Chapter 5

“…I wouldn’t get angry over something like that.”  

Raven calmed himself. He didn’t know what Liliana had been through, but it was clear her reactions were not normal.  

“Then… you won’t hit me either?”  

Liliana mustered her courage to ask. For now, she needed to stay near Raven for safety, but she wanted to confirm that he wouldn’t hurt her. Of course, words could always change, but…  

If she were struck by Raven’s large hand, she’d be bedridden for days. Liliana twisted her head anxiously.  

“This is a rude question, isn’t it? S-sorry.”  

“Lily!”  

Raven ruffled his own hair in frustration.  

“Do you see me as a shameless man who would hit his wife?”  

“Uh…”  

Liliana shook her head slightly at Raven’s question. Raven was a man of principle. Though she hadn’t known him long, she could tell he wasn’t someone who did unjust things. Otherwise, would he have called a lawyer just because she asked?  

“Or maybe… do I seem like someone desperate to get angry at his wife?”  

Liliana chose silence.  

“Lily?”  

Raven felt his chest tighten. Right now, Liliana’s silence seemed like agreement. He couldn’t even guess what was wrong or where it began. Yet, he couldn’t treat Liliana carelessly when she seemed so fragile.  

“…But Raven, you’re always angry at me.”  

“Me?”  

“Your voice is loud… and you ruffle your hair… Of course, I understand. As soon as you came back, I demanded a divorce and stabbed myself in the stomach. But, I had my reasons……”

“I’m not angry.”  

Raven spoke sharply.  

‘Ah, does that sound angry too?’

Raven added an awkward smile to his face, not realizing it made him look even more ghostly.  

“I’m not angry, really.”  

Liliana glanced at Raven and nodded.  

“Then, can you tell me your reasons? When you asked for a divorce, there must have been a reason.”  

He hadn’t been able to ask yesterday because things were so chaotic. He had planned to ask after making sure she ate a good breakfast, but things got tangled. Liliana’s face instantly paled.  

As if he’d asked a forbidden question.  

Liliana’s expression looked as if she couldn’t breathe, then she shook her head.  

“N-no…”  

“No? You’re so thin! And when you asked me for a divorce, there must have been a reason. I need to know.”  

Raven sighed.  

He’d heard his first wife committed s*icide to hide her own infidelity. He’d barely held her hand before leaving for war, so he thought it possible. The second wife also, he’d heard, killed herself after carrying a child of unknown parentage. He’d only seen her face once, so he thought it possible.  

All these tragedies were relayed to Raven through letters from his mother, filled with tears and sorrow for Raven. Even so, Raven felt little emotion.  

After all, how many wives would loyally wait for a husband who left right after the wedding? In this noisy, complicated social world. The families of both wives hoped to cover up their infidelity, and their deaths were buried.  

People pointed fingers, saying Kreuten was cursed, but in truth, only Raven was cursed. The King’s curse! The King, expecting Raven’s continued victories, had deified him, believing that with Raven, any war could be won.  

‘D*mn greedy b*stard.’  

Anyway, that was why Raven had wandered the battlefields until now, but this time would be different.  

Raven had obtained a three-year leave from the King…  

It was a secret between Raven and the King that it involved forceful threats and persuasion.  

He’d gotten the leave to avoid repeating past mistakes. Unlike the two previous brides chosen by the family, Liliana was Raven’s own choice. And Raven hadn’t stopped thinking about her the whole time he was at war.  

If she chose another man, it would truly wound his pride.  

But he didn’t expect Liliana to have kept her chastity alone for two years here. Whatever he thought, Liliana would believe she’d been sold for money.  

So…  

“Lily. If you’re asking for a divorce because you’ve done something you can’t tell me about…”  

“What do you mean?”  

“With another man…”  

Raven swallowed. Even just saying it made rage surge in his head.  

‘Is this jealousy?’  

