“I see you here, Your Highness the Princess. It’s been a while.”
Now even Marquis Heihar was approaching. What a sight to behold.
Kaela looked up at the gentleman greeting her. This made exactly the fourth one. Gentlemen who used to leave Kaela standing by the wall, considering her lacking in beauty and social graces, suddenly started approaching her.
While Peon was briefly away, as soon as she dismissed one person who came to talk, another would appear. It seemed that after sending this man away, another would come. What was going on?
Kaela was well aware of the mocking words circulating about her in social circles.
Stiff, a flower leaning against the wall that men don’t even look at – that’s Kaela. She rides horses alone because she’s never ridden with a man.
These were Beatrice Ravalley’s words, echoed by her followers. All of it was true. Almost no men approached her to talk.
Even those who did only maintained basic courtesy, simply sharing one dance before moving on. Thus, Kaela found it extremely suspicious that gentlemen kept approaching her and volunteering to be her escort.
‘What is this? Why are they acting like this?’
Kaela had no way of knowing.
“Congratulations on your marriage.”
“Thank you.”
“But you came alone?”
It was always like this. These people would approach, notice she was alone, and volunteer to escort her. They were persistent even when she said she came with her husband. Shouldn’t one of them reveal their true purpose by now?
“The Grand Duke of Lusenford is quite cruel. Leaving his newlywed bride alone. Well, he only has eyes for one person anyway.”
This time, Marquis Heihar was more direct. Since he was bold enough to bring up Beatrice Ravalley immediately, he might give her a hint about this awkward situation. So Kaela just stared at him without responding. Marquis Heihar would take this as tacit agreement.
“Your Highness, perhaps you should look elsewhere too? The world is vast, and there are many people.”
She roughly understood what he meant. But still.
“Why are you saying this now after my marriage, rather than before?”
What was the reason for suddenly approaching Kaela after her marriage? Kaela didn’t know the sophisticated methods like Beatrice’s of manipulating men’s hearts and asking questions in roundabout ways. She only knew she wasn’t capable of such things. So she just asked directly. Unsophisticated and blunt, just like Kaela.
“Don’t you know? Ah, so that’s why the three men before me all struck out.”
Marquis Heihar smiled smugly, apparently thinking this worked to his advantage. Of course, it wasn’t advantageous at all. Kaela knew very well that Marquis Heihar was married.
“Let’s just say you were too difficult to approach when you were single.”
“Do I seem easier now that I’m married?”
She smiled as if joking.
“Not easier. Just that we’re in the same situation now, and can better understand each other.”
But Marquis Heihar shook his head vigorously, not wanting to be misunderstood. The same situation, he says.
“Haven’t you now understood the true nature of political marriages? It’s wise to fulfill your duties and seek pleasures you can’t obtain elsewhere. The Grand Duke already knows this, doesn’t he?”
Ah. So that’s what it was. Kaela smiled slightly at what was, in a way, too obvious.
“We’ll discuss this another time, my lord.”
The Princess of Ostein’s gentle smile and decisive attitude remained unchanged. Marquis Heihar realized why the three men before him had failed. While her devotion to her husband was pure to the point of naivety, her attitude in rejection was firm and cold. It was this very attitude that made many men unable to give up.
“Very well. Then I’ll await our next opportunity, Your Highness.”
Having spoken so directly to Kaela, one of the most noble figures even in Craine where all the high-ranking people had gathered, Marquis Heihar seemed to have accomplished his goal for the day. He withdrew cleanly. That was wise. Had he hesitated any longer, he would have faced the Grand Duke of Lusenford, who had heard their entire conversation.
“Kaela.”
“You’re back?”
Peon handed Kaela, who brightened immediately upon seeing him, a basket full of various desserts including sherbet.
The shop owners near the riverside, where nobles came to escape the heat, were shrewd enough to sell all sorts of high-end desserts.
He had selected a variety of items – drinks, sherbet, fragrant coffee, and numerous edible desserts – hoping they might stimulate Kaela’s appetite. While choosing them, he had heard everything about how many men approached her and what nonsense they spouted.
“Eat this first. It’s melting.”
