Chapter 2.6

Once again resting his arms on the window frame, Miguel smirked lazily. He was clearly trying to provoke her.

‘Come to think of it, I think he called me ‘Lisa’ in the rain earlier.’

When he called her name, a memory that had been buried suddenly resurfaced. In the chaotic situation, Lisael hadn’t had time to savor the familiar nickname she hadn’t heard in years, but she recalled it a beat late.

‘I must have heard wrong.’

There were many things she hadn’t heard properly because of the rain. If the manager hadn’t joined them, they would have been trapped in awkward discomfort until they reached the villa. Though even now, it was somewhat like that.

The Miguel she knew in recent years was likely someone who had even forgotten he used to affectionately call her ‘Lisa.’ Of course, Lisael herself had no desire whatsoever to be called by such an embarrassing nickname.

“Lisael, your neck will break.”

Once again, Miguel’s irritating provocation nudged her. The corners of Miguel’s mouth, teasing her, were drenched in delight.

Lisael pretended to look at the scenery outside the window. However, the view of the hazy village beyond the gradually weakening rain was not much to admire. She felt the manager’s gaze alternately looking at her and Miguel as if finding them strange.

The park manager didn’t seem like the type, but the private lives of nobles often became gossip from such trivial places.

How strange would it look if the Young Earl’s wife seemed shy and awkwardly averted her eyes as if seeing the Young Earl’s broad shoulders, protruding chest, and abs more sculpted than a statue for the first time?

Moreover, Miguel’s annoying provocation added to making her appear more suspicious. It wasn’t clear if it was entirely because of her, but Miguel’s obvious provocation was surely revenge for getting him soaked in the rain.

‘So, you want to try this, huh?’

Finally, Lisael’s gaze, which hadn’t left the window, met directly with his. It signified her acceptance of his playful challenge.

The judge was the park manager beside them. The time was until they arrived at the villa, and thanks to having two horses, the carriage could go faster, and the distance left wasn’t much.

“Thinking about how you must have gotten soaked in the rain while coming to see me, I couldn’t bear to look at you, so I was just looking out the window, Miguel.”

And Lisael added the most sophisticated and insincere smile she could muster to her face like a mask.

‘As if we’ve been married for 10 years… I’ve seen that body hundreds of times….’

Lisael’s self-hypnosis gaze fell from his neck to his navel. There was a fatal flaw in that hastily made hypnosis. That provocative body seemed like it would always feel fresh no matter how many hundreds of times she saw it.

‘I hate it! I don’t want to be impressed by Miguel’s body!’

As she pulled her gaze back up, she saw the face of her most detestable enemy in the world.

‘Ha… this isn’t it either. Just looking at it is unlucky… huh?’

Miguel’s expression was a bit off. His eyes, usually sharp and annoying, were now wide open and bright. Even more annoying.

What was more disturbing was how her ears and the area around her cheeks flushed so hotly that she should be worried about having a fever rather than hypothermia. 

Had I caught a cold already?

‘Is he serious…? Is he really concerned about me?’

She had only wanted to give him a little trouble for letting her get so wet, but now she wondered if he was genuinely worried. Lisael’s anxiety left Miguel feeling both thrilled and confused.

‘But even if it’s not sincere… it sounds nice.’

The gentle tickling in her chest felt a bit like a spring breeze, not entirely unpleasant. Perhaps racing through the rain hadn’t been completely pointless. Miguel tried not to let it bother him, even though there was something oddly different in Lisael’s gaze now.

*   *   *

The Young Earl couple, who had generously rewarded the park manager and coachman who took care of Lisael, entered the villa with tired and heavy bodies.

The servants, unaware of the absurdity the Young Earl had engaged in outside, gawked at his undignified yet exotic appearance as he entered with wet hair and only a shirt.

As soon as he came in, Miguel filled the bathtub with hot water and relaxed his exhausted body. For once, he thought he might be able to sleep soundly on the sofa that usually made him feel like he was lying on a bed of nails.

