Chapter 4 – Prejudice (Part 4)

She thought her opinion of Killian might become a bit more positive, but after seeing him now, that seemed unlikely. No matter how she looked at it, he was nothing but a fearful presence to her.

“I’ll need to maintain some distance.”

The thought of having to live with such a fierce man for the foreseeable future made her sigh deeply.

Can I really get along with him?

Suddenly, Sophia became worried about her future. Living with a man who had no thoughts of divorce seemed bound to lead to a life far from happiness.

However, contrary to her concerns, Sophia quickly adapted to the new mansion and found life much more comfortable than at the Loden estate.

For one, she was glad not to see the deer head she had grown slightly attached to. And while she had been treated like a ghost, confined to her room before, here everyone treated her with utmost respect, which put her at ease.

As expected, the people from the Dveshi family were not discriminated against by the other employees, which she appreciated.

Of course, not everything was perfect. There were a few inconveniences, but the most bothersome was that the man who hadn’t set foot in the bedroom before now entered it every night without fail.

The time he entered the mansion was always consistent. Just before Sophia fell asleep, he would enter the bedroom in light attire after washing up.

It was natural for him to enter since it was the couple’s bedroom, but Sophia still found his presence extremely uncomfortable. She wanted to tell him not to come, but she couldn’t say that since it was also his bedroom.

Her wish for him not to come wasn’t because she disliked him, but also because of her troublesome sleep habits. She had a habit of tossing and turning in her sleep.

She would roll around the wide bed and wake up when she hit the hard wall, but the problem was that the bed was placed in the middle of the room, so there was no wall beside her.

So what she ended up hitting was not the wall but Killian’s firm body. Being so solid, she would wake up startled upon impact.

Sometimes she woke up while sleeping in his arms, feeling his warm breath on her neck. His fresh, pleasant scent would make her heart race.

I must be crazy!’

Each time, Sophia would carefully move to the side, trying not to wake him. Of course, on nights like these, she couldn’t fall back asleep.

He didn’t wake up, did he?

Sophia waved her hand over Killian’s eyes several times to confirm he was still asleep, only then letting out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it seemed like he didn’t wake easily once he fell asleep, probably due to his tiring work.

* * *

After moving in and finishing all the organizing, Sophia, now with some leisure, immediately wrote to the Dveshi couple to inform them of her change of residence. They must have been worried as she hadn’t sent a single letter due to being so busy.

She expected a reply the next day, but instead of a letter, a welcome guest came to see Sophia.

“Sir Liam Dveshi has arrived.”

The first guest to visit her was Liam. Duke Dveshi and his wife couldn’t visit directly for a while as they were keeping Duke Loden and his wife in check.

So, instead, they sent Liam, who was on friendly terms with Killian, to check on how Sophia was doing.

“Brother!”

Having only seen him at the Dveshi estate before, seeing him here made her even happier. Sophia immediately ran into his arms.

“I heard you moved to a new house, so I decided to drop by for a bit. How is it?”

“It’s better than before.”

“I was worried, but you seem much better than I thought. I’m relieved.”

Looking down at his sister, Liam’s eyes were filled with love, making Sophia feel much more at ease than when she was with Killian.

“Do you want to see the bedroom?”

After the greetings, Sophia immediately wanted to show Liam the bedroom. Since he had recommended the decorations, it was only natural to show him first.

“Bedroom?”

“Yes. How did you know my taste and recommend it? Do you know how amazed I was?”

“Recommend?”

“Didn’t you recommend it knowing my taste?”

“Your taste? Sorry, but you know better than anyone that I’m not good at those things, right? I never told him.”

But Liam seemed completely unaware. Judging by his embarrassed expression, he didn’t seem to be lying.

“Huh?”

If it wasn’t Brother, then who told him?

There was no one else who could have provided that information. If he had asked the maids around, it would have reached her ears immediately.

What’s going on?

“Is it really necessary to know who provided the information? What’s important is that Killian decorated the bedroom for you. Isn’t that right? Shall we go see the bedroom decorated to your taste? It’s this way, right?”

Seeing Sophia’s surprised expression, Liam took her hand and headed in the direction of the bedroom as if it was nothing.

“It’s similar to the atmosphere of your room at the Dveshi household.”

