Chapter 38
-BANG!
The quietly closed reception room door suddenly burst open with a loud noise.
The Count and Countess were startled by the door opening so roughly that it made such a violent sound.
Not just them, but Alice and Eric too were so surprised that they forgot their confrontation and turned their heads towards the door.
Then they saw a man calmly entering the reception room, receiving everyone’s gaze.
“…Kylus.”
The man who appeared, drawing all eyes, was none other than Kylus.
Alice blinked, wondering if she was seeing things, but the man dressed in a dark blue suit was definitely Kylus.
Why are you coming out of there…?
It wasn’t just Alice who was perplexed by his sudden appearance; the Count and Countess’s mouths gaped open as well.
But regardless of everyone’s shock, Kylus entered the reception room with elegant steps.
If it weren’t for the bang of the roughly opened door hitting the wall, everything about his actions would have seemed completely natural.
“My, I used more force than I intended.”
As his pleasant baritone voice echoed in the reception room, Alice’s mind snapped back to reality.
Kylus glanced at the gaping Count and Countess before turning his gaze to Alice.
“I seem to have unintentionally startled everyone.”
“…”
No one answered Kylus’s words.
But he didn’t seem to expect an answer in the first place, as he passed by the Count and Countess with an unperturbed face.
Then he approached Alice as if it were the most natural thing to do.
While Alice was frozen, he stood right next to Eric in just a few steps.
Kylus glanced at Eric, who had turned to stone, then looked at Alice.
“You seem to experience this kind of situation often.”
Often?
As Alice tilted her head in confusion, she recalled when Kylus had regained consciousness.
Come to think of it, Lady Quillian had raised her hand towards her then, just like now.
“Ah…”
“It doesn’t seem like there’s a problem with you… Is it that you’re surrounded by trash?”
Before Alice could flinch at being called “wife,” Kylus’s gaze turned to Eric.
His jet-black eyes flashed towards Eric.
“Surely you weren’t about to strike the Duchess’s cheek with that hand?”
One corner of Kylus’s mouth lifted crookedly.
“A mere young master without a title daring to strike the mistress of the Dearrut Duchy?”
“…Ah.”
Eric’s gaze met Kylus’s.
Those black eyes were like a bottomless abyss.
Eric’s tongue seemed to freeze, unable to say anything as his lips trembled.
And that wasn’t all.
He couldn’t move his body at all, as if he had encountered a giant predator.
I’ll kill you.
Those black eyes were saying that to him.
Eric’s face was turning deathly pale at this extreme fear he had never experienced in his life.
Seeing Eric’s alarming state, Alice approached Kylus.
If left like this, Eric seemed likely to faint.
She didn’t want to trouble the servants with moving that body.
“Your Grace.”
As soon as Alice called, Kylus turned his head.
The cold face he had shown Eric transformed into a gentle smile as if it had all been a lie.
There was a loud thud as Eric collapsed to the floor, but Kylus stared only at Alice as if Eric wasn’t even in his sight.
“Yes, my wife.”
His gentle voice was quite affectionate, but Alice’s hair stood on end at the two words “my wife.”
Why is he suddenly like this?
Moreover, she couldn’t find the affection of his voice in his black eyes as he looked at her.
Cold anger.
Although she couldn’t understand why, he seemed to be extremely angry.
“What brings you here…?”
“I came to greet your family who had visited, but… it doesn’t seem to be an atmosphere for greetings. My wife, do you need my help?”
Kylus had a look that said he would do anything she asked.
A look that suggested he would punish them if she said to punish them, or drag them out if she said to drag them out.
It seemed like a dangerously tempting offer, and she didn’t want to take his hand, but…
“Alice…”
The Countess’s trembling voice was heard.
Alice lowered her gaze to them.
Eric who had collapsed, the Countess embracing his shoulders, and Count Fordley who had stiffened like a stone.
All three were terrified.
Their faces were filled with genuine fear, on a different level from when they were arguing with her earlier.
Seeing this, Alice felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
She truly despised them for selling off the daughter they had neglected all her life to save their worthless son.
Couldn’t she exact a small revenge on behalf of Alice, who had disappeared leaving only her body behind?
