TMGDW C2

Chapter 2

The man’s face, partially covered by a black eyepatch over his right eye, was completely free of unblemished skin. Furthermore, a long scar stretching from his forehead all the way down to his left cheek hinted at the harrowing brutality of war.

However, that wasn’t what truly shocked Selena.

His blue eye—the only one she could see.

That single eye was so fiercely, breathtakingly beautiful that it left her entirely speechless.

“……”

His iris was as deeply blue as the ocean she had once seen in paintings.

His black hair was darker than obsidian, and his pale, alabaster skin—standing in sharp contrast to the dark strands—evoked an almost ethereal aura.

After gazing at Selena with a dry, emotionless look for a moment, the man extinguished the lantern without a word, just as he had done when he first lit it.

Late last night, having left Selena all by herself on the bed, he had not returned even by morning, when the birds outside the window began to chirp.

He must have brought me here merely as a means to secure an heir.

That was what Selena had guessed yesterday, especially since they had bypassed a wedding ceremony and she had been led straight to the bedchamber.

Yet, her newly wedded husband had abandoned the bed, leaving her all alone.

What is going to happen to me now?

Left by herself, Selena had been tormented by anxiety and couldn’t get a proper night’s sleep.

“Your Grace, the Grand Duchess.”

As she curled up on the bed, listening to the distant chirping of birds, a voice called to her from outside the door.

“Yes.”

Though it was a soft murmur, the maid outside caught it as if by supernatural instinct and opened the door.

Stepping into the room, the maid pulled back the heavy blackout curtains draped over the window.

Swish.

The room instantly flooded with light.

With the suffocating curtains gone, a pleasant morning sunlight settled gently across Selena’s face.

The maid dressed Selena in a long blue gown and helped her tidy up simply.

“Breakfast is ready.”

“……Where is the Grand Master?”

“He finished his meal and is currently at the training grounds.”

Unlike her, who had tossed and turned all night, her husband seemed to have slept soundly.

Yet, she felt no sense of resentment.

Where else could she go if not here? Even if he was only a husband in name, he was the one who had welcomed her as his Grand Duchess.

Above all else…… she wanted to look him in the eyes and talk to him properly one more time.

Not in the pitch-black darkness, but beneath the bright sunlight.

Fearing she would feel unnecessarily self-conscious eating alone in the massive dining hall, Selena asked the maid to pack a simple lunch box, deciding to head to the training grounds where her husband was.

“Do you lot honestly have a death wish?”

“N-No, sir!”

“Then why are you swinging your swords like that? It’s not like you’re begging to be killed.”

As the head of the order, Kalix was directly drilling the knights under his command.

The Elixion Knights, founded on the family name, surpassed even the Imperial Knights in skill.

And understandably so, as they were personally led and commanded by Kalix, a man widely feared as the Reaper of War.

While the knights deeply feared Kalix, their respect for him was equally immense.

With countless scars earned on the battlefield, pitch-black hair that looked like darkness itself taking physical form, and eyes so intensely blue that one might believe they contained the legendary blue flames of old.

Though he wore an eyepatch after losing one eye, the sheer, crushing intimidation Kalix exuded was terrifying.

Even the veterans who had marched alongside him through countless battlefields would instinctively avert their gaze if they happened to lock eyes with him.

“Come to think of it, I heard a rumor that you got married yesterday.”

Jerome, his adjutant who was the only one capable of holding Kalix’s gaze for more than ten seconds and had spent the longest time with him on the battlefields, carefully brought up the topic.

The moment marriage was mentioned, Kalix’s brow severely furrowed.

“Who spread that rumor?”

“……”

The already freezing temperature of the northern territory seemed to drop by another degree.

Jerome cautiously read Kalix’s expression and pointed a finger at someone nearby.

“Well, yesterday, you see, I happened to spot some woman walking in—”

“Is that true?”

“I’m telling you it is! The moment she stepped out of the carriage, the castle maids rushed out to escort her inside, and even at a glance—Gulp!”

The knight, who had been running his mouth, turned deathly pale as a massive shadow loomed over his head.

Sweating profusely, he slowly tilted his head back to find his superior glaring at him with an expression that suggested he was about to be devoured alive.

“M-Master…….”

Without a word, Kalix grabbed the back of the knight’s collar with a single hand and hurled him straight onto the ground.

With a loud thud, the knight tumbled across the floor, blood instantly gushing from his nose.

“Did I tell you to swing your swords or run your mouths?”

“F-Forgive me, sir!”

“You’ve got a mouth as loose as your trousers.”

Stung by Kalix’s cold, cutting remark, the other knights desperately wanted to voice their grievances. The Master is the one acting strange!

