Chapter 273

The fact that the monsters that threw the world into chaos were known as ‘demonic beasts’ gradually became known to the people. This was because individuals began to study the ‘demonic beasts’ based on records from hundreds of years ago. Along with this, the events that took place in the Penel Lord’s Castle spread out far and wide. The most talked about rumor was that Yelena and Kaywhin killed the Demon King and drove the demonic beasts out of this land.

“Have you heard?”

“From the Duke…”

“From the Madam, about the sacred power…”

The rumors even reached the Duke’s castle, and for a while, the servants in the castle busied themselves discussing their masters whenever two or more of them gathered.

And amidst all that,

“She’s crazy!”

A maid with a flushed face burst into the break room where the maids gathered.

“This is, gasp, this is insane!”

“Newsi?”

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

The maid called Newsi seemed to have run from afar, catching her breath as she leaned against the wall of the break room. After catching her breath, she suddenly looked up, her face looked like it would burst. An intense voice came from her.

“The Duke, the Duke has…!”

A major topic that kept the servants on their toes had just been thrown into the Duke’s castle.

Yelena leaned slightly on the sofa in the office, resting her chin in her hands. Her gaze was fixed on her husband, who was concentrating on his work at the desk. The sleek forehead that occasionally peeked through his ebony hair. The straight nose. The firm cheeks. She stared intently at each feature. Perhaps sensing her gaze, Kaywhin momentarily put down his quill. Not missing the chance, Yelena got up from the sofa and approached Kaywhin. Soon, instead of sitting in a chair near the desk, she chose to sit on Kaywhin’s lap. Although Kaywhin flinched, he neither stopped Yelena’s action nor moved away. Sitting on her husband’s lap, Yelena looked at him with a troubled expression.

“It’s peculiar… Why did the mark disappear all of a sudden?”

His face was as smooth and radiant as a plaster sculpture.

There was a lingering, unresolved question in the murmur as she looked down at that face.

The day the black mark on her husband’s face vanished entirely, the Duke’s castle was thrown into turmoil.

“Who are you?”

“What business do you have in the Duke’s residence? Please state your identity.”

The servants who first encountered Kaywhin didn’t recognize him.

So, they embarrassingly questioned his identity.

When they finally realized who he was, their jaws dropped, and they remained speechless.

“They say the knights dropped their swords,” she remembered.

The knights’ reactions in the practice yard when they saw Kaywhin were similar.

Upon spotting Kaywhin, they hesitated briefly. Then, one by one, beginning with the more perceptive knights, their faces registered shock.

The sound of swords clattering to the ground echoed throughout the yard.

Three days later, Kaywhin’s face still bore no mark.

“I’m not sure,” Kaywhin responded to Yelena’s nearly whispered question.

Yet, unlike Yelena, he didn’t appear genuinely curious about this phenomenon.

Although the change had affected him directly, he seemed largely indifferent.

He didn’t just lack curiosity about why the mark had disappeared; it seemed he attributed little importance to its absence at all.

Yelena raised her hand and touched the spot on Kaywhin’s face where the mark had been. She gently caressed the fair, clean skin that now resided there.

If one were to describe Yelena’s feelings about her husband’s vanished mark, it would be happiness.

She had every reason to be joyous.

Now her husband didn’t need to wear a mask when venturing outside.

He no longer had to endure the sharp stares and whispered comments from others.

“Although, different kinds of attention and whispers have since emerged,” she mused.

Yelena’s expression turned contemplative.

The disappearance of the mark brought astonishing reactions.

Now, when people encountered Kaywhin within the castle walls, irrespective of their gender, they no longer shrank back in fear or averted their gaze.

People stared at Kaywhin as if they were beholding a living masterpiece or a statue, their gaze fixed on him until he vanished from sight.

‘The sudden shift in attitudes is quite astonishing…’

Nevertheless, if asked whether this change was positive or not, Yelena would wholeheartedly support the positive side.

‘But did he truly change that much?’

Yelena, in contemplation, slowly raised her hand.

Her fingers traced his smooth forehead, moved down the bridge of his nose, and lingered around his lips, causing Kaywhin to tense slightly.

She then focused on his pronounced jawline.

That sleek chin.

She felt it with her fingertips.

She had always known her husband was handsome, even before the mark had vanished.

Perhaps that’s why, contrary to others who reacted as if witnessing a monumental shift, Yelena didn’t perceive much change in Kaywhin’s appearance.

‘He was handsome before and remains so now.’

…Indeed, upon repeated glances, his allure was undeniable.

As Yelena reveled in this appreciation, Kaywhin interjected.

“Madam, by any chance,”

“…?”

“Have you noticed any changes in your body since that day?”

His focus seemed elsewhere, beyond the disappearance of his mark, directed solely towards Yelena’s well-being.

“A change…”

The reference to ‘that day’ was crystal clear.

After a brief pause, Yelena responded with a mischievous smirk.

“There has been a change.”

Kaywhin’s gaze sharpened with concern.

“What kind of…”

“My back aches.”

He stiffened.

“And my inner thighs too.”

Feeling the tension in the lap where she sat, she leaned in and whispered into his ear.

“…They don’t.”

At her playful words, Kaywhin flinched noticeably.

Kaywhin’s nape and the area behind his ears turned red, and Yelena noted the evident tension in his muscular arm.

“I’ll apply the… medicine today. Of course, only if you allow it.”

Upon observing her flustered husband, Yelena couldn’t help but giggle.

“Just a joke. It’s been three days; would it still hurt?”

It’s true that she had experienced pain in the areas she mentioned.

Her back felt tender, her inner thighs ached as if she had been horseback riding, and… another place was notably sensitive.

However, the discomfort was short-lived.

It persisted for maybe a day. By the third day after their intimate evening, she had nearly forgotten any pain existed.

Given that, she was somewhat frustrated that Kaywhin had refrained from intimacy the previous night.

Being treated as if she were in pain, especially when she wasn’t, was a familiar feeling she didn’t appreciate.

“I’m completely fine: my back, my thighs, and everywhere else.”

“…”

“So…”

Yelena placed a finger near Kaywhin’s chin.

Her fingertip gently traced his jaw, glided down his neck, skimmed his shirt collar, and descended to his chest.

She lingered there, moving in slow circles.

She sensed the pulse in his throat and felt the taut muscles beneath his shirt.

Meeting Kaywhin’s deep blue gaze, Yelena spoke.

“Finish your work early today.”

“…”

“I’ll be waiting.”

She saw his eyes darkening slightly in intensity.

She understood his response even before he voiced it.

Before he could articulate his feelings, she sealed his words with a kiss.

As she deepened their connection, his firm arm encircled her waist.

Exiting the office, Yelena lightly touched her somewhat swollen and warm lips.

‘He nearly lost control in the office.’

Naturally, given her husband’s commendable restraint, he would have stopped before going too far.

Still, she was eagerly anticipating the night ahead.

Her heart began to race.

With heightened excitement, Yelena headed to her quarters.

And then, a maid from the castle approached her.

“Madam, you have a guest.”

“Andy.”

The guest was Andy Aiden.

It was their first meeting since they parted ways at Pernel Castle.

“Have you been well?”

“Very.”

“You certainly seem so.”

Aendydn nodded without a doubt. A radiant glow shone from Yelena’s face as she responded with a bright smile.

“Did something good happen?… No, I suppose reuniting with your husband who was away makes every day joyous.”

“You’re quite observant. So, what brings you here?”

Upon the question, Aendydn began,

“Do you remember the promise we made during the departure ceremony?”

“The promise?”

“I told you I’d introduce you to a friend.”