Chapter 7.7

Her feelings for Kainel were now a tangled mix of love and distrust.

“You should have just told me the truth.”

There was resentment in Erika’s voice. If he had been honest from the start, she wouldn’t feel so betrayed now.

“I thought you hated me, so I couldn’t tell you. If I’d told you the truth, you wouldn’t have helped me—you would have left me behind.”

He wasn’t wrong. If she had known the truth but not his identity, she would have sent him straight to the Grand Ducal house.

And she herself wouldn’t have been able to look at him kindly. She was just as prejudiced as anyone else.

But knowing that didn’t make her any less angry. He had cornered her into lying and made her feel guilty, yet acted like nothing was wrong. She was also angry at the fear she’d felt after learning his identity.

No, her own selfishness was involved, too, so it wasn’t entirely Kainel’s fault. She was also to blame for not being honest to the end.

Her mind was in turmoil, and she didn’t know how to process the situation. But there was one thing she did know.

The time in her life she had thought was happiest had all been a happiness built on lies.

“I understand. I get it, so please go back. Our false relationship is over, isn’t it?”

“Eri…. I know I acted selfishly to change my feelings. But meeting you changed me. Please believe that.”

Kainel reached out to touch Erika, but she brushed his hand away. His pleading voice shook her heart, but she held back.

“I’m not Eri. I’m Erika. You knew that and pretended not to. You made me a fool.”

“I know you’re angry. But I hope you’ll at least believe my sincerity.”

“All right. I’ll believe your sincerity. But what if I say I can’t forgive you for deceiving me?”

“I’ll wait for your forgiveness.”

“What if I never forgive you?”

“I’ll wait until I die. As I said before, my life won’t be long. Even if I die, you’ll remain in my heart, so I guess that’s not so bad.”

Die? Ah….

Erika, angry at being deceived, only now realized that Kainel’s life was short, and she remembered him coughing up blood.

Was it because of the curse?

While Erika was too shocked to say anything, Kainel kept saying things that stirred her sympathy.

“It’s just a shame that I don’t have much time left to see you.”

“That’s not fair. How can you threaten me with your life?”

Sadness and anger mingled in Erika’s violet eyes.

She was angry at how he seemed to be threatening her with his life, but since it was true that he didn’t have much time unless she helped him, she couldn’t get angry without reason.

Still, she deliberately spoke coldly.

“I don’t like men who threaten me. I don’t like men who use me just to stay alive, either.”

“If you care about me, you can use my life as much as you want. I don’t care if you pity me. As long as you come to my side, anything is fine.”

“Coward.”

Erika stepped up to Kainel and hit his chest hard.

“I know.”

“Sly.”

“If it will help ease your anger, I’ll do anything.”

Thump, thump. No matter how many times she hit him, the anger she felt toward him didn’t subside. She couldn’t help feeling both so indignant and yet unable to truly hate him.

Like this, she could no longer stay angry at him. Just like with Baron Dunmoa, he had used her weakness, but she couldn’t hate him.

The hand that had been pounding on his chest gradually slowed and then stopped.

Kainel gently embraced her, and Erika, now in his large arms, lowered her head. Her forehead rested against his chest.

“I’m sorry for hurting you. You don’t have to forgive me—just think and feel however is easiest for you. Whatever you decide, I’ll accept it.”

On the outside, he was the imposing Grand Duke Hartwig, but inside, he was just like Kai, her temporary husband with whom she had lived. Still gentle and considerate, just as before.

Just as she was about to look up and meet Kainel’s eyes, Erika noticed a bandage peeking from beneath his clothes on his shoulder. With wide eyes, she carefully pulled down his garment and examined the wound on his shoulder.

“What is this wound?”

“When Baron Dunmoa set fire to the house we lived in, I got a little hurt while escaping. It’s nothing serious.”

“Don’t tell me you stayed in that house even after I left?”

“I waited, hoping you’d come back.”

“Didn’t your subordinates come to get you?”

Erika’s voice trembled just slightly.

“How could I leave without a word when my wife hadn’t come home?”

“But I left without a word.”

“That’s why I waited. I believed you would return.”

“….”

Erika couldn’t answer. An indescribable feeling welled up, her heart dropping with a heavy thud and then pounding so hard she could barely breathe.

In that moment, it felt as if only she and Kainel existed in the world. Her clear eyes, gazing at him, trembled minutely.

“Kai….”

She tried to open her lips to say something, but Kainel spoke first.

“I love you. I can no longer imagine a life without you.”

Was the word ‘love’ a magic spell? The moment she heard it, the anger she’d felt toward him mingled with the love she’d just felt again, and it seemed as if her anger faded away.

She had been angry at being deceived, but thinking about it, it was the happy times with him that allowed her to endure the nightmare of being captured by the Dunmoa family.

During those nightmares, she had dreamed so many times. She wished he truly liked her. She wished the happiness they shared wouldn’t have an expiration date, but would last forever.

So there was no need to deny her feelings for him. Now, she had to admit it. The only thing that mattered was that she had already loved him for some time.

“I’m still not over my anger. You’ll have to stay by my side and keep soothing me—are you all right with that? I might never get over it, even for the rest of my life.”

“As long as I can be by your side, I don’t care. I’ll do better until your anger fades. If I lack anything, I’ll make up for it, and I’ll never do anything you dislike.”

“If you do that, what will people say? That you’re living under a woman’s thumb.”

“What does it matter what others think? You’re the only one who matters to me.”

Kainel hugged Erika tightly. She could hear the pounding of his heart.

So his feelings were the same as hers.

Finally, she truly felt his sincerity.

To think they both liked each other, yet kept it hidden…. It was so ridiculous, she almost burst out laughing.

If even one of them had honestly confessed their feelings sooner, their relationship might have progressed much further, but instead, they just circled around each other, too conscious of the other’s feelings to say anything.

Looking back, all those days of worry were pointless.

With a smile on her lips, Erika spoke.

“Grand Duke Hartwig. We took the long way around when there was a shortcut right in front of us.”

“As long as I’m with you, I don’t care how long it takes. But, Grand Duke? Isn’t that too formal between a married couple? You can just call me Kai, or honey, or darling, if you want.”

“How could I possibly do that?”

“Why not? Aren’t we a married couple? If it’s uncomfortable, we can have a real wedding.”

Suddenly, Kainel knelt down and took out a box he had been holding. Inside was the ring Erika had left behind.

“Become my wife officially.”

Kainel took out the ring, slid it onto Erika’s finger, and lightly kissed the back of her hand.

“Kai….”

With eyes brimming with tears, Erika motioned for him to stand, and as Kainel rose, he pulled her tightly into his arms and said,

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

It was pure happiness to feel their once-mismatched hearts finally come together as one. Erika’s bright smile spread all around her, and Kainel, looking at her, smiled as well.