Chapter 34

Happy New Year Everyone!! <3

***

Amarion returned to her room and sat down.

She opened the second volume of , but didn’t read a single word.

Her mind was too twisted.

She was used to such criticism. During social season in the Capital, the nobles insulted her with much harsher words than the vassals did.

They called her a seductress and a witch.

Compared to such insults, the vassals’ words were more like criticism.

Her family didn’t help Morte, and she couldn’t do her job as hostess properly, so the vassals had every right to be dissatisfied.

The reason she was feeling down was because Victor had heard bad things about her.

She was happy that he wanted to keep her by his side, and she thought it didn’t matter what other people said. It was heartbreaking to see that Victor was treated like a reckless master because of her.

And the name that popped up, Mortheon.

‘Who the hell is that?’

If she wasn’t mistaken, it was the name of a successor. A name given to a legitimate heir by slightly changing the family surname.

Amarion, Catalina… The eldest children of noble families had similar names.

And ‘Victor’ was clearly not the name of a successor.

“Madame, dinner is ready.”

She looked up in surprise.

Mary was calling her carefully, her expression full of concern.

Amarion faked a smile and headed to the dining room.

***

Victor was already seated.

He looked at her and smiled brightly.

“Marion, did you have a good day today?”

She avoided his gaze and nodded her head.

She couldn’t look at Victor right now.

Their food was served quickly, but she had no appetite. She played with her food instead of eating it.

Victor quickly noticed her odd behavior.

“…Marion.”

“Yes…”

“Can you tell me what’s going on?”

She could barely raise her head. Victor was looking at her with worried eyes.

When she saw those amber-like eyes, the excuses she had come up with beforehand fled her mind.

She didn’t know where to start.

The insults she heard earlier, the remarks, the accumulated questions…

She ended up asking the most pressing question first.

“Do you know the name Mortheon?”

Someone gasped.

The servants attending their dinner turned white and bowed their heads.

Mary, the other maids, and even Diederick looked stiff.

She frowned.

And after a long time, she turned to Victor, whose expression had sunken to a frightening degree.

“Where did you hear that name?”

Victor was expressionless. His friendly smile and playful look were nowhere to be seen.

The atmosphere froze in an instant.

Her instincts were sending danger signals.

‘Walking Death is right in front of you.’

His terrifyingly low voice asked again.

“Marion, where did you hear that name?”

“…Please wait a moment.”

She turned her head and looked at the attendants.

Mary tried to mouth something to her, but Amarion motioned for them to leave.

Soon, it was just the two of them in the spacious and luxurious dining room.

She looked down at her food for a moment, then back at Victor.

“You see…”

“Aren’t you going to answer my question?”

“I asked first.”

Victor bit his lip.

He still had a thoughtless, expressionless face.

She kept her mouth shut and waited for his answer.

At length, Victor spoke dryly.

“I had an older brother. Morteon Morte, my father’s eldest son and the former Grand Duke.”

“…”

“But he died during the war.”

An indescribable pain flashed across his face.

It was a brief moment, but she knew. She saw that look every time Victor had night terrors, slashing his sword at her wildly.

Her heart sank. She grabbed his hand and apologized.

“I’m sorry for reminding you of sad memories.”

“No. I should have told you right away.”

Victor smiled bitterly.

“His name is a taboo in the castle. I don’t… I don’t want to hear it.”

“I understand.”

“So, answer my question now. Where did you hear that name?”

She pondered for a moment.

She didn’t know what to say.

If she told him exactly what the vassals said, Victor would be upset.

Or worse, he might get angry.

Her heart felt heavy just imagining it.

But at the same time, she remembered the incident in the Capital.

What she hid and endured ended up hurting everyone even more.

Victor, who apologized to her at that time, looked really sad.

She didn’t want to see Victor sad like that again.

She snuck a glance at him. Victor was silently waiting for her words.

After much hesitation, she made a decision.

‘Will it be okay if I tell you?’

She had been having some doubts lately, but the Victor she knew was a sweet and kind person.

If she told him, he would surely resolve everything like a merciful knight.

