Chapter 15

“Catherine, are you in trouble?”

She wondered if Hugo heard everything.

“From where did you hear?”

“A little.”

Hugo awkwardly lifted the corners of his mouth.

Catherine lowered her head.

She reflected on the conversation with Countess Bedwig to see if she had made any mistakes.

She wondered if she said anything bad about Hugo or anything that could hurt him.

“Catherine, are you angry?”

Maybe because she was too agitated, she couldn’t remember the details of the conversation well.

She wished Hugo hadn’t followed her in the first place. She blamed him unnecessarily.

“Why did you follow me?”

“Because your expression didn’t look good.”

Catherine, whom Hugo met in front of the banquet hall, was the same as always.

Her characteristic brightness overflowed.

She suddenly darkened when Earl Bedwig and his wife appeared.

Catherine’s voice was colder than ever before.

Even when she talked about divorce, her voice had a warm tone, but now it was as cold as the night dew.

What had happened after our divorce?

Could it be that her relationship with Earl and Countess Bedwig had soured because of the divorce?

Hugo felt increasingly guilty, knowing society’s view of divorced women wasn’t favorable and that Catherine hadn’t been in contact with Earl and Countess Bedwig since the divorce.

At that moment, Catherine and Countess Bedwig disappeared, saying they needed to talk quietly.

If Countess Bedwig pressed her about the divorce, Hugo followed to make excuses for Catherine.

But what he heard was enough to overturn his thoughts about Earl and Countess Bedwig.

‘Was Catherine being used by Countess Bedwig?’

Catherine’s voice brought Hugo out of his brief distraction.

“How much did you hear?”

“Not much. Really, just a little.”

In fact, he had heard everything.

From beginning to end.

Countess Bedwig had looked into a remarriage partner for Catherine, a man who was utterly inadequate for her and whom she didn’t want.

‘And how you thought about marrying me.’

Earl and Countess Bedwig had turned Catherine’s marriage to him into a transaction.

They extorted money from him using Catherine as leverage.

Naive Catherine married him forcibly for her family’s sake.

Hugo felt as if the ground beneath him was shattering.

To think she was treated like a commodity. His heart stung.

He felt ashamed of his past when he tried to buy her life with a worthless estate and title.

He felt guilty.

It seemed that someone as precious and beautiful as Catherine married him like she was being sold cheaply.

‘I could give her a lot now, but back then….’

He was inadequate, just as Countess Bedwig had said.

“I only heard a little at the end. From the part where you mentioned dating.”

“Really?”

Hugo nodded. He was determined never to reveal what he had actually heard.

After Hugo nodded again, Catherine sighed in relief.

“Alright. But you’re going back to the ballroom, right? I should get going.”

Though she felt sorry for the ladies who followed her, she couldn’t go to the banquet hall where Countess Bedwig was.

“Let’s go together, Catherine.”

“To home?”

“No, to the ballroom. We need to show them properly.”

“Show them what?”

“Who your lover is.”

Hugo pulled the dance card attached to Catherine’s wrist.

While Catherine blankly handed over the card, Hugo took out a pen from his jacket and wrote his name on it.

“If we’re going to do this, we should do it properly, shouldn’t we? Let’s date.”

Hugo wasn’t hurt by knowing how Catherine felt about their marriage.

He didn’t want to waste time being hurt and struggling with pain.

Above all, he had already realized that a life without her was more painful than a life with her even if it meant getting hurt.

So Hugo wanted to keep her by his side somehow. No, he would stay by her side no matter what.

Therefore, he had to seize this opportunity tightly. He wouldn’t make the foolish mistake of pretending to be a gentleman and missing it.

“Let’s go, let’s date.”

Hugo extended his hand to Catherine.

***

“I heard some interesting news, Duke Edward.”

White fabric fluttered in the refreshing breeze. A slender woman walked through it.

Steam rose from her body as if she had just bathed.

Hugo knelt on one knee before her and kissed the back of her hand. The scent of figs pierced his nose.

“What interesting news?”

Hugo stood up with proper etiquette.

In that moment, Queen Regencia donned a crimson robe that looked heavy even at a glance.

With just one robe, she transformed from a beautiful woman to a queen.

A maid lifted a crown high.

“No need for such formality. He’s Duke Edward.”

Regencia, the only legitimate heir of the previous king and queen, had become the kingdom’s first queen after overcoming numerous oppositions.

