WEER 02

Chapter 02

After she pushed his hand away, he never touched Odelite again. She didn’t bother asking him to, either. When they ate together, Cherdian would simply mention in a detached tone that she needed to keep up her meals.

Whenever he did, Odelite found herself snapping back before she could stop herself, wondering why he suddenly cared when he’d shown no interest in her all this time.

“If I gain weight, the noble ladies of the capital will mock me. Besides, I’m sure Your Grace wouldn’t enjoy having a plump wife.”

Odelite finished speaking and glanced at Cherdian, but he didn’t get angry.

Instead, after a brief silence, he spoke in a cold tone accompanied by a light sigh.

“If your body is weak, childbirth will be difficult.”

“I’m not a tool for bearing children. What—what gives you the right—”

Odelite ended up leaving the table mid-meal and returning to her room.

That evening, she demanded separate bedrooms, saying she no longer wanted to share a room with him. Cherdian said there was no need for that and moved to a different room himself.

Around that time, rumors circulated that Cherdian had taken an actress from the theater district as his mistress. Odelite had seen the actress before.

The girl with her pure, innocent face radiated a refreshing atmosphere just by looking at her. Unlike Odelite, who already reeked of heavy makeup and artificial perfume, that actress overflowed with vitality.

Once, Odelite had gone to the theater with Cherdian for appearances’ sake. The girl’s eyes lit up when she saw Odelite.

“Duchess, it’s an honor to meet you! You’re just as lovely and beautiful as I expected.”

What on earth did these people hear to say such things… Odelite had given up trying to figure it out. She simply excused herself so her husband and the girl could be alone together.

“Then the two of you can talk.”

“Odelite, then I’ll also—”

“No. I’ll only be in the way.”

Odelite left the box seat without listening further.

Being at the theater brought back old memories. Back then, she’d been looking for work in the theater district. The viscounty had been drowning in debt, and she had quite a talent for writing.

Lost in melancholy nostalgia for her childhood, someone called out to her.

“Odelite?”

The man who spoke to her was none other than Wiston. He had once roamed the theater district with Odelite—the second son of Count Javerne’s family, who showed an unusual interest in the arts for a noble and got along quite well with her.

Since she’d always had a favorable impression of him, she greeted him warmly.

What started as a casual catch-up meeting led to a second, then a third. By the time word reached Cherdian’s ears, high society was buzzing with scandal about the two of them.

* * *

“Cough.”

“My lady, are you all right?”

Odelite, who had been reminiscing about the past, coughed hard and snapped out of her reverie.

It was a meaningless memory.

* * *

Odelite had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. She knew better than anyone that she was innocent. So when Cherdian asked about the scandal, she thought she could simply tell him the truth and clear things up.

Besides, society gossip always died down after making the rounds for a while. As the mistress of Adelgart, she believed she could handle this situation well enough.

But what shocked her was seeing Cherdian—who seemed like he wouldn’t care what she did with other men—furious for the first time.

He burst through the door roughly and grabbed her frozen waist. Then, with an angry face she’d never seen before, he spoke in a voice filled with rage, like he wanted to devour her.

“Is this why you refused to sleep with me?”

“What—”

“Is he satisfying you instead of me?”

“Watch your mouth! What right do you have to lecture me? You’re the one who… mmph.”

In that moment, Odelite realized for the first time just how strong a man could be.

The grip that squeezed her waist completely made the first night seem like child’s play, and she was suddenly terrified. His tongue parted her lips and pushed inside, wet and invasive.

She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to breathe, but when his hand slid up her thigh beneath her dress, she snapped back to awareness and twisted away.

It was blatant violence.

Cherdian buried his face frantically in her neck, pulled down her dress, and bit her prominent collarbone. The cumbersome dress blocked his hand.

He applied force and the thin fabric tore instantly.

As he bit into the sweet flesh with his mouth and greedily devoured her rich scent while gripping the soft flesh tightly, he suddenly seemed to sense something wrong and froze.

There was no resistance.

Cherdian lifted his head. In an instant, he hastily withdrew his hand and stepped back.

Odelite was frozen like a condemned prisoner awaiting the gallows. Her face was deathly pale, drained of all color. He seemed to realize only then what he had done.

“Odelite…”

“Are you finished?”

Odelite wasn’t in her right mind and seemed to fully believe she’d been violated. In reality, all he’d done was kiss her, but the essence of it was hardly different from ass*ult.

Odelite fumbled to tie the ribbon at her bodice. Cherdian reached out his hand. Odelite stopped her trembling hands, flinched, and stepped back.

At that small action, a strange emotion flickered across Cherdian’s eyes. It seemed like regret, or perhaps a kind of panic.

Odelite tried to pull down her skirt, then gave up when she saw her torn petticoat and slowly began to walk.

