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Chapter 11
Diana instinctively clung to the warmth. She wrapped her whole body around it, as if it were her only lifeline.
When she opened her mouth, something hot and soft like melting lava rushed in endlessly.
Wherever the heat touched, her skin felt like it was burning. The warmth gently brushed past the sensitive inside of her mouth, making sparks shoot up her spine.
The strange and overwhelming sensation made Diana squirm. The other person hugged her even tighter, as if telling her not to move.
She heard a low chuckle and some words being whispered above her head, but her ears were ringing too much to understand them.
In the dark haze of her vision, colors slowly returned—black, white, then yellow. When she blinked, the blurry shapes became clearer.
She saw long, loosely braided black hair, bright golden eyes that shone like stars, and a small beauty mark beneath one of them. Finally, Diana realized it was Erno.
She was too exhausted to keep thinking. In his warm, strong arms, she started to relax completely.
Eventually, Diana gave up on thinking and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about anything right now.
“Rest,”
Erno said as he gently covered her eyes with his hand.
Meanwhile, back at the ballroom, chaos broke out when the Grand Duchess returned soaked—no, half-frozen—like a fish just pulled from ice.
“Your Highness!”
Akila ran to her with wide, shocked eyes. His face had turned pale.
If only he had insisted on assigning guards to her. He had left Diana alone for a while under the excuse of tending to Erno’s injuries—and now he regretted it deeply.
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault,”
Akila admitted, bowing his head. No matter what he said, it didn’t change the fact that he had failed in his duty.
He didn’t even feel he deserved to regret it. He braced himself to accept whatever punishment the Grand Duchess gave him.
“For now, your punishment is on hold. Where’s Veronica? Go bring a healer to help her.”
Erno glared at Akila like he could kill him with his eyes. Then he bit his lip and carried Diana to the temporary room where Veronica had treated him earlier.
People who had gathered like a crowd of clouds stepped back and made way for him.
Lagna Nidhoeg watched Erno’s wet footprints with a serious expression, as if a thief had walked through his home.
He had never once cared about what the Grand Duchess did—yet now Erno had not only saved her from drowning but was personally carrying her back.
Was this really just a moment of kindness?
Lagna narrowed his wrinkled eyes and twitched one of them out of habit.
Under Veronica’s direction, the maids brought in firewood and boiled hot water for warming packs.
The room quickly became as hot as an oven, but Diana’s icy fingertips still weren’t getting any color back.
“How is she?”
Veronica wanted to tell Erno to change out of his wet clothes, but then shrugged. There was no point in sending him away if he would just leave again after checking on Diana.
“She took some medicine and fell asleep. She should wake up by tomorrow afternoon. Should I wake her now?”
“No. Leave her.”
But even after confirming Diana was safe, Erno didn’t leave. Instead, he sat down right next to her.
“Shouldn’t you go back to the ballroom?”
“Akila’s there. It’s fine.”
“…At least change your clothes. You’ll catch a cold in those wet ones.”
“Me?”
Erno gave a short laugh and looked at her. Veronica acted like she hadn’t heard it and stood up.
“I’ll bring you something to change into.”
She was clearly flustered.
Why?
Everything was settled. Diana was safe. That should’ve been it. Veronica, who remembered how Erno treated all his previous brides, now felt more than confused—she felt betrayed.
No way… it can’t be.
It shouldn’t be. Veronica bit her nail under her veil. Every time Erno reacted differently to a new bride, her old suspicions came creeping back.
The maids left to bring more hot water, leaving only Erno and the sleeping Diana in the room.
Even when he poked her pale cheek, she didn’t respond.
He didn’t want to hope and be let down anymore. He’d gone through that too many times. He was tired of it.
His first wife handed him divorce papers in less than a month, saying the place was too cold and gloomy.
The second wife missed the high-society life in the capital, asked for separation, and later sent a divorce letter.
The third one? She cried and begged for an annulment, saying she had found true love.
After that, he stopped counting.
People wondered how the once-promising Fenril family had fallen so far. But the real answer was his own fault. He had looked down on Diana for being from a lowly family, when in fact, it was he who was the problem.
“These are your dry clothes. I told the maids to prepare bathwater.”
Erno looked quietly at Veronica. She returned and sat naturally beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder.
“You’ve worked hard. Thank you, as always.”
“Brother… you’re not seriously thinking of making her the Grand Duchess, are you?”
Erno didn’t answer.
Veronica pulled her head away and asked again,
“Are you serious?”
“What’s stopping me?”
“Brother!”
Erno just smiled and patted her head like a child. Veronica’s eyes sharpened under her veil.
“Do you know what that woman said to me when she was half-dead in the water?”
“Why should I care?”
“She said she wanted to stay by my side.”
Veronica let out a laugh full of hidden meaning.
“Why do you think she said that?”
“Why should I know?”
While the conversation faded in and out, Erno thought about it. There were plenty of reasons to leave him, but none that explained why she’d want to stay.
“You really don’t get it?”
When he looked at her as if to ask if she did, Veronica’s lips twitched.
Fine. Let’s make it clear now. Veronica clenched her skirt and spoke.
“Obviously for money.”
“Money?”
“What else? Love? Come on.”
Veronica scoffed and continued.
“She’s from a lowly baron family no one’s ever heard of. Why else would she agree to marry someone like you—someone they call the ‘bride-killing monster’? She just wants Fenril’s wealth.”
She spat out the words with venom. Erno recalled the long list of wedding gifts her family had asked for and sighed quietly.
“I think I’ll just hold onto this for now. You agree, don’t you?”
Veronica placed her hand over his. On top of her black lace glove sat a plain bronze ring—no jewels, no decoration.
It was the ring Diana should have worn the moment she arrived. But Erno stayed silent, and Veronica gently patted his hand as if to reassure him.
“Don’t worry. When the time comes, I’ll return it. You know I only do what’s best for this land, right?”
She had a point. The merchants of this land would prefer dealing with someone familiar like Veronica, rather than a foreign Grand Duchess suddenly taking charge.
“Take care of it.”
Erno placed his hand over hers. Beneath her veil, Veronica smiled in satisfaction.