Kaela quickly took the sherbet and began eating earnestly – even that was adorable. No wonder all the men around were stealing glances.
All eyes were drawn to her. Right. They all had eyes, so of course they could see how pretty, cute, and lovable she was. They all knew. Everyone knew.
Only Peon hadn’t known.
‘Damn it.’
Where the hell had he put his eyes? That fool. All sorts of colorful curses erupted from within his previously quiet mind.
Kaela hadn’t just become pretty today. She was pretty yesterday, the day before, at the wedding, and thinking back, she had always been cute and pretty since childhood.
Her smile was as beautiful as radiating light, and when she cried – ah, that was beautiful in a way that induced guilt with its sorrowful pain.
Everything – her resolute expression with tightly closed lips, her melancholic appearance while enduring pain, her quiet manner while handling affairs, even her earnest enjoyment while eating – everything was beautiful enough to enchant any man.
The person Peon desperately wanted to strike on the head was himself. He had four years. He had four years to monopolize Kaela, but like a fool who didn’t even know he was born a dragon, he was bound by trivial spells and not only failed to monopolize her but drove several painful stakes into his young wife’s heart.
Though men kept approaching, since Kaela seemed to really want to eat the delicious desserts, he had to endure and focus on his role.
The quality of snacks prepared by these skilled and business-savvy merchants catering to nobles was truly exceptional.
He had chosen plenty, hoping that Kaela, with her small appetite and compulsion to eat little, might eat just a bit more.
Fortunately, the patissier’s hands were quick; if he hadn’t returned quickly, more men would have approached Kaela.
“Try this too.”
“Why did you bring so much? How can I eat all this?”
She returned to formal speech again. Habits thoroughly ingrained over four years wouldn’t disappear after just a few months of living together.
“Just taste it.”
His traces were densely marked all over Kaela. The dragon’s twisted nature sometimes even welcomed that.
Because without those marks, he would truly have been nothing but a stranger to Kaela. But he knew best that those traces were scars left behind after letting deep wounds bleed without treatment.
He needed to know this. If the one who left scars everywhere didn’t recognize them, he really ought to go die.
Therefore, he couldn’t question her about each gentleman who approached. He had no right to. At least those men had much better judgment and knew how to act properly than he did.
“Sorry for leaving you alone. If I’d known this would happen, I should have brought Renard.”
“It’s nothing. These things will disappear soon after they begin anyway.”
At those words, Peon looked at her. Kaela, who was eating sherbet while watching the scattered light on the flowing river, met his gaze.
“That won’t happen.”
Peon smiled bitterly.
“This is just the beginning, and it will last a very long time.”
It had started with their marriage and would last as long as the time he had been unaware. So it wouldn’t be wrong to call this his karma.
Kaela tried to deny it first with her expression. He responded to that look.
“No, it will last long. While I’m not interested in social circles and don’t know much about them, I know men’s despicable nature well.”
He gently gestured for her to eat quickly while pushing forward other desserts that nobles were buying by the armful.
It was a unique and never-to-be-repeated experience – memorizing each man who approached Kaela, fearing she might show even slight interest in them, while simultaneously quickly selecting desserts she might eat even a bite of.
It was at least fortunate that she was eating.
“How could I not know, being one of them?”
Peon himself had been just such a despicable person. Kaela swallowed while eating the refreshing sherbet and asked.
“Did you hear everything?”
Surely not.
“I don’t leave you alone in dangerous situations.”
Peon, who had mentioned exactly what all the men who approached her had pointed out, added grimly.
“It must be creepy for you, but yes, I heard everything.”
Kaela listened calmly to what should have been creepy.
It wasn’t really surprising.
He was a dragon, after all. When he was already responsible for her every move and always by her side, should she find it creepy? No, was it strange to think this way? She wasn’t sure. Peon had become a forcibly familiar part of Kaela’s daily life.
He was completely different from before the regression, having instantly procured a hastily prepared dessert basket from an expensive restaurant that nobles clearly frequented.
Well, she wasn’t sure if he had always been this attentive, but he had become a different person to Kaela. Of course, he was still as taciturn as ever, saying only that much before falling silent. Since she felt awkward eating alone, he just joined her in eating the sweet sherbet.
