Chapter 28
He hadn’t told her the time, or even the day, but if he said he would visit, that was the end of it.
“…Yes.”
Evina felt a subtle sense of defiance but affirmed it anyway.
Before this man, she was nothing but a tiny insect. He could snap her neck right now, dump her body in the middle of the capital, and no one would say a word.
“Evina Siollier, will you become my fiancée?”
In an instant, the teacup in Evina’s hand fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.
Her golden eyes trembled.
“How about it.”
The crimson lips moving in the mirror looked like the devil’s own.
“A chance to escape your wretched, miserable life.”
It was maddeningly good.
The back of her neck prickled with chills.
“In return.”
The man’s hot breath dampened the shell of her ear.
“No matter the price.”
…No matter the price.
“How do you even know me?”
“Does that matter?”
Evina was at a loss for words.
“I came here to offer you a chance to turn your entire life around in an instant. What use is that question?”
His cold, gloved fingers slowly swept up the nape of her neck.
“…Hah.”
She stretched her neck long.
“You live a life where you can’t even use hot water freely in the dead of winter.”
The man let out a low scoff.
“A husband who parades your Siollier gold hair and gold eyes around like cheap trinkets. Are you really fine with that?”
No.
Her expression hardened.
“How I came to know you doesn’t matter. Even if you knew how I found out about you, nothing would change. Isn’t that right?”
She nodded slowly.
“Yes… good girl.”
He had been stroking her nape, and now he slowly wrapped one hand around her throat.
“Hah…”
The feel of the cold leather glove encasing her hot neck made her skin crawl.
Her toes curled tight.
Xenobius’s energy wrapped around her completely. She could feel it.
“You’re tense.”
He let out a quiet chuckle.
“Your sensitivity really is good. Even if she’s just a shell, a Siollier is still a Siollier, is that it?”
A sudden theory flashed through her mind.
“If you’re doing this because of my gold hair and gold eyes, it’ll be useless.”
“…Why is that?”
“I…”
Evina hesitated for a moment.
“I am nothing but a shell.”
“You haven’t awakened? I already know that.”
Her golden eyes filled with questions. Though she hadn’t thought he wouldn’t know.
If Evina had truly awakened the Siollier power, she would never have married Viscount Derise in the first place. And even if she had, she certainly wouldn’t be living so miserably.
“Then why…”
“Shh.”
The man wrapped his hand around her throat and pressed his index finger to his own lips.
“You’re still a Siollier, aren’t you?”
“…Yes.”
She deeply loathed the name Siollier.
The life she had lived had made it so.
In the Empire, where it was customary for a woman to take her husband’s name unless she was an imperial princess or crown princess, the women of the three great Guide families were the sole exception. Even in marriage, they could not discard their family name.
So Evina could never become Evina Derise. She lived as Evina Siollier.
It was wretched. She hated the name Siollier just as much as she hated the horrible, disgusting Viscount Derise.
“Good. You’ll have to f**k me once. Then I’ll give you what you want.”
“…F-F**k?”
Her face twisted miserably at the word.
It was absurd.
The Grand Duke had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, trespassed into her home, and now she was being told to give up her body.
But there was one major flaw in his proposal.
“I am the Viscountess Derise, Your Grace.”
“Ah.”
He frowned as if he had just heard something that had never crossed his mind.
“I cannot spend a night with you, Your Grace. And as for fu…”
She shook her head, having unconsciously repeated the vulgar word.
“I don’t quite see how that proposal is an opportunity to change my life.”
“I told you. If you accept my offer, I’ll grant what you want. If that isn’t a chance to change your life, then what is?”
“…What I want?”
“Yes, what you want. For example… hm. How about the Viscount disappears.”
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