Chapter 20
“Just make sure neither family hears about it.”
Unlike his indifferent words, the glare he gave her was vicious, but she deliberately answered calmly.
“I’ll be careful.”
At that answer, his shoulders stiffened. Then, as though he couldn’t be bothered dealing with them any longer, he waved a hand.
“I’ll review the rest of the ledger separately. Both of you, leave.”
At his words, she turned away without looking back.
As soon as she left the office, she saw Layla passing right beside her. Looking at that shamelessly composed back, Juliana spoke clearly.
“Miss Layla. If you’re going to try to make trouble for me, be smarter about it.”
Layla stopped dead in her tracks.
No matter what you try, I’m not someone you can push around anymore.
Layla must have understood the unspoken warning.
But when she slowly turned around, she wore her usual calm smile.
“I don’t know what you mean, Madam.”
As though no matter what Juliana said, Kallion would never suspect her.
It was a confident smile.
* * *
After checking all the ledgers Juliana had brought, Kallion set the documents down and sank into thought.
The ledger Juliana had brought back was flawless.
Which meant the previous ledger Layla had delivered must originally have been flawless as well.
Then what had happened to the missing pages?
Perhaps the answer was simple.
If it hadn’t been Juliana’s mistake, then perhaps Layla, who had delivered it in between, had made the mistake.
But despite how simple and straightforward that conclusion was, he couldn’t immediately accept it.
He had watched Layla for eight years.
In all that time, she had never once made a mistake. That was precisely why he trusted her so deeply.
And Layla had made such a simple mistake?
“……”
Kallion roughly dragged a hand down his face. His dark gaze remained fixed on the ledger.
Even if that were true, Layla was a member of a loyal vassal house and a trusted subordinate who had remained by his side for eight years.
Juliana, on the other hand, was the daughter of the enemy house that had killed his mother, and a woman full of mysteries whose thoughts he couldn’t understand.
In the end, it was only natural to favor one’s own people.
Suspecting Layla over something like this would be tantamount to questioning the very foundation of the relationship between Baldomer and its vassals.
Yes, perhaps that woman was the problem.
Whenever she was involved, even he found it difficult to maintain his composure.
‘If I’m going to take a lover like you suggested, I’ll need at least that much.’
‘Why? Are you going to take back what you said now?’
“Ha.”
An incredulous laugh escaped him as he remembered Juliana’s brazen words.
Even if he was the one who had told her she was free to take a lover, how could she say such a thing so boldly right in front of the man who was, at least in name, her husband?
He simply couldn’t understand what that woman was thinking. Before their marriage, she had shown him blind affection, but now she displayed an inexplicable hostility toward him.
No, perhaps the hostility she showed now was actually easier for him to understand. Baldomer and Heister had always had that sort of relationship.
Her behavior before the marriage was what had been truly difficult to comprehend.
‘If I do my best after we marry, I believe you’ll eventually understand how sincere my feelings are.’
Those were words Juliana had spoken during one of their formal meetings before the wedding.
She had worn a gentle, shy smile, but in that moment, her gaze had met his with such unwavering sincerity that it held his attention for an instant.
Long enough for him to momentarily forget that she carried the blood of his enemy.
The small, unimpressive girl he had once known had grown into a woman and now stood before him openly revealing such steadfast feelings. He remembered finding it unexpectedly surprising.
Thinking about it now, it was almost laughable. Since their marriage, she had continued surprising him in an entirely different way.
Had the timid and delicate demeanor she showed before their marriage merely been an act to secure the marriage?
Had the sincerity she spoke of actually been hatred no different from his own?
Or was even her current behavior another scheme intended to change his heart?
He couldn’t begin to guess what was truly going on inside her head.
There was only one thing he knew for certain.
Just as she had said, she was doing her utmost after the marriage.
No matter how deeply Kallion distrusted Juliana, even he had no choice but to acknowledge that much.
The flawless ledger was proof.
He didn’t know what she was working so blindly hard for, but if it was to change his heart, she had completely misjudged him.
There was no one in Baldomer who failed to fulfill their role to the best of their ability. That applied even to a daughter of Heister.
She had merely done what she naturally should as the lady of the house. It didn’t leave much of an impression on him.
Except.
Those cold crimson eyes directed at him.
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