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Chapter 28
Edward’s head, which had been perfectly straight a moment ago, tilted slightly. His blue eyes swept over me as if they were about to lick and devour me down to my very core.
It was a sensation I had never felt before—somehow damp, cold, and sticky.
It was different from a merely chilly gaze. An ominous feeling ran down my spine, and I instinctively gave my shoulders a small shudder.
“……You’re quite good at talking nonsense.”
Unable to endure his stare any longer, I turned my head away.
“Of course, I’m joking. It’s just that it’s such a surprising thing for me.”
Was Johannes marrying me really that shocking?
The noble ladies were like that, and even Edward spoke as if there were some grave problem with Johannes’s decision.
If they thought about it even a little, they should have been able to guess why Johannes chose me—to turn public opinion around, for instance….
But they were all firmly convinced that Johannes would never make such a choice. Because of that, it felt as though my very existence was somehow wrong, which left a bitter taste in my mouth.
As if trying to deny his thoughts, I spoke.
“Please don’t talk as though you know my husband inside and out. He’s far kinder and more considerate than you think.”
“How long have you known him?”
“…What?”
“You sound very sure.”
Edward muttered as he folded his fingers one by one.
“He was in the army until the former Duke of Schultz was executed, so even counting the time he went into hiding, it can’t have been more than two or three months at most.”
“…….”
“That look says I hit the mark. Listen, Duchess. I’ve known Johannes for over twenty years.”
“I don’t see what that has to do with me.”
“Tsk. How frustrating.”
Muttering to himself, he looked around. Soon, his large hand reached for the thick velvet curtain nearby.
“Saying he suddenly fell for your looks would make for an amusing scenario, I suppose. But it’s not as though there’s a shortage of beautiful noble ladies.”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Ah. I didn’t expect that reaction, so I keep beating around the bush. My apologies.”
After offering a habitual apology, Edward untied the curtain fastened to the wall, completely isolating the two of us from the banquet hall. Then, lowering his voice, he whispered to me.
“I don’t believe Johannes proposed to you because he fell in love at first sight.”
There was a subtle sharpness beneath his relaxed tone.
Yet I couldn’t refute him at all.
Just as Edward said, there had clearly been no moment between us that could be called love at first sight.
And moreover….
Edward Windsor knows Johannes better than I do. That much is certain.
I had acted as though I knew Johannes better than he did, but to anyone it would have been an obvious lie.
“Have you never felt that something was off?”
At the calm question, I bit my lower lip.
“I find it very strange. If you don’t think so, then there’s nothing I can do.”
Seeing me caught in faint doubt, Edward added,
“Well, this is surprising. You noticed sooner than I expected.”
“Noticed what?”
“According to the Duchess, the Duke of Schultz—who loves her dearly—seems to be coming this way.”
He said it with a nod of his chin.
“When did I ever—!”
As I flared up and raised my voice, Edward lifted a long index finger to his lips. Then, bending his upper body slightly, he whispered seriously into my ear.
“My words about asking me for help if Johannes ever seems suspicious—I meant them. And….”
Keeping his gaze fixed on the approaching Johannes, Edward sent me a warning.
Your husband is a dangerous man.
“I don’t know how great your love is, but don’t get too close to him. Don’t give him your affection.”
So even now, he was telling me to run—far away, as far as I could.
A repetition of utterly tedious situations.
I could never get used to the polite words of the nobles surrounding me.
After putting on a fabricated smile and dealing with them for a while, Johannes finally closed his eyes for a long moment, overwhelmed by mounting boredom and weariness.
Everyone around him wore masks.
Those who gossiped behind his back about the downfall of House Schultz were, from the front, fawning as if they would give him everything. No matter how many times he saw it, it never failed to be an interesting sight.
“I always thought Your Grace knew nothing at all about women.”
Baron Verdo, dressed ridiculously, nodded as he spoke. He looked deeply regretful that he had failed to push his daughter forward sooner.
“The Duchess is truly beautiful. A woman should be admired for her flower-like beauty, after all.”
The fact that he added something unnecessary told Johannes everything—he clearly wanted to disparage this marriage however he could.
In other words, he was saying her looks were all there was to see.
Since he couldn’t openly question the Duchess’s status in front of Johannes, he was showing his disdain in a roundabout way.
“Is it really just her looks?”