Raven frowned. After leaving his young bride alone for two years, was he really going to be jealous now? Realizing how much affection could stir him wasn’t pleasant. Raven gritted his teeth and continued.  

“If you want a divorce because you were involved with another man…”  

Raven took a deep breath.  

“I’m fine with it. I can understand. Just this once, I’ll let it go. This will be our secret…”  

Smack—!  

Suddenly, he was slapped, his cheek turning slightly. Raven blinked.  

“Oh! I’m sorry! I did wrong! Really, I did wrong!”  

But Liliana seemed even more startled. Kneeling on the bed, she bowed her head, begging for forgiveness—not at all the posture of someone Raven could just embrace.  

Instead, Liliana crawled on the floor like a servant working at the lowest rung, begging for forgiveness. And she was the Duchess of Kreuten. Raven realized the secret Liliana was hiding wasn’t trivial.  

Raven had paid the Everset family a huge sum to ensure they would no longer torment Liliana or damage her self-esteem.  

But why…  

Why was Liliana trembling in fear, her face so terrified?  

For slapping him?  

For just that? Her slap was so weak, his head barely turned, and he hardly felt it. If Raven were to get angry over being slapped, he wouldn’t have survived the battlefield. Well, those who pointed swords at him did end up walking the path to the afterlife…  

But this was not something Raven should be angry about. And if Liliana was truly innocent, Raven’s words could have felt insulting.  

Raven’s eyes darkened.  

If Liliana wasn’t being tormented from outside, then was it happening inside this house? Were there things happening under Raven’s protection that he didn’t see?  

Raven was quick-witted. He could be indifferent to things he didn’t care about, but not to those he did. And Liliana was someone Raven cared for deeply. Seeing her react so irrationally, he couldn’t help but notice.  

“Lily.”  

Raven used the gentlest voice he could muster.  

“It’s okay. I won’t hit you or get angry.”  

He didn’t know why he had to say such obvious things.  

“R-really?”  

Raven nodded. Only then did Liliana sit up. Seeing her trembling in fear, Raven thought—whoever had done this to Liliana, he would find them and destroy them.  

That was when Silvia arrived.  

“Your Grace.”  

“Come in.”  

Silvia entered the bedroom, carrying a bag larger than herself. The wrinkled old woman’s cool, clear gaze swept over both of them. She bowed her head respectfully.  

‘The patient must be the Duchess.’  

Raven spoke to Silvia.  

“My wife isn’t well. Please examine her. She collapsed while going to breakfast. And…”  

Raven gestured from the bed to Silvia.  

“Please check her mind, too. She may have gone through unimaginable things.”  

A strange light flickered in Silvia’s eyes.  

Her wrinkled lips twitched. Words she’d wanted to say but couldn’t for so long crowded in her mouth. Cherville seemed to want to turn a blind eye to everything happening in the ducal residence.  

‘He must have been paid off, that pig.’  

But not Silvia. She had cared for the ducal family for generations. It was her pride. But it was during her time that the Duchesses started dying. Silvia had personally performed autopsies on Raven’s two previous wives.  

And she discovered something odd.  

The second wife was said to be pregnant, but she wasn’t. Both women had tiny dots under their fingernails—marks from thin needles. The same marks were on their feet. Both Duchesses hadn’t eaten properly for a long time; their stomachs were empty, and their bodies reeked of horse.  

Not only that.  

Their skin was rough, their hair a mess—not at all the look of well-cared-for noblewomen. Clearly, something was happening in the mansion, but Silvia couldn’t enter unless summoned.  

So Silvia hadn’t confessed what she knew.  

Without any evidence, saying such things could get her kicked out—or even killed. Now, living proof stood before her: Liliana!  

And Raven, as if already suspecting something, asked Silvia to check Liliana’s mind, very carefully.  

Silvia bowed her head and answered,  

“Yes, Your Grace. I will serve the Duchess with all my heart.”  

Raven nodded shortly.  

“Lily. I’ll be right outside.”  

Liliana nodded anxiously.