ChapterĀ – 08
Without meaning to, Psyche found herself trailing behind Hans down the stairs.
In the short silence, feeling awkward, Psyche struck up a conversation with Hans.
“Come to think of it, I heard you are a Viscount’s second son.”
“Yes. The third son. I have no title, nothing. Having nothing to do, I joined the Duke’s household.”
“But you possess a keen intellect, don’t you?”
At Psyche’s sincere words, Hans’s eyes widened, then he broke his businesslike expression and laughed.
“Oh my, you even know about my intellect. Did you investigate me in the kingdom, my lady? What an honor.”
“In-investigate, no, not thatā¦”
Psyche looked at him with a startled face.
Having seen him on and off for four years, she had carelessly pretended to know about him.
But unlike the flustered her, Hans seemed pleased by the compliment, shrugging his shoulders.
“Of course, of course. It’s not an ordinary feat to rise to the position of aide to a high-ranking noble at this age. It’s all thanks to this keen intellect.”
“That’s right. That’s what I meant.”
Psyche, barely averting the crisis, secretly let out a sigh of relief.
She walked briskly across the hall and exited the mansion. A carriage was already waiting in front.
And an unexpected person was standing by the carriage.
“…Ikalli?”
Psyche unconsciously called his name.
He, standing in front of the carriage, turned his head and looked at her.
His calmly subdued eyes resembled a sea after the rain.
A passing spring breeze carried the faint scent of cigars.
Facing Ikalli again after last night’s argument, a complex emotion swept over Psyche.
“You’re suddenly calling me by my name.”
At the calm, nostalgic voice, Psyche tightly clasped her hands together.
“After coming here as a bride, you meticulously called me ‘Duke’ every time.”
Whether it was sarcasm, teasing, or neitherā¦
Psyche couldn’t gauge what emotion he was saying that with. So, standing rigidly on the steps, she silently stared at Ikalli.
Ikalli stroked the neck of the horse tethered in front of the carriage, then turned his gaze to her.
“Why are you standing there still?”
At his words, Psyche blinked her eyes wide as if released from a spell.
“I was surprised because you were standing there, Your Grace.”
“You just called me by my name.”
Ikalli, standing beside the black-haired carriage horse, looked perfectly natural.
Of course, having honed his martial arts to wield a sword even while mounted, it was natural he was accustomed to interacting with horses.
Ikalli patted the horse’s thick neck, then said to her.
“Do you want to touch it?”
At his words, Psyche, startled, looked back and forth between Ikalli and the horse.
But soon, as the horse snorted roughly with a *phurrung* sound, she shook her head.
“No, thank you.”
“I see.”
Ikalli didn’t insist further and opened the carriage door.
Originally the coachman’s job, but for some reason Ikalli had said something in advance, as the coachman was sitting quietly in front.
Ikalli held out his hand, and Psyche reluctantly took it.
But she couldn’t hide the uncomfortable look in her eyes.
Ikalli, looking down at Psyche’s face after helping her into the seat, clicked his tongue.
Then, in a displeased voice, he muttered.
“Looking at you, one would think I’m taking you somewhere to devour you.”
His face, which had softened while stroking the horse’s neck, turned stern again.
Psyche watched that change uneasily, then turned her head toward the window.
Soon, the maid Anna boarded the carriage, and the door closed.
Ikalli entered the mansion even before the carriage departed.
In the awkward atmosphere, the coachman drove the carriage.
The sound of the huge main gate creaking open was heard, and the carriage leisurely left the estate.
“…My lady, are you alright?”
Anna cautiously asked, looking at Psyche, who was compulsively fixated on the carriage window.
Psyche was about to nod to say she was fine, but couldn’t even do that, tightly clenching her trembling hands.
In front of Ikalli, she desperately pretended nothing was wrong.
But even now, it felt like the rough, coarse touch of a man’s hand remained on her fingertips.
Suddenly, a memory from the past surfaced.
“Would you like to touch it?”
Young Ikalli asked her.
In his arms was a little rabbit with chocolate-colored fur.
Seeing the tiny nose busily twitching, sniffing the outside scent, young Psyche made a face.
“I’m scared.”
“It’s not scary. It’s gentle and kind.”
“…”
“It’s like you, Princess. This brown fur, the round eyes. It’s really cute when it eats carrots too.”
“Hmph, I really don’t like it…”
“Just once.”
At the request of the boy she liked, Psyche reluctantly placed her hand on the rabbit’s back.
Then the rabbit stopped moving and slowly blinked its eyes. Under her small hand, she could feel the rabbit’s heart thumping *thump-thump*.
