☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
‘How dare you…’
Erich glared at the man spouting nonsense, filled with killing intent.
He had suspected it from the moment the man spoke rudely, but overall, he gave off a low-quality thug vibe.
‘How dare someone like you insult her?’
He wanted nothing more than to tear the man apart right then and there.
However, Erich quickly suppressed his impulse.
If he were alone, it might have been different, but Cornelia and the child were with him.
‘If I act like this, they’ll only dislike me more. But…’
Erich then cast a menacing glare at the onlookers around him.
The crowd slowly began to disperse, either intimidated by his menacing aura or simply unwilling to confront someone who was clearly a noble.
The man, who had been grabbed by the collar,
“Oh, my Lord! I apologize for my mistake! Please forgive me!”
He groveled, begging for forgiveness.
Seeing this, Erich sneered.
‘What a pathetic creature.’
He wanted nothing more than to beat the man until he was half disabled.
But Erich couldn’t do that.
Cornelia stood there, pale as wax, with a dazed expression.
Clenching his jaw tightly, Erich finally spoke up.
“The one you should be apologizing to isn’t me, is it?”
At those words, the man hurriedly lowered his head.
“Ah, Miss, I was wrong! Please forgive me! I won’t make any more mistakes.”
Seeing his cowardly demeanor, Cornelia bit her lip as if swallowing her anger.
Even that expression was beautiful, capturing the attention of those around her.
Erich clenched his fists tightly.
He wasn’t sure why.
A sinister urge arose within him to gouge out the eyes of the thugs and onlookers nearby.
At that moment, Cornelia spoke.
“Shut your mouth and get lost.”
Erich flinched, thinking the words might be directed at him, but then realized her gaze was fixed on the thug.
‘As much as I’d like to break a few bones.’
Her eyes were pleading for the man to disappear.
Releasing the man’s collar, Erich said,
“It would be best if you didn’t show your face around here again if you want to keep that worthless life of yours.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the man fled in a hurry.
‘I should find him later and teach him a lesson.’
Erich’s thoughts briefly halted when he caught sight of Cornelia. He flinched and clenched his teeth.
‘She still… has that look.’
<I hate myself too.>
<Everyone hates me. I’m defective.>
She wore a wounded expression, just like when she had cried silently in the palace.
‘I must have been one of the reasons she’s had that kind of expression all this time.’
Erich had thought that keeping his distance from Cornelia was the best way to help both her and his brother.
However, in reality, it was more like neglecting her under the guise of concern.
‘But I won’t turn away from her any longer.’
Erich approached Cornelia and gently touched her shoulder.
“Are you okay?”
She responded with her usual cold demeanor.
“So, do you wish for me to be anything but okay?”
Then she glared at Erich with fierce eyes.
“The words of such a lowly person don’t bother me.”
Despite her words claiming indifference, her body was still trembling slightly.
‘You probably dislike even talking to me. But…’
Just as Erich had offered a handkerchief when he saw her cry, he couldn’t bear to leave her like this.
‘But what should I say in this situation?’
Erich racked his brain.
However, having spent so long on the battlefield, and with Cornelia being the only woman he felt any affection for, he couldn’t think of what to say.
At that moment, seeing her frown, Erich desperately blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“You’re beautiful.”
It was an embarrassing compliment he would never have said under normal circumstances.
Yet, upon seeing her eyes widen at his words, he went even further.
“I’ve always thought your hair was beautiful. It’s like the night sky.”
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Just a moment ago, self-loathing consumed me.
‘How pathetic I am… to be so affected by the words of such a person.’
I had managed to revive a rural estate and achieve many things on my own.
Yet, I was unable to move an inch under the gaze of commoners, feeling small and insignificant.
My black hair felt ominous and lowly, even to myself.
‘I don’t want to be looked down upon by people like that. So, I must never show my hair again.’
At that moment, someone touched my shoulder.
“Are you okay?”
Erich, despite being wrapped in a cloak, looked radiant and noble.
In contrast, I felt utterly shabby.
But not wanting to show weakness to him, I pretended to be unfazed.
