Chapter 3

Evelyn approached Dyffrin closely.

“Are you having a headache again?”

“……”

Dyffrin kept his mouth shut.

He was the type who rarely showed his pain to anyone. Like a wild animal hiding its wounds.

The only people who knew about these chronic headaches he suffered were a select few, including Evelyn, who had grown up with him since childhood.

The reason Dyffrin so steadfastly hid his pain from others was connected to his childhood.

He had been raised under the very strict discipline of Amelia, the current Duchess of Liwonoc.

In fact, she was the second wife of the Duke of Liwonoc, who had entered the ducal household after Dyffrin’s birth mother passed away.

In other words, she was not Dyffrin’s birth mother. Lacking any true affection for him, she had raised him harshly and severely.

While one could say she greatly contributed to Dyffrin’s excellent development in terms of capability, her strict disciplinary methods had inflicted a fatal emotional deficiency upon him.

Growing up without a warm embrace, Dyffrin had matured into an adult who knew nothing of hazy emotions like affection and love.

Thus, Dyffrin’s harsh family environment was another reason why he had been unable to love Evelyn in the original work.

‘If only his birth mother hadn’t died…’

Not only would he have grown into a proper adult with normal emotions, but he might not have even suffered from these chronic, splitting headaches.

The headaches were a byproduct of the trauma Dyffrin experienced when his mother died.

Ironically, Evelyn had a similar demeanor and features to Dyffrin’s mother, so when Evelyn cried or was sad, Dyffrin’s headaches became more severe as it reminded him of his mother’s death.

‘The female lead and the male lead really make a bizarre pair…’

But right now, Dyffrin’s past wasn’t the most important thing. What mattered to Evelyn at the moment was using his headaches well to secure alimony in two years.

He would get relief from the chronic headaches he’d carry with him for life, and she would obtain money – a true win-win situation.

“You know, Dyffrin? Nothing works better for headaches than loosening the knotted muscles in the neck and shoulders. The nerves are concentrated there, you see.”

Evelyn spoke as she gently placed her hands on Dyffrin’s shoulders.

Since she wasn’t allowed the familiar contact of holding his hand, she had to find a way to make physical contact through methods like massage.

Dyffrin’s darkened gaze between his lowered eyelids shone.

“What are you up to?”

“What do you mean, ‘up to’? I’m just trying to help you. Supporting one’s husband is a wife’s role, isn’t it?”

Evelyn tried to bring her hand to Dyffrin’s neck, but her wrist was caught by him in mid-air.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but stop it.”

“……”

“I’m not in the mood to accept your inexplicable actions right now.”

Evelyn’s eyebrow twitched.

She couldn’t back down like this.

Dyffrin’s headaches were an absolute nuisance to him.

There was no better guarantee for alimony than this.

“Okay, then let’s make a bet.”

Dyffrin’s eyes narrowed.

“A bet?”

“Yes, a bet.”

Evelyn said as she pulled her hand out of his grasp.

“If I can even slightly reduce your headaches, you have to let me tend to you every day.”

Dyffrin’s brow furrowed. Inwardly, Evelyn admitted,

‘…Asking him to ‘let me tend to you’ does sound a bit odd.’

“So… just cooperate with me as I try to relieve your headaches whenever possible.”

Dyffrin glared at Evelyn.

“How exactly do you plan to do that?”

“I told you, by loosening the knotted muscles and soothing the sensitive nerves. If the headaches don’t improve at all, I won’t bother you anymore.”

It was a rather extreme proposal, but Evelyn felt it was necessary to make such an offer for Dyffrin to accept.

Although he still seemed wary of her suspicious behavior, he slowly responded, seemingly liking the condition that she wouldn’t speak to him if it didn’t work.

“Alright, give it a try then.”

Evelyn herself wasn’t very keen on the idea of massaging this cold man, but as she imagined the generous alimony she’d receive in two years, she calmed her mind.

‘Whew.’

She wasn’t skilled at giving massages anyway, so she planned to just pretend to do it.

As long as their skin made contact, the headaches would subside. The key was the warmth of human touch.

As Evelyn brought her hands to the area around Dyffrin’s neck, he flinched slightly, startled.

Dyffrin awkwardly cleared his throat, as if embarrassed by his own reaction.

Evelyn gently pressed on his neck, and to expand the area of contact, gradually moved the hands massaging his neck up to his shoulders.

As the tension drained from Dyffrin’s stiff shoulders, Evelyn smiled serenely and asked,

“How’s that, Dyffrin? Do your headaches feel a little better?”

Dyffrin did not deny it.

He couldn’t deny it.

‘I know all about Dyffrin’s past, and even his future.’

Though she was merely placing her hand on him and then taking it off repeatedly, barely even qualifying as a massage, it would surely have an effect.

Seeing Dyffrin remained silent, Evelyn smiled lightly and continued her skinship disguised as a massage.

‘But if I don’t apply enough pressure, will he get suspicious?’

Since she had claimed it was a massage, applying too little pressure would seem odd, so Evelyn pressed her hands firmly into the knotted shoulders she felt.

‘Ah, his shoulders are much more tense than I expected.’

Given his excellent posture, she hadn’t expected them to be this tense.

Evelyn pressed firmly on the hard areas of his shoulders. When she felt the tension ease a bit, she withdrew her hand.

‘I’ve ended up taking it seriously.’

