I Was Meant to Be the Evil Wife, But the Cold Marquis Fell for Me - Chapter 16

That day, Liliana had slept deeply and overslept a little. Because of that, she missed breakfast with Leivis and couldn’t see him off.

After finishing her morning preparations, she immediately began her daily duties. With the help of the butler and the head housekeeper, she gave instructions for household tasks and planned the menus. Once that was done, she spent her time writing replies to invitations.

By the time she looked up, evening had already fallen.

(Will Lord Leivis come home today…?)

Liliana anxiously peered out the window. Soon, she heard the sound of the front door opening and hurried to the entrance hall. The butler was already greeting Leivis, and Liliana quickly joined in.

“Welcome home, Lord Leivis.”
“Ah. Nothing unusual happened?”
“No.”

His gentle expression reassured her until suddenly his demeanor shifted. His brows furrowed slightly as he stared intently at her.

Liliana instinctively shrank back.

“Um…?”

Was something on her face? Was her hair messy? She hadn’t checked her appearance in her rush.

“…No, it’s nothing.”

Leivis answered flatly, turning his gaze away.

—It couldn’t be nothing. But Liliana lacked the courage to ask. Uneasy, she followed him to the dining room.

During dinner, Leivis kept staring at her.

(I-I can’t relax…)

She couldn’t taste the food at all.

It wasn’t that he wanted to talk. He simply observed her, and that made her unbearably restless. Even eating became difficult.

Liliana averted her eyes, adjusting her cutlery. A sigh almost escaped, but she held it back.

“…Lord Leivis, is something…?”

She finally dared to speak. Leivis looked up in brief surprise, then lowered his gaze again.

“No, nothing.”

It couldn’t be nothing. Perhaps he had something to say but was waiting for the right moment. Yet the tension made her certain it wasn’t good news.

Trying to change the subject, Liliana spoke hesitantly:

“About the practice…”

She kept her words vague in front of the servants, referring to the magical training.

“No, let’s not today.”

Leivis gave only a short reply, and the conversation ended.

Shaken, Liliana said nothing more and finished her meal. Afterward, they returned to their separate rooms, and she ended the day with a heavy heart.

The next morning, she hoped things would be normal again. She joined Leivis for breakfast, but he seemed distracted.

He gave half-hearted replies about the weather. The flowers in the garden—half-hearted replies again.

She tried to think of something amusing to say, but found no topic. Breakfast felt tasteless, leaving her empty and pained.

“I’ll be staying out tonight.”

Leivis finished his meal first, stood, and said this. Liliana forced a smile.

“Yes… please take care.”

As he said, Leivis didn’t return that night.

The next day, he came home late and left early, so Liliana didn’t even see his face.

It felt as though he was avoiding her.

(He seems so busy… and even at home, he looks deep in thought. Perhaps he’s stuck in his research…)

She opened the library curtains, gazing at the pillar floating above the royal castle. The place where Leivis worked, the pillar he studied.

It should have been close enough to reach at any time, yet it felt impossibly far away.

(Am I unable to be of help to Lord Leivis?)

The thought arose, but another voice inside her immediately denied it. Don’t be foolish.

Right now, Liliana was a wife who feared men and avoided producing an heir, who burdened Leivis with her troublesome siblings, and who failed to fulfill her duties as a marquis’s wife.

Household management was left to the butler and housekeeper.
Her social obligations as a noble’s wife were barely met.

She wasn’t helping, she was only a burden.

“Hey, hasn’t the master been cold to the lady lately?”

Suddenly, voices drifted through the crack of the door. Liliana froze, holding her breath, erasing her presence.

She stiffened, careful not to make a sound, desperate not to be noticed.

The cheerful voices continued.

“They even sleep separately at night. And apparently, they’ve never… you know. There’s no way they’ll have an heir like this. Haha!”

Liliana recognized the voice.

—It was Elina, her personal maid. Her words shocked the other servants.

Liliana’s chest tightened painfully.

—Her body wouldn’t move.

She should have stormed out and scolded them. She should have said, ‘Stop gossiping and get back to work.’ That was her role.

She knew plenty of reprimands. She had heard them countless times in her family home.

But she couldn’t move. Because it was true.

Right now, Liliana was only relying on Leivis’s kindness, waiting for him to find a lover, divorce her with compensation, and leave her in a “white marriage.” She was nothing but a worthless wife.

How cowardly. How ugly and disgraceful.

—And yet, she couldn’t change her actions. Because she didn’t want ruin.

Running to a convent with divorce compensation. That was the only peaceful ending she could imagine.

(…What a terrible wife I am…)

Even if her actions changed, her role might never change.

At that moment, the servants in the corridor gasped.

“You must uphold the dignity of House Elsdean’s servants!”

The head housekeeper’s stern voice rang out.

The servants quickly fell silent and dispersed.

With her sigh and footsteps fading, the corridor returned to quiet.

“……”

Unnoticed by anyone, Liliana closed the curtain softly.

She checked that the corridor was empty, left the library, and quietly returned to her room.