“So, do you wish for me to be anything but okay? The words of such a lowly person don’t bother me.”
I acted confidently, but it was a lie.
In truth, I wanted to run away to some deserted place immediately.
‘Yes, it can’t be helped if they call me defective. Even I find myself pathetic.’
Then he said,
“You’re beautiful.”
I was taken aback by the sudden compliment.
‘Did I hear that correctly?’
Erich met my gaze with his blue eyes and proceeded.
“I’ve always thought your hair was beautiful. It’s like the night sky.”
I frowned at his words.
‘What’s wrong with this guy?’
It made sense, because Erich Lennon Blant was the kind of indifferent person who never once said I looked pretty, no matter how much I dressed up or tried to impress him.
Yet now he was telling me I was beautiful… It was only natural that this situation felt unreal.
‘Yeah, I must have looked pretty foolish for him to say something like that.’
Just as I concluded that, Erich began to speak freely.
“People regard black hair as something lowly associated with northern women, but that’s a mistaken perception. In this continent, black hair was a symbol possessed by the greatest of individuals.”
A certain figure came to mind.
The hero from the north, Sigurd, a Krithan who saved the continent from the evil dragon.
And his imperial name was… Siegfried.
As for the first emperor, little was known about him except for his violet eyes.
Thus, historians had speculated.
Perhaps the northern heroes Sigurd and Siegfried were the same person.
That theory was one I fervently supported in my childhood.
‘In fact, thinking about this is a waste of time; there’s no solid evidence to back up that theory.’
As I smiled wryly at that thought, Erich interrupted.
“So, you don’t need to take the words of such a fool to heart. You are…”
His brilliant golden hair sparkled under the light.
Perhaps that’s why, even at night, the area around Erich felt bright.
And in that radiant presence, I recalled a long-forgotten first love.
<But please don’t think of yourself as defective. To me, the princess is… the most noble person in the world.>
Erich Lennon Blant, my warm sun, became a beacon of hope for my fifteen-year-old self, whose self-esteem had reached its lowest point.
In the moment when my face was reflected in his blue eyes, a voice filled with certainty echoed.
“You’re the most noble than anyone else.”
It was such a warm statement that would have surely moved my past self.
I actually felt a bit better.
However, I was no longer fifteen; I was an old woman who had experienced the past and returned.
The old memories had already lost their luster within me, and I had experienced too much to be swayed by mere flattering words.
The man who had never offered me a kind word.
The man who had ignored me.
The man who had never called me his wife.
And the foolish man who not only let our child die but also failed to recognize his own offspring right before his eyes.
I could affirm it.
No matter what he said, he could never be my sun again.
‘I might accept comfort, but I won’t be foolish enough to look at you just because of such words.’
I responded to him with a cold voice.
“It would be wise for you to watch your words from now on. If you keep spouting such ridiculous theories, the royals will condemn you. And as for my status… I already know it, even without you saying it.”
I wrapped my head with a scarf again and put on my hood.
Then, I took my child’s hand.
“Demi, let’s go inside now.”
I made my way back to the hotel.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Following behind, Erich let out a sigh.
‘Even I thought it was ridiculous. But…’
Still, he felt good seeing her looking a bit better than before.
‘She still seems to dislike me, though.’
But that didn’t matter.
Even if he followed her like this, even if she didn’t acknowledge him, it was okay.
As long as she was happy, that was enough.
As Erich and Cornelia were entering the hotel, a strong wind blew.
When the gust blew off her hood, Cornelia frowned, and Erich quickly helped her put it back on.
“Let’s hurry inside.”
All of this happened in an instant.
However, someone among the crowd was watching them.
It was the captain of the Marquis Arzen’s knights.
His original mission was to patrol the area around the hotel and keep an eye on Countess Herde.
But what he had just witnessed left him in shock.
‘That woman, unless I’m mistaken.’
The eye color was definitely different.
However, her face resembled the imperial princess too closely.
Moreover, the insignia on the maid’s uniform she was wearing clearly belonged to the Herde family.
‘Just in case, I should inform the marquis.’
He hurriedly headed toward his master, Marquis Arzen.