The process was far from smooth. Even as a queen, the problems persisted.

Every small failure was attributed to her gender, “because she’s a woman.”

She was criticized for the bloodshed in her efforts to suppress the opposing factions.

She risked her life in wars against the Empire to reduce the opposition.

She gathered all the notable men from the kingdom and sent them to the battlefield.

She tripled the conscription fee to prevent capable knights from leaving.

That’s how Hugo became her general.

Hugo played a crucial role as the kingdom’s shield, allowing Regencia to govern the kingdom stably.

Everyone who paid even a little attention to the palace knew that Regencia cherished Hugo.

Everyone except Hugo.

Regencia sat on a massive chair and gestured with her hand.

As Hugo sat across from her, the attendants served tea.

Regencia dismissed the attendants and lit a cigarette.

With each puff, the room filled with the acrid scent of the cigarette.

“You are seeing Catherine?”

“Ah! Yes.”

Hugo smiled. The man once called the butcher of the battlefield showed a shy smile.

“Are you planning to make it work this time?”

“We’re already doing well.”

“Who are you trying to fool?”

Regencia monitored Hugo’s every move.

Despite her affection for him, it was only natural for a ruler to be wary of someone who gained power.

Hugo had danced with Catherine three times at the ballroom.

There was a significance to the number of dances with the same partner.

Once was out of courtesy, twice indicated interest, and the third dance was for lovers who had mutual feelings.

“You were turned away at the door for the past few days.”

Regencia didn’t know about the conversation between Catherine, Countess Bedwig, and Hugo in the backyard of the ballroom, but she knew that Hugo’s relationship with Catherine had been stagnant since he arrived in the capital.

“Did she suddenly fall for you again, seeing you all dressed up?”

Hugo’s throat rumbled lowly.

“Your Majesty, I can’t win against you.”

Hugo took a sip of tea and continued.

“We decided to date.”

With a deadline.

“Just dating?”

When Regencia pressed persistently, Hugo remained silent instead.

“How boring. It could have been interesting.”

Regencia waved her hand, dispersing the cigarette smoke.

She then picked up a document lying carelessly beside her and threw it in front of Hugo.

“Open it.”

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“A task. What else would I have for you besides work?”

“Your Majesty, please, no more wars….”

“Who said anything about war?”

Regencia snapped sharply.

People, including Hugo, seemed to think Regencia was obsessed with war.

Regencia felt wronged.

She had only clung to war to protect her kingdom, not because she enjoyed it.

“Then what is this?”

Hugo opened the document. His eyes moved quickly from side to side.

After a while, Hugo put the document down and chuckled.

“A relic?”

“Don’t laugh.”

“Do you believe in such a fairy tale?”

“It’s from a reliable source. And there’s ample evidence that the Clan of Love existed, even if they disappeared.”

There once existed a clan born as the incarnations of the Goddess of Love, Erucia, on the continent.

They made barren lands fertile and brought peace to horrific battlefields.

The power of love they possessed was truly incredible. Thus, every nation was desperate to use their power.

Wars even broke out over their whereabouts.

‘Wars over the Clan of Love. Tsk.’

The blessing power they were given led their clan to the path of destruction.

Those who found them threatened and killed them if they didn’t comply.

Eventually, they vanished from the continent.

Hugo was very skeptical about the stories of the clan.

The tales of them making lands fertile and ending wars felt like exaggerated fairy tales.

Too much time had passed since their miracles ceased.

“Why are you showing me this?”

She had been pestering him to come to the palace since dawn. He thought the borders were in danger and rushed over.

“Find them.”

“Find what?”

“The last of the clan.”

“It’s a baseless rumor, Your Majesty.”

“They exist.”

“On what grounds do you base your certainty?”

“…Because they’ve returned.”

A shadow fell over Regencia’s face.

When her face darkened, it was time to leave.

Hugo didn’t know what had returned, but seeing Regencia’s darkened face, he judged it was best to leave.

Hugo knelt on one knee and bowed his head as he had when he arrived.

“I will carry out Your Majesty’s command.”

“Ask for whatever you need. And.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“If you don’t complete this task, there will be no marriage for you.”

Hugo’s head shot up. Regencia’s lips were full of a smile.

He wanted to say, “Don’t joke,” but it wasn’t a line he could cross.

Just because Regencia treated Hugo informally didn’t mean he could treat the queen the same way.

Hugo wanted to give up everything. He just wanted to see Catherine.