VHWGD 30

Chapter 30

My knees struck the marble floor, sending a sharp jolt of pain through me.

But I was too busy gasping for air to care.

“Hah… hah…”

My head spun.

A tingling ache that started at my temples spread across my entire face.

“If you ignore my summons even once more, it won’t end with such mild punishment next time.”

“……”

“Keep an eye on the duke. Watch carefully to see whether he’s plotting something against our family. Don’t miss even the smallest detail.”

At some point, I had wondered about this.

Why had Rishua married Kahinel?

But of course.

The reason I had expected was correct.

I didn’t know why Marquis Dale was so obsessed with Kahinel, but it was clear that Rishua had been forcibly sent to Hyrant.

Whether she wanted to go or not, she had no choice.

“So now you won’t even answer me?”

“……”

“I suppose you weren’t beaten enough.”

“…Please, stop.”

The first words I spoke after meeting the marquis were a refusal meant to protect myself.

His face crumpled sharply.

He looked as though he’d never imagined I could respond like that.

Slowly, I stood up.

My vision spun and a sharp pain shot through my ankle, but I forced myself to look straight at him.

It wasn’t easy.

As if opposing poles were colliding, my gaze kept dropping against my will.

But this fear wasn’t mine.

I tried to put strength into my eyes—and the marquis read that look as defiance.

“So you don’t wish to live anymore.”

As he twisted his lips cruelly and raised his hand, I flinched and squeezed my eyes shut on instinct.

So this time too… I won’t be able to avoid it.

Just as that thought crossed my mind—

“…Madam!”

A desperate shout—my husband’s voice, now far too familiar—rang out.

Kahinel rushed over.

The Marquis hastily lowered the hand that had been about to strike me, then pulled me behind him as if to shield me, putting on an act as though nothing had happened while greeting Kahinel.

His rough grip made me stagger again.

“At last, I greet Your Grace properly. We met just a few days ago, yet it’s always a pleasure to see you.”

“Madam.”

Kahinel ignored the marquis’s greeting entirely and called out to me in a surprisingly gentle voice.

I slipped out from behind the marquis and revealed myself.

Panicking, the marquis hurried to make excuses.

“I had something to discuss with my daughter. Would Your Grace mind stepping aside for just a moment? It will only take a little while.”

“It seems you didn’t understand my warning—that my wife is not the marquis’s daughter, but the Duchess of Hyrant.”

It was nothing like the voice he used when calling me.

Kahinel’s chilling tone spread through the space like cold air, making my knees go weak.

His dark crimson eyes burned as though he might incinerate the marquis on the spot.

When the marquis fell silent, Kahinel turned to me again.

“Madam, I told you to wait quietly. Why are you here?”

“……”

“Do you know how long I searched for you?”

“……”

“The banquet is no longer enjoyable. Let’s return home.”

Tears pooled in my eyes as I stood there, unable to do anything.

I wanted to go to him more than anything, but my legs wouldn’t move.

Perhaps realizing I was overwhelmed by fear, Kahinel softened his gaze.

He slowly approached my trembling form and extended his hand.

“Rishua.”

It was the first time.

The first time Kahinel had called me by my name.

Hearing my name from his lips felt unfamiliar—but so warm that the tears barely clinging to my lashes spilled down my cheeks.

“Rishua, come here.”

“……”

“Come.”

Only then did my frozen legs begin to move.

I walked past the marquis, step by step, toward Kahinel.

It was the moment I truly became Rishua Hyrant.

Until we arrived at the ducal residence, Kahinel swallowed sighs like an angry man, while I remained mentally exhausted and blank.

I’m not the real Rishua.

The unpleasant emotions stirred up by meeting Marquis Dale still clung stubbornly to my body.

It was too overwhelming.

No matter how much I tried to reassure myself that I was fine, I wasn’t.

The sensation of my body dominating and gnawing at my mind left me feeling unsettled.

As I returned to my room with sluggish steps, I felt Kahinel’s gaze on me.

I turned my head to look at him.

Sure enough, his red eyes were fixed on me.

