Chapter 4 Stinging Cheeks
“The Duke has given me permission, so why not?”
Helena was not a fool to recognize Chloe’s malice.
“I told you it was as it should be. If you wish me to explain it to you in plainer terms, do not be ashamed to say so.”
At first, Chloe was polite to Helena because of the guilt she still felt.
But now that her feelings had been dulled, there was no way a Duchess could be polite to a mistress.
“Enough!”
Having been ignored more than once, Helena finally exploded, stopping the honorifics she’d been using.
Ordinarily, she would have been reprimanded for her disrespect as royalty and a Duchess, but this mansion is a place where common sense does not prevail.
It was a standard that would not be upheld, so Chloe gave it up neatly.
“You said you were in love with Callis?”
Helena, humiliated by her own humiliation, shot back.
Chloe’s barely maintained composure nearly crumbled.
‘… How could she know?’
Chloe had never confessed her love to Callis directly.
She didn’t think she could hide it perfectly, but she hadn’t expected him to notice.
“… Has he said so?”
If so, did he know and still crush Chloe?
To the point where he’d dared to thrust the woman he loved in front of Chloe.
“I feel sorry for you.”
Helena smirked at Chloe’s retort.
“Oh, no!” she exclaimed in a high-pitched exclamation, clapping her hands to show her ridiculousness.
“Even though he was mine from the beginning.”
“…”
“From the beginning, he was meant to have me here, Princess.”
From the beginning?
Chloe frowned at the unintelligible words. Helena looked mildly satisfied as her face crumpled.
Equalizing, she shrugged and continued.
“Well, it was coercive at first, but he didn’t just marry the Princess out of the blue. We had a contract.”
“…”
“When the royal family and he made the contract, Callis told me that he would marry you. But he asked me to wait a year and then he would bring me here after that.”
If Helena’s story is true, then Callis and Chloe’s marriage was arranged.
Not just a prostitution-like marriage forced on them by royal decree.
It didn’t seem like Helena was lying. It’s not something a commoner could make up, and it would make the story fit together.
The only question she has is why Helena, knowing the background, would write an article about an unfortunate Cinderella.
The answer to this lingering question is Chloe herself.
When she signed the contract with the royal family, Callis had it all planned out. She’d tailored the contract to fit that plan so that there would be no disruptions later.
He had never given up on his old lover, and he had been waiting for this situation to arise.
‘Why did I…’
So, why was he so scathing about Chloe, if he didn’t really want this marriage?
As it turns out, Callis had received a hefty dowry from the royal family. He’s been granted a title and territory.
He’s gotten everything he wants, and he’s gotten all the love he wants, and he’s brought it here.
Why on earth did Chloe have to be criticized for the past year?
“Pfttt. Look at you in shock.”
“…”
“I feel so sorry for you, Princess.”
A condescending voice pierced Chloe’s ears as she reeled in shock. A familiar emotion flashed across the other woman’s face.
A year. It was an emotion she’d had to face in the mansion during her marriage.
“You’re the poor thing. Miss Helena.”
“What?”
“For waiting a year and not having your perfect reward waiting for you.”
Perhaps it was the obvious hatred in her opponent’s eyes, but Chloe was uncharacteristically agitated.
“You will never be a Duchess, you know that yourself, and you may have his heart, but you will never have his side.”
Divorce in the kingdom is such an impossibility that it is rarely granted.
But with the Temple in charge and Calis’s overwhelming support, it should be possible.
The fact that he brought Helena into the government without planning a divorce suggests that he wants to continue his life with Chloe.
He covets the benefits of marrying her.
“Because you don’t fulfill his needs.”
“… You!”
Helena glared at her opponent, eyes wide. The red of her blood stood out against her pure whites, turning her otherwise lovely features vicious.
“Do I still look like someone to be pitied in your eyes?”
The bluntness of the question crushed Helena’s pride.
She wanted to slap her opponent across the face right now, to teach this woman who still thought she was above her a lesson in reality.
As it turned out, Helena was the one who had to learn reality.
After all, she’s a Duchess and the Princess of a kingdom. If Helena goes to the point of hurting Chloe, something bad might happen.
All she can do is wheeze and let out her remaining anger.
Helena’s emotional demeanor stirred up the users standing around the room.