Alice curled her lips as she looked at them with their anxious eyes.
To mercilessly crush their desperate expectations.
“Please drive my family out of the duchy. And prevent them from coming back, Your Grace.”
“Yes. Let’s do that, my wife.”
The moment Kylus gently answered Alice’s request, the Count and Countess’s faces crumbled.
They seemed dazed by the betrayal of the daughter they had thought was an easy mark.
Kylus called for the butler without even glancing at them.
“Drive all the Fordley family members out of the mansion. And never let anyone from the Fordley County into the duchy again.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“No, Ali–!”
Just as the Count moved his lips as if to make a final protest, Kylus turned his head towards him.
At that, the Count’s thick lips closed tight as if sealed.
As the Fordley family members were dragged out without being able to make a sound, Alice’s long-standing indigestion cleared up nicely.
“Haah.”
As she let out a long breath, feeling relieved, she realized that the spacious reception room was too quiet.
That is, now that the Fordley family members had been driven out, only Kylus and she were left in this large reception room.
So of course it would be this quiet.
As soon as she realized this, her stomach that had felt better became unsettled again.
Because she remembered what she had done for that brief moment of satisfaction.
I accepted Kylus’s help.
Blinded by revenge, I ended up taking his hand.
I shouldn’t have done that.
Surely he’s not going to say something like, “I helped you, so now you absolutely can’t go to the temple,” is he?
“What are you thinking about that makes your face look so troubled?”
Kylus’s voice rang out.
He was staring intently at her.
It seemed her anxiety was clearly visible on her face.
Alice cleared her throat and changed her expression, trying to act nonchalant.
“Your Grace, thank you so much for helping me just now. But this wasn’t really something I wanted… you suddenly came and helped…”
“You want to say this has nothing to do with our negotiation, is that it?”
As Alice trailed off, Kylus cleanly summarized her thoughts.
“…Yes.”
“Hmm, let’s say that’s the case. It would be too unconscionable a deal to hold you to this small matter.”
Alice let out a sigh of relief.
“When you say it like that, I feel much more at ease. Well, it seems our business is finished, so I’ll be going now.”
“Already? We’re meeting for the first time in nearly a week, yet you’re trying to part so quickly, my wife.”
There’s that “wife” again!
Alice’s shoulders trembled at the unfamiliar word.
“No, why do you keep… calling me ‘wife’…?”
“Alice Dearrut. I believe it was you who just shouted that you were the mistress of the Dearrut Duchy.”
Kylus tilted his head slightly.
“And if a husband doesn’t call his wife ‘wife,’ what should he call her?”
Kylus’s gaze as he looked down at her intently was deep. And Alice was at a loss for words.
Because he was right.
It was true that she had shouted “Alice Dearrut” at Eric, and it was true that Kylus was currently her husband.
But even so, being suddenly called “wife” like this was disconcerting.
“That may be true, but we’re not exactly a normal married couple… and we’re not that close either…”
“If that’s more comfortable for you, let’s do that, Alice.”
Kylus, who had smoothly changed his form of address, contained a light smile as he looked at the troubled Alice.
Only then did Alice realize that Kylus had been teasing her.
To think he could make such jokes when he looked like he could blow out the chill of the north wind.
Alice was dumbfounded by his shamelessness that didn’t match his face at all.
Just like when he had told her to take responsibility.
As Alice was feeling bewildered, Kylus erased his smile and continued:
“More importantly, are you really satisfied with just this?”
“…With what?”
“Your family. It seems your family sold you to Lady Quillian, but are you satisfied with just driving them out of the duchy? If you want, I can do much more for you.”
“More?”
“I could make the name of the Fordley County, who abandoned you, completely disappear from the Empire.”
He’s serious about this.
Kylus’s eyes showed not a hint of wavering as he spoke these chillingly dangerous words.
If she gave permission, he would move immediately to do just that.
Perhaps Kylus was a much more frightening person than she had thought.
Alice took a step back from him.
“…No. This is enough.”
“I see.”
Despite his glinting eyes, Kylus backed down easily.
It would be best to avoid being with this man as much as possible.
Alice’s reason shouted in her mind.
“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll be going now.”
