Chapter 3. The Fourth Wife

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Like Ulysse reported to Theo, Yuelina was quite pleased with the attic.

Of course, climbing up and down the stairs to the sixth floor left her breathless, but other than that, she was satisfied.

A fluffy mattress and soft woolen blankets. A fireplace stacked with magic stones.

A wardrobe with thick, soft dresses hanging and even a simple desk.

It was a room twice as large and lacking nothing compared to when she stayed in the village.

She had lived alone with her father in a cozy cottage until now, so this was the first time she had such a large room.

Moreover, going down half a floor of stairs, the landscape of the principality unfolded at a glance below the arched window.

The nights in the principality were as calm as looking out over a vast sea.

Yuelina, stroking the soft woolen blanket with her palm, recalled the words of the secretary, who brought her here.

Ulysse, with his long hair tied back and adjusting his glasses, had said this to her.

“For the next year, you will use separate rooms from His Highness the Grand Duke. Although you are married, that doesn’t mean you become a couple right away.”

Ulysse somehow looked apologetic as he said this.

“I hope you think of it as an adaptation period, as Your Highness the Grand Duchess is unfamiliar with the Phaenyx Principality and has many things to learn.”

Yuelina nodded in agreement with Ulysse’s words.

No, she was more than happy that he said so.

If Ulysse had said they had to consummate the marriage tonight, Yuelina would have been terrified and scared.

It didn’t matter if he was her husband, he was a man she was seeing for the first time.

Yuelina needed time to get to know Theo and accept him as her husband.

Fortunately, Yuelina did not find Theo’s first impression that bad.

It was rather good.

His large physique, which could swallow her whole, seemed like an unshakable, solid rock.

His low voice sounded sweet.

Of course, the sight of him covered in blood was indeed disconcerting.

Because of it, she couldn’t properly see his handsome face.

Yuelina felt embarrassed, thinking she might be scrutinizing her husband’s appearance.

But it wasn’t just his appearance that she liked. She also felt a persistent sense of responsibility from him.

In the village, warriors who went hunting to secure food were the most important assets.

They fought wild animals with a responsibility to protect the village and sometimes went out to the vast ocean to secure food strategically.

So Theo being stained with blood from hunting was an honorable thing to Yuelina.

Moreover, wasn’t Theo the owner of a principality ten times, no, twenty times larger than her island?

Such a person would need a strong sense of responsibility to feed many citizens of the principality. To the extent of risking his life.

Yuelina, who only vaguely understood the concept of a principality, could only explain his appearance in this way.

Yuelina recalled Theo’s image once more.

Even though he was covered in red blood, his eyes, resembling the blue sea, were so clear and distinct.

A Grand Duke with strong responsibility, strong survival skills, and clear, distinct eyes as her husband.

Yuelina felt she could get along well with her husband.

One thing that worried her was whether Theo would like her.

At their first meeting, Theo revealed that he had been married three times.

Delkan belatedly explained that it was an incident Yuelina didn’t need to worry about.

He said that in all three previous cases, they only held weddings and did not actually live as a married couple.

Well. What’s stranger was the fact that such a reliable person didn’t have any women.

But why couldn’t his marriages last till the end?

The only answer Yuelina could think of right now was only bereavement.

Yuelina was diligently letting her imagination run wild.

As time passed, Theo was becoming a tragic figure in Yuelina’s mind.

And if her thoughts were correct, Theo would dislike Yuelina.

Because it was almost like a forced marriage without feelings, suddenly having to give a magic stone.

Yuelina was a stranger who didn’t even know what the principality was like.

So wouldn’t he feel like Yuelina, a stranger, was taking away the precious magic stone of the principality?

The fact that this was indeed a condition of the marriage made her feel even more uneasy.

Since she was getting married, Yuelina wanted to get along well with the person who would be her husband in this new place.

That’s why she became even more troubled.

She tried to shake off her complicated feelings by getting up from her seat.

She wanted to refresh her thoughts by looking around the room she hadn’t fully explored.

‘But what’s that?’

Then she discovered a door in the corner opposite the attic entrance.

It was a door about a span shorter than her height.

