‘Marriage nullification’ was, in a way, an extreme method that could leave a significant stain on the life of his only sister. But Ronais was confident about Duke Kais Elmano’s feelings. The look on the Duke of Elmano’s face when he saw Lariella in her wedding dress on their wedding day was clearly that of a man in love.
That’s why he hadn’t worried too much about leaving his only sister in that distant place, but Duke Elmano turned out to be a fool who couldn’t even properly express his own feelings.
For a fool who didn’t even know he was a fool, an extreme method was necessary to make him realize his foolishness. By clearly showing him that he could lose what he had if he didn’t cherish it properly.
After laughing heartily for a while, feeling satisfied that his judgment had been correct, Ronais rose from his seat and extended his hand to his beloved wife.
“Since those two said they won’t eat, let’s have dinner by ourselves.”
Murina, whose belly was slightly rounded, took Ronais’s hand and raised her heavier body.
“That’s a good idea, Ronais. I was actually very hungry.”
The footsteps of the couple, holding hands tightly and heading to the dining room, felt light-hearted for the first time in a long while.
Now the rest was up to the two fools, Duke Elmano and Lariella.
* * *
Lariella raised her body groggily, blinking her sleepy eyes.
She had been lying face down on the bed with a pillow covering her head. The Duke of Elmano had been calling her name so desperately from outside the door—a name he had never once called during her time at Elmano Castle—that she had covered her head with a pillow to block her ears, and ended up falling asleep.
By then, the outside had turned pitch black, and the persistent knocking on the door was no longer audible. Looking at the sky, it seemed closer to dawn than night.
Did he leave?
She had never seen the Duke of Elmano with such a desperate expression before. Her firmly resolved heart had almost weakened at that expression.
Lariella shook her head vigorously as if to shake off that face.
He must have left. Yes, he must have gone back. Because he’s the proud and arrogant Duke of Elmano. This is really the end. I’ll truly never see him again.
She clenched her molars and roughly brushed back her disheveled hair.
She decided to believe that her unsettled feelings were because she had skipped dinner, that her heart felt empty because her body was hungry. She would be sick for a few more days, and it would take that much more time to feel better, but it was better than returning to Elmano Castle and staring at his back again.
Lariella got out of bed. She intended to fill her hungry stomach first.
Hoping that Mrs. Tara had left plenty of deliciously baked bread, Lariella walked to the door and unbolted the latch that had been fastened all night.
She opened the tightly closed door and took one step outside when suddenly, a powerful force pushed her against the wall, immobilizing her.
Trapped between the wall by the door and a large body, unable to move an inch, Lariella looked up at the man in front of her without even blinking.
The Duke of Elmano stood blocking her way, looking down at her. His face looked rougher than yesterday, as if he had stayed up all night, and the shadows under his eyes appeared even darker.
“Have you…… been here all night?”
Kais smiled faintly and shrugged his shoulders.
He had ridden a horse for two days straight and then stood in front of the door all night. His legs were stiff and numb, and his eyes were so dry that it was difficult to keep them open. Still, he had finally faced Lariella like this, so his efforts had been worthwhile.
Kais pressed his hands against the wall on either side of Lariella’s head, as if to firmly trap her whom he had barely caught.
“Please talk to me, Lariella.”
His face was too close. So close that his breath, accompanied by his deep voice, brushed over Lariella’s lips. Lariella flinched in surprise and quickly turned her head to the side.
Seeing this, Kais let out a faint, light laugh. Her stubbornly closed lips and sharply turned head were too cute and lovable not to smile at.
“……Give me one more chance, Lariella. I promise I’ll never make you cry again……”
Every time his voice, like a whisper, knocked on her ear along with his hot breath, Lariella felt her nape and spine sensitively standing on end.
She was trying to suppress her increasingly rapid breathing when suddenly, he raised his hand and caressed her cheek. Startled by his touch on her cheek, Lariella looked at him with rounded eyes.
“Ah……. I was trying to remove a strand of hair……”
She met his eyes as he smiled awkwardly. Then her carefully controlled breathing lost control and became rapid and shallow. As her breathing quickened, her full bosom also heaved greatly under the thin muslin dress.
Kais’s gaze moved from Lariella’s trembling eyes and flushed cheeks to her chest, which rose high and fell repeatedly.
The sweet scent of her skin, which had been masked by all sorts of fragrances until now, wafted pleasantly from up close. The scent that tickled his nostrils made Kais feel dizzy for a moment.
He stuck out his tongue and licked his dry lips. He also had to swallow the saliva that had pooled in his mouth. His hand, which had touched her under the pretext of removing a strand of hair, remained attached and moved on its own.
The large hand caressed Lariella’s small ear, stroked her round earlobe, and then wrapped around her slender nape. Her small shoulders, which flinched every time his hand moved, were so lovable that he felt like he would go crazy.
Kais lowered his face to Lariella as if entranced.
“Haah……. Lariella.”
He exhaled her name like a sigh and pressed his hot lips against her red, moist lips.
Lariella, who had frozen in surprise from the moment their eyes met, stopped breathing when his large hand caressed her ear, and when his face came close to hers, her mind became hazy and her vision blurred.
The moment his hot lips pressed firmly against her lips and gently rubbed them, the scene flashed in Lariella’s mind like a bolt of lightning.
The Duke of Elmano pushing Sir Worklan against the wall and overlapping with him like one. Sir Worklan’s large hand wrapping around the Duke’s nape, the back of the Duke of Elmano’s head tilting diagonally as he faced Sir Worklan.
Recalling the image of the two from that day, which was exactly like this current situation, her hazy mind cleared and her halted breath escaped with a hollow laugh.
Lariella had written to her brother about all sorts of things she had experienced at Elmano Castle, but there was just one thing she hadn’t written about—the matter between the Duke of Elmano and Sir Worklan. No, she couldn’t write about it. It was too miserable even to recall. It was such a devastating memory that a woman’s pride would completely crumble.
How desperate must she have been to think that it would be better if the Duke of Elmano were impotent?
And now, after making her so miserable, after crushing a woman’s pride so ruthlessly, he wanted to do to her what he had done with Sir Worklan that day!
Lariella was furious to the point of her hair standing on end. The moment the Duke of Elmano bit her lower lip, she pushed his chest away with all her might. Then she kicked his shin hard with the toe of her shoe.
Kais, whose shin was suddenly kicked, let out an “Ugh!” sound and clutched one leg.
Lariella sharply snapped at Kais, who was bent over rubbing his painful shin.
“Go do this sort of thing with Sir Worklan!”
Then she went back into her room and slammed the door shut. Soon after, the sound of the bolt being fastened was heard.
The bewildered Kais limped to her door and urgently knocked on it.
“Lariella? No, why is Sir Worklan suddenly…… Lariella? Please open the door. Lariella!”
Kais’s desperate voice and the sound of knocking on the door woke the people of the Polar mansion from the early dawn.
But even until everyone in the mansion frowned and rubbed their eyes as they got out of bed, Lariella’s firmly closed door did not open again.
* * *
It was a game of hide-and-seek with no chance of winning.