Psyche’s eyes widened, and she let out a ‘wow’ of admiration. Ikalli watched the scene, smiling brightly.
That memory remained in her head like a painting.
But now it was a memory that meant nothing, had no significance whatsoever.
When she clasped that rough hand to board the carriage, Psyche couldn’t contain the rising sorrow.
‘Why did he betray me?’
Why didn’t he just let me die with him?
If he was going to be indifferent, he should have been so from start to finish, so why is he confusing me like this now?
Why is he angry at me?
Ikalli’s back as he entered the mansion seemed stiff with anger.
In her past life, he was someone who never even gave her a glance, let alone got angry.
Far from anger, he acted as if he felt no emotion toward her at all.
If it were her past self, she would have gladly accepted even Ikalli’s anger.
She would have kept trying hard to get along with him like in their childhood.
But Psyche realized all her strength had run out.
If only, even after meeting him in prison for the first time in four years, he had told her he loved her.
If only he had asked how much she had suffered, she might have willingly gone up to the execution platform with her husband then.
That’s what she learned being a married couple was.
She learned that sacrificing one’s life for a loved one and willingly dying together at the same appointed time was true love.
That way, Psyche wanted her and him to be recognized as a married couple.
Unable to bear the stifling feeling inside, Psyche abruptly stood up. It felt suffocating, as if a large stone was lodged below her chest.
She wanted to immediately return to the mansion and confront Ikalli, demanding to know why he treated her that way.
“M-my lady! What’s wrong?”
Anna asked, startled.
With tear-filled eyes from sorrow, Psyche belatedly opened the window and looked back at the road the carriage had taken, but the mansion had already disappeared beyond the forest path.
* * *
The carriage soon came to a stop at LacĆ³n Square, one of the busiest squares in the capital.
As befitting a street with many boutiques and tea houses leading the latest capital trends, the surroundings were clean.
Before leaving the estate, Psyche and Anna looked for the tea house Hans had recommended.
A staff member, having seen the ducal carriage, guided her to the second floor.
The table Psyche was guided to was a window seat surrounded by light green partitions painted with flowers.
“I-is it really okay for me to sit here?”
“What does it matter. Eating alone isn’t fun, right? It’s not like others are watching either.”
Psyche sat Anna across from her, saying they should have teatime together. Being a window seat, the clean square street was clearly visible outside.
In truth, Psyche had been to this tea house a few times in her past life as well.
Though it was a place she visited rarely enough to count on one hand.
In tea houses frequented by noble ladies, gossip about the capital’s social circles naturally circulated, and Psyche was a prime target of that gossip.
The princess who entered a marriage of convenience dishonorably due to royal debts.
The pitiful princess left by her husband from the first night.
The mercenary princess who arranged a marriage with the Duke’s legitimate son, then switched the marriage partner like flipping a palm when his position became unfavorable.
All of that was how the social circles referred to Psyche, and the past Psyche suffered painfully as if wounded in the heart every time she heard such insults.
While lost in reminiscence, a staff member brought pretty tea food and tea before Psyche and Anna.
It was while Psyche was savoring the scent of the flavored tea.
“Oh my, it seems the Duchess of Demiosis has visited. Her carriage is here.”
“Oh my goodness! That princess sold from Doson?”
Hearing voices talking about her, Psyche reflexively held her breath.
Unfamiliar voices were heard, and she roughly guessed they were voices of socialites.
Psyche turned her head and silently listened to the voices chattering beyond the partition.
“The Doson princess coming to LacĆ³n. Is she desperate to mingle in the capital’s social circles? Or is she sick of her husband neglecting her?”
“I heard Lady Tilly detested her, shuddering at the mention. I wonder if the two might meet in the square now. Is it even okay for her to be out and about like this?”
Psyche turned her gaze to look at the bright blue sky spread outside the window. Anna watched her anxiously.
“It’s been over a week already, hasn’t it? Since that monster and the princess got married. A truly fitting match.”
“I heard they didn’t even hold a wedding ceremony. Whether the monster’s emotions are dulled, or he finds the princess utterly detestable…”
“Hey, then why did he marry her, even paying off the royal debts? He must have married her for some purpose.”
The sound of *kar-reuk* laughter grew louder. The level of the conversation also rose.
“They might have skipped the wedding ceremony, but wouldn’t they properly share a bed? I heard she was somewhat famous for her looks even in Doson.”
“Oh my, how scandalous!”
The face of Anna sitting across flushed crimson with humiliation.
Just as she was fidgeting, unable to bear the disparaging remarks about her mistressā
