CBH 10

Chapter 10 …

Some strange guy was climbing up the walls of the Winston estate.

After returning the horses to the stable, Benjamin folded his arms and watched the situation unfold.

The strange man stopped in front of a certain window, fidgeting nervously as he pounded on it.

Moments later, the one who opened the window was none other than Helena Winston herself.

Benjamin sighed.

“This is the worst.”

There were only a few hours left until the wedding. And here she was, recklessly inviting a man in.

Moreover, the two of them didn’t seem to be on ordinary terms.

Benjamin watched as Helena lightly tapped the man’s chest in what looked like a playful tantrum, and he felt a molten rage rise inside him.

There was no reason left to hold back.

Benjamin immediately notched an arrow onto his hunting bow and fired.

“Ahh!”

The man’s body shuddered violently with a scream before tipping backward.

Still, it seemed he hadn’t been fatally hit; he barely managed to stretch out his arms and cling to the railing.

“Can’t let this slide nicely.”

Benjamin drew a hot breath and headed straight toward Helena Winston.

“Rufus, put some strength into it.”

“Ugh…!”

Rufus grabbed the railing with both hands, straining with all his might, but he couldn’t move.

Helena thought:

‘Are all his muscles just for show? He’s completely useless…’

“Ugh…ahh!”

Rufus struggled to hook his feet onto the protruding stones of the wall, but it was clearly difficult.

Hesitating, Helena spoke.

“Do you just want to fall? It’s not that high.”

“U-ugh! Helena, that’s cruel…! How can you say that when you know I have a fear of heights?”

Rufus whined, clinging to the railing.

Helena was caught in a dilemma.

‘What should I do? Should I call someone? But how do I even explain this situation?’

At that moment, there was a loud pounding from the bedroom door behind her.

Helena made a decision.

“Rufus, hang on for a moment.”

She hurried to get help and flung open the door.

“…….”

But standing there, right beyond the doorway, was the one person she absolutely did not want to see in this situation.

“Excuse me.”

Benjamin Issuephern said, pushing past her and barging into the bedroom.

Helena, frozen for a moment, quickly regained her composure and snapped sharply:

“What are you doing?”

He was clearly heading toward where Rufus was hanging.

Helena hurried to block him and shot back:

“Entering a lady’s bedroom like this is unbelievable! Don’t forget, we’re not married yet.”

Benjamin looked at her gloomily before speaking.

“You’ll be married in a few hours. Is there a problem?”

“No, absolutely not now.”

He pointed toward the balcony where Rufus was dangling.

“I need to see that.”

“Why? There’s nothing to see!”

Helena’s desperate protests only seemed to make Benjamin’s pale forehead crease further.

“Now you’re lying as well? Hah… Am I someone you’re allowed to lie to?”

At that moment, a scream and a thud echoed from the balcony.

Helena’s face twisted in shock before she barely managed to compose herself.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at Benjamin, so she stared toward the window, biting her lip.

“Do you still think no one’s here?”

“……”

Helena couldn’t answer; she could only bite her lips.

The next moment, Benjamin’s large hand roughly cupped her chin and cheek.

Helena gasped in shock.

She tried to pull away but couldn’t move an inch.

With irresistible force, he turned her face to meet his gaze.

“Now you’re ignoring me too? Don’t look away. This is punishment.”

Helena struggled to wrench his hand from her face.

But his hand was too big and firm. She couldn’t shake it off, couldn’t move it—she felt as if she were bound in chains.

Benjamin’s chillingly red eyes scanned every inch of her face, as if reading some hidden proof of guilt etched in tiny letters.

Shame drained the color from Helena’s face.

“L-Let go…!”

She had never been treated like this before.

Even when she caused trouble, the Winston Count had never once laid a hand on her. Her stepmother Mia was the same.

Though they might strike in frustration at their own chests, they never touched Helena.

Cornered, Helena didn’t bother holding back the tears that welled in her eyes.

Through trembling lips, she shouted:

“You insane man! Let go!”

But Benjamin Issuephern was utterly devoid of mercy or emotion.

He showed no hint of sympathy, even as Helena’s tears glistened.

Instead, his voice grew even more ominous:

“Don’t forget today is our wedding day. If you try to run now, it will be even harder next time.”

At his vile threat, Helena felt her tears retreat.

Her face began to contort.

“Let go. If you don’t, I’ll scream and call someone.”

“Then I’ll have them search for the man who fell from the balcony. Miss Helena, and young Miss Winston. Stop thinking of fleeing cowardly and tell the truth.”

Cowardly?

‘Did he just call me cowardly?’

Helena’s green eyes blazed with anger.

Gritting her teeth, she shouted:

“Yes! That was Crown Prince Rufus! He came on his own! What am I supposed to do about that?”

Benjamin, who had been staring at her with merciless eyes, finally let go.

Helena clasped her face, exhaling deeply. The tender flesh inside her cheek ached from being pinched, and she tasted the metallic tang of blood.

Benjamin Issuephern fixed his gaze on her as he walked to the balcony and slowly opened the window.

No one was there.

Helena hurried out onto the balcony and looked below.

Only the neatly trimmed garden hedges were disturbed; nothing else. Rufus had apparently landed safely atop the garden and made his escape.

Helena exhaled in relief.

“Haah…”

Benjamin’s nerves twitched at her relief.

If the Crown Prince had come uninvited, she should not have opened the window.

She shouldn’t have shown concern for an intruder in front of him like this.

Benjamin moved beside Helena. The balcony railing was narrow, forcing her to stand pressed close.

Before her eyes, he slowly traced the railing with his fingertips. Rufus’s blood, scattered across it, spread a vivid red.

Horrified, Helena turned her eyes away.

Benjamin’s blood-stained hand touched her cheek.

“I now understand just how reckless you are.”

Helena shivered at the sticky touch of his bloody hand stroking her face.

Looking into her face, Benjamin spoke softly:

“But it would be wise to conduct yourself properly from now on. I don’t intend to see this scene with my own eyes again.”

Helena Winston and Benjamin Issuephern’s wedding was splendid and elegant, befitting the names of two noble families.

Benjamin Issuephern, with his long black hair neatly swept back, donned in formal wedding attire, read the marriage vows with that smooth, pleasant voice:

“……As the master of the Issuephern family, managers of the great territory of Burwood, I vow before God and these honorable families to proceed as a wise and discerning husband and wife, as partners united in body and soul.”

Listening to the man who would be her husband recite the vows, Helena thought:

It might be ordinary to dislike a political marriage partner.

Marriages arranged to avoid scandal or for money were common enough.

But how often is the partner a lunatic?

Taking the vows from Benjamin, Helena’s lips trembled before moving:

“I, Helena Winston… take you, Benjamin Issuephern… as my husband.”

She felt her life flash past like a montage.

“……I am glad that the life I will spend with you ahead is longer than the days I lived not knowing you.”

She had been childish, arrogant.

“I will always respect you… and be a loving wife.”

Crunch.

As she forced the words out, Helena accidentally bit the tender flesh inside her mouth.