“Episode 2”
Despite the situation, Lysio appeared serene, which only made her angrier.
“Shouldn’t spouses keep nothing hidden from each other?”
“…For your sake.”
For his own sake. What nonsense.
But Diana couldn’t muster any rebuttal. Not after witnessing Lysio looking at her with a face filled with longing, sadness, and other emotions. Seeing her unable to speak, Lysio waited for this moment, then locked eyes with her.
“The ducal family, especially in front of Mother, should never mention her. Diana, please, please. I want to be married to you for a long time.”
“If I find out… if I ask about that woman, will there be trouble?”
“Yes.”
Looking at him resolutely, Diana gave up her heart. She felt a depth of emotion she couldn’t dare to approach.
“I can’t win.”
His words struck her heart particularly hard. Because of that man’s words, she knew she had to choose. Face the truth here or let it go. And she chose to let it go.
“There’s no need to ask anything then. Forget about her if you want a long-lasting marriage.”
With those words, Diana snatched the portrait from his hand and tore it to shreds. It was the best choice she could make, to marry him with nothing but love to offer, despite having nothing else.
“Forget. About. This woman.”
Diana scattered the torn pieces on the ground, ensuring they could never be put back together. She thought this would help him regain his senses and uphold the new household they would build together.
But Lysio’s face stiffened more than ever.
“Was it so wrong to keep just this one thing…?”
“It’s not about respect for the other person. We’re going to be married. So whether you long for her in your heart or not, it doesn’t matter. This is…”
Diana’s words caused a sudden change in his complexion. He slumped to the ground and began picking up the broken pieces of the portrait as if he had become someone else.
But the shattered pieces could never fit together again. As he futilely tried to piece it back together, Lysio’s face, which had looked so helpless contemplating irretrievable memories, stiffened once more.
“Diana.”
He was cold. Diana’s heart, which thought this problem was over regardless of who he held in his heart, sank.
“Yes. We’re going to be married. But… shouldn’t we respect each other’s privacy?”
“But this—”
“For now, let’s move on.”
“How can you say that? Despite everything, we are…”
“A contractual couple. A sham marriage. That’s all it is. Since you crossed the line first, it seems you have no intention of maintaining decorum. I don’t even want to hear that voice. It’s rude and disrespectful.”
“If you had spoken properly… If you had…”
“Shh. Quiet. There’s no need to speak.”
As if too angry to speak, Diana’s lips trembled.
“I offered you advice for your own good, but you didn’t listen. So don’t act up. I have to become a proper duke tomorrow along with our marriage. So quietly, quietly.”
“I, too, if I become the duchess… I won’t stay silent. I will make sure to erase that woman from your memory completely.”
Suddenly, he grabbed Diana’s neck with his large hand.
“Behave. You’re just a duchess in name.”
Lysio’s lips hovered near Diana’s, as if about to touch or speak, but only his heavy breath reached her, and they shared no warmth. He then forcefully pushed her away.
“You… You…!”
“If you want, you can stay here and sleep. Making a fuss and drawing attention from the maids outside wouldn’t be as good as that.”
An inexplicable anger surged within her.
It was clear he wouldn’t answer any questions.
“He doesn’t love me.”
She didn’t ask for love.
But she once thought he would love her eventually.
The sweet voice that proposed marriage, she thought it might eventually confess love. Like a girl living in a dream, Diana’s world collapsed. Lysio’s fingers traced her lips.
“Or do you want to go to bed right now?”
They were still facing each other. Lysio’s emotionless crimson eyes met Diana’s golden ones in the air. She hoped love was in those eyes, but now she knew.
There was no love in those eyes.
Her dilemma didn’t last long. Feeling like she would collapse if she stayed any longer, Diana turned and left. Surprised maids followed her, but Diana quietly returned to her room, unlike before.
“How… How can this be?”
She should have left it alone. Curiosity should have been left as just that.
Diana regretted it.
“I hate it. Being a pawn. Being a pawn!”
She thought he might love her a little. His affectionate voice was as sweet as the words a lover would say. But he didn’t love her. As soon as she returned to her bedroom, Diana collapsed onto the bed, powerless.
“But I can’t go back.”
No matter how much she beat her chest and tore her hair, there was only one conclusion.
She wanted to go back, but there was no way back.
The man’s words about running away came to mind, but she couldn’t run away. Her family’s lives were at stake. Unable to make her own decision, Diana could only cry all night.
If she went back, she didn’t know what her father would do. Being called a useless child was a phrase Diana hated more than death.
“My God… This must be the right path. This must be the right path.”
There was no choice. From the beginning, until now.
That’s why she had to spend the night with wide eyes open.
The wedding had to proceed as planned.
