Chapter 1 (Part 7)

The sound of the door closing echoed through the quiet reception room. Tenus, watching Sellakia gaze at the closed door, spoke first.

“He’s been visiting the Dukedom every day for the past fortnight, asking to see you. You have a very devoted friend, Sellakia. Or is he really just a friend?”

Tenus’s gaze slid past Sellakia. He looked at the single teacup on the table, placed in an awkward position, with a cold stare.

“Or is he a lover you’ve hidden from your husband?”

His low voice carried an undeniable sharpness. That barb pricked Sellakia’s temper.

“Somehow.”

Sellakia tilted her head, cupping her cheek with one hand.

“He looked so adorable, overwhelmed with emotion upon seeing me. Why didn’t you give me a hint earlier? I would have showered him with passionate reunion kisses.”

A bold lie flowed smoothly from her lips, something she wouldn’t dare say if Chester were present. Her mischief was fueled by the interruption of her reunion with a friend and the added misunderstanding.

She didn’t expect Tenus to react to her mischief. She assumed he would throw his usual cold gaze, as if to say, “What do you want me to do about it?”

However, contrary to her expectations, Tenus turned to her sharply.

“Sellakia Lensch.”

His cold eyes sparked with intensity.

An endlessly cold yet unbearably hot gaze. Sellakia realized anew how intense a look of hatred could be, and at the same time, she was puzzled.

Why doesn’t Tenus ignore me?

If he disliked her, he could simply treat her as nonexistent, as the Lensch Viscount typically did, or as his servants did. Yet, Tenus never took his eyes off her.

Could it be a sense of responsibility? Or perhaps pity?

Either way, it was an unpleasant speculation. She would rather be ignored than pitied.

“Can’t even get your wife’s name right.”

Sellakia lifted her chin defiantly, unwilling to back down.

“It should be Sellakia Seidon. You said we were married, didn’t you? Isn’t that right, Tenus Seidon?”

For a moment, the deep, dark eyes of Tenus wavered slightly. But it was only a fleeting moment, so brief it seemed almost imagined. Tenus quickly returned to his usual aloof expression and handed her a piece of paper. There was no further mention of Chester.

“Take it.”

“What is this?”

“Materials that might help you regain your memory.”

“How diligent of you. It wasn’t urgent enough to warrant sending away a guest.”

“Is there a problem with me dismissing a guest from my mansion?”

Sellakia let out a dry laugh at his straightforward admission.

“Well, when you put it that way, I, as a guest, have nothing to say.”

Though she regretted not having a longer conversation with Chester, as he said, this mansion belonged to Tenus. She had no right to complain.

“Sellakia Seidon.”

As Tenus looked down at Sellakia’s calmly accepting face, he suddenly called her.

“It seems you haven’t realized it yet, as we haven’t been married long, but the Seidon Dukedom is yours as well.”

“…What?”

“Even if we haven’t received the marriage notarization from the Imperial Family, we are still husband and wife. Don’t forget that you and I share rights and responsibilities.”

“…”

Sellakia blinked in bewilderment.

The idea that the Seidon Dukedom was ‘hers’ was unbelievable, especially coming from Tenus Seidon.

To Tenus, Sellakia was merely a means to obtain a title. She was nothing more than someone to be ignored until the goal was achieved, and discarded once she was no longer useful.

Yet, for some reason, Tenus was blocking her from leaving and personally handing her rights and responsibilities.

Sellakia could not fathom the thoughts of the man standing before her.

“…”

Perhaps she could grasp something by reading his expression. Sellakia stared intently into Tenus’s eyes, but she could discern nothing.

His deep, dark blue eyes were merely distant, as if covered with a layer of ice.

“Well, then… For now.”

For someone acutely aware of her own situation, it was something she couldn’t acknowledge, nor should she agree with, given her plans to leave. Sellakia suppressed her rising emotions and replied calmly. No one had ever given her rights and responsibilities before. It should have felt good, but it didn’t entirely. Something inside her felt nauseous and uncomfortable.

The rights and responsibilities of a family given by the man who had coldly abandoned his bride on their wedding night. 