“Is that all?”
What else? Kaela prodded him playfully, not even knowing exactly what she was expecting.
“What do you want to know?”
“No, it’s just that you stopped being angry…”
“I’m not angry at you.”
“I know that.”
“I brought this on myself. What could I possibly say?”
Since her marriage partner happened to be Peon, who was close to Beatrice, Kaela automatically became a wealthy heir married to a husband who had another person.
At the same time, since everyone thought she couldn’t possibly have a harmonious marriage, naturally they flocked to her. His very existence was the reason men were lining up for Kaela. So what could he possibly say?
Still, since Kaela kept looking at him, he reluctantly asked one thing he was curious about.
“Was it like this before the regression too?”
“Back then, I never came to Craine after marriage. I never had to face these people.”
Peon reflexively made a questioning expression before catching himself. He had always visited Craine alone briefly, never bringing Kaela along. He always left her alone in Lusenford, fearing the possibility of the Emperor’s niece plotting something with the Emperor.
“…I’m sorry for leaving you alone.”
So he had nothing to say. She must have wanted to visit her father’s grave, hastily buried in Craine rather than Ostein, and must have missed the many people she knew in Craine, but her husband had left her in the cold Lusenford while suspecting her.
In the end, even her confinement had been because of tending to the Duke of Ostein’s grave, so what more could he say? Finding even an apology repulsive, Peon kept his mouth shut.
No matter what conversation they had, they couldn’t avoid the past. Relationships start from the past, and those memories were infused into every aspect of daily life.
That’s why Kaela never said “it’s okay” or even “it’s fine” to his apologies. It wasn’t okay, and thus unforgivable. He didn’t seek forgiveness either. It was just an apology. He didn’t hope for anything more.
“Look over there, it’s the Princess of Ostein and the Grand Duke of Lusenford.”
“First the queen of society, and now the Golden Lily of Ostein – what disgustingly good luck that bastard has.”
“How many men were lined up to propose to the Princess of Ostein, and that guy took her away, damn it.”
“Could she have even adjusted to barbaric Lusenford? She’s such a delicate lady, and that military-obsessed Grand Duke surely…”
Silence fell between the two, but Peon’s ears picked up all the sounds he’d rather not hear.
There were countless glances directed their way, or more precisely, at Kaela. Whenever they mentioned Peon, they never failed to bring up Beatrice Ravalley, the woman he had foolishly held onto for so long without really knowing what she meant to him.
Kaela was showered with envious glances she didn’t yet recognize.
The Grand Duke of Lusenford would surely fool around with Lady Ravalley. Then what about the Grand Duchess of Lusenford and future heir to Ostein who would be alone?
Based on this simple proposition, men with functioning eyes but corrupted moral standards were approaching without knowing their place.
Death wasn’t Peon’s only rival. Everywhere was a minefield he had laid himself. He had dragged precious Kaela, whom such men wouldn’t dare look at or speak to, into the mud.
“No matter how you look at it, the Princess of Ostein is too good for him. What luck that bastard Grand Duke has – a mistress like Beatrice Ravalley and a wife like the Princess. Sigh. The Princess shouldn’t mix with those two.”
“How could someone like him deserve the Princess of Ostein?”
His heightened hearing picked up endless jealous muttering from the men around. “If it were me,” “If I were her husband,” “If I were by her side” – explicit wishes and envious glances poured out.
There were so many men who desired Kaela, including himself. And among all those suitors, Peon would have the least chance.
Along with the misery, his head felt dizzy, and the habitual pain returned. Feeling his heart being gouged out, he lowered his gaze for a moment to suppress the pain.
Strangely, this issue hurt more. It was so shameless and detestable that it made him feel disgust and nausea simultaneously. How could he not bear other men pursuing his wife when he had neglected her and looked at another woman the whole time?
No, in fact, these were emotions Peon had never experienced before.
What was this maddening feeling of wanting to gouge out all their eyes so they couldn’t look at Kaela, of wanting to sweep them all away from her vicinity?