Johannes replied with a pleasant smile.
“She’s intelligent and wonderful to talk to. Not an ornamental flower.”
It was as good as saying she was incomparable to your daughter, who’s notorious in high society for being reckless and useless.
“…Of course. There’s no way Your Grace would fall for a woman based on looks alone.”
Seeing Johannes’s composed expression, Baron Verdo retreated a step with a forced smile. Then, like a man without a shred of pride, he began rambling on about empty, meaningless topics as though they were of great importance—despite Johannes showing no interest at all.
Truly a spineless fellow.
Johannes let out a short sigh.
Edith had been out of sight for some time, and the other nobles kept trying to drag him into pointless conversations.
Just as it was starting to get on his nerves—
“It seems the royal family views the Duchess favorably. After all, despite all the talk, they sent Prince Windsor.”
“I doubt you’re suggesting I should be grateful for that.”
As Johannes loosened his tie slightly, he narrowed his brow at Baron Verdo’s words.
None of the man’s chatter had registered until now, but strangely enough, that one line rang clearly in his ears.
Seeing Johannes finally react, Baron Verdo grew excited and raised his voice.
“Ah, yes. It looked like the Duchess went somewhere earlier with Prince Windsor.”
“My wife?”
“Yes! Of course, it’s not as though the two of them went outside alone at this late hour, but….”
She had already been out of sight, which had been bothering him.
Every time he tried to look around, someone would hover in front of him, preventing him from properly searching for Edith.
“Where.”
Johannes asked curtly.
“Well, I don’t think they left the banquet hall. But….”
Unaware that his words had grown shorter, Baron Verdo was completely absorbed in the attention Johannes was giving him.
Only after Johannes passed him without hesitation did the baron realize that the Duke hadn’t spared him even a shred of interest.
“Y-Your Grace!”
Watching Baron Verdo’s face turn red and blue, the nobles around him spoke in unison.
“So it wasn’t just an act after all. Look at how strongly he reacted.”
“I told you. No matter how powerful the royal family is, that’s House Schultz. They’ve faltered, but they’ll recover soon enough. Wouldn’t it be wiser to stay on the Duchess’s good side?”
“A commoner-born woman, though….”
“What does that matter? The world is changing. And honestly speaking… wasn’t the evidence that the former Duke of Schultz embezzled royal funds rather easy to fabricate?”
It was clear that the nobles nearby were completely fooled about Edith and Johannes’s relationship.
As they watched Johannes’s retreating figure, they each began settling on their own positions.
Meanwhile, Johannes finally realized the cause of the irritation that had been poking at the top of his head for some time now.
As he moved toward the area being subtly blocked by a large man, he caught a glimpse of Edith’s back and Edward’s face behind the curtain.
“How irritating.”
Edward Windsor taking an interest in Edith Prim was inevitable. Ever since childhood, he had been obsessively fixated on anything related to Johannes Schultz.
It stemmed from an inferiority complex—Johannes, a mere collateral relative, possessed the blond hair and blue eyes that Edward, a direct royal descendant, did not.
Because of that, Edward had always coveted what belonged to Johannes—and perhaps even….
Johannes’s blue eyes drifted toward Edith’s shoulder beyond the curtain.
‘That’s my role right now, isn’t it.’
Role. Even recalling the word was absurd enough to draw a bitter laugh from Johannes.
Of course, he had married out of necessity, but he hadn’t expected her to think of it that way.
When he asked whether she could kiss another man as well, she had boldly given him an answer he never anticipated.
‘I’ve never imagined something that hasn’t happened, so I don’t really know.’
The kiss that followed was almost impulsive.
To Johannes, her response had felt like a subtle provocation—as if she were saying she might kiss another man.
Just as he thought he’d make sure she never dared provoke him like that again, his body moved before his mind did.
Edith looked flustered for a moment—then turned the tables and flustered him instead.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to make sure no other man even thinks about kissing me?’
The subtle pull at the back of his neck, the stiff body that boldly met his lips yet clearly didn’t know what to do—Johannes absentmindedly brushed his lips.
The soft, warm sensation was still vividly clear. But then….
Behind the curtain, Edward Windsor deliberately stepped closer to Edith, whispered something to her, and flashed Johannes a bright smile.
“Ha.”
After saying all that, he never imagined she’d so boldly have an affair—on their wedding day, of all days.