Chloe sensed that the conversation was over, so she turned the teaspoon upside down and placed it on the scoop. This signaled that she was done with the tea and wanted to end the tea time.
The maid who had brought the teapot to change the mood quickly turned back.
“… Too.”
Her head bowed so low she couldn’t see her face. But the crooked neck was as ripe as a strawberry in season.
A voice with a hint of sobbing broke through.
“It’s too much, Princess…!”
Helena, clutching her face with her hands, began to sob, looking like a tragic heroine.
“All I wanted to do was, huhuhu, be friendly with the Princess… And all you did was say mean things to me…!”
She was also playing the victim.
She was the one who started the nervousness, and she was the one who started saying things that were out of line. And yet, she’s the one who’s accusing Chloe of being the offender.
The maids rushed over and began to soothe Helena. The childish foolishness worked, and she began to cry louder and louder.
Then, at some point, Helena’s cries became muffled. It coincided with the distinctive footsteps that only Chloe could recognize as approaching.
“Helena!”
Chloe heard the voice of the man she’d been secretly admiring.
He burst through the door and was heartbroken to see Helena surrounded by people.
He comforted her with a series of sobs, as if he were hurting himself.
“Helena. Don’t cry. It’s okay, now that I’m here, everything will be okay.”
Gently patting Helena’s shoulder, Callis turned her head toward Chloe this time. The kindness in her eyes quickly faded, replaced by a cold glare.
“Chloe!”
“…”
“You said you wanted to speak with Helena alone first. I still trusted you and granted your request, but you have broken that trust!”
Callis’s eyebrows formed a mountain, and he turned to Chloe with a firm, angry look.
Helena’s sobbing subsided as she felt his protection.
He took advantage of the moment to turn to Helena. Not at his wife, who stood calmly by.
“… Huhuhu. The Princess, no, your wife… Said she didn’t want to be friends with a lowly thing like me. And also… She also said I could never be part of a ducal family and… Huhuhu…”
Chloe froze as she listened to Helena’s explanation.
It wasn’t entirely a lie. It was also not entirely true.
It was too vague a distinction to explain, and even if he tried, it was clear that Callis wouldn’t listen.
At Helena’s words, Callis’s face visibly hardened. He turned to Chloe, his complexion pale and cold, and stood up straight.
Slap.
And that was before Chloe had a chance to defend any excuse.
Her cheeks heated before her mouth even opened.
The hand that had held the sword for years, the hand that had defeated enemies and claimed victory, was now mercilessly striking Chloe’s.
“You’re crazy, you.”
“…”
“I asked you to treat the woman I love well!”
Her cheeks, once vibrant, were now hollow. Callis’s insulting words slipped past Chloe.
For the first time in her life, she was slapped. By the man she’d given everything to.
In that moment, a piece of her heart she’d kept hidden to protect herself flickered. One after another, her chest throbbed.
Her heart, which she had thought was fine, cracked again.
***
‘There were many times I wanted to end my marriage, too.’
In truth, Chloe had wanted to end her marriage, but she hadn’t because divorce was difficult in the kingdom, and she felt guilty for even asking for it in the first place.
But as Helena tells her, Callis has never sacrificed anything.
He didn’t need to hear Chloe called a selfish royal daughter who ruined his happiness.
‘I really need to end this now.’
She can’t stay in this marriage any longer.
Divorce is difficult in the kingdom.
No matter what happens between a couple, they can’t divorce without the approval of an officer.
There are only two heads of state in the kingdom. Emperor Balont, the head of the royal court, and the High Priest, the head of the temple.
Even though the marriage was arranged by the royal family, they would be furious if they knew what happened at the mansion.
Back in her room, Chloe lit a candle for the first time in a long time. She sat down at her desk and opened the cabinet to find a stack of letters addressed to her.
‘Oh, not this one.’
They were days overdue. Some of them were urgent, but she hadn’t had the time or inclination to read and respond.
She opened the other drawer and this time there was a new stack of correspondence. She picked the most ordinary one among them. She wanted it to look like an unimportant letter.
‘I need to see my father.’
As tersely as possible, in case someone opened it. And yet urgent.
Next, she bribed a servant to mail the letter. She was told it would take five days for the letter to arrive.
She grew impatient, but decided to wait just a little longer.
Five days later, a carriage arrived at the Duke of Argent’s doorstep.
It was the royal carriage.
