A formal greeting followed. 

“You must have endured great hardship to travel so far.”

Theodor said, bowing politely to Elliope before slowly raising his head with a smile. 

It was the smile of a victor – one who believed the Empire had finally bowed to him by sending him a princess. His eyes gleamed, and a faint trace of malice seeped from the depths of his expression. 

Theodor patted Kallian firmly on the shoulder. 

“Well done. You are indeed my loyal vassal.” 

Even as he spoke, Theodor’s gaze remained fixed on Kallian’s hand, still resting on Elliope’s shoulder. 

“It was you, of all people, who escorted Her Highness. How reassuring.” 

“…….” 

“How reliable you are.” 

Even as the Grand Duke’s words ended, Kallian’s hand remained on Elliope’s shoulder. 

As a faint wrinkle formed between Theodor’s eyebrows, Kallian’s hand slowly slid down, coming to rest on his own chest. 

With his hand on his chest, Kallian bowed slightly, maintaining the demeanour of a knight showing loyalty to his lord. 

“I only did what was asked of me.”

“Yes, yes.”

Theodor replied, waving him off with casual satisfaction. 

Elliope could still feel the lingering warmth on her shoulder, almost as if it had left a mark. Her gaze shifted to Theodor, who smiled again. 

“Regardless… it must have been a hard journey to get here, Your Highness.”

‘Was he always able to smile like that?’ 

The gentle expression on her husband’s face was so unexpectedly beautiful that she wondered if this was really the same man she had once known. 

Beautiful enough to make her want to destroy him at once. 

The thought struck her like lightning, and before she realised it, Elliope acted impulsively. She pulled back the hood of her cloak and unfastened it. 

“Gasp!” 

A shocked exclamation rippled through the room as her face was revealed. 

Swish.

The cloak fell to the floor in an instant, crumpling lifelessly at her feet. 

Her bare, make-up-free face, unbrushed pale pink hair and strikingly menacing yet seductive black dress were now fully revealed. Several of the maids and servants audibly gasped in shock at the sight. 

Even Theodor seemed momentarily taken aback. His mouth parted slightly as he stared at her in amazement. 

“…….” 

Elliope couldn’t help but feel satisfaction at his stunned expression. 

‘Still not enough.’ 

She wanted to smash that arrogant, beautiful face even more. She wanted to see it twisted with rage he could no longer suppress. 

She remembered the dark desire that had whispered to her before: *I should have begged to be cursed with my eyes open, to witness it all. 

The insidious thought came back with a vengeance. 

Her lingering attachment to him had crumbled to dust in her past life as she watched the funeral procession pass through this very hall. 

And that dust had been trampled underfoot by the noblewomen who mourned the Grand Duke’s death – the mistresses who had been his lovers. 

‘If I have to be his wife again, no matter what I want…’ 

At least she had no intention of being passively crushed and humiliated as she had been before. 

She had already tasted the sweetness of sin, the thrill of rebellion. Even if the man who had participated in that sin had brought her back to this place, she couldn’t go back to the way things were. 

It simply wasn’t possible. 

“She’s not Princess Leanne.”

Someone muttered absently, as if in a daze. 

The moment she heard those words, Elliope opened her mouth and spoke. 

“Disappointed, are you, Your Grace, the Grand Duke of Ilmos?” 

A voice as sweet as a chirping bird flowed from her lips – a voice so smooth and polished that even Elliope herself hadn’t imagined she could produce it. 

At the same time, a strange sense of exhilaration coursed through her, spreading from her core. 

“Disappointed, are you?” 

It was a phrase that had always been reserved for her to hear. 

“How disappointing, Grand Duchess.” 

“…….” 

“Once again, you haven’t given up and crawled into my bed. A princess, yet you behave like a common street beggar.” 

“I…” 

“If it were Princess Leanne, she would never have acted as you did.”

The man who had thrown rotting fruit at her body and crushed it against her as he spoke those words. 

The countless glances that had looked at her – half filled with discomfort and contempt, the other fraction tinged with faint pity. 

‘At least half of that must be your burden now.’ 

Only then would she be able to endure the violence and humiliation that would inevitably follow. And when he sought out his mistresses again and met his end, this time she would spit on his coffin. 

Most importantly, this time she would not take her own life as she had before. 

“I am not the princess you wished for.” 

The declaration came from her lips, sweet and calm. 

With a bare face and a black dress more suited to a funeral than a courtly gathering, the whispering figure of the princess seemed to glow with an inexplicable radiance. 

Though her dress and appearance were ripe for criticism, the sheer brilliance she exuded seemed to fulfil any obligation she might have owed. 

Her uncombed, tousled hair caught the sunlight streaming through the windows of the great hall, giving it a lustrous sheen. The black dress that clung to her body set off her pale skin even more. 

The servants and maids of the Grand Duke’s estate froze in stunned silence, momentarily at a loss for words. 

Elliope waited for Theodor’s expression to twist and crumble. It felt like an eternity, though it was only a fleeting moment as she watched him. 

“…Ha.” 

Finally understanding the situation, Theodor’s eyebrows furrowed deeply. 

‘That’s it?’ 