When you’ve spent this long on the battlefield, frustration is bound to pile up!

The Elixion Knights were the most frequently deployed order.

Consequently, no matter how much martial renown they achieved, very few women were willing to readily marry them, and even if they were lucky enough to start a relationship, plenty of knights were dumped shortly after.

Because of this, many knights would drown themselves in alcohol and spend nights with women the moment a war ended.

Yet Kalix had never once done such a thing.

Far from visiting taverns, he didn’t even tour his own territory like other lords.

Ever since a young child burst into tears the moment he appeared in the marketplace, he rarely stepped outside the castle walls unless heading to war.

Just what on earth is the joy of living for our Master?

All the knights wondered.

Could it be that the Master actually prefers men instead of women?

Quite a few knights had harbored such blasphemous thoughts.

And right in the middle of all this, they had witnessed a delicate young woman step out of a carriage yesterday and enter the castle.

The knight who witnessed it had been itching to talk about it so badly it drove him crazy.

“Didn’t I teach you to look like you saw nothing and hear like you heard nothing? As if it weren’t already not enough to train yourself to death, you’re ruining the atmosphere with useless chatter.”

Kalix stepped lightly on the knight’s upper body with his heavy riding boot.

Though the pressure felt light, the sharp, piercing glare directed down at him made the knight feel as though his internal organs were shrinking away.

“M-Master…….”

“There won’t be a second time. If something like this happens again, I’ll throw you straight into the lion’s den.”

Too terrified to even wipe away his bleeding nose, the knight nodded frantically.

Accustomed to the scene, the other knights avoided looking in that direction and diligently focused back on their training.

It was right at that moment that an out-of-place voice interrupted them.

“Grand Master.”

Kalix, along with everyone else present in the training grounds, turned their attention toward the source of the unexpected voice.

Standing there, accompanied by a single maid, was a stunning beauty with skin as flawless as porcelain and golden hair that looked as though it had captured the stars of the night sky, perfectly complemented by a long blue dress.

With her soft, sky-blue eyes, she was none other than the wife Kalix had left alone in the bedchamber last night—the one who had just arrived in the North yesterday.

Is this not a place I should be?

Selena blamed her own ignorance.

She had blindly wandered all the way to the training grounds because her husband was supposedly here.

Yet who on earth was this man clad in black, currently trampling a knight beneath his boot?

Selena felt deeply confused, wondering if the husband who had caught her from falling yesterday could possibly be the same person standing before her now.

“What brings you here?”

Kalix asked, looking at Selena with a dry expression.

With a gaze that felt almost accusatory, Selena instinctively gripped the hem of her dress tightly to keep her body from trembling.

She had rehearsed what to say dozens of times.

Yet, with the actual person standing right in front of her, her mind went completely blank, and her entire body stiffened.

While she stood there stammering, Kalix’s gaze shifted toward the lunch box held by the maid.

“Have you not eaten yet?”

At Kalix’s question, Selena gave a small nod.

The knights watched the exchange between the two with their jaws hanging open.

“Is this a spectator sport to you lot?”

“……!”

“Before I rip those useless eyeballs out with my bare hands, get back to swinging your swords.”

Did that monster have eyes in the back of his head?

At Kalix’s warning, the knights cleared their throats and hurriedly resumed swinging their blades.

Fixing his gaze back on Selena, Kalix muttered coldly.

“For a young lady raised in the lap of luxury, simply staying quietly in her room apparently wasn’t enough to satisfy you.”

Raised in luxury?

It had been a continuous cycle of abuse and mistreatment even though she had done nothing wrong. Yet Kalix seemed to be under the misconception that she had grown up pampered.

It felt deeply unfair.

She had been sold off, but that didn’t mean she felt no pain.

“I came here because I wanted to look into your eyes and talk to you properly one more time.”

When she spoke the honest truth in a trembling voice, she could feel Kalix silently staring right back at her.

Gazing at her with his single, unpatched blue eye, it felt as though he were reading straight through her innermost thoughts.

Kalix was the first to look away.

“……Of course you did.”

Spitting the words out with a harsh bite just like the day before, Kalix gestured to the maid standing behind Selena, signaling her to escort the duchess back inside.

“I won’t mind if you roam around the castle as you please.”

“……”

“However, I’d prefer it if you never set foot near the training grounds again.”

His tone was as freezing as a winter northern gale, sharp enough to easily wound someone’s feelings.

Yet, the impression Selena took away was entirely different.

Since she had just arrived and was unfamiliar with the local rules, she assumed her husband was kindly teaching her not to come to the training grounds.

“Thank you for letting me know. I didn’t know any better and made a mistake.”

Seemingly not expecting words of gratitude in return, Kalix’s eyebrows arched upward in surprise.