DLYTL 05

Chapter – 05

No matter how much Anna was her closest confidante, it was better for Psyche to be sparing with her words.

Especially since she had seen the future—she couldn’t tell her things like, “I wasn’t loved by my husband for over four years,” or “Our family was completely ruined for treason.”

Instead of complicated words, Psyche simply smiled.

“Even though I was sold to the duke’s family, wearing such an expensive dress feels inappropriate. There are people watching.”

“But if you wear something too cheap, the other nobles will gossip.”

That made sense. Psyche blinked her brown eyes several times.

Since Anna was overly insistent, Psyche decided to first sell only a few jewelry rings she rarely wore.

“By the way, Your Highness—no, ma’am—I didn’t expect you to ask the duke for such a thing. Why would you?”

“I just… spent a lot of time thinking over the past three days. It’s not even a strange request, right?”

“Ma’am… wha—nothing strange about it?!”

Anna complained, saying her heart nearly dropped.

Psyche only smiled faintly at Anna.

Her mind was filled with the image of her husband as he was four years ago.

Certainly, Icali Dmiosys, whom she met after four years, had a charm that could captivate anyone just by looking at him.

He was like a statue brought to life.

But when she met his cold blue eyes, Psyche felt as if her breath were trapped.

When she accepted Icali’s blade and returned to four years ago, the first thing she did was assess the situation, and the next was to understand her position.

She had been sold to Icali under the condition of the royal debt.

Originally, she had been set to marry Warren, the biological son of the former duke and duchess, whom she hadn’t seen in over ten years. But when Icali became the head of the family, the conditions slightly changed.

Even after Warren and Lady Tilly were expelled from the ducal residence, Icali insisted on proceeding with the arranged marriage with the Dmiosys family and the Doson royal family.

The partner changed, but the amount of money involved did not decrease.

The royal family probably didn’t want to refuse either.

If they refused him, they would have to find another suitable spouse for Psyche.

Whether it was Icali or Warren, it was still a marriage for financial reasons.

So she couldn’t just demand a divorce from him on a whim.

Especially not without money.

But doing nothing was also not an option.

Psyche turned her head. On the wall hung the pristine white wedding dress she had worn for several days.

It was one of the treasured creations of the Doson royal tailors, who had stayed up for several nights under royal pressure to complete it.

A one-of-a-kind dress adorned with precious royal jewels.

When Psyche stared at the dress, Anna made a face of disapproval.

“Oh no, that dress is absolutely off-limits. What kind of princess sells her wedding dress!”

“Well… I suppose… it would look bad to others?”

“It’s not about others!”

Anna said firmly, widening her eyes, and Psyche nodded in agreement.

“Don’t even look at it. No funny ideas either.”

“Alright. I won’t sell it. Don’t worry.”

No matter how much she said that, Anna’s vigilant gaze didn’t waver.

Because Anna had spread her arms and loudly blocked the way, Psyche smiled faintly for the first time since her return.

It had already been a week since she had married into the ducal family.

A week had felt longer than expected.

The peach blossoms that had reached the window had fallen to the ground due to an early shower.

Before the rain poured, Psyche had plucked a particularly beautiful blossom closest to the window and pressed it to make a flower specimen.

Whenever the spot on her chest that Icali had pressed in her previous life throbbed painfully, she would take out the flattened petals.

“It’ll look pretty if I put it in a frame later.”

“Yes, I’ll get one when we go to the market.”

Anna said, touched by the gradual improvement of her mistress’s spirits.

She braided Psyche’s long hair, weaving flowers between the strands. The pink petals complemented Psyche’s cheeks beautifully.

“So, you’re going to meet the steward today?”

“Yes. I need to personally confirm something.”

Psyche’s eyes darkened at Anna’s question.

For several days, she had been thinking she needed to see the family sword herself—the one that had split her body and soul and sent her back four years in time.

Even when Psyche of the previous life had lived in the ducal residence for over four years, she had never known of the sword’s existence.

‘It’s probably in the underground storage. That’s where the head keeps the family treasures.’

If that was the case, had Icali known that the sword could reverse time?

Probably not.

Even though the royal family’s swords were valuable, they were usually kept in storage due to impracticality.

At most, he would have vaguely known of its existence from stories in his childhood.

A tool capable of ending life without causing pain.

That was all.

Icali Dmiosys was a very busy man.

When he killed the foster brother who had raised him and displayed his head, half of the vassals who had served the ducal family left in disgust.

No one in high society invited him to parties or visited his residence.

Yet he was busy with business affairs every day.

He often skipped breakfast or only had tea in his office.

By the time he looked out the window after reviewing documents, the afternoon had already come.

He realized belatedly that it had been a week since the new bride entered the residence.

The residence remained bleak, as he rarely left his office.

Sunlight fell onto his well-kept black hair, and he squinted tiredly.

A murderer had taken over the house, and it was eerily quiet.

However, something had changed recently.

Icali rubbed his tired eyes and stood.

Whenever he got up to take a break, he saw a familiar scene: Psyche walking among the rose bushes.

The only difference in the bleak residence.

By pure coincidence, every time he got up to rest, he would see Psyche walking gracefully among the colorful bushes.

“….”

The princess of the small country he had married.

He had known her as a child in the Doson palace and seen her from afar at diplomatic events as an adult.

But he had never seen her so solemn.

Even when they first married, Psyche Doson’s face had been rigid.

She had immediately brought up Lady Tilly within three days of arriving at the ducal residence.

“I can endure being called the princess sold to a murderer. But I will not tolerate insults toward our royal family from Lady Tilly. I request that you take appropriate action, Your Excellency.”

That Psyche, so different from the one he remembered, stared at him with a winter-like cold face.

Who would want to marry a murderer of an empire?

It was strange to expect her to smile.

“…Pathetic.”

He muttered lowly.

Everyone knew Psyche was a beloved princess of the Doson royal family.

Yet here she was, walking precariously among the greenery with shadows on her face.

She had always been called the flower of Doson.

Seeing her like this, Icali felt his chest burn, a twisting anger rising in his gut.

Along with her request to remove Lady Tilly, she had also asked to move to a separate residence.

Regardless of childhood affection, she did not wish to share even breath with a cruel murderer.

Icali muttered a curse and checked inside his jacket.