Chapter 010
“……”
“And you think you have charm? I’ve been with you for so long, and I’m willing to marry you, so what’s the problem?”
The more he spoke, the more it felt like a dagger was piercing my heart.
That night, when Delos abandoned me and ran away, was nothing compared to the shock I felt now.
‘So this is how you’ve been thinking of me all this time.’
His tone suggested that he viewed me not as an equal partner but as something like a pet, which filled me with intense disgust.
“Ha─.”
It seemed that the saying about being too absurd to speak was true.
As I stood there silently, Delos took my hand and whispered in a soft voice.
“We were good together, weren’t we?”
The moment he took my hand, a wave of nausea hit me, making me feel sick.
It was such a debilitating headache that I almost nodded at his words without realizing it.
Fortunately, someone suddenly pulled me by the shoulder, snapping me back to reality.
“Are you okay?”
Seeing my face turn pale, the Duke, who had been beside me, pulled me toward him.
Just as I was about to tell him I was fine, I heard Delos’s ominous muttering right in front of me.
“How dare you…”
Turning my gaze, I saw Delos exhaling in disbelief.
“Hey, Duke. You’re still new to the capital, so I guess you don’t know. When you see the private life of someone higher than you, it’s polite to leave them alone.”
His tone, which was no different from how one would speak to their servants, made me feel even worse.
However, the Duke seemed completely unfazed by Delos’s provocation and turned to me to ask again.
“Are you feeling sick?”
“No. I’m fine.”
Seeing us, Delos suddenly seemed to choke up and reach out his hand again.
In that moment, I found an unexpected surge of courage and struck Delos’s hand away forcefully.
Smack.
“Dahlia. What are you doing…”
I looked at him with a mix of disappointment and shock as he stood there dazed.
“Don’t touch me recklessly.”
“Have you taken some weird medication? Why have you changed so much?”
Seeing his disbelief at being pushed away no longer made me want to laugh.
“Why? Am I not allowed to say this? You’ve always wanted me to live like a doll, and that’s how I’ve lived. Not smiling and crying when needed.”
As I spat those words out, memories of my time with Delos flashed through my mind like a slideshow.
“I was only doing what you wanted because I liked you.”
When I came to my senses, I was already hearing that I was a puppet of Delos.
They say there are countless types of love. I can say with certainty that I did not fit into any category of love for him.
“Did you ever love me, even for a single moment?”
If he had, he wouldn’t be speaking to me like this now.
I looked at him with eyes devoid of any emotion and said,
“Who I marry is no longer your concern, so just disappear from my life.”
“Ha…”
At my last words, Delos let out a ragged breath as if he were speechless.
Not wanting to see his face any longer, I turned my body away.
I then locked eyes with the Duke, who looked quite surprised, as if he had seen something unexpected. I immediately took his hand and ran in the opposite direction.
ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
How long did I walk?
Once I arrived at a secluded spot, I finally exhaled the breath I had been holding.
“Ha.”
I couldn’t believe I had wasted my life on someone like Delos.
“Ugh…”
As those thoughts crossed my mind, tears suddenly began to trickle down my cheeks.
I had never cried when I broke up with Delos, so why was I crying now?
Drop. Drop.
As I continued to wipe away the continuously flowing tears, someone offered me a white handkerchief.
“Please use this if you need it.”
Gently lifting my head, I saw the Duke, who was looking away while extending the handkerchief.
‘Right. I had also brought this man along.’
In the sudden rush of emotions, I had temporarily forgotten about the Duke’s presence.
“…Thank you.”
I accepted the handkerchief from him, my voice still filled with moisture.
As I fiddled with the handkerchief he had given me, a wave of embarrassment washed over me, turning my face red.
While I was sniffing with a tear-streaked face, a short sigh came from in front of me.
“If you don’t have any lingering feelings for him, stop crying. If you’ve broken up with such a man, you should be celebrating all night.”
The Duke spoke without hesitation, saying something that would make anyone else gasp if they heard it.
I stared at him with wide eyes, taken aback.
The Duke, who had been looking at my face, let out a faint chuckle and said,
“You have a runny nose.”
“Gasp.”
At his words, I hurriedly wiped my face with the handkerchief.
After a little while, as I was composing myself, the Duke, who had quietly stayed by my side, spoke up.
“It seems you’re starting to calm down.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
As I finished wiping the moisture from my face and tidying up, the Duke, who had been observing me quietly, asked,
“May I ask you something?”
“Yes. What is it?”
“What do you mean by living like a doll, not smiling and crying when needed?”
His question left me momentarily speechless.
Perhaps because he had only recently come to the capital, the Duke seemed unaware of the rumors about me in high society.
Though it was something most nobles would know, hearing it directly from the duke made me feel exposed and embarrassed, as if I were being scrutinized for the first time.
I hesitated for a moment before answering with a bitter smile on my face.
“It’s just as it sounds. Delos hated seeing me smile, so I lived almost without smiling, and whenever he was even slightly displeased, I would have to crawl around like a bug. It’s pretty pathetic, isn’t it?”
“It is pathetic.”
His firm response made my heart drop for a moment.
While it was true that it was pathetic, hearing it from the Duke felt like being pierced through the chest with a dagger.
“Y-yes, it is. But I’ve really come to my senses lately…”
“The term ‘garbage’ doesn’t even seem harsh enough.”
I realized that when he called someone pathetic, he was referring to Delos, not me.
Especially when the Duke referred to Delos as garbage, his expression looked strangely angry.
“Now that you know what kind of scum he is, don’t ever meet someone like him again.”
“Y-yes…”
Suddenly feeling a sense of déjà vu, I nodded with a strange expression.
Hearing his words again, which I had heard just before he died, brought me an odd sense of comfort.
“It seems you’re alright now, so I’ll really take my leave.”
The Duke turned to leave, having confirmed that my tears had completely dried. With his straightforward demeanor, devoid of any lingering attachment, I unconsciously grabbed his hand.
“Wait!”
The Duke, whose steps halted, looked down at the hand I was holding, raising an eyebrow slightly. It seemed he was about to tell me to let go, so I tightened my grip and spoke up.
“We still haven’t finished our conversation.”
“As I said a moment ago, that matter…”
“Just for one year! If you don’t want to get married, you can live with me for exactly one year and then get a divorce.”
According to imperial law, nobles had to be married for at least a year before they could file for divorce.
“Lady, please let go of my hand and talk.”
“No. Please answer me first.”
The Duke tried to pull his hand away, but I resisted, pulling it closer to me.
I could feel his hand trembling and stiffening in my grip.
midori
thanks! let’s go dahlia let’s go! delos, that annoying..!