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Chapter: 63
My Wife Cries While Hugging the Safe Key
“I know. I know too. That’s why I didn’t ask and just left.”
Classie confessed in an anxious voice, then slumped against the wall with her forehead pressed against it.
“You should’ve just pretended not to know and stayed with her. Why did you come out like this?”
“Kishin is an investigator. He stared right into my eyes and suddenly went, ‘You’re hiding something! What is it?!’ and started questioning me. Who could endure that?”
Classie rubbed her forehead against the wall, then turned her head to whine a little more to Anna.
But behind Anna, Kishin was standing like a shadow with an overwhelming presence.
As Classie’s eyes widened, Anna turned around, confused, and screamed.
“Oh my goodness!”
Kishin, who had been standing like a ghost wandering the castle, strode forward and looked down at Classie clinging to the wall before asking,
“You can’t ask your husband, but you can question Anna just fine, I see.”
Classie looked up at him, speechless. How much did he hear? Did he hear about the princess too?
“Looking cute at me won’t help.”
As Kishin spoke sternly, Anna let out another “Oh my goodness!” and quickly left. But this time, the tone was different.
Classie covered her face with both hands and turned away. She liked Kishin speaking like that with the coldest expression in the world, and yet the more she liked it, the heavier her heart felt.
Kishin wrapped his arms around Classie’s waist from behind and asked,
“I won’t ask like an investigator. What’s going on? Tell me.”
Classie placed her hand on top of his arm. For a moment, the two stood there completely still.
The hallway was quiet as well. Only the sound of a door slamming briefly echoed—Meron had opened his door when he heard the commotion but quickly shut it again.
Classie hesitated for a long time, then returned with Kishin to their honeymoon room and confessed.
“Her Majesty the Empress called me in and said you and Princess Memoa liked each other for a long time and almost got married. She also said this ring was given to you by the Empress to use when you married Princess Memoa.”
Kishin cut her off before she even finished.
“It’s true the ring was given for a marriage, but it was His Majesty the Emperor who gave it to me. Princess Memoa was never mentioned as the partner.”
“Oh. Then the Empress gave the ring to the Emperor, and he passed it to you…?”
“That part I don’t know. I didn’t see it myself.”
“Oh.”
Classie blinked blankly up at Kishin.
Kishin let out a short sigh, brushed his hand over the ring on Classie’s finger, and said,
“Even if the Empress gave it through the Emperor, he gave it to me, so it’s mine. And I gave it to you, so now it’s yours. This ring has detoxifying properties, so just wearing it helps you. Keep it on.”
“I wasn’t planning to take it off. Even if I separated from you now, it’s not like the Empress would change her opinion of me.”
Kishin’s brow furrowed even deeper. He gripped Classie’s hand and spoke firmly.
“There’s no need to talk about separating or anything like that. I never liked Princess Memoa.”
“You didn’t?”
“No. Not at all. I never had any feelings for her. We’ve never even had a one-on-one conversation, nor were we ever close. Any situation where we had to interact was because Dernick forced us together.”
Classie was bewildered—what the Empress said and what Kishin said were completely different. Then… was it only a misunderstanding on the Empress’s part? And neither Kishin nor the princess had feelings for each other?
No. The princess’s expression clearly stiffened when she saw the wedding ring. And only two days after the princess saw it, the Empress summoned Classie and warned her. The Empress and the princess were definitely of one mind.
Then… Did both of them misunderstand Kishin? Why?
“You kept your distance from her, so why did the princess and the Empress misunderstand your feelings?”
Unable to understand, Classie asked. Kishin went silent for a moment before answering.
“It’s probably because I saved the princess.”
Classie blinked, feeling as though clarity was just within reach but still hazy. Kishin patiently waited.
Staring down at his hand, she murmured weakly,
“The Empress said… that the reason you refused to marry all this time was because you secretly adored the princess. She said you never got close to any woman except her. I only came to the capital a few months ago, so I didn’t know anything. So I just thought, ‘Ah, so that’s how it is,’ and…”
“The Empress phrased it cleverly. They’re all half-truths.”
Kishin drew a firm line and headed into the bathroom. Classie dazedly followed after him.
Standing before the bathtub, Kishin casually continued speaking as he unbuttoned his shirt one by one.
“It’s true I refused to marry, but that’s only because I like working. It has nothing to do with the princess.”
“Oh…”
“And it’s true I never got close to women — but the princess wasn’t an exception. Actually, regardless of gender, I don’t get close to anyone. Except for Dernick, or maybe my adjutant.”
Classie listened with her mouth open, then suddenly snapped back to reality when his shirt hit the bathtub with a soft thud.
His bare upper body was exposed — and it was covered with the marks she had left on him. His back, sides, chest — all branded by Classie’s touch.
Yet his profile still looked more reserved and cold than anyone else’s. The contrast between his expression and the marks made Classie blush with embarrassment.
“Okay, I get it. I understand everything.”
She muttered hastily and fled the bathroom.
* * *
The next morning, when she returned to the room to get dressed, Anna hurried after her.
“Did everything get resolved well yesterday?”
“Yeah. Sir Kishin told me. He never liked the princess. It was a misunderstanding by the Empress and the princess.”
“That’s wonderful!”
Anna exclaimed happily. Classie nodded and stepped inside.
“We’re going to register the marriage later. I’ll wear something formal.”
But even as she dressed with Anna’s help, Classie couldn’t feel as purely joyful as Anna.
“Lady? If he never dated the princess, why do you still look gloomy?”
Anna noticed and asked. Classie hesitated, and Anna patted her chest firmly.
“You can tell me anything. I’ve known you since before you were born.”
The reassuring words softened Classie’s heart.
After hearing Kishin’s explanation, she felt about half relieved. But not fully — because even if Kishin didn’t love the princess, it was still a fact the princess liked him.
If the princess adored Kishin and the Empress knew and supported it, wouldn’t Classie be a thorn in their eyes?
But even that half-relief gradually dissolved while Kishin bathed, and eventually one question surfaced:
‘Why did the princess believe Kishin liked her? Kishin said it’s because he saved her… but it feels like there’s more to it.’
Was she being too sensitive, thinking about the brief silence before Kishin answered?
It made sense that the princess would fall for her savior. But why would she misunderstand that he loved her back?
“Lady?”
“…No. Whether Kishin likes the princess or not, the Empress and the princess like him and dislike me. That’s what bothers me.”
Classie couldn’t bring herself to say the deeper doubt. Kishin already said no — if she kept digging, it would never end.
Really, if it was all just a misunderstanding, what did it matter how it started?
* * *
To register a marriage, they had to visit both the temple and the administrative office — the power of the heavens and the power of the earth didn’t oppose each other, but they didn’t cooperate either.
People had to take care of both body and soul themselves. Kishin took a full day off for this.
First, they went to the temple. Coincidentally, the high priest who officiated their wedding was there, recognized them, and blessed them again.
“This is the House Hayward sanctum box.”
After submitting the paperwork, Kishin guided her to a beautifully prepared area in the adjoining building.
It was a closet-sized space with many boxes. Some had names, some didn’t. Kishin pointed to an empty one.
“Until recently, I used that one.”
Then they moved to another area nearby. At the center sat a large box engraved with both their names and a number.
“This is our sanctum box.”
Classie approached and peered through the glass lid. Inside lay the wedding bouquet they had placed there — still beautifully preserved.
Hand in hand, they admired it for a moment, then left the temple and boarded the carriage.
Next was the administrative office.
They submitted the marriage registration, signed the documents, and a clerk returned shortly with two keys and a list.
“These are the keys and property inventories your parents deposited before marriage. Everything is notarized, but please verify. This is the duchess’s property and bank key, and this is Sir Kishin’s.”
At those words, Classie was so overwhelmed she snatched the keys and hugged them. Thoughts of the princess and Empress evaporated instantly.
At the wedding, she felt nervous and happy. Now, she was filled only with pure joy.
‘My property! My property!’
She had lowered her pride for years and chased suitors for this. If that humiliating law didn’t exist — the one only allowing married heirs to receive inheritance — she wouldn’t have cared about shallow people or their rumors.
She would’ve arranged her assets, then lived elegantly in a sunny villa with dogs, horses, cats, and birds.
But now, that unfair past is over. The hardship was over. She finally had her wealth. If she stayed married just three years, she would live comfortably forever.
Holding the papers and keys tight, Classie couldn’t hold back tears of gratitude.
After crying hard for a long time, she finally looked up.
Kishin was staring at her with an expression that said he had no idea what to do.
* * *
