Chapter 14
Once the door closed, Letícia leaned against it and closed her eyes.
She waited for her mind to calm down, but it was futile.
The silence in the room was starkly different from Arden’s messy chamber.
Well-placed furniture and essential items caught her eye. If Arden’s room had been as cluttered, the maids would have had a hard time cleaning up after incidents like this.
“So… that’s why there were no items in Arden’s room.”
Letícia’s scalp tingled. She felt embarrassed for assuming she already knew everything about Arden. How could she be so confident, even though she’d been through this before?
Returning now, everything felt unfamiliar to Letícia. Arden and her, both experiencing such situations.
She slumped against the door, feeling like she was about to collapse. She lowered her head and suppressed the rising emotions.
“Actually, this turned out for the best.”
Arden now understood her feelings too. She hadn’t expected him to say “acting like a wife against her will,” but hadn’t he also not insisted on divorcing her?
Their relationship truly couldn’t change.
She hadn’t expected to be compared to a horse, but his words, almost as if he was acknowledging his obligation, were absurd.
The more she tried to unravel the tangled threads, the deeper she sank into the abyss of confusion.
“Can I really stop this?”
Letícia had returned when she already harbored feelings for Arden. Even now, if she pushed him away and tried to erase him from her heart, she wasn’t sure if time would stand still.
Yet she had to stop. She wanted to stop.
She couldn’t understand why thoughts of Arden grew stronger the more she hated and resented him. Despite wanting to reveal him to the world, all her attention was focused on him.
As she pondered, she drifted into a light slumber on the bed. Suddenly, she was jolted awake by someone’s presence.
She couldn’t make out the figure clearly through her blurry vision.
“Who is it?”
Letícia furrowed her brow in an attempt to recognize the person, but her heavy eyelids drooped again due to exhaustion.
Along with the warmth touching her cheek, a stinging sensation followed, as if someone was applying medicine to her wound. Letícia flinched at the sharp pain.
“Is it Mary?”
Despite being told it was okay to leave her alone, someone seemed to be applying ointment to her cheek. So Letícia assumed it was Mary checking up on her.
“…You said it’s okay to leave me alone.”
The wound wasn’t severe enough to leave a mark, and it was manageable. Even if others whispered about it, to her, this wound might be a gain now that she had decided on divorce.
Of course, her cheek would be concealed with makeup to hide the evidence of the king’s transgressions. Hence, no one would recognize the wound on her cheek.
Though Mary’s intentions seemed different.
Letícia wasn’t sure if it was her maid or not. Nevertheless, she didn’t seem to listen. Well, what does it matter?
She didn’t mind having someone who cared for her.
Letícia’s expression relaxed.
Her face, now at ease, showed no wrinkles. In the room, only the sound of her breathing could be heard.
Arden was handling work in his study.
His body heated up with every glance of Letícia’s eyes. Even the official documents brought to him made him more restless.
“Raymond.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Before the emperor arrives, there’s something else we need to investigate.”
“What is it?”
He tossed a document onto the desk.
“What is this?”
Raymond’s eyes widened as he read the letter. Quickly composing himself, he turned to Arden.
“It can’t be, Your Majesty. Surely, you don’t believe the contents of this letter?”
“Why wouldn’t I believe it?”
“…But… Your Majesty, you’ve been overseeing everything so far.”
Arden chuckled at Raymond’s words.
“That’s why we need to investigate this letter further.”
“Understood. I’ll look into it.”
Raymond placed the letter on the desk, then glanced cautiously at Arden as if testing the waters.
“Your Majesty, didn’t you share a room with the Queen Consort before?”
“I did.”
“In that case, why not try sharing a room with her again?”
“…Are you serious?”
Arden’s face twisted in disbelief.
“Suggesting I go back to her like a beggar is not the solution.”
“She might actually have abilities you’re not aware of. Besides, you’re a married couple, what’s the harm?”
“You know she lacks such abilities. She was the same woman who vehemently refused when I begged her the first time we came to the palace after marriage.”
Arden wished she had slept, but Letícia looked at him with a bewildered expression before lowering her gaze.
It felt like he was begging for something he knew she wouldn’t give, like a beggar asking for something unattainable.
“Let’s investigate this discreetly.”
“…Alright. But where were you just now?”
“Do I need to report every single place I go to you?”
“No, Your Majesty. I’ll arrange for some tea to help you sleep better.”
Raymond quickly bowed and left the study.
Alone in his study, Arden stared at the letter lying on the desk.
“[The Queen Consort, Letícia Bovart Leverte, has a man.]”
Normally, he would have brushed it off as a joke, but this time was different.
The sudden change in her attitude towards sleep and divorce bothered him.
She might push him away and reject him, but receiving a letter like this at such an awkward timing unsettled him. But Arden knew.
To assert that there was another man in Letícia’s life, who had never gone out for personal matters in the palace even once, was absurd.
‘I didn’t consider that.’
The palace.
Could he assert with confidence that there was no other man in the palace?
Arden felt like he was going crazy. A bitter laugh escaped his lips at his helplessness.
Though Letícia wasn’t bold, Arden hadn’t seen anything suspicious. He had to assume and doubt everything.
The one who made him like this was none other than the Queen Consort.
Arden crumpled the letter and tossed it into the trash. There shouldn’t be any problem with sharing the same bed as a married couple, as Raymond suggested.
Even if he thought of himself as a horse, it didn’t matter. Letícia wouldn’t have a child anyway.
❖ ❖ ❖
Letícia slowly opened her eyes. Then closed them again.
‘What did I just see?’
It was undoubtedly still a dream.
Otherwise, why…?
Her eyes fluttered as her eyelids, half-lidded, revealed her golden eyes between the long lashes.
It felt like the stars shining in the dark night sky.
As her eyelids lifted completely, she was faced with a figure nearby. Her eyes widened in bewilderment.
‘Impossible. Why is he here?’
Letícia was shocked to see Arden sleeping next to her. It felt like a dream to share the same bed with him. She had rejected him after that day. Though she still felt his touch, she had pushed him away.
‘Is this a dream?’
Surely, it must be.
All of this was probably concocted from her thoughts of him before falling asleep.
The fact that he was sleeping here was absurd. Even though Mary had told her after their first night together, Letícia couldn’t believe it without seeing it herself.
So why…?
She slowly reached out and gently touched Arden’s sleeping face. It felt like the first time seeing him this close.
As she scrutinized him with her clear mind, this moment felt strange.
His closed eyes, straight nose, sharp jawline, and slightly upturned lips. His well-groomed hair was now tousled over his forehead.
The neatly buttoned shirt was now slightly loose, revealing his firm chest.
Even his unfamiliar appearance was becoming familiar. Looking at his serene face was one of the strange things.
‘How much did we live without knowing each other?’
It almost felt like living with someone who wasn’t the man she married.
Arden was probably feeling the same way, but their hearts were heading in different directions.
Their relationship’s unpredictable end would surely hurt them both.
Letícia withdrew her hand and clasped them tightly above her chest.
She had to stop harboring futile hope.
She already knew the end of this relationship.
She closed her eyes again, hoping to wake up from this dream as soon as possible.