When Miguel tilted his head back and let out a short groan, the sound echoed widely in the steam-filled air. It had been a very long and tiring day.

“What are you doing again?”

Was he commemorating the last day with some bizarre act? He had already done enough to torment her.

Miguel sharply snapped at Lisael, who lay on the sofa where he had first lain and slept.

“You seem very tired today, and I don’t want to be the brute who takes away your good sleeping spot.”

Lisael, who had been holding her hands together neatly, murmured dryly with one eye half-open, her tone so languid and low it was hard to tell if she was sleep-talking.

Miguel, who briefly looked down at her lying there, pointed a finger straight at the bed and sat on the long sofa opposite where he had been lying for days.

“Go to the bed. I’m used to it now, so I don’t mind.”

It was, of course, a lie. Miguel would undoubtedly be on the opposing side if a debate opened on whether the sofa was suitable for sleeping.

However, as mentioned before, leaving Lisael on the sofa and sleeping alone in the soft bed was undoubtedly more uncomfortable than sleeping on the uneven floor of a cave.

“But why did you come looking for me? Did you receive any news from Cherlin? To look for me so urgently….”

Ignoring Miguel’s instruction, Lisael partially sat up and looked at him. She seemed somewhat urgent, as if remembering something she had forgotten. She seemed to think that the news might be about her family.

“There’s nothing like that.”

At Miguel’s firm answer, Lisael looked at him with wide eyes like a rabbit. 

Then why? 

Her innocent eyes failed to consider the straightforward reason fitting for a couple.

Wasn’t there a simple and clear answer? Because he was worried.

Somehow, he felt he shouldn’t shatter Lisael’s hopeless expectation by mentioning that obvious answer. What kind of face would her naive and innocent face make if the word ‘worry’ came out of Miguel’s mouth?

He didn’t have the courage to offer the honest answer and confront that cruel reality.

“I was worried you might run away. Didn’t you say before that it would be better to run away at night?”

That didn’t mean he told a complete lie. He had been tormented by the thought of her running away dozens of times in that short period.

Of course. Miguel had rushed over, worried that if she ran away, it would hinder receiving the land from the village chief’s family as per the contract. What possibilities did he see in that land with nothing but forest?

“Oh, so you’re still ‘Dante’? Didn’t you say you’d rather be disowned than get married?”

Despite his abrasive answer, Lisael didn’t bat an eye and lifted one corner of her mouth into a slanted smile.

Only then did Miguel realize that Lisael hadn’t failed to think of the straightforward answer. The sneer on her lips somehow appeared as a relieved smile to his eyes.

‘As expected, you….’

Lisael was worried that Miguel might have been worried about her. The distance she wanted to keep from him was starkly different. When Miguel took a step toward Lisael, she retreated not just a step back but ran far away until he was out of sight.

Reassured that his choice was correct, Miguel felt a bitter taste return to his mouth, making him want to rinse it with water.

In the end, on the last day of the honeymoon, the bed of the antagonistic couple remained empty without anyone’s warmth as the day passed.

*   *   *

The next morning, until they returned from Grand Town to Cherlin, they didn’t exchange a single word. Despite the distance taking several days, the Young Earl couple accomplished that difficult feat.

Meanwhile, as they neared Cherlin, Miguel couldn’t free himself from endless agony. He should have done nothing but be endlessly kind to alleviate the deep-seated resentment in Lisael’s heart, yet the path to the Lord’s castle was no different from entering the jaws of a greedy crocodile for him.

Waiting for the Young Earl couple at the Lord’s castle were Earl Dante, the Countess, and his sister’s couple. Without a doubt, the entire Dante family would dominate the top five people Lisael hated more than death.

Especially as they approached the castle, Miguel’s complexion darkened as he recalled the Earl’s ambition he had forgotten.

The reason for his leaden complexion traced back to the day he first heard about the marriage proposal with Lisael.