Chapter 35 : Shadows Beneath the Velvet Smile
Chapter 35
“Sina!”
Mrs. Pensler’s expression stiffened, her hand instinctively reaching to grip the young woman’s arm. I turned toward her, confusion clouding my face.
“What do you mean by that?”
Sina scoffed lightly, eyes wide with incredulity. “Such a boast—how can anyone live with just one blanket? Really, now!”
Her face was guileless, as though no malice had ever graced her thoughts. That very innocence made her words sting all the more.
Startled, I gently took her arm, attempting to temper the situation.
“I’m sorry, but… my husband is not insane.”
I bit back the rest—that I hadn’t even shared a blanket with him yet.
Yet Sina remained utterly unfazed, her enthusiasm bubbling forth unchecked. Turning to Mrs. Pensler, she said, “I thought you were joking! No one here seems to remember what Johannes Schulz was like in the Navy—but it’s real, isn’t it?”
Mrs. Pensler brought a hand to her forehead with a sigh that echoed deep exhaustion. My discomfort grew by the second.
A marriage, no matter how hollow, demands a certain dignity. Outsiders can never truly know its interior, but Sina hurled accusations without hesitation.
I opened my mouth to respond—but she cut me off first.
“How can a wife know so little of her husband’s past?”
I met her gaze, bewildered. “I don’t understand what you’re implying.”
“To the people of Scandia, he is no man—he is the devil.”
She paused, her expression darkening.
“I am from Bordin. That name must mean something to you. Our lands were the main battlefield during the war.”
My breath caught.
“Bordin? What are Bordiners doing here…?”
It made little sense. Nations rarely allow their homelands to become battlefields unless completely unavoidable—it’s costly, ruinous. Yet Bordin, a vassal state caught in the crossfire, had borne the brunt.
But to call Johannes a devil? He was but a commander following orders—no different, I assumed, than others.
“If you say this because he was your enemy in war…”
Sina leaned forward, her voice sharp.
“If being a commander alone makes one a monster, wouldn’t that make every soldier guilty? No—this is different.”
She grasped my shoulder suddenly and guided me into a chair. I glanced toward Mrs. Pensler for support, but she remained still, merely sighing again.
They had decided, it seemed, not to silence Sina.
The red-haired woman sat across from me, flashing a serene smile. But her eyes—void of warmth—sent a chill through my spine.
“I sought a place to begin anew and landed here. Docilia may be a defeated nation, but at least it stands.”
Mrs. Pensler murmured under her breath, “Stands… while drowning in reparations.”
“Better than others, I say! Many fallen countries teeter on bankruptcy,” Sina replied, unbothered.
Mrs. Pensler groaned and gave her a stern thump on the back. “Every time war comes up, this one loses her mind. Forgive her, Edith.”
I raised a hand gently. “No, please… Miss Mekeli—may I call you Sina?”
Her face softened. “Of course.”
She launched into vivid stories of the horrors Johannes had wrought. How entire enemy fleets never returned once his ships appeared. How he never flinched, even when prisoners sobbed for mercy, whispering the names of children and wives. How he extracted confessions through torment—true or false, it didn’t matter.
“He will do anything to reach his goal.”
My hands curled into fists. I had to press my nails into my skin just to keep steady.
Was she exaggerating? Was this madness or truth?
Her words mirrored the letters I had received—those haunting messages warning me away from marriage.
Could they be connected?
“Do you know why, when the Baltz Fleet nears the Red Sea, even the killer whales do not surface?” she asked coldly.
“We call Commander Schultz a blood-drenched monster. I’ve seen him kill his own men.”
My lungs refused to breathe.
“He has the eyes of someone utterly detached from life and death. Killing is… irrelevant to him.”
She tilted her head, lips curving in a smile.
“Yet here, no one knows. A noble duke, married to a lady. A fairy tale, isn’t it?”
She leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “Is he kind to you too?”
Suddenly, I remembered Edward Windsor’s warning. Did he know this? Was that what he tried to shield me from?
Mrs. Pensler broke the silence with a whisper. “I didn’t believe her, not at first. But… she speaks with terrifying clarity.”
We turned toward the sound of hooves.
A carriage.
Mrs. Pensler rushed to the window.
“Edith…! The Schultz family crest—it’s Duke Schultz!”
Sina bolted from her chair, diving under the table like a frightened child. Her tall frame trembled like a sapling in a storm.
She was no longer the fiery woman from minutes ago. Only terror remained.
A strange heaviness swelled in my chest.
I looked at the grandfather clock.
‘If you go past curfew, I’ll come pick you up.’
I had forgotten. The curfew. Sir Fret’s warning.
I hadn’t imagined Johannes would come himself.
Dusk had long since fallen.
I stepped outside.
The crest-engraved carriage stood silently, regal. And in front of it—Johannes.
“You’re late,” he murmured, lifting his watch. Shadows danced across his features, his smile soft yet unreadable.
After everything I had heard… it felt unreal. Like a painting coming to life, serene yet chilling.
“I apologize,” I whispered.
And then, quietly, for Mrs. Pensler’s ears behind the door, I added, “It’s just… the conversation ran long. She was so overjoyed to see me again, she lost track of time.”
Truthfully, I was reeling. The Johannes she spoke of, and the man before me—how could they be the same?
He glanced at me, his coat immaculate, his gaze unreadable.
“It’s dangerous after dark,” he said. “One never knows what might happen.”
Was that worry? Was this real concern—or merely an act?
No. This visit, I convinced myself, was to uphold appearances. To fuel tomorrow’s newspapers with tales of the chivalrous duke.
“It’s Mussen. You know the rumors,” I said, half-joking.
Then I stopped, recalling Sina’s words.
“…The killer was caught. And security’s stronger now.”
Johannes’ expression darkened, his voice low.
“For now.”
He stepped closer.
“But I had the reins once—firmly in hand. Now, they’re slipping.”
I said nothing.
“When it takes this long to catch one beast, others start to stir.”
He smiled.
I felt Mrs. Pensler’s presence behind me.
Should I offer Johannes the affection he might expect?
Best to leave—before he met Sina.
I looked up into his eyes. Azure, piercing, impossible to read.
“Johannes,” I said softly. “I know you love me, but you didn’t have to come all this way just to fetch me.”
For the first time in a long while, I saw his mask falter.
…Was that surprise?
