed behind drinking more wine with Valentine and now seemed drunk.

His skin was pale enough to seem translucent, framed by dark lashes, a sculpted nose bridge, and red lips.

Terrifyingly handsome, Demon climbed onto the bed to intimidate me.

“Did you really think you’d be safe after provoking me like this?”