Yuelina turned the doorknob and pushed hard. Outside, she saw a sturdy, elongated bridge.

Having grown up running on cliff-connecting bridges in her village, she felt excited rather than scared.

It was a domain much higher than other areas. From the castle tower, which was one of the highest points in that land, the stars close to the sky would be clearly visible.

Yuelina took small steps, one by one, to reach the middle of the bridge.

And then her eyes met with that man.

The owner of an estate comparable to her village…

No, the owner of this country that couldn’t even be compared to her village, and now her husband.

Theo de Phaenyx.

Theo also stopped in his tracks when he spotted Yuelina.

Until he saw with his own eyes that Yuelina said she was grateful for giving her the attic room, he couldn’t believe it at all.

So he had been pacing in front of the bridge without realizing it.

He had to be cautious, not knowing if she was saying thank you to his face while hurriedly preparing to escape behind his back.

Sure enough, the attic door suddenly creaked open.

He thought she must have come out to assess the situation in order to escape.

Theo was about to approach Yuelina with a stern face and tell her to go back inside.

But from the open door, a woman with lush white hair fluttering emerged with a pop.

Wearing a soft pink cloak that resembled his own, she looked up at the sky with such a fresh smile.

For a moment, Theo stared at that woman, mesmerized.

He couldn’t miss even the slightest movement, from her squirrel-like hopping gait to the way she sniffled her cute nose in the biting wind.

Who is that woman?

Surely, in the attic room, there should have been a Grand Duchess lamenting her situation, having come all the way to the principality with tears streaming down her face.

But this woman, with her melting smile, looking at him with such innocence… Who on earth is she?

“Ah.”

It was when Theo was confused, trying to figure out who the woman before his eyes was.

Yuelina carefully walked up to Theo and gave a small bow.

“Hello.”

Theo wrinkled his nose at the sudden sweet scent that enveloped him.

A strong floral fragrance emanated from her once again as she approached.

Could it be the precious lilac that doesn’t exist in the north?

Or the acacia in his younger days that tasted sweet if you lightly licked the back of the flower?

Whatever it was, it was a floral scent he wanted to pluck recklessly and keep in his room forever, preserving it from decay.

If it really were a flower, he would have done so immediately.

“The night sky is so beautiful.”

The woman standing in front of Theo said, glancing at him awkwardly.

Seeing her speak, he realized the woman before his eyes was not a flower but a person.

So, this woman standing in front of him now, fidgeting with her white, soft hands…

It was Yuelina.

The woman who had come from an island not even marked on the maps to marry him.

So this is what the face of that woman looked like, of whom he had only caught a glimpse of her white hair when she got out of the carriage.

Why did he end up confirming Yuelina’s face so belatedly, after being covered in blood?

Theo tried to regain his composure and calmly looked at Yuelina standing before him.

Cheeks flushed from the cold and a thin, slender neckline.

Her overall small frame made it seem miraculous that she could even stand in the biting wind.

Her long eyelashes were like elegant feathers.

The pink eyes within them were so mysterious that at first glance, one might mistake them for purple.

Theo closed his stiff eyes for a long moment and then opened them. He must have overdone it with the drinking today.

Otherwise, there was no way his chest would feel this hot.

First, he needed to yell at Yuelina to go back inside.

He also needed to tell her that even if she wanted to cancel the marriage, he had no intention of allowing it.

He should say in a strong voice that he would give her the magic stone anytime, so she should fulfill her duty.

He should also tell her that the bleak and eerie Phaenyx domain would be where she’d spend the rest of her life.

Neither imprint, nor love, nor even a real marriage — just keeping her by his side as the Grand Duchess.

That was Theo’s plan and his revenge.

To do that, he needed to intimidate Yuelina even more.

Love and affection did not exist in Theo’s life.

Instead, he was confident in his ability to make others fear him.

He opened his mouth while coldly staring into Yuelina’s eyes.

Now, if he scolded her harshly…

“It’s cold, why are you wearing such thin clothes?”

What did I just say?

Am I worrying about this woman’s attire right now?

The words that actually came out of his mouth were so different from his intentions.