Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 101

“I felt like I had to tell you this separately…”

Reus froze on the spot. It wasn’t an unexpected reaction. He probably thought I still had a long way to recover, so he must’ve been quite shocked by my sudden decision to leave the Grand Duke’s castle.

Since I hadn’t shown any signs of wanting to leave, it likely felt even more sudden. But I no longer wanted to stay in the Empire.

‘I know the matters with Peria and Verodica have nothing to do with Reus, but still…’

Even if I left in such a rush, it might not change the day I die. But I thought I’d feel a little more at ease staying as far away from the original story as possible.

“Couldn’t you… reconsider?”

Reus spoke while still staring at the table, not at me.

“Even if you’re fine in daily life, the truth is that you’re still not in the right condition to be active, right?”

“I’ve thought long and hard about this, and I don’t think I’ll change my mind. I know it’s sudden, but I hope you can understand.”

Looking at Reus, who seemed really down, made me feel a bit guilty—even though I knew we both agreed I could leave anytime I wanted.

After staying silent for a while, Reus finally turned his head and forced a smile.

“Understood, Loelle. I get what you’re saying.”

His usual gentle smile eased my heart a little, but the fact that he accepted it faster than I expected… left me feeling a bit hurt.

‘I knew he wouldn’t try to stop me from leaving, but still…’

Then, Reus suddenly asked me a question.

“Are you still planning to go to Veliata?”

“There’s nowhere else for me to go. The Port of Pillaren—oh, it’s the Port of Rochester now. I’m planning to check for any ships heading to Veliata from Rochester.”

“Ah. Rochester Port.”

For a moment, I thought I saw a satisfied look on Reus’s face. There’s no way he’d be pleased about me leaving, though.

Was I seeing things…?

“I’ll check the ship schedule for you.”

“No, it’s fine…! You’ve hardly been able to work since returning from Leveren because of me.”

Reus had started going out less and less over time, and after coming back from the Plona Marquisate to the Grand Duke’s castle, he hadn’t left the castle at all.

“Well, I do have something urgent coming up soon, but I think I can take care of most of it before you leave.”

“Still…”

“I’ll have Dwyn look into the schedule. So please don’t worry about it.”

“Oh… right. Dwyn exists.”

I let out a small sigh. Why did I assume Reus would look into it himself? My face flushed at the ridiculous assumption.

“Loelle.”

“Yes?”

“So are you leaving everything about the trip to Veliata to me?”

It was just about checking the schedule and getting a ticket, so Reus’s words sounded a bit dramatic—but I still nodded.

“Is that really okay? This is an important matter for you.”

“If it’s something important and you’re taking care of it, then I’m actually thankful.”

Reus smiled softly. I tilted my head, not quite sure what his smile meant.

“You really trust me. More than I thought.”

“Of course I do.”

At my reply, Reus smiled a bit deeper.

“Loelle. I’m a little worried about you.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I wonder if you trust people too easily.”

I didn’t understand how his thoughts suddenly