Elliope felt a pang of disappointment; his reaction wasn’t as strong as she’d hoped. Still, his expression showed clear dismay. 

“The princess sent by the imperial family to be my bride is…”

“Yes, it’s me.” 

Theodor had asked the same question he had in her past life. But this time Elliope cut him off and answered before he could finish. 

She watched as fine cracks appeared in Theodor’s composed expression and his hands clenched into fists. 

‘Just a little more. Just a little more.’ 

“…I see.” 

“……” 

“So you’re not Princess Leanne.” 

His words stretched, heavy with unspoken thoughts. 

“Then you…” 

A piercing stare bore down on Elliope. 

It was the look of expected contempt – disgust that was inevitable. But beneath it was another fierce emotion, something raw and different, swirling alongside the hatred. 

Elliope was not startled by his gaze. From the beginning of their relationship, it had been natural for him to despise her. No matter how intense or horrible the look he gave her, it was something she had expected – something inevitable. 

“I am Elliope Kartan, Your Grace.”

As soon as she spoke, a look far more intense than Theodor’s landed on the side of her face. 

Its presence alone made it clear who she belonged to. 

‘…Kallian.’ 

It was then that Elliope realised that this was the first time he had heard her name in this life. Although he already knew she wasn’t Princess Leanne, he probably hadn’t known her real name. 

The events of the previous night flashed through her mind in an instant. 

He had touched her so passionately with those heated hands without even knowing her name. 

With his large, rough hands he had explored her delicate flesh and with his lips, now tightly closed, he had kissed and bitten her as if savouring some sweet delicacy. 

Her thoughts became confused. She still couldn’t understand what was going through Kallian’s mind. 

Bringing her here suggested that he wanted to let it pass as if nothing had happened. But when she met his observant, almost analytical gaze… 

Elliope’s thoughts were abruptly shattered. 

Theodor, unable to contain his anger, struck the knight standing beside him. 

Clang! 

The sound echoed loudly as his fist connected with the knight’s armour. The knight flinched but showed no other reaction, standing stoically as if nothing had happened. 

Theodor, breathing heavily in frustration, scanned his surroundings for something to throw. Finding nothing suitable, he finally unbuckled the sword at his side and threw it to the ground. 

Crash! 

The onlookers turned pale as they recognised the sword as the ancestral blade of the Ilmos family. 

The precious weapon had been thrown carelessly, with such force that the blade had partially slipped from its sheath and lay abandoned. 

For a lord of a militaristic region with many vassals, who was expected to uphold chivalry, it was a disgraceful act. But Elliope was not surprised. She knew better than anyone present that his chivalry was nothing more than a facade. 

“…Your Grace.”

One of the knights began, but quickly closed his mouth and averted his eyes, unwilling to provoke Theodor’s notorious temper. 

Theodor stood motionless, staring into the empty air as if trying to compose himself. His eyelids slowly closed and reopened, the movement deliberate, as if he were trying to suppress his anger. 

When his gaze returned to her, there was still a lingering, heavy emotion in his eyes, thick and almost unbearable. 

Elliope felt an almost irresistible urge to fan the flames further. She wanted to whisper.

‘The Imperial Family thinks so little of you that they sent me. I exist only to torment you.’ 

But Theodor was quicker. 

“Steward.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Taleon replied, stepping forward. There were already traces of disappointment and contempt in his eyes. 

“Escort Her Highness’s party. There must be a spare guesthouse, right?” 

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Taleon replied stiffly. 

“Assign them something suitable.”

Theodor said dismissively. 

It was clear to everyone present that he meant anything will do, his tone dripping with indifference. 

Elliope’s maids, though clearly upset, dared not voice their objections and kept their mouths shut. 

They, too, were sharp enough to realise that the Grand Duke’s princess of choice was not Elliophe, but Leanne. Emma looked awkwardly at Elliophe, trying to gauge her reaction. Immediately afterwards, Theodor looked at Elliophe again. She met his gaze directly, something she had never been able to do in her previous life.

“……”

With an audible huff, Theodor turned and began to walk away. This seemed to act as a signal, causing those who had been frozen in place to belatedly move, albeit stiffly.

“Your Grace!”

The knights followed.

“You, come this way! What are you standing around for?” 

Taleon, the steward, barked at some of the still frozen servants, as if to urge them to move.

Shriek. 

The sword of the Grand Duke’s house, which Theodor had angrily tossed aside in a fit of rage, was retrieved by Kallian as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The moment his eyes met hers, reflecting on the blade as it was pulled from its sheath, was fleeting yet profound. 

“This way, Your Highness, the princess.” 

Taleon’s gruff voice interrupted as he approached, glaring at her. At the same time, Theodor called to Kallian. 

“You, follow me, Kallian.” 

“……” 

“I want to hear the whole story.” 

Earlier he had seemed ready to reward Kallian, but now his expression clearly conveyed his desire to punish him. The audacity to bring him another princess – not Leanne, but this wretched woman – was unacceptable. 

Elliophe followed Taleon, choking back a laugh that threatened to escape. Whatever lingering gaze Theodor was casting at her from behind was no longer her concern. 

What lingered far more vividly in her mind was the brief glance Kallian had given her, one that had left a far deeper impression on her heart.