Chapter 276
“Your Grace…?”
“……”
A proper bedroom with ordinary bedding.
Proper meals.
That was all that had changed, yet the woman was so very different from what he remembered.
The moment he became aware of that change, the heat radiating in his chest turned into an unbearably sharp pain.
And he realized. This was not the first time he’d seen the woman with her veil removed.
‘How many people have looked at her just now?’
Even before, whenever this woman appeared, others would look on with malicious curiosity.
But just now, Izar had seen a far more primal curiosity flicker in the eyes of the men.
A raw desire, the urge to part and pluck the untainted petals of a spring flower.
The woman was beautiful.
No matter how much Izar wanted to deny it, it was an undeniable truth for anyone with a functioning pair of eyes.
The pain in his chest quickly turned into a crawling anxiety at his feet.
The rumors that the Duke disdained his wife had already spread far and wide. And the truth was, he still didn’t like this woman.
But… what if some man tried to console her, offering comfort in place of her husband’s love?
What if, while he wasn’t paying attention, some man with impure intentions started hanging around her?
In the worst case, what if this woman, of her own will, sought solace in another man’s arms?
The woman was looking up at him, her expression tense. Izar deliberately avoided her gaze and coldly ordered,
“You are to return at once. Go back to the private quarters.”
“What? B-But…”
The woman hurried after him, and even her small, quick steps irritated him, making him feel all the more ridiculous.
As he glanced back, he saw that the men who had been about to approach the Duchess stopped in their tracks. Among them were the usual court sycophants.
His voice, sharpened by impatience and anxiety, came out harsher than intended.
“I should never have brought someone like you.”
“……”
“Get out of here. Don’t even think of showing your face in public at your level.”
Izar knew he was undermining her.
Of course, she was still far from appearing like a proper noblewoman.
But if not as the wife of the a duke, then at least as a young lady from a small country family who had just come to the capital, she would have seemed plausible.
Still, he had to put her down. If only to drive out this anxiety and the sudden pain in his heart.
That’s when he noticed the necklace she was wearing.
Compared to her otherwise drab but expensive outfit, the silver pendant necklace looked shabby.
“What are you doing? What’s with that filthy trinket?”
“Ah, this—”
“So now you don’t even care how you look to others?”
It was a bit shabby, but jewelry could easily be removed right then and there. Still, he just wanted any excuse to drive her away from this place.
The woman lowered her veil and hid her face again.
Her voice, muffled behind the veil, was as soft as the sound of falling snow.
“…I’m sorry. As you said, I will wait in the private quarters.”
“Tsk.”
The woman probably thought she was being very composed, but her drooping words betrayed her dejection.
Even though her voice was weak, somehow it stabbed at Izar’s heart.
Blocking everyone from seeing the woman’s face did not make him feel any better; instead, he was left with the sense he’d made an irrevocable, foolish mistake.
“Damn it.”
Izar swept his hand down his face, blaming himself for his own lack of composure.
How ridiculous, acting as if he were truly this woman’s husband, feeling so guarded and anxious.
Was he going to get worked up like this every time she appeared in public? Just because she’d become a little more beautiful?
‘…But did she always have that necklace?’
It was too humble to have been sent by House Antares or provided by the ducal household.
But at a glance, it didn’t seem like something she’d have owned during her days as a shepherd girl, either.
So who on earth had given her something like that?
“……”
A lingering anxiety welled up inside Izar’s mouth.
But, contrary to his worries, banquets became less and less frequent in the days that followed.
Those living in those times did not yet realize it, but the Empire was already on its way to ruin.
And it all began with the lands of House Antares.
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