Liam, looking around the room, laughed heartily as if he was genuinely surprised. Seeing his expression, it was clear he had nothing to do with decorating the bedroom.

“R-right?”

On the outside, Sophia acted as if nothing was wrong, but she couldn’t help but feel flustered.

After finishing the tour of the mansion, Liam sat at a table set up in the garden and had tea time with Sophia.

“How’s married life? Is it better after moving?”

“Well, it’s better than when I was at the Loden estate.”

“I’m glad you’re doing well.”

“Then why didn’t you come sooner? I noticed some of the Imperial Knights train here every morning, so why don’t you come, Brother?”

“Ah. To avoid getting complacent by training in the same place all the time, some members change locations, but I’m the deputy commander, so I conduct training at different sites.”

“So, you won’t come often, will you?”

When Sophia made a disappointed face, Liam smiled.

“Probably not. Why? Are you disappointed?”

“Yeah. I’m really disappointed. I wish you’d come every day, Brother.”

“Why? Even if I don’t come, Killian will take good care of you.”

“…”

Sophia’s smiling face suddenly stiffened. She was unsure how to respond when it came to Killian. It was a bit ambiguous to say he treated her well.

Being with him still made her shiver with fear, and his rigid attitude about fulfilling marital duties was also intimidating.

However, Sophia couldn’t openly express these feelings to Liam.

“You don’t have to answer.”

Perhaps sensing her thoughts, Liam reached out to pat Sophia’s head, indicating she shouldn’t feel burdened. Meeting Liam’s gentle gaze, Sophia hesitated briefly before mustering the courage to voice her thoughts.

“Honestly, I’m scared.”

“Scared? Of Killian?”

Liam started to laugh at the word ‘scared.’

“Why are you laughing? Do you know how fierce his gaze is when he looks at me? Every time our eyes meet, I get chills. And his smile, do you know how wicked it is?”

The more Sophia complained with an aggrieved expression, the more Liam’s laughter grew. Feeling teased, Sophia puffed her cheeks and looked at Liam with a disgruntled gaze.

“Ah, sorry, sorry. I’m not mocking you.”

He wiped the tears from his eyes as he stopped laughing.

“Then what is it? Do you think I’m saying this for no reason? He said something insulting to me!”

Sophia shouted, unable to hold back any longer.

“Insulting? Killian said something to you? What did he say?”

Liam looked incredulous.

“He, he called me a frivolous woman…”

Even mentioning just one of the things he did made Sophia blush as she recalled the incident.

“Oh, really? He said something like that?”

Liam didn’t react with anger as she expected, but instead maintained an amused expression.

“How can you laugh when your sister was insulted?”

“Did you perhaps kiss Clive or something?”

“….”

Her heart skipped a beat. While it wasn’t a kiss she initiated, it wasn’t entirely inaccurate, so she couldn’t immediately refute it. Maintaining her silence, Sophia eventually confessed the truth, feeling uncomfortable under Liam’s suspicious gaze.

“I didn’t kiss him; I was about to be kissed when Killian happened to witness it. I tried to push Clive away first, but before I could, Killian’s sword came between us, and he said those words.”

“I see. So that’s what happened.”

After hearing the truth, Liam’s smile grew even wider. Sophia pouted, dissatisfied with his unchanged attitude despite her explanation, but he pretended not to notice and made an unexpected remark.

“Killian isn’t as bad a person as you think.”

“Didn’t you hear what I’ve been saying?”

Sophia felt hurt, thinking Liam had ignored her words. She couldn’t understand why he was siding with Killian instead of her.

“No, I listened with interest. So, did Killian do something bad to you?”

“No…”

Liam’s words weren’t wrong. Although he looked at her fiercely, he had never actually threatened her. There was that one time they kissed…

The memory of their lips touching suddenly came to mind, making Sophia flustered. Afraid Liam might notice her expression, she lowered her head, clutching her dress tightly with both hands resting on her lap.

Fortunately, Liam didn’t seem to pay attention to her actions and continued the conversation naturally.

“It’s natural to feel uneasy because Killian is from the Loden family. But I hope you can look at him without prejudice.”

“Prejudice?”

Sophia raised her head automatically. Liam smiled gently as their eyes met.

“Yes. I hope you can see him as a person, separate from the family issues. If Killian did something that made you uncomfortable, there must have been a reason for it.”