She staggered and collapsed heavily, her legs giving out. When Cherdian tried to reach out again, she recoiled in shock, curling into herself.

“Alone—I’ll do it alone.”

“…”

“Let me do it alone. Please.”

Please.

Odelite couldn’t get up in the end. After collapsing several times, she crawled on her knees and hands across that pitifully short distance in his study.

Finally, she opened the door, and it closed again. After some time passed, the sound of the woman’s wailing sobs could be heard.

After that, fear mixed into the way Odelite looked at Cherdian. Even if he just opened his mouth during a meal, she would flinch. But she didn’t rebel against him.

One day, when he unconsciously extended his hand, Odelite squeezed her eyes shut and trembled violently.

Cherdian withdrew his hand. He only mentioned that a flower petal had fallen on her head and she should remove it.

After that, he never stayed alone with her again.

Cherdian, who already frequently left the ducal estate, started going on campaigns to places he didn’t even need to go, avoiding the estate entirely. They saw each other maybe once a year, if that, and even then he seemed to spend most of his time elsewhere.

Rumors circulated in the capital—that he’d given that actress some gift, that he’d had an affair with a princess from some kingdom on the battlefield—but Odelite thought it was better that way.

She even hoped he would return with a b*stard child. Then there would be no reason whatsoever to be near him.

After just a few meetings over several years like this, their ninth year of marriage arrived.

Cherdian, returning with news of victory from a rather large battle, sent word that he would stop by the ducal estate after a long absence. Along with a message asking if her cold had improved.

“My lady, are you all right? Your cough is getting worse.”

“I’m fine. The weather has been particularly cold lately. Could you turn up the heat a bit more?”

“But it’s already plenty warm… Are you running a fever… Good heavens!”

The maid who touched her forehead let out a loud scream in shock. The household staff hurriedly brought a physician, but he sighed and spoke.

“It appears the pneumonia has taken hold.”

“What do you mean, pneumonia?”

“The lady’s body is already quite weak, and haven’t you been under a great deal of emotional stress lately?”

Odelite smiled awkwardly. As the physician wrote out a prescription, he added:

“For now, I’ll do my best. You must take the medicine exactly as I prescribe and eat your meals regularly.”

Odelite nodded, but having navigated high society for many years, she could tell from the physician’s expression that she had no hope. Still, she simply smiled gracefully and nodded.

After the physician left, the head maid spoke.

“I’ll send word to His Grace.”

“There’s no need. He still has things to wrap up—there’s no reason to report something like this.”

“How can you call this ‘something like this’? What could be more important than this?”

“No, listen to me.”

The head maid looked at Odelite with a pitying expression.

Odelite smiled faintly and leaned deeper into her pillow. At that moment, blood flowed from the lips of the coughing woman.

The head maid’s face filled with despair, seemingly sensing something. But she calmly changed the pillow and sheets before leaving the room.

Odelite stared blankly out the window. There was a time when just looking at something like that made her happy.

If Cherdian came before all those leaves fell, she lost; if he came after, she won.

Winning or losing made no difference. She just wanted to wait for him somehow.

But now it was pointless. Odelite looked at her emaciated arms before falling asleep.

Cherdian arrived at the ducal estate earlier than scheduled.

The butler and head maid rushed out to greet him at his sudden appearance. The servants quickly lined up behind them and bowed. But he strode into the mansion with the cold winter chill, and instead of accepting their greetings as usual, he spoke with a grim expression.

“Didn’t you say it was just a simple cold? What do you mean it’s suddenly pneumonia?”

“The lady told us not to make a fuss. She said you’d only find it bothersome anyway if you heard about it.”

Cherdian seemed momentarily speechless, his expression mixing with anger. In the end, instead of saying more, he immediately turned on his heel.

Unlike his usually calm and heavy footsteps, his every action was scattered and unlike him.

He stormed upstairs like he might tear down the estate, but as he approached Odelite’s room, he slowed his steps, and when he reached the door, he stopped.

He was about to knock when he heard the lady was asleep, hesitated, then opened the door. But contrary to the head maid’s words, Odelite was awake.

She was slightly startled to see the man who entered, but didn’t show the intense reaction she once would have. She simply turned her head away with a less-than-welcoming expression.

Cherdian approached her side. Odelite spoke coldly.

“You haven’t finished wrapping up the war yet.”

“It’s something they can handle without me. Your health… are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Unfortunately, an heir is out of the question.”

“An heir is the least of our concerns right now. Tomorrow I’ll call the physician for a thorough examination, and then you should go somewhere warm to recuperate.”

“There’s no need. I like the ducal estate.”

Odelite replied icily. Cherdian started to say something but closed his mouth again. His face was as cold as ever—no different from the face she’d been sick of seeing for nine years.

Odelite smiled bitterly, seemingly having expected as much.