At his following words, April clenched her fists tightly to hide her trembling hands.

“If a scream is heard from the bride’s room right after the wedding, it’ll make quite a story.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

“We have to be mindful of public opinion.”

April straightened her posture again, pretending to be calm. Calsion, who had been standing apart from her as she sat on the bed, took a seat in the chair by the table next to her.

“Should I say I’m lucky to have a woman I can actually talk to?”

“I suppose I should say I’m lucky the prince is someone I can communicate with as well.”

“I thought so even at the duke’s estate, but you’re not exactly ordinary.”

“Well, you’re hardly one to talk, Your Highness.”

She was confident about that. He definitely had a worse personality than she did.

April swallowed the words she couldn’t say aloud and smiled. It felt like she’d been smiling all day, but she couldn’t help it. After all, the social arts of a noble lady began with a smile.

‘Ah, but I’m not a young lady anymore.’

She was a noblewoman now. A princess consort, at that.

April cleared her throat for no reason and spoke to Calsion.

“By the way, what brings you here?”

“As you can see.”

From Calsion’s cold expression as he pointed to his clothes, she realized something more serious had happened in the other room. Seeing April’s face turn pale, Calsion responded indifferently.

“You don’t have to worry about dying today. I killed them all.”

He said it with a smirk, as if he’d just been splattered dealing with assassins. April swallowed hard and asked him,

“Quite a busy wedding night for you.”

“What can I do? There are people who aren’t happy about me having an heir.”

She absolutely, positively did not want to know who those people were. The moment she heard, she felt she’d become complicit with Calsion.

April forced a smile and changed the subject.

“I have something to say.”

“Wait a moment.”

Calsion leaned back in the chair. It was a women’s chair and small for him, but it was the only one in the room.

He placed his hand on the table and tapped it with his index finger. The steady rhythm calmed April’s nerves.

It was a strange feeling. Sitting in a bedroom with a virtual stranger, dressed in only a thin layer of fabric, yet she felt oddly at peace.

April forced her eyes open, fighting the urge to doze off. Calsion, not even looking at her, seemed to be waiting for something.

Creak—

Just then, the door connecting to Calsion’s bedroom finally opened and a knight appeared.

“Is it done?”

“All taken care of, Your Highness.”

The knight bowed briefly to Calsion and answered. April watched their actions in a daze. When Calsion gave an order, the knight nodded again and disappeared beyond the door.

She didn’t want to know or get involved in whatever happened beyond that door, but April didn’t forget that she had to stay with Calsion until this marriage ended.

“Um…”

“Oh, right.”

Calsion stood up from the chair and approached her.

“If you’re planning to do anything out of line, you’d better drop that idea.”

“Says the one to talk…!”

April, who had been thinking she’d bite his arm if he tried anything just because she was now his wife, glared at Calsion. The corners of her eyes rose, but Calsion didn’t care.

“Just remain a wife in name only.”

“You—!”

April’s voice grew louder. Calsion suddenly stood up, looking at her as she walked toward him.

April approached Calsion and stared at him intently.

Black hair and black eyes. His obsidian-like gaze revealed no emotion. His eyes, long and sharp, looked fierce, but when they softened, the feeling changed. His high nose and lips redder than most women’s made him look more like a scholar with good grades at the academy than a knight who survived the battlefield.

As Calsion’s expression began to twist, April snapped out of it. This was no time to be staring blankly at his face.

“I have something to say about that!”

“Something to say?”

“Yes.”

Her lips trembled with nerves. She wondered if it was really right to confess her greatest secret to someone she’d never told before and ask to be let go.

Would he leave her alone after hearing it, or would he fly into a rage at being deceived? Would he stay calm even after finding out that what he thought was a flawless product was actually defective?

‘Either way, it’ll come out eventually even if I hide it.’

It was enough to deceive her own family. She couldn’t lie to someone who might become an ally just because of people who weren’t even like family.

She even hoped that maybe, after hearing everything, Calsion might help her escape. From what she’d seen so far, he seemed to hate losing face. That’s probably why he’d caught her and returned her to the duke’s mansion, and even persuaded Duke Bright. He’d even stayed at the mansion to keep an eye on her.

“I’m tired, so maybe another time…”

“No, if I don’t say it now, I’ll never have another chance.”

She didn’t know where this sudden courage came from, but she had to speak while she still had it. They’d signed a marriage certificate, but in truth, they knew nothing about each other.

‘So it has to be now.’

If she waited to reveal this secret, he’d only ask why she hadn’t told him sooner.

‘Or maybe he’ll stab me instead of just scolding me… No, don’t think about that anymore.’

Having made up her mind, April parted her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut and told Calsion,

“I’m an illegitimate child.”

“…What?”

His reaction was a beat late. April realized that even Calsion, who had just killed assassins and come to her room as if nothing happened, was shaken.

Calsion, staring at her with a serious expression, received one more blow from April.

“I’m not the duchess’s daughter. I’m the daughter of a maid who served her.”

“Then how did you become my wife…?”

“I was raised under the duchess’s name.”

“What is this…?”

“To be sold off as a commodity for the prosperity of the ducal family.”

As soon as April finished speaking, Calsion felt his mind go blank.

“Hah. No wonder things went so smoothly.”

His self-mocking voice was laced with murderous intent.

“You said your name was entered in the noble registry?”

“Yes.”

“Then, besides the people of the ducal family, who else knows?”

“No one.”

Trying to clean up the mess, Calsion quickly searched for solutions. If her name was officially listed as a direct member of the Bright family, it was fine. All he had to do was silence the duchess.

‘No, she wouldn’t dare open her mouth anyway.’

If this secret was exposed, the emperor wouldn’t sit idly by. The emperor had arranged this marriage to give April a place in the palace, and if he found out Duke Bright had tricked him, the ducal family would be doomed.

The anger that had flared up from feeling deceived quickly cooled. Once his mind cleared, Calsion became curious about April’s true intentions. Why had she told him this?

“Then why did you tell me?”

“Because I don’t want to lie to you.”

“You don’t want to lie?”

“Yes. We even signed a marriage certificate—I couldn’t deceive my spouse.”

“Then shouldn’t you have told me before signing?”

“That’s why I tried to run away, but you caught me and locked me up at the duke’s estate!”

Her voice, full of frustration, echoed through the bedroom. Calsion fell silent at her protest. It was true—she had tried to escape, and he’d been the one to catch her and send her back.

“I never wanted to get involved in all this. I just wanted to marry into a rich family, sit quietly for a few years, then get a little alimony and divorce.”

“Divorce?”

“Yes, divorce.”

Calsion let out a hollow laugh at April’s wish for freedom.

‘How can someone be so naive?’

Are all noble daughters like this? So ignorant of the world, yet longing for freedom.