22: Does My Wife Hate Me?

From the moment Kael began leaving for the palace, he noticed something strange. Aella looked extremely exhausted. At first, he thought she might be unwell and asked her with concern, but she smiled and assured him that she wasn’t in pain.

Another odd thing was the attitude of the household staff. He had a feeling they were subtly disrespecting the duchess. After observing and waiting for the right moment to gather concrete evidence, Kael decided today would be the day. Pretending to leave the mansion, he stayed outside to monitor the situation.

As expected, in just a few minutes after he had supposedly left, Kael witnessed something unimaginable through a recording crystal he had secretly placed. The crystal revealed the staff physically abusing Aella.

Such insubordination was beyond anything he could have imagined.

Feeling a rage he had never experienced before, Kael stormed back into the mansion to protect Aella.

Rensi, who was flustered, was one of the maids Kael had trusted quite a bit, second only to Natasha, the head maid.

“Is this what you’ve been doing while I was away?”

Kael restrained his anger as much as he could and looked at the staff standing before him.

‘Something’s strange. Their eyes…!’

Kael noticed something in Rensi’s right hand. It was clearly an unusual item. Without hesitation, he called for the knights outside.

“You summoned us, Your Grace.”

“Seize that woman immediately!”

“Yes, sir!”

“D*mn it!”

As Rensi tried to flee, Kael shouted for her not to escape. However, before their eyes, Rensi suddenly vanished into thin air.

“What on earth…?”

Thud!

“Ella! My wife!”

Aella, whose body was covered in injuries from head to toe, collapsed unconscious. Kael quickly picked up her limp body and glared fiercely at Matteo and Natasha, who came running in a panic.

“What were you doing? The duchess being beaten by the staff—how could this happen?”

Kael’s voice, filled with fury, echoed throughout the mansion. The staff, who had been under some kind of spell, began to come to their senses one by one.

“M-Master! This wasn’t our intention!”

“That’s right! R-Rensi! That woman had something strange in her hand!”

“She’s the one who’s been conspiring with the dark sorceress…”

“Silence!”

Kael roared, silencing the trembling staff.

“Do not leave your posts. Stay here until I return.”

As Kael hurried toward the room, he encountered Kina limping toward him.

“You!”

“Ugh… My lady… Our poor lady…”

“Sigh, you’re in bad shape too. Follow me.”

Nodding, Kina followed Kael into the room. After laying Aella on the bed, Kael had Kina stand nearby.

“I’ll summon a doctor soon. You should receive treatment along with Aella.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

“Now, can you tell me what’s been happening in this mansion?”

“…”

Kina lifted her head. The Kael standing before her now reminded her of the young master she had once known.

‘If I tell him everything… if his memories return…’

Kina looked at the unconscious Aella. She resented Kael deeply.

She hated him more than Count Blueanz, who had thrown her mistress into the fiery pits of hell.

Though Kael had once shown affection for Aella, he had turned a blind eye when she was mistreated by the staff simply because she was the daughter of the man who had killed his father.

As memories of Kael’s indifference resurfaced, Kina suddenly thought of something.

She wanted to tell Kael the truth about everything that had happened and beg him to divorce her poor mistress. She also wanted to plead with him not to take out his anger on the woman he had once genuinely loved.

Even if speaking such words would earn her punishment for insulting a proud noble, Kina was willing to accept it.

If it meant Aella could escape this terrible suffering, it would be worth it.

“Kina…”

“M-My lady?!”

“Ella!”

Aella opened her eyes, and Kina, standing on her left, tightly held her hand.

“I’m sorry, my lady. I fainted…”

“It’s fine… Kael. I’m fine, so…”

“What do you mean you’re fine?”

“…”

“Sigh, I’m sorry. Ella, I’m not angry at you. I’m just furious at myself for being such a pathetic husband.”

As Aella looked at Kael, who was blaming himself, her gaze shifted to Kina, who was sobbing.

“Kina.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Kina looked at Aella, who shook her head slightly.

“My lady…”

“Please.”

Though Kina’s heart was breaking, she couldn’t ignore Aella’s desperate plea.

“Understood.”

“Thank… you.”

“My lady!”

“She’s just asleep. Don’t worry.”

Kina, who had been watching Aella sleep peacefully, calmed herself and turned to Kael, who had called her.

“Tell me what happened to Aella. Tell me everything you know.”

“Rensi, the maid, tormented my lady and involved other staff members. She tried to frame my lady for conspiring with the dark sorceress.”

Kina clenched her fists as she spoke, suppressing her anger.

“So the staff were under her control?”

“No. They’ve been like this for a while.”

“!”

“After the late Duke Hormons was murdered, rumors spread that Count Blueanz had hired someone to assassinate his close friend, the late duke. Upon hearing this, the staff began to
mistreat my lady.”

“Sigh… Why didn’t Aella tell me any of this? Why?”