Was he perhaps reflecting on his past behavior? Now that I had decided to leave.

“You found the reception room well.”

Sellakia’s mind went blank for a moment as she chewed over the absurdity of the current situation.

“It seems you found it without asking the servants.”

Sellakia was startled by Tenus’s meaningful words and replied immediately.

“The layout of the mansion is generally similar. I told you I haven’t lost all my memories. I still have some memories of the past.”

“Oh, really?”

Tenus let out a deflated laugh.

“Is lying a habit?”

Sellakia frowned.

A habit?

She hadn’t spent enough time with Tenus to talk about habits. Apart from today, the only day she had faced him was on their wedding day.

She wanted to argue but, in truth, she was pretending to have more severe amnesia, so she had no grounds to complain about being called a liar.

“The room I’ll stay in is the bedroom from earlier, right?”

Sellakia moved towards the door, avoiding an argument that was disadvantageous to her.

She planned to look over the documents Tenus had given her later. Her body was already exhausted and on the verge of collapse. She desperately needed rest.

* * *

Sellakia grasped the doorknob of the bedroom. But she couldn’t muster the strength to turn it.

“…”

The presence behind her was extremely bothersome. Sellakia finally couldn’t hold back and turned around.

“What are you doing?”

“What?”

Tenus asked back. His innocent face, as if he knew nothing, was infuriating.

“Why are you following me?”

“I’ll be guarding you temporarily until I find a suitable escort knight.”

“I’m just trying to rest in my room. I don’t need a guard.”

“Alright. Rest well. Guarding is my responsibility.”

A sigh escaped between her teeth.

Even as a high-ranking Duchess, there was no need for an escort knight inside the mansion. Surely, Tenus wasn’t suspecting Aldrich like Sellakia was.

So this must be…

“Are you watching me?”

“In a way.”

There was nothing more to say to such a straightforward affirmation.

Sellakia hadn’t left the Ducal residence of her own volition, but Tenus, unaware of the truth, must have classified her as a person of interest.

She couldn’t blame Tenus for wanting to ensure no troublesome incidents occurred again. However, she didn’t want to clear up the misunderstanding at the cost of sharing her resting space with him.

“Do you have the leisure for this? You’ll soon have to take over the title.”

She openly displayed her discomfort, but it was of no use.

Tenus, seeing that Sellakia had no intention of opening the door, opened it himself. Even when the bedroom was revealed before her eyes, she stood firmly on her feet, and he gently wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind to move her forward.

Sellakia had no choice but to move under his pressure. Distracted by the warmth of his body, she didn’t even realize how her feet were moving.

“Indeed, today is relatively leisurely. Compared to spending the past week frantically outside.”

“…Outside for what?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

His low voice sent a chill down her spine.

Sellakia instinctively turned her head. Raising her gaze slightly, she saw the man’s face up close.

Smooth skin like porcelain and captivatingly delicate yet strong features.

Tenus’s extraordinary beauty was just as it had been on their wedding day. The only difference now was perhaps…

“Did you think finding you in that place was a coincidence?”

…that he looked a bit tired.

Tenus tilted his chin to meet her eyes.

“Naive, aren’t you, Sellakia Seidon?”

His words, tinged with laughter, felt as if they were mocking her.

She truly believed that Tenus had found her by chance. Even for someone like her, who indulged in fanciful thoughts, she hadn’t imagined he would personally search for her.

The reason was simple. She wasn’t valuable enough for him to exert such effort.

“….”

Tenus lightly pressed Sellakia’s shoulders as she stood dumbfounded before the bed. He kindly took the papers from her hand and placed them on the bedside table.

“My naive wife should rest now.”

When she snapped back to reality at his teasing words, Sellakia found herself lying quietly on the bed.

It felt awkward to lie comfortably in front of the next head of the family. As she hesitated, Sellakia asked.

“What about you?”

Instead of answering, Tenus brought a chair next to the bed and sat down. His posture, legs crossed and staring at her, seemed more steadfast than a statue that had stood in one place for a thousand years.