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Chapter 3
“…Then why did you marry me?”
I didn’t believe that ridiculous story about love at first sight. But at least he must have had some affection for me, right? Otherwise, why would he have proposed?
I looked up at Killian with confused eyes. He rubbed his temple and let out a shallow sigh.
“I hope you don’t misunderstand. Just as I wrote in the letter, it’s only that I was better than Baron Campbell.”
I had no idea what he meant. Frowning, I waited, and Killian spoke with a tone that carried irritation.
“Why Baron Campbell? Out of all the men in the Empire, why him of all people?”
He turned his head and gritted his teeth, as if to suppress his anger.
“How could I stand by and watch you marry a greedy, old man?”
It sounded like he wanted to prevent my marriage to Baron Campbell, but… why should it matter to him who I marry? He said he didn’t even like me.
“…Do you pity me?”
He couldn’t bring himself to meet my eyes, and I saw that he wouldn’t say it aloud.
“Hah.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Marriage had only ever been my way to escape Ramirez, yet somewhere along the way, preparing to marry Killian, I had allowed myself to hope.
Maybe… we could even be a normal couple.
My chest tightened painfully.
A child born to a marquis and a commoner.
A half-noble.
A girl with a prickly personality who was rejected wherever she went, no matter whose name she used, and who no one would ever propose to.
Yes, my background was enough to elicit pity.
Killian had helped me before when I was in trouble, so maybe he just wanted to help one unfortunate woman and maintain a good relationship with the marquis.
Just like the marquis had planned to use me as leverage with Killian.
“Then you should have said that from the start.”
Why pretend to like me? I had misunderstood and hoped foolishly, only to be disappointed.
Biting my lip in misery, Killian spoke in a serious voice, making a promise.
“I’ll try. Even if I can’t be a true husband, I can at least be family.”
I was speechless.
His attitude had completely changed as soon as we came to the North, and he expected me to believe those words?
My married life began falling apart that very day.
Arguing on the wedding night and sleeping in separate rooms was just the beginning. By the next morning, Killian had left the duke’s castle.
I couldn’t hold back my shock and questioned the butler.
“The duke… where, where has he gone?”
“To the Black Lands, madam. He departed for the Black Lands.”
The duke’s castle, facing the Black Lands across the vast plains, became vulnerable to monster attacks once Killian left. Most of his troops had followed him, so it was inevitable.
And in such a place, Killian left me alone.
From the very first day of our marriage… for a whole month!
I should have realized back when he was spouting nonsense in letters. His promise to “be family” had been a bold-faced lie.
A month was plenty of time to confirm that Killian didn’t like me.
Soon after he departed, the Ramirez servants who had come with me to the North gradually returned to the capital.
“My father is ill!”
“My younger sibling is in critical condition.”
“The dog I raised…”
They offered unimaginative excuses, one after another.
Even though I had come to the North on my own, in everyone else’s eyes, I was abandoned.
By Ramirez, by Killian—no one welcomed a duke’s consort born of humble origins.
“Here, I’m still a burden.”
At least, it was better than being at Ramirez. I wasn’t constantly hit, locked up, or starved.
And so, I spent a year living in the duke’s castle after leaving Ramirez.
If only…
If I could live exactly like this, I wouldn’t ask for more.
“You bastard!”
A wind? An affair?
Unable to control my anger, my breaths grew harsh.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. I stomped deliberately, storming over to open it roughly. A maid I had never seen before stood there.
“I told you not to call me until I came out myself, didn’t I?”
“I’m sorry!”
The maid bowed politely and continued speaking.
“I had no choice; it was by order of His Grace, the Duke.”
“Order?”
“He said he wanted to have dinner with you… so I had to bring you.”
There was no way I would have dinner in this mood. I flatly refused.
“Tell him I won’t go.”
“Your Grace, but…”
I sighed involuntarily.
Killian, who had publicly spread rumors of his infidelity, wanted to have dinner with me. And the maid, empowered by the duke, ignored my refusal.
“Shameless, both of you.”
“Huh?”
The maid blinked, startled. I ignored her and slammed the door shut.
No, I had tried.
“Ah!”
If she hadn’t slipped her hand into the door…
“Are you crazy?”
Startled, I opened the door again, only to find her hand swollen and red. Tears had begun forming in her eyes.
Panicked, I grabbed the teapot from the table and poured cold water over her hand. Luckily, I had drunk ice water to calm my own rage, so the teapot had ice water in it. The maid whimpered as the cold touched her skin.
“Ugh…”
“Who told you to do this?”
“It was by the Duke’s order…”
“Did Killian threaten to kill you if you didn’t bring me?”
I wrapped her hand with a handkerchief soaked in cold water and asked. She shook her head.
“No! He only said it was important and that I must bring you.”
“Important what…”
A chill ran down my spine.
Important words… while rumors of Killian’s affair spread?
It was obvious. Divorce.
“Absolutely not!”
If divorce was to happen, it would be on my terms. Not his.
I tied the handkerchief tightly and warned her.
“Show this to a doctor. Got it?”
“Yes! Yes, I will!”