“Why… aren’t you asking anything?”

I didn’t want to create trouble—so why did I ask something like that?

Was it because I felt that all my efforts to get closer to him had still been futile?

After experiencing the real Rishua’s emotions, I could no longer tell what my own true feelings were.

I was confused about whose emotions were controlling me.

Kahinel approached and removed his jacket, draping it over my shoulders.

Was it just my imagination, or did it look like he was gently covering the scarred shoulder beneath?

I stood still, head lowered.

“I assume there’s a reason you didn’t speak first.”

Why was his voice still so gentle?

I cautiously lifted my head.

“Are you saying… you were being considerate of me?”

“Madam.”

I’d gathered my courage to ask, but Kahinel didn’t answer that question.

Instead, he asked another.

“Does it make you uncomfortable for me to know about your circumstances?”

The light in his eyes as he spoke was calm but intense.

He wasn’t the Kahinel I knew.

“I suspected you at first when you changed overnight—but I decided to stop doubting you. Do you remember?”

“Yes.”

“At that time, I asked something of you. No matter what it was, I asked you not to hide things from me anymore.”

I’d been so shocked then.

I’d even wondered if he already knew about my curse.

If he was testing me now.

But Kahinel didn’t know that I was sick.

If he had, he would’ve tried far harder to distance himself the more I approached him—but he hadn’t.

“It seems you have no intention of speaking first, so I won’t force you. However—”

Kahinel gently wrapped an arm around my shoulders and bent slightly so our eyes met at the same level.

I was always the one looking up at him.

But today, he lowered himself to meet my gaze.

“You are the Duchess of Hyrant. There is no reason for you to bow your head or feel fear before anyone other than the emperor.”

“I know. I’m not usually like this, but today…”

I couldn’t finish the sentence.

I wasn’t afraid of Marquis Dale—but the true owner of this body was.

And without realizing it, I’d been swept up in her fear.

…I couldn’t say that.

When I fell silent, Kahinel let out a small sigh and stepped back.

“Get some rest.”

I hurriedly grabbed his arm.

It was an impulsive decision.

“Can’t you stay with me a little longer?”

It wasn’t because of the marquis.

The curse came without invitation, but sometimes it gave warning signs.

This was one of those times.

So I wanted to stay with Kahinel longer.

He was the person who made it not hurt.

“There are things I must take care of.”

“If it’s not urgent, can’t you do it later and stay with me now?”

“Madam.”

“No—even if it is urgent, please stay by my side right now. I’m begging you.”

Kahinel didn’t answer—and that made me anxious.

“We promised you’d only look at me today.”

You looked only at me at the ballroom earlier.

Can’t you do the same now?

I feel like I’m really going to get sick this time.

I don’t know whether my expression looked pitiful, or if my desperate sincerity reached him.

But Kahinel led me into the room.

When he pulled the bell cord, Anna appeared.

“Help the madam prepare for bed. Come find me when you’re done.”

While Kahinel was gone, I quickly got ready for sleep.

Soon after, he returned to my room.

Unlike earlier, he was dressed comfortably.

“You bathed too. Are you going to sleep?”

“Didn’t I say I had things to do? I’m not sleeping yet.”

“I thought you washed because you were going to sleep with me.”

“Not that again—”

“Okay, fine. You don’t have to. So stop frowning and come sit here.”

I patted the bed, and Kahinel approached cautiously, suspicion still on his face.

“May I ask just one thing?”

He nodded.

“Earlier at the ballroom—did you greet any other women besides me?”

Kahinel frowned and tilted his head.

“Is that really important right now?”

“It’s the most important thing to me. So please answer honestly.”

What happened with Marquis Dale wasn’t what mattered.

My body might still reject it, but I wasn’t afraid of him.

Hayley, however, was different.

“Did you meet another woman?”

When I sat up to press for an answer, Kahinel immediately laid me back down.

“I did not greet any other woman. I didn’t dance, and I didn’t even make eye contact.”

He tucked the blanket snugly around me.

“Is that the answer you wanted?”

I smiled brightly.

“Yes. I love that answer.”