(16) The Final Temptation

As the speechless Asla stared at Ian, he stepped even closer and whispered softly.

“Though I’m far inferior to her, I at least don’t want to send Princess Asla to Your Grace.”

“……”

“I can roughly guess what you and His Majesty Emperor Rosenberg are discussing. But I will absolutely prevent that marriage from happening.”

‘Marriage? Already at this time?’

Her marriage to Enoch had been decided when she turned twenty.

She thought Enoch had also been informed then, and that they had married hastily under pressure.

But to think that Emperor Rosenberg and Enoch had been discussing their marriage since this time.

Asla’s head throbbed.

When Asla didn’t respond, Ian opened his mouth resolutely as if he had made a decision.

“A worldly person like you doesn’t suit the Princess at all, who has lived purely and nobly within the rules of the Holy Kingdom. The Princess would naturally think the same.”

“I…… no, Princess Asla Sherita is neither pure nor noble.”

For the first time in this past, Asla expressed her own opinion.

How dare they, what do they know? What do these priests know about me?

Asla Sherita was nothing more than a doll created within the Holy Kingdom……!

Speaking with Enoch’s voice somehow made her feel relieved and comforted, bringing her to the verge of tears.

“What?”

As Asla looked at Ian’s face, which showed a mixture of bewilderment and contempt, she felt the world crumbling like flowing water again and raised her head.

“Ah.”

And then blue waves engulfed her.

There was so much more she wanted to learn.

Asla closed her eyes with regret and fell into a real sleep.

⁕⁕⁕

While Asla slept with her head on the table.

Standing in the narrow corridor of the rocking train, Enoch’s eyebrows twitched menacingly.

The paper he held was completely and unsightly crumpled.

Talet, who anxiously watched Enoch who seemed about to explode, carefully added.

“We captured and interrogated the madam’s personal maid, but she wouldn’t answer until we tortured her, and only then did she speak.”

“She’s insane.”

“This probably isn’t all. But we have a problem. The Grand Madam is extremely angry that we captured and tortured the maid she favored.”

Enoch’s features shone more sharply as the sunlight backlit him. A face where darkness and light coexisted.

Unlike when he was with Asla, he now had an unfamiliar and dangerous aura.

“Just for fun because she was envious of the madam traveling alone to the capital, she says.”

Enoch burst into a hollow laugh as he read the statement from Asla’s personal maid.

What maid would play such a prank simply out of jealousy toward the duchess?

There must be someone backing her, and that would be Margo Ventus, his sister-in-law.

Unable to bear the pain, Enoch closed his eyes and pressed his fist against his brow.

He recalled the morning when he left the Ventus mansion with Asla.

When he found Asla with Margo, Enoch finally realized something was wrong.

Unlike his sister-in-law who smiled sweetly, his wife’s face was deathly pale as if she had been strangled.

The Princess Asla Sherita that Enoch knew was a woman who endured until the end no matter how difficult things became.

Not because of her personality, but because she grew up as a princess of the Holy Kingdom—a pitiful, unfortunate princess.

For Asla to be struggling to this extent……

He had thought it was just simple harassment, but instinctively sensing the situation was serious, he unconsciously showed hostility toward his sister-in-law and left the mansion almost like he was fleeing with Asla.

Though he felt hurt, resentful, and angry at Asla for repeatedly demanding a divorce, when Enoch confirmed that coal tar had stained the dress given by May, the newly appointed maid, his heart sank.

‘Margo Ventus.’

Enoch slowly opened his eyes.

Why on earth had she tormented his wife to this extent?

He had left Asla at the Ventus mansion believing it was the safest place, but she had suffered harassment he didn’t even want to imagine.

If only he could turn back time, he would have told her everything and let Asla stay in his residence in the capital.

Though it would have been extremely difficult.

“Talet. Yesterday morning, Asla kept glancing at the breakfast my sister-in-law brought. There must be something wrong with that too.”

“The food……? Is that why the madam became so thin?”

“It’s possible.”

Enoch roughly rubbed his face as if he wanted to tear it off.

The doctor at Dynus Municipal Hospital had said.

Asla suffered from chronic malnutrition.

Having grown up in the Holy Kingdom, she always ate sparingly to maintain a disciplined life.

From the moment they first met.

Every time he secretly watched her, he felt sorry for Asla who was so thin she looked like she might collapse even in the spring breeze.

He had hoped that after marriage, when her surname changed from Sherita to Ventus, she would at least eat freely.

But because of his sister-in-law’s food pranks, Asla had even become malnourished, which made him feel terribly sorry for her.

It was natural for her to demand a divorce.

But he didn’t want that.

Now that all preparations were finally complete, he had wanted to live seeing her frequently.

