Chapter 100
Ardion looked at the duchess. “Laila won’t be going. She’s not feeling well right now…”
I gently nudged Ardion’s arm. He paused mid-sentence and looked at with a questioning gaze. He tilted his head slightly and gave a subtle signal with his eyes.
It seed better to tell him how I was really feeling. “I’m fine.”
“No, you keep having strange dreams.”
“But I haven’t had any lately.”
Ardion shook his head and turned to the duchess. “Either way, Laila won’t be going. And I won’t be attending either.”
“But, Your Highness, many nobles who support you will be attending the ball.”
“Rather than wasting ti with pointless chatter, I’d rather stay here in the palace and—”
“I’ll go.”
At my words, Ardion stopped talking and looked at .
The duchess, who had been stiff, turned to with a smile. “That’s a wise decision. I was thinking it might be good for you to rest after all you’ve been through, but since you’re a princess now, it wouldn’t be a bad ti to start socializing.”
I nodded. Ardion’s gaze still pierced through , but I ignored it and picked up my teacup. As I set the cup down after taking a sip, the duchess rose from her seat.
“Then I’ll be off now. I’ll take it that Her Highness will be attending. Oh, and your little mouse is quite popular too.”
Her words caught off guard. But thinking about it, it wasn’t that surprising. Even at the wedding, quite a few nobles had shown interest in Derol.
I said nothing, and the duchess gave a graceful bow and left the drawing room.
As soon as she was gone, Ardion said in a low voice, “Laila, Duchess Heverun is trying to use you.”
“Use ? How?”
“She wants to use your popularity in society to make the ball a success.”
“But the duchess helped improve my reputation by saying good things about to others. Don’t you think I should do this much in return? It’s not like I’m really losing anything.”
“Laila, because of the rumors she started…” Ardion trailed off, running a hand through his hair. He turned his head and let out a long sigh.
I had never seen him this upset before. I watched him quietly, and a mory of a newspaper article ca to mind.
Co to think of it, Ardion never let see the papers. Even though I was stuck in my room and bored, he never really told what was going on outside.
Was this about that article?
Narrowing my eyes, I asked, “Is this because of that article that called so sort of fem fatale?”
Ardion’s face instantly hardened.
I continued, speaking lightly, “Oh, I saw it on the way here. The one where I supposedly stole both your heart and Rowell’s, like so legendary seductress…”
“She dragged Rowell into it just to paint you that way.”
“But I heard the article was just a mash-up of a bunch of rumors…”
“Exactly. And it all started because of her. She spread those weird rumors in the first place, and that’s how it ended up like this.” His voice was unusually low. His furrowed brows and tense expression told just how upset he really was. Ardion clearly wasn’t happy about being linked to Rowell.
I had been shocked when I first read the article, but now, I didn’t care. It wasn’t true anyway, and eventually, people would forget about it. More importantly, I had sothing else to tell him.
“Anyway, Ardion… Serina’s awake.”
“Serina?”
I nodded. “And I spoke to her. If she changes her mind, I think there’s still hope.”
“What did you talk about?”
“Just that she’s targeting the wrong people for her revenge.”
Ardion frowned at . “Revenge?”
“Oh… she tried to kill and Derol before, rember?”
It seed he had no idea Serina had tried to kill him, but I didn’t want to make him more anxious by telling him.
Besides, I wasn’t even sure he’d believe if I told him she had died and co back to life. Maybe it was better if he didn’t know.
“Laila, if she won’t talk, there’s another way.”
“What way?”
“Torture, ntally or physically—”
“Ardion!” Startled, I shouted his na.
He furrowed his brows, puzzled by my reaction. “What? That’s how it’s usually done in these situations.”
“Well, yes, but… I don’t think Serina has actually killed anyone yet.”
“But she tried to kill you.”
I let out a deep sigh.
Ardion continued, “If she doesn’t give you an answer by tomorrow, I’ll have no choice but to use that thod.”
“Ardion, are you serious?”
“That’s the only way, Laila. What if she pretends to listen to you and then betrays us?”
