Chapter 3 (Part 7)

That night in Duke Richard’s study.

A hint of amusement crossed the Duke’s face as he swirled the overflowing drink in his glass.

“It feels like I’ve found an unsolvable riddle after a long time.”

After setting down the drink he wouldn’t consume, he stood up and moved a small statue on the wall.

Then the bookshelf slid aside, revealing a large blackboard. It was usually filled with tactical notes, but not this time. It was densely filled with Therese’s movements and her relationships with people around her.

“An intriguing person.”

Therese was completely different from what he had learned before their marriage.

The investigation that said she was unremarkable and quiet was nonsense. She was the most unique person he had ever met.

“Her blue eyes blaze like fire.”

She was not quiet at all.

The way she wielded a sword against Count Pablo was so graceful that it was vivid in his mind. Yet, she was so clumsy at dancing that she stepped on his feet at least twelve times.

‘Even if Baron Demori bought the title with money, he wouldn’t have neglected noble education.’

Did she secretly learn swordsmanship while deceiving her father’s eyes?

‘Who taught her?’

As his thoughts reached that point, his smooth forehead wrinkled instantly. Teaching swordsmanship required a bit of physical contact.

“Could it be that Pasa bastard?”

Imagining a black-haired man standing behind Therese and freely handling her wrist made him feel inexplicably sick.

He wanted to kill the injured man first, but remembering Therese avoiding him made him hesitate.

If he harmed the beast she cherished, she would hate him even more.

“First, I need to deal with Count Pablo.”

Today, he couldn’t accomplish anything because he had met his wife.

“I should start by cutting off his wrist.”

He dared to touch the body of the Duchess Richard.

“Or should I pluck out his eyes first?”

He dared to disgustingly scan Therese’s body with those filthy eyes.

After wiping his dry face, he stood by the window and looked at his reflection. It was the first time he checked his appearance so frequently. Though he frowned a bit, it wasn’t bad.

“And yet, does she dislike me that much?”

There were countless families in the empire eager to form ties with the Richard family, and there were so many women confessing love to him that he was tired of it.

“Does she like my face but dislike everything else?”

‘Do as you wish, Your Grace. It has nothing to do with me.’

Her cold voice was as chilly as the snow-covered Alps, yet Therese’s body in his arms was as soft as a fluffy cloud.

‘Her hands were so small.’

Jeremy murmured as he looked at his scarred hands spread on the cold window. 

Would her height reach my chest?

“She was as adorable as she was as a child.”

His face flushed as he muttered to himself.

It was true that he didn’t like the arranged marriage the Emperor had decided on a whim. He also didn’t like the Demori family, who allegedly bought their title with money.

But when asked if he disliked Therese Demori, he hesitated.

On further thought, his firsts were all with her. Holding a woman’s hand, hugging her, and everything else.

“The reasons I can’t let you go are only increasing.”

Recalling Therese’s obvious antics, Jeremy smiled. For the first time since their marriage, he felt quite satisfied with the conclusion he had reached.

When he threw open the window, the cold wind hit him.

“The night breeze is quite sweet.”

Under his disheveled bangs, his jet-black eyes gleamed with a strange light.

❖ ❖ ❖

Roshan was tormented by endless nightmares. The enemy with a constantly changing face kept slashing him.

‘I cannot retreat.’

Despite being covered in wounds, Roshan did not retreat. If he faltered, Therese might be in danger.

Summoning strength in his trembling legs, he swung the shamshir sharply. The ground beneath him was soaked in blood, and the thickened floor cracked in places.

No matter how much he struggled, Roshan had to accept that he couldn’t win.

As he gave up, his body began to sink below the swamp, quickly submerging up to his neck. It wouldn’t be long before mud would enter his mouth and nose.

‘Don’t die! Roshan!’

At the sound of someone’s desperate cry, Roshan regained his senses.

‘M-Master.’

Therese Demori, the single light cast upon his dark life.