Kina lifted her head. Kael’s gaze was full of worry as he looked at the sleeping Aella.

“Master.”

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“Do you truly love my lady?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“I want to hear it clearly from you. Do you truly love and trust her?”

“That goes without saying.”

Kina knelt before Kael, bowing her head.

“What are you doing? Get up!”

“Master… Please, don’t lose that love. Promise me.”

“Fine. Fine, now get up.”

“Ugh… Master, my lady has loved you since childhood.”

“…”

“The rumors that Count Blueanz hired someone to assassinate the late Duke Hormons have spread throughout the empire. Because of that, my lady has…”

“Sigh, so that’s why… That’s why Ella’s expression… But there’s no proof! There’s no evidence that my father-in-law ordered my father’s death! How can they slander my wife and her father without proof? This is absurd!”

Kina remained silent as she watched Kael, who was genuinely angry.

It was widely believed among the people of the empire that Count Blueanz had ordered the murder of Duke Hormons.

The young man hired by the count had confessed the truth in his final moments, filled with regret and anger, before passing away.

Many sympathized with the late duke’s restless soul, which was said to still linger, expressing its sorrow.

“Kina, stay by my wife’s side.”

“Yes.”

After Kael left, Kina knelt beside Aella and held her bruised and battered hand tightly.

“My lady, it would be better if the master’s memories never returned. Then the two of you could smile and live happily again. But… why am I so anxious? If I feel this way, how much worse must it be for you? My lady… Oh, the gods are so cruel. So… cruel!”

Kina sobbed like a child, her tears soaking the bed. Aella, though asleep, shed silent tears.

***

A large-scale purge began. Aside from the steward and head maid, most of the staff were expelled from the mansion.

The maids received no pay or recommendations and were sent away with nothing.

Though some were resentful, Kael silenced them by asking if they wanted to be punished for laying hands on a noblewoman. They quietly left the mansion.

Kael also blamed himself for being an inattentive husband and vowed never to let such an incident happen again.

He even visited the emperor to address the rumors surrounding Aella and her father.

“Your Majesty.”

“Ah, welcome.”

“Forgive me for bringing this up, but I have a request.”

“Oh? For you to ask me something… I’ll grant it, whatever it may be.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Kael bowed and asked the emperor to put an end to the rumors that Count Blueanz had ordered the assassination of Duke Hormons.

“Duke.”

“The rumors are baseless and have caused harm to my wife, Aella. Even the staff of the duchy have mistreated her because of these lies. Please, Your Majesty, put an end to these rumors.”

The emperor, Derek, couldn’t help but acknowledge that Kael’s memories were incomplete.

Before losing his memories, Kael had been the most furious about the rumors and firmly believed that Count Blueanz was responsible for his father’s death.

“Your Majesty.”

“I understand. I’ll resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”

“Thank you. I’ll take my leave now.”

“How is the duchess?”

“She’s resting. Your Majesty, I intend to find and deal with that maid, Rensi, who conspired with the dark sorceress.”

“I see. Then I’ll have the dark sorceress captured and executed this time. I was lenient before, but not anymore.”

After leaving the emperor’s presence, Kael quickly made his way back, worried about Aella.

“Duke.”

“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

“How is your wife?”

Kael felt an inexplicable irritation at the crown prince’s question.

Or perhaps, to be more precise, he felt deeply offended.

“She’s well.”

“I see. You must have heard the rumors. It seems your wife has been suffering greatly because of them…”

“Thank you for your concern, Your Highness, but I’ll handle it myself.”

“Very well…”

As Kael passed by, the crown prince, Julius, watched him with sharp eyes.

‘Something has changed. They say he only lost his memories of Aella… I need to investigate further.’

Frowning, Julius turned to face his father, the emperor, who approached him.

“The wedding will proceed soon. Be prepared.”

“You’ll do as you please anyway.”

“…”

“Just know this: I may accept her as empress, but I’ll never embrace her.”

“Julius.”

“And I’ll take a concubine.”

“!”

“The child born to the concubine…”

Slap!

“You insolent fool! Until you change your mind, I won’t hand over the throne to you. And don’t do anything you’ll regret later. You pathetic son!”

Watching his father’s broad back as he walked away, Julius smirked bitterly before leaving.

***

With most of the staff replaced, new employees were brought into the mansion.

Aella, having overused her healing abilities to treat herself after being beaten by Rensi and the other staff, was now too weak to heal herself further and was receiving help from the doctor.

Kael decided not to return to the palace for the time being and stayed by his wife’s side to nurse her personally.

“Ella, just one more bite.”

“I don’t have an appetite… I’m sorry, Kael.”

“…”

“…”

Kael, noticing that Aella avoided making eye contact with him and seemed to be distancing herself, began to feel hurt.

“Does my wife hate me?”

Aella turned to face Kael, who looked deeply upset.

His large eyes seemed to plead with her to deny it, and before she realized it, Aella found herself smiling.