“But Serina’s not that kind of person. I’m sure—”
“I thought Rowell wasn’t that kind of person either.”
“…”
“But he went beyond what I could’ve imagined.”
For a brief mont, I saw a flicker of danger in Ardion’s eyes. I turned my head, feeling conflicted. Suddenly, he reached out to grab my hand. I tried to pull away, but he leaned in closer, his eyes locked on mine.
“Now that I think about it, why have you been avoiding ?”
“I only ca here because the duchess visited.” I turned my head.
Ardion followed my gaze. “Do you know that my heart sinks every ti you avoid ?”
I looked back at him. He was staring straight into my eyes.
“Then why did you make suffer so much? For two whole days, I—”
“That’s what it’s about?” Ardion’s voice suddenly softened.
I looked at him curiously and saw he had a small smile on his lips. Slowly, he reached for the veil draped around my collarbone and gently brushed his lips against the reddened skin underneath.
“You should’ve just told .” He looked up at with eyes burning with lazy desire.
“Ardion, the servants are around.”
“Then you shouldn’t have avoided in front of them.”
“…”
“You should be used to by now. Was two days still not enough?”
“It’s not that…”
I tried to move away, but Ardion pulled into his arms and sat on his lap. Startled, I gave him a look, but he cupped my face and bit my lips gently.
Then he laid down on the sofa.
“Ardion!” I shouted in alarm.
He exhaled deeply and said, “Laila, my mana is overflowing. You’re the only one who can help .”
At that mont, a glowing circle of mana started spinning around his arm.
Horrified, I shouted, “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? There was no light earlier!”
“No, I’m serious. Want to check?”
With that, he started undoing his belt.
“What are you doing?! That’s not how you—”
“You said you wanted to check. This is the only way to know for sure.” A teasing smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
“Ardion.”
“Laila, look. Just thinking about you makes the mana surge out of control.” He gripped my hand tightly.
❋ ❋ ❋
When I woke up, it was already evening.
I sat up in bed, dazed. Ardion was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was a neatly folded note in his place.
[Laila, I wanted to stay until you woke up, but sothing ca up. I’m sorry.
I’ll be back soon once I’m done. I love you.
– Your husband, who misses you even when you’re right beside him.]
Husband. It was still a strange word. But we were married now and had already seen every side of each other, so I supposed that was what we were now.
I blinked slowly, then got out of bed. A sharp tug in my muscles made grab the mattress for support.
Ardion…!
Clenching the blanket with trembling hands, I took a deep breath and slowly stood up. Fortunately, aside from a slight ache in my thighs, I felt fine.
I placed the note in a drawer. It was already filled with other notes he had written when he was bored, so short and sweet, others long and detailed.
I stared at his neat handwriting for a mont, then shut the drawer. He had left behind so much of his feelings. It was overwhelming at tis, but still, he said I was helping him now.
I didn’t know if it was true or not, but I wanted to believe it. Either way, it was a relief that I was of use to him. I had received so much from him. If I had nothing to give in return, that would’ve been painful.
With a soft sigh, I opened the door.
The hallway was quiet. A few servants passed by and bowed as soon as they saw .
I nodded in return and glanced around. Co to think of it, I hadn’t seen Derol for a while. I opened the door to the room next to mine, wondering if he might be there.
The room was quiet. Toys were scattered here and there, but nothing stood out. I left the room feeling slightly disappointed.
As I stood in the hallway for a mont, my eyes landed on the door at the far end. The room where Serina was.
Has she still not changed her mind?
I was curious about whether she’d remain silent. I started walking down the corridor towards her room.
Suddenly, a small black mouse popped out of a nearby hole and sniffed the air on its hind legs.
“Derol!”
At the sound of my voice, Derol turned and ran towards . “Master! What brings you here?”
“Derol, what about you? Why were you there?”
“Oh, I was just checking in on Serina, just in case.”
“She’s still not saying anything?”
Derol slowly nodded. “She doesn’t say much to the servants, and she’s not talking to herself either.”
His words made feel even more discouraged. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to change Serina’s mind, but I hadn’t realized so much ti had already passed.
Should I go see her again?
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