“As soon as we arrive at the capital, send a telegram. Immediately give that maid a hundred luan, and persuade her that if she tells the whole truth, we’ll ensure her family’s safety and arrange a job for her with good treatment in a safe place.”

“Yes, master.”

Enoch heaved a deep sigh and neatly arranged his hair and clothes.

Watching him, Talet said.

“You still have several more hours to travel, why not relax?”

“No. Can’t you see I’m about to get divorced?”

“……I can see that, but why bother? Isn’t it already too late?”

When Talet cautiously spoke, Enoch raised his eyebrows angrily.

“I need to appeal to her. Before Asla abandons me, I’ll make one final temptation.”

Enoch felt fortunate that his appearance was presentable.

Knowing that Asla was susceptible to good looks, he intended to use his appearance to his advantage as much as possible.

‘So this is what it feels like to grasp at straws.’

He had never paid much attention to his appearance that attracted people’s attention since childhood, but now he was extremely grateful for it.

Talet looked at the very serious Enoch with bewildered eyes before carefully saying.

“That’s why I’ve been advising you to honestly tell the madam the truth about your condition from the beginning.”

“Shut up, Talet. I’m already sincerely regretting it.”

“I wish you luck, master.”

Reading Enoch’s fierce gaze, Talet bowed deeply and quickly fled to the second-class compartment.

Watching his secretary flee, Enoch slowly walked down the corridor.

He carefully opened the luxurious first-class compartment door, which had been crafted with white oak.

His wife was sound asleep with her baby-like face resting on the table.

A pencil was loosely held in Asla’s thin, white fingers.

In the sketchbook she had been drawing in, there were fluffy clouds and a tree stretching toward the sky.

It was a peaceful and beautiful scene, so unlike the life Asla had experienced, that Enoch felt a pang in his heart.

Feeling like he might cry, Enoch carefully sat down in the chair across from her without making a sound.

What dream was she having?

He sat there for hours, watching Asla sleep, without making even the sound of breathing.

⁕⁕⁕

After waking up, Asla ate a simple meal prepared on the train and then sat blankly for a long time.

Enoch, who had called the attendant to clear away the dishes, suggested to her.

“Why don’t you sleep more?”

“I’m fine.”

Asla gave Enoch a small smile and turned her head back to the window.

The train indifferently passed through unfamiliar places she didn’t recognize, running endlessly.

Since it took half a day by train, they would arrive at the capital near dawn.

Asla, who had been looking at the vast plains dyed crimson by the sunset, slowly opened her mouth.

“Enoch.”

Sitting across from her , Enoch opened his eyes wide at her serious call.

Asla turned her head and met his gaze.

“I’m sorry for asking random questions again.”

“Ask me anything. Since I’m in a crisis situation, I’ll confess anything to you.”

“Are you saying I have the upper hand over you right now?”

Asla couldn’t believe it. Why would this man, Enoch Ventus, cling to her out of need?

Could it be, as Ian Herta said in her dream…… that Enoch also loved her?

Asla shook her head, thinking it couldn’t be true, and asked a different question.

“Are you being threatened by Emperor Rosenberg? That if you divorce me, he won’t let you set foot in parliament?”

“I was prepared for strange questions when you said they’d be random, but Asla, what on earth are you talking about?”

Enoch expressed his bewilderment by wrinkling his face unpleasantly.

But Asla continued to stare at him seriously.

He instinctively noticed that Asla’s demeanor had changed somehow since waking up, and narrowed his eyes.

“What do you know?”

“Not much. Just that Emperor Rosenberg forced you into marriage two years before we actually married, when you were twenty-one.”

“That’s top secret, known only to His Majesty and me. How did you find out?”

Enoch rose abruptly from his seat in genuine surprise.

The rattling of the train echoed between them for a long time.

Enoch thought for a moment, trying to figure it out, then twisted his lips and said.

“Ian Herta. Did he tell you earlier?”

Asla briefly considered, then quickly nodded her chin slightly in affirmation.

After all, it was Ian Herta who had told her when she had transmigrated into Enoch’s body in the dream.

Judging by Enoch’s reaction, it was clear that she had fallen into a precise past, not just a simple dream.

Asla tried to maintain her usual composed expression, but she couldn’t bear how her hands kept trembling beneath the table.

Enoch bit his lip hard once, then sat back down heavily as if giving up.

“That’s right. But the truth is different from what Ian Herta clumsily guessed. You probably didn’t know…… His Majesty the Emperor summoned me and we discussed it together from that time.”

“Discussed? Not threatened?”

“Threatened?”

Enoch let out a deflated laugh as if Asla’s choice of words amused him.

He smiled with the confidence of someone extremely proud and powerful, and spoke to Asla deliberately.

“It was an agreement. The Emperor cannot threaten me, Asla. My wealth has grown so uncontrollably that even His Majesty has to be cautious around me.”