"I’m alive!"
I kept repeating those words as I found myself drenched in blood. It was midnight, and I couldn’t fathom why I was in such a state. I hadn’t left my room all day, and no one had bothered to check on . Did my husband forget my existence? Did he forget about the ledger work I had to finish in a single night? Had my trust in him been misplaced?
As I struggled to get up from the floor, I left a trail of bloody stains behind. My legs were unsteady, and I felt like I could collapse at any mont. I did stumble, but soone caught by the waist.
"Sorry, I lost my balance," I muttered, and my savior’s hand got sared with my blood.
"Wife, your head is bleeding again," my husband, the Duke, said, his concern evident as he supported .
"You needn’t bother," I replied, pulling away from his grasp and trying to walk on my own. However, he stopped .
"Wife, your health is not in the right condition. Let help you," he insisted, attempting to lift from the floor. I pushed him away towards a nearby couch.
"Don’t you dare touch ! You have lost all the trust and faith I had in you," I declared, my words no longer a product of my imagination but my stark reality.
"Wife? What happened? Are you having mood swings?" he asked, further infuriating .
"Mood swings? Have you lost your mind? Are you trying to make seem like a lunatic?" I retorted.
"No, no. Why would you try to make look like a lunatic when I’m the lunatic to all of you? Since I arrived here, no one has treated like a sane person, and neither have you. Do you rember the night you entered my room, expressing concerns about our marriage? I thought I was the issue, but now I see it’s not ; it’s you. You are the issue, and I’ve made up my mind. Let’s end this marriage."
"I know we’ve only been married for a few days, but we can get a divorce to end this marriage, and that’s what I want," I said, speaking loudly and drawing a crowd.
"Duchess, what is Bernice saying?" she pretended to be innocent once more.
"Yeah, yeah. I’m a lunatic, right? That’s why I’m blabbering. You didn’t make work on the ledgers on my first day of marriage. You didn’t make work endlessly, making my nose bleed without allowing to drink water or eat. You didn’t make recreate the ledgers because they had blood stains. You didn’t break my nose once again. You didn’t leave alone in this mansion without a soul in sight. You didn’t try to kill by hitting with a tal rod because I tried to help the people of Ablia. You didn’t do anything. I did all of this casually, right?" I said, smiling.
"And now you didn’t make work in the storage room all by myself and then lock inside, so I couldn’t co out," I added.
"What are you saying? Have you lost your mind?" she said, her face furrowed in a frown.
"Yeah, didn’t you hear how many tis I said I’m a lunatic? Do you want to repeat it?" I asked.
"Wife! Don’t disrespect my mother!" my husband interjected.
"I have no relationship with your mother, and once I divorce you, there won’t be any relationship with you either, nor will I be your wife," I declared, walking away, with a maid coming to support , blood still dripping.
"Wife, this is not the solution. Let talk to you. Let us talk. This is not the solution," my husband implored, following . I continued walking and, despite his attempts to stop , we eventually reached my room. The maid left, leaving just the two of us.
I reached into a cupboard, taking out bandages and cotton. "Wife, listen to . I’m sure there’s so misunderstanding," he said, but I was determined to take care of my own wounds.
"Misunderstanding? Does my wound look like a misunderstanding? Is my husband, who vowed to be with forever, not knowing I’m in my room, a misunderstanding? If all of this is a misunderstanding, what is the understanding for you? If I die, will that be an understanding?" I responded.
"Wife!" he called out loudly, but I slapped his hand away.
"I can do it myself. There’s no need to act like a husband," I told him.
"Your intentions always told you never wanted this marriage. You always said you wanted to end this marriage, so here it is. Let’s end this marriage. I’ve thought of various ways to end it, but divorce is the most straightforward," I said, applying dicine to my wound, placing cotton and wrapping a fresh bandage on my head.
I could see the pain in my husband’s eyes, but I had made up my mind. "I will free you. You should be happy," I said.
"No, I’m not happy," he replied, catching by surprise.
"I’m not happy that you want to end this marriage. I’m not happy that you want to divorce . I’m not happy at all," he confessed.
"Duke, you don’t sound like yourself," I told him.
"That’s right, I don’t sound like myself, because I’ve never acted this way. I’ve never expressed this, but I did want to be in this marriage with you. The mont I laid eyes on you, you were so beautiful. At first, I was afraid to look at you, afraid of behaving differently and having you think of as a monster. But when I gathered my courage and looked at you, you were beyond my imagination. You were dazzling, like stars in the sky," he confessed.
"Your face was so bright. But when I thought of taking part in marital activities, I thought you would need ti. So I gave you that ti. I didn’t know you would think this way. If I had known, I would never have said those things to you. It was never my intention to hurt you."
"I always co ho late from hunting demons in the forest, but as soon as I return, I make sure to check on you. Today, I was about to do the sa, but I didn’t know you were locked inside your room. Please give a chance. I won’t fail you. I’ll be the husband you need. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you smile," he pleaded.
"Is this true? I can’t believe it," I said, shocked.
"I know you wouldn’t believe , so I’ve co prepared," he told , coming closer. I felt my heart race, fearing what he might do. But he only stopped, and our foreheads touched.
"See, this is the condition of my heart when I’m near you. Do you think it’s a lie? I’m not sure what this feeling is called. I’m not sure if it’s love, attraction, or sothing else, but I feel this way when you’re near. So please believe ," he said.
"Don’t end this marriage! I want to be with you. I’m not okay with a divorce," he declared, leaving stunned and struggling to process everything.
"I want to touch you. I want to feel you. But I’m scared I might break you. You are so tender. The ti I kept on looking at you, I find you so thin as if I touch you, you will break. It always scared ," he confessed, leaving with mixed emotions as flashes of our monts together flooded my mind.
"Okay, I will give you enough ti to fulfill what you said; you may take however long you want," I replied, sliding down on my bed and covering myself with a blanket. He remained seated beside , just like the other day.
"I will stay here. I will look at you until you fall asleep," he assured , and I drifted off to sleep.
***
"Wife!"
"Wife!"
"It’s morning!"
"How long are you going to sleep?" The voice disrupted my slumber, and I wondered who would be calling so early in the morning.
"Wife? Are you ignoring ?" I slowly ca to my senses, opening my eyes to find the Duke calling my na.
"W-what are you doing here?" I stuttered, confused by his presence.
"I’m here to wake you up," he replied, his actions leaving even more bewildered.
"Wake up? When did I say you can wake up? I didn’t request that," I questioned.
"But I decided to do it. I want to give you the best impression of ," he said, smiling brightly, making question my feelings for this man, my husband.
"I will not let you end this marriage," he whispered into my ear, leaving with a multitude of emotions and uncertainties. But it kind of felt good.
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