The maid ran off like her skirts were on fire. Outside, summer scenery spread beautifully, but I didn’t notice a thing.
I arrived at the dining room where Killian was waiting, catching my breath.
Behind him was always a precipice.
I couldn’t return to Ramirez.
Divorce? Absolutely not.
‘I will not back down.’
I opened the door with determination. Killian sat at the table.
His presence was dazzling, even though his heart was dark.
Jet-black hair, golden eyes unique to royalty, deep-set eyes, high nose, firm jawline—“handsome” didn’t even cover it.
‘That face… at least, it’s good to look at.’
The rest of him, though, I disliked.
Sharpening my gaze at him, Killian tilted his head slightly and studied me.
“Your expression isn’t good. You’re worrying me.”
“You’re not the one to worry me, are you?”
Though my tone was sharp, his eyes still seemed concerned for me.
‘No wonder I misread him at the wedding.’
Recalling the past, I clenched my teeth. Killian spoke in a soft voice, probably guessing why I was upset.
“Don’t misunderstand.”
“We even gave the bluebird. How could I not misunderstand?”
“It’s true I gave the bluebird, but I have nothing with Baroness Flame.”
“I don’t believe that.”
The bluebird was a token of love.
The letter it carried could only be seen by the giver and recipient, magically bound.
And he gave it to her but claims nothing happened?
“What does ‘nothing’ mean to you? We could marry, right? You proposed to me when we were ‘nothing.’”
I taunted him, and Killian’s eyes drooped in apparent disappointment.
“You and I being nothing… I’ve always only looked at you.”
“Pretty words.”
“…Eleanor.”
He called my name softly, stood, and strode toward me.
His tall, muscular body filled my view. Just standing there, he was intimidating.
But I wasn’t going to be intimidated. I raised my head and met his gaze.
Then, his golden eyes softened.
Startled, I stepped back, but he gently enveloped my shoulders.
“Calm down. Let’s sit and talk. You look tired.”
He lowered his body slightly and pulled out a chair. His firm body leaned close, his breath brushing my ear.
My throat went dry.
“What… what is this sudden charm offensive?”
I stepped back quickly.
“Stop. I have only one answer.”
“What answer?”
“I won’t consent to anything. Understand?”
“…What?”
I stated it firmly. Killian’s eyes darted around in surprise, as if trying to gauge my answer or figure out how to sway me.
No matter what he did, I wouldn’t change my answer.
Divorce after one year of marriage? Unilateral divorce? None of it would help me.
If I divorced, I would likely be dragged back to Ramirez. I wasn’t going back to that hell.
At least not until I had a place of my own to hide.
Of course, I’d get Killian to pay for it. He was the one at fault.
‘I’m not someone who quietly accepts divorce.’
I needed to make my stand clear.
“From now on, if one of us dies, we both die. Understood?”
Killian suddenly laughed.
He bent at the waist, laughing so purely, I was stunned.
Killian… could really laugh like this? I thought he only knew fake smiles or sneers.
In the year we’d known each other… no, ever since I met him, I’d never seen this side.
After a long while, he stopped laughing and lowered his gaze. His golden eyes shimmered with an emotion I couldn’t read—joy or sadness?
“That’s exactly what I hoped for.”
“…Huh?”
Hoped for what?
While I blinked stupidly, he came closer again.
“I think the same.”
He gently took my hand and kissed my fingertips.
His gaze was full of desperate longing.
“We will never part. Never.”
…Lies.
He spoke in a pleasing tone, but every word was a lie. The letters about love at first sight, the promise to be family—all lies.
I pulled my hand back.
“Good. I won’t divorce. I hope your heart stays the same, whatever the reason.”
Back in the bedroom, I paced anxiously.
What was Killian thinking, saying he wouldn’t divorce? Wasn’t he planning to leave me for Baroness Flame?
“No. She has a fiancé too.”
Even if we divorced, it wouldn’t matter unless she broke off her engagement.
I recalled the rumors about the two of them.
“They say they get along well.”
They were a popular couple, so I knew.
Baroness Flame was already past the usual marriageable age—over thirty, I think. Her fiancé, Count Evans, was an adopted commoner.
A year ago, when they got engaged, people gossiped about how strange the pairing was.
“…Wait, a year?”
To be precise, a few months before Killian proposed to me.
“Could he have married me in a fit of anger after being rejected by Baroness Flame?”
I remembered what Killian said on our wedding night.
During the marriage negotiations, he had been polite like a perfect gentleman. But after the wedding, once I arrived in the North, his attitude changed completely:
“Just so you don’t misunderstand, I don’t like you.”
He had said that from the very first night.
“Does that mean he had feelings for Baroness Flame?”
…Could that be why he treated me so coldly?
It was just speculation, but the timing and circumstances fit too perfectly.
The uneasy feeling I thought I’d settled resurfaced.
Because…
The reason rumors of Killian’s affair started. A month ago, someone claimed to have seen him meet with Baroness Flame at night.
That day was not only the first time monsters attacked the duke’s castle, but also our first wedding anniversary.