Evelyn decided she needed to carefully calculate how much of this “massage” fee should be factored into the alimony.

But before that, she needed to ask the person directly about his feelings.

“Dyffrin .”

Dyffrin lifted his head when Evelyn, having finished the massage, called out to him.

His sharp features usually held a cold expression, but now he looked somewhat dazed. Seeing his unguarded appearance made her feel like laughing for some reason.

Suppressing her amusement, Evelyn asked,

“So, do you think I’ve won the bet?”

Dyffrin belatedly returned his expression to normal.

The newly sharpened gaze indicated he was not pleased with the situation.

‘Of course, he wouldn’t be pleased.’

As Evelyn had said, his headaches had been relieved. But acknowledging that would be unflattering for him.

However, he had no choice but to admit it. The troublesome headaches had disappeared with just a few minutes of massage – how could he resist that temptation?

“…To think a mere massage could relieve the headaches.”

In the end, Dyffrin muttered, admitting defeat.

“See, I was right, wasn’t I?”

When Evelyn shrugged with a smile, Dyffrin faced her and said.

“Tell me what you want.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t want to be in your debt.”

‘In your debt’ was music to Evelyn’s ears.

That was exactly what she had hoped for.

So for now, she didn’t want to make an ambiguous request that would alleviate his sense of obligation.

‘Now, what should I ask for?’

As Evelyn pondered, she suddenly realized that this was the perfect time to put into practice the resolution she had made on the carriage.

“What I want is…”

Instead of answering, Evelyn moved closer to Dyffrin and leaned in towards his face. Before he could say anything, she gently blew a breath of air into his ear.

Startled, Dyffrin covered his ear and glared at her.

“Evelyn!”

She stepped back, smiling.

“I just want to be allowed to play a little prank like that.”

Seeing Dyffrin’s flustered expression gave her a greater sense of satisfaction than she had expected.

Watching a character who had everything—perfect looks, outstanding abilities, and a great household—crumble was quite enjoyable.

“You’re just too stiff, you know.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I tolerate your pranks…”

“I don’t want anything else.”

Interrupting Dyffrin, Evelyn replied firmly.

“It’s not that hard to indulge in a little prank like this, is it?”

“……”

Looking displeased, Dyffrin seemed about to say something, but Evelyn left his room after leaving one last remark.

“I’m feeling tired from the massage, so I’ll be heading to my room now.”

***

Left alone, Dyffrin continued staring at the spot where Evelyn had disappeared, eventually turning his head.

The room was silent, but to him, it felt as chaotic as if a tidal wave had swept through, leaving him disoriented.

Even in the midst of this, his headache, which had plagued him for so long, was gone so completely that it felt strange.

‘Could a simple massage really…?’

His headaches had been troubling him for a long time – he couldn’t even remember when they had started.

The only thing he knew about his headaches was that they would become more severe whenever Evelyn was around.

That’s why he hadn’t wanted to marry her.

Whenever he felt her unwavering gaze on him, it made him feel constrained and stifled.

Living with Evelyn would undoubtedly make his condition worse.

But despite it being their first day, Evelyn was behaving quite differently than he had anticipated.

She wasn’t looking at him the way she usually did, as if he was her everything.

Her gaze was strangely distant, almost as if he was looking at a stranger.

‘Could this really be the same Evelyn I know?’

He briefly doubted if the person in front of him was truly Evelyn. But the fact that she had mentioned his headaches confirmed it was her.

Only his closest confidants and Evelyn knew about his headaches.

Still, he couldn’t quite get used to her changed attitude. Normally, she would have wailed at his words, but instead, she had calmly responded and even offered to give him a massage unprompted, playing that bizarre prank.

He wondered if it was a new way she was trying to get attention, but her attitude was too dry for that.

Dyffrin found himself recalling the sensation of Evelyn’s breath against his ear. He had been completely caught off guard, never expecting someone’s breath to touch such an intimate spot.

It had been a while since he had been so startled. He belatedly felt slightly irritated at being toyed with, but at that moment, it hadn’t felt as unpleasant as he expected. Was it because he had been flustered?

The damp sensation lingering in his ear felt vividly real.

Feeling his ear getting warm again, Dyffrin opened the window and sat down heavily on the chair.

‘Damn it.’

The cold wind blowing in from outside felt strangely lukewarm.

***

Evelyn spent her first night in the unfamiliar ducal residence. The morning had arrived before she knew it.

Knock, knock.

Deeply asleep, Evelyn had to open her eyes at the sound of someone knocking on the door.

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up in bed.

She had worried she wouldn’t sleep well in an unfamiliar place, but it was a needless worry. Sleeping alone on the soft, spacious bed, she had been able to enjoy a deep, restful sleep.

If only there hadn’t been that knocking just now, she could have slept even better.

‘Who is it… at this early hour.’

It wasn’t even 7am yet.

She wondered if it could be Dyffrin, coming to greet her before heading out to work.

Just as she was thinking that, a low, male voice could be heard from outside, announcing his identity.

“Lady Evelyn, it’s Rykal.”

Of course, there was no reason for Dyffrin to kindly come to her before going to work.

Evelyn put on a robe over her nightdress and opened the door.

Rykal, Dyffrin’s aide, stood there with an icy, expressionless face.

“Good morning, Lady Evelyn.”

“Yes… well, what brought you here so early?”

“I have something to discuss with you, Lady Evelyn.”