Roshan Jawad was the illegitimate son of the Caliph of the Pasa Empire. The Caliph had so many legitimate children that he couldn’t even remember their names, so there was no way an illegitimate child like Roshan would be treated well. 

Even among illegitimate children, their rank was determined by their mother’s status, but his mother reportedly died right after giving birth to him. Therefore, there was no one to protect him.

Moreover, after his mother died, the Emperor never sought him out. Roshan sat idly in a small room all day, not knowing where to go or what to do.

‘Roshan Jawad.’

Though half of the Emperor’s blood flowed in him, he was allowed nothing.

Though supposedly better than a slave, he envied slaves who had families. Having parents to complain to was like an unreachable mirage in the desert.

Sometimes, he had to endure worse humiliation than a slave.

‘To think they’d give a name to a beast.’

‘You seem more suited to a beast’s den than the palace, don’t you think’

’Come here and lick my shoes clean.’

It was common for young members of the Imperial Family to gang up and beat Roshan, so it wasn’t considered unusual. But even that was short-lived, as they soon lost interest in him.

His half-siblings, dressed in glittering clothes, headed to their tutors for lessons in the art of kingship, exuding a dignity he lacked.

‘To survive in this harsh world, you must become strong yourself.’

The only person who showed him even a speck of interest was the warrior Zafar. They met by chance, and he was a middle-aged man renowned for his swordsmanship in the Pasa Empire. Due to his eccentric nature, Zafar kept no one around him.

‘If you survive, I’ll teach you how to live.’

Zafar would throw the young Roshan into a cave and leave him there for three days, or toss him into a beast’s den unarmed. Roshan survived by eating moss in the cave, and though he nearly had his arm torn off by a beast, he barely managed to keep his life.

At that time, Zafar was the only connection Roshan had to the world.

Until he met Therese.

He could never forget the sight of Therese rushing to stop them from hitting him during his coming-of-age ceremony.

‘Stop hitting him! He’ll die!’

Though he couldn’t understand her words, the shadow of the little girl who challenged Zafar while crying wrapped around him. For the first time, warmth seeped into his tattered soul.

‘You’ll be punished for hitting a child!’

Facing Zafar, a giant over nine feet tall with a fierce appearance, would intimidate most men. Yet the girl, who didn’t even reach his waist, fearlessly charged at him.

‘There’s someone who stands up for me.’

As he sank into the pool of blood, something caught in Roshan’s hand.

‘Roshan! Grab it!’

Therese, riding a white horse, threw him a coiled rope. He reached out to grab it, but his hands, pierced multiple times by a sword, couldn’t muster the strength.

‘Roshan! Are you not going to come to your senses?’

At his master’s sharp voice, Roshan flailed his arms upward. If it was Therese’s command, he had to accomplish it even at the cost of his life.

‘Because my life is no longer mine.’

Thinking of Therese’s blue eyes made Roshan’s chest feel like it was splitting apart. As he coughed harshly and opened his eyes, someone was beside him.

“Oh my, you’ve come to your senses now.”

“…….”

“Your body isn’t in good shape, so why are you struggling like this? Did you have a nightmare?”

Seeing Sophia, Roshan nodded in greeting and buried his face deep into the pillow again. Waking up from a dream and seeing his master’s nanny made him feel strangely embarrassed.

‘She must not find out I dreamed of the Master.’

Sophia had been displeased with him since he arrived here. He thought it might just be because of his unfamiliar appearance, but there was another reason.

Sophia’s great-grandfather had died in a war between the Caspian Empire and Pasa long ago.

‘Those Pasa people are not human, but beasts.’

She always cursed them for eating with their bare hands and taking multiple wives.

But it wasn’t just the people of Caspian who died in that war. Many sons and fathers of Pasa also lost their lives.

However, he never made the mistake of speaking that thought out loud.

He didn’t want to further displease Sophia.

“The Madame was so worried when she heard you were on the brink of death. That’s why I came to this dangerous place.”

Sophia muttered as she collected the medicine and water left by the nurse.

“……I’m sorry.”

For making you come all this way.

He was too weak to finish his sentence.