Chapter 39
“You said you had no intention of getting married before.”
“Did I?”
“Kaiden, don’t try to brush this off. This is really a huge deal. Of all people, you’re thinking of bringing in a member of the imperial family—it’s not like you.”
“It’s not because she’s imperial family; it’s because she’s Reina. This marriage.”
“Even so, that doesn’t change the fact that Her Highness is imperial family. Face reality. No matter how much Her Highness came here just for you, in the decisive moment, she’ll choose the imperial palace over the north.”
“Not Her Highness—milady.”
“What?”
“Fix the title first. She’s the master you’ll be serving from now on.”
“……I can’t accept it.”
It felt like just yesterday when she approached to congratulate his return, only to pour out complaints about Reina.
But now, she was already standing at attention, calling Reina ‘milady.’
‘What on earth happened in the drawing room?’
Kaiden saw Rose this tense for the first time in a long while.
He had been planning to scold her sternly if she called Reina ‘Her Highness’ again, but it seemed there was no need for that now.
Kaiden glanced at Reina to gauge her reaction.
Rose was someone who might have been involved in this incident.
Even if it turned out to be Mrs. Mary’s doing, there were still unclear aspects regarding the map.
As long as there was physical evidence, suspicion couldn’t be completely erased, no matter how unjust the party felt.
Of course, he didn’t think Rose was lying.
Though she was prickly, full of complaints, willful, and prejudiced, she wasn’t the type to harm people.
But Reina was seeing Rose for the first time here, so it was natural for her to be suspicious.
It would make sense if she felt uneasy about keeping Rose around.
Knowing all that, yet still keeping Rose by her side—Reina seemed a bit impressive to him.
Dalia, who had been chatting lightly, soon left the room, saying it was time for her lesson.
Once they were alone, Kaiden asked,
“I heard you disciplined Mrs. Mary. Are you okay?”
“Hmm. My arm hurts a little.”
Reina rubbed her arm and replied nonchalantly.
Kaiden, who hadn’t meant that at all, let out a soft sigh.
She clearly didn’t want to talk about it in detail.
Kaiden realized he knew less about her than he thought.
At the same time, he wanted to know her more deeply than now.
He took her arm and massaged it for her instead, saying,
“The punishment for Mrs. Mary—do as you wish. Even without me adding anything, it was humiliating enough.”
“I tried to end it well.”
Reina made a sullen expression. When Kaiden looked at her without a word, she continued.
“After all, she’s the one who took care of Dalia for a long time. I wanted to show her that much respect. Of course, it failed.”
Her sullen expression was like a child waiting to be punished.
When Kaiden said nothing, Reina met his eyes and asked,
“Are you disappointed in me after all?”
It was an absurd question. Kaiden retorted in disbelief,
“Disappointed?”
What on earth?
He couldn’t grasp the intent behind the question.
Reina spoke like a sinner.
“I said I’d handle it myself, but I ended up making things worse.”
Ah. So that’s what it was.
Reina was worrying more than he had imagined.
If you looked closely, she was unusually harsh on herself.
First of all, the premise itself was wrong.
The one who made things worse was Mrs. Mary, not her.
If he didn’t correct this right away, she might keep digging herself into a deeper hole.
Kaiden asked softly.
“Did you really think Mrs. Mary’s nerve was that bold?”
“Not exactly, but…….”
“Then why do you always act like you’re the one who’s most at fault?”
Reina’s lips parted slightly at Kaiden’s piercing words.
She knew it too.
That she was excessively self-critical.
But knowing it didn’t mean the issue could be fixed overnight.
Reina said stubbornly.
“Anyway, Dalia almost got hurt because of my indecisiveness.”
“Do you really think that?”
“I just wanted Dalia not to get hurt.”
Throughout teatime, Dalia had been watching Reina’s reactions.
By tomorrow, Dalia would learn that Mrs. Mary had been driven out.
She was the person who had cared for the child by her side her whole life.
After her mother died, she must have relied on her even more.
But if such a person suddenly disappeared, wouldn’t the child feel confused?
Reina was worried that Dalia might get hurt because of this.
Then Kaiden said.
“People live with hurts anyway. There’s no one who grows up without wounds.”
“…….”
“So don’t look like you’re dying over something that’s not even a hurt you caused. It’s Dalia’s portion to bear anyway. In fact, it’s a good thing you got rid of someone like that sooner rather than later.”
It was an overly cold remark.
She wanted to argue back, asking how he could say that about his niece.
But the thought that followed helped Reina regain her composure.
It was because she realized she had been trying to protect Dalia too much without even knowing it.
Unconsciously, she seemed to have projected her own childhood onto Dalia.
Hoping that, unlike her own wound-filled early years, Dalia would only know happiness.
Even that was a selfish self-projection, and just as self-loathing started to rise again at that realization, Kaiden said.
“Besides, you treat yourself too harshly.”
“Harshly?”
“Look at this. Your hand is a complete mess.”
At some point, her glove had been removed.
Kaiden frowned and poked at the blistered palm of Reina’s hand.
Only then did Reina feel the pain and let out a whimper.
“That hurts.”
Seeing this, Kaiden gave her a look that said, ‘Does it really hurt?’ and chided her.
“Someone who’s never properly swung a sword—how many times did you swing that switch?”
“I only hit her about fifty times.”
Kaiden reacted with shock and sarcasm.
“You’re insane. Apologize to your palm right now? Say sorry for handling it so roughly.”
“I told you not to treat me like a child.”
“Who’s the one acting like a child? Who does something like that themselves? You could have had Dive or Celine do it.”
“I wanted to minimize the witnesses. I figured that would make it easier to keep Mrs. Mary’s mouth shut.”
“Even in the midst of that, you coolly planned out the scenario. Plenty of people already saw Mrs. Mary limping away.”
“Ah.”
Reina let out a soft sigh, as if she hadn’t calculated that far.
“Impressive, really. I’ve got myself quite the remarkable woman as a wife.”
Kaiden said with a disapproving face, his tone mocking.
Then he fetched the first-aid kit from the room and personally applied ointment to her hand before wrapping it in bandages.
Reina stayed still the whole time he treated her.
She was afraid that if she said anything, she’d get another scolding from him.
In truth, she had forgotten about the pain in her palm until Kaiden mentioned it.
After composing her emotions, she had been busy tending to Dalia.
She had roughly covered the wound with her glove, planning to deal with it later, but in the meantime, the blister had burst, leaving it stinging and sore.
She hadn’t even realized the pain was pain.
As he said, she was treating her own body too carelessly.
‘That’s strange.’
He had just given her a few words of advice.
Yet her mind felt astonishingly calm.
The intense emotions she had temporarily hidden away subsided remarkably.
It was like she had arrived in a safe zone.
Perhaps that’s why. Without realizing it, Reina murmured her innermost thoughts.
“Still, I’m glad Dalia didn’t get hurt back then.”
“Glad? What glad. When you’re hurt like this.”
