We’re Married, After All - Chapter 39

The room was devoid of light. Inside, there was only a bed, a small nightstand, and a hook for hanging herb sachets.

There were two main reasons Danel had built a hospital with such a ward in Lamprey Castle. First, the barony’s finances were nearly ruined after a plague swept through. Second, the reason for the financial collapse was almost laughably trivial.

When the plague first broke out, one of the patients was a child. Concerned for their child, the parents sneaked into the quarantine area, an act Baron Rodio only discovered much later.

The disease spread rapidly from the parents to the entire castle, reducing Lamprey Castle’s population by a third. Baron Rodio was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. So, when Danel proposed building a hospital with a perfect quarantine ward, the baron naturally agreed.

The place where Petios Veloce now lay was that very quarantine ward.

Danel closed the lid of a ceramic pot from which smoke was steadily rising. It contained hallucinogenic herbs that burned constantly in the room. The water on the nightstand had been brewed with toxic berries. Even if Petios were to wake up, he wouldn’t be able to regain his senses for some time.

Danel slowly gazed down at the sleeping man’s face. Petios’s features were gaunt, likely from the deliberate restriction of his nutrients. Still, he wouldn’t die. Danel was putting in every effort to ensure that he stayed alive.

“Wake up, brother,” Danel whispered.

“Before I burn it all to the ground, you have to die on your own.”

A few weeks ago, Laurea had come to Danel’s study.

“I want to work.”

“What sort of work are you referring to?” he asked.

“The work I’m supposed to be doing. You’ve been handling everything up until now. Whether it’s redesigning the castle or budgeting for other estates, let me take on something I can manage.”

Her green eyes looked directly into his. Perhaps it was because he was so unused to meeting her gaze, but every time Laurea looked at him like this, Danel felt an overwhelming urge to flee.

Yet, at that moment, he found himself staring at her intently instead. There was so much he wanted to say.

“If I let you do this, will you overlook everything I’ve done? The extra maid I assigned to you? The way I’ve effectively confined you to this castle? …The fact that I took you from him?”

Caught in these pitiful thoughts, he closed his eyes. Instead of voicing them, he shifted his focus to upcoming tasks.

Recently, Danel had deliberately isolated Laurea from the outside world. This had caused their relationship to grow colder than usual. For Laurea to make such a request in this strained situation, she must have had her reasons.

Still, Danel decided to grant her request. Because it was something she wanted.

“It’s time to send a gift to Ture.”

“Was that the Modiano estate?”

“Yes. Their second daughter is having a birthday party. I heard it’s to attract potential suitors. While there’s no need for us to attend in person, it would be good to show that we’re supporting them. As you know, Lord Modiano is…”

“One of the people who searched for Petios on the Count’s behalf,” Danel said.

He carefully observed Laurea’s expression. Her face betrayed no emotion. It seemed that speaking Petios’s name no longer brought her any pain.

“How much effort should we put into showing our sincerity?”

“Decide as you see fit. That also falls within the scope of budgeting,” Laurea replied.

Hearing her response, Danel saw a small smile across her face.

“Not bad, for a first exercise.”

At that moment, Danel wanted to say something more to her. He wanted to tell her that even after the shameful marriage, born of her fiancé’s escape, she had always fulfilled her duties, preparing banquets and attending to her responsibilities. He wanted to remind her that even the task of arranging horses for the orphans had been her accomplishment, not his alone.

But he hesitated, unsure how to say it without making it sound like mere validation or acknowledgment. Danel didn’t want to appear patronizing. What he wanted to give Laurea was affirmation, not condescension.

Laurea wasn’t a person without ambition—just someone weighed down by a sense of futility. Danel was certain that, after completing this task, she could handle more significant responsibilities. She had always been the type to find satisfaction in solving challenging problems, even before…

“Before he shattered her last sense of hope.”

Thankfully, Laurea didn’t seem to find the abrupt end to their conversation strange. Instead, she seemed satisfied with his response and left the study. From the start, she likely hadn’t expected anything more from Danel than his permission.

He held his breath and listened to the sound of her retreating footsteps. The situation felt ironic to Danel—he wanted to give her everything she wished for, yet the person standing in the way of her desires was himself.