For the first time in her life, she confided in someone.

“From the vassals who passed through the castle during the day.”

She sighed.

“They complained about not being able to manage the budget themselves, and that they were able to erase some traces because I can’t manage the books. And… they don’t understand why you have such an undeserving woman as Grand Duchess.”

Victor remained silent.

His bright yellow eyes stared at her, unblinking.

“Finally, they said that this wouldn’t have happened if Mortheon had been Duke. That’s all.”

She quietly concluded.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room for a long time.

She glanced at Victor nervously.

‘Did I hurt his feelings? As expected…’

She felt a little down and added.

“I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean?”

“You heard things you shouldn’t have because of me.”

As soon as her words left her lips, Victor grabbed her hand.

Hot kisses grazed her calloused knuckles.

He whispered earnestly.

“Please do not apologize, Marion. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“Victor…”

“I decided to never let this happen again, but…”

His expression didn’t look right.

His long, downcast eyelashes obscured his eyes.

She barely managed to raise the corners of her lips.

“It’s okay. It isn’t a big deal. Shall we eat now? The soup looks really good!”

She hurriedly picked up a spoon.

She felt Victor’s gaze on her as she devoured the lukewarm soup.

He relaxed his hard expression and gave her a very seductive smile.

He pushed his soup towards her.

“Eat a lot, Marion. The chef said he made it special, just for you.”

“Victor, aren’t you going to eat?”

“Don’t you know that I don’t eat that much?”

Victor smiled. Then he shook his head and pretended to sigh.

“Among the snacks you send to my office, almost all of them are eaten by Carlz.”

“He is a bad knight to touch his master’s plate.”

Victor laughed.

She sighed in relief and accepted his bowl.

Still, she thought it was good to be honest, because he didn’t seem as angry as she thought he would be.

They ended up having dinner, just the two of them, smiling at each other…

***

She returned to her room with Mary, who had been waiting for her.

Her maids still looked terrified, but they listened to her orders without asking any questions.

She changed into a shirt and pants and headed to the bedroom.

Victor wasn’t there yet.

She opened .

Dordophin eventually obtained the Gorgon’s poison and returned to the tower where Flamberge was trapped.

[Finally, Flamberge obtained the dreadful poison.

“How are you going to use it, My Lady?”

From below the tower, Dordophin asked with a stern face.

Flamberge poured poison into a teapot and smiled brightly like a daffodil.

“I will share a drink with all my friendly knights.”]

Below the words was an illustration of Flamberge and Dordophin.

Flamberge was smiling with her mouth wide open, making her look more terrifying than beautiful.

In the corner, her guards were trembling, holding poisoned teacups.

But, as always, Dordophin looked at Flamberge with a puzzled expression.

She flipped to the next page.

‘How doesn’t Dordophin notice? Is it because he’s stupid?’

‘Or does he know and pretend not to?’

Someone wrapped their arms around her shoulders.

“Is your book that interesting?”

“Victor!”

She closed the book and looked up at him.

The scent of fresh soap wafted from his body.

As soon as she saw his wet chest, she looked away.

Her cheeks suddenly turned red.

‘Put on some clothes…!!’

His upper body was clearly visible through his robe, which was loosely tied.

Victor followed her gaze and smiled.

“Why? You don’t want to see me?”

“Don’t make fun of me…”

She mumbled, putting her book down on the side table.

His fingers caressed her hair as if he were touching something precious.

Sincere emotion oozed from his slow and careful movements.

She looked at Victor as if possessed.

Victor spoke, his smile fading from his lips.

“Marion, you saved me. Even if they gave me billions of gold, I wouldn’t exchange it for you.”

He kissed the tip of her nose.

She held her breath.

Victor’s eyes were sunken and emotionless again.

He whispered.

“I don’t care what other people say. I only need you.”

A shiver ran down her spine.

Victor’s strong arms hugged her tighter.

Her ears were getting hot.

She closed her eyes, inhaling his dizzying scent.

“Thank you, Victor-”

Suddenly, his lips met hers.

***