Chapter 144

‘…?’

Kaywhin had no reaction. Instead of confronting Edward by exerting the same amount of strength, he just silently allowed Edward to carry on.

And he really had no reaction to it.

Edward wished Kaywhin would have at least furrowed his brow or scowled, but he did no such thing.

Edward clenched his teeth, embarrassed on the inside. He mustered all his strength with great focus. Combining all his effort, he even drew from the strength he used as a baby to suckle.

But still, nothing changed.

“…Huff, huff.”

Edward eventually tired out after exhausting all his strength and let go of Kaywhin’s hand.

While Yelena stared at Edward as he gasped for breath like he was a madman, Kaywhin said, “It’s a bit early, but since we have a guest, I told the servants to prepare dinner. Ben, go guide our guest.”

“This way, Sir.”

“What? No, that won’t be necessary. I just want to take Yelena…”

“This way.”

The butler, with more than 20 years of experience under his belt, was an expert at guiding guests.

Edward’s defiance was brief. In his confusion, he found himself being taken to the dining room with the butler who had suddenly appeared in the parlor at who-knows-when.

Still confused, he enjoyed an extravagant meal and was guided to his guest room.

And so, Edward’s first day at the castle came to a clumsy end.

***

That night.

“Kaywhin.”

Yelena sat at her bed and set the mood for an interrogation. The subject of her interrogation was Kaywhin, who was sitting across from her.

“I gave it some thought and you did that on purpose today, didn’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You entered the parlor the instant I was about to lash out at Edward.”

“…”

“That wasn’t a coincidence, was it?”

At the time, she had thought Edward had simply been lucky, but upon thinking about it afterwards, she found it suspicious. The timing was a little too perfect, as if Kaywhin had been waiting.

And this was something Yelena had learned naturally while living together: her husband’s hearing was exceptionally better than others’.

It was reasonable to think that he would have been able to hear what she and Edward were discussing inside, even if he had been outside the parlor.

“…No,” Kaywhin acknowledged without a fuss.

“Why did you do it? If it weren’t for you, I would have ripped out half of Edward’s hair on the spot.” It was a terrible shame that she couldn’t.

Yelena clenched her fist in the air, as if Edward’s hair was still there. Then, Kaywhin took her hand and loosened her fist as he said, “That’s why I did it.”

“…”

Yelena let Kaywhin’s words pass because in the moment, she was completely focused on her hand in her husband’s.

Soon after, Yelena gave a slightly belated reaction. “What did you say?”

“Perhaps I wouldn’t have done so if it were for any other reason, but I didn’t want you to fight with your family because of me. That’s why I stepped in.”

Half of Yelena’s attention was still on their hands.

Yelena blinked and mumbled softly, “…I wasn’t trying to fight him, I was just trying to give him the punishment he deserved.”

Usually, a scene where someone is trying to tear out another person’s hair is called a fight.

Yelena grumbled, knowing her rebuttal wouldn’t work.

Kaywhin smiled. He looked at Yelena as he smiled, but for some reason, Yelena found it hard to face him.

She glanced down furtively. Then, she said, “…I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing all of a sudden, Wife?”

“You had to hear such things.”

Yelena’s explosive rage at Edward’s remarks still hadn’t cooled down.

When she thought about how her husband had heard what Edward said, the anger in her heart doubled.

“Wife.”

“…”

“Yelena.”

Kaywhin squeezed Yelena’s hand. Very lightly, of course.

Yelena looked up and locked eyes with Kaywhin.

“I don’t pay attention at all to what anyone else says, if it isn’t said by you. No matter what they say.”

“…”

“It’s the truth. So please don’t take such things to heart either.”

‘How can he be like this?’

Yelena’s husband was always excessively generous to the ignorant people who spoke carelessly about him.

He had recovered from the habit, but he had done the same back then with Thomas. He knew of the garbage Thomas spewed about him, but he turned a blind eye to it.

‘Perhaps that generosity is…’

…Part of his resignation.

Truthfully, Yelena knew that there was no immediate way to get rid of all the rumors and prejudice her husband was wrapped up in. Being aware of that might have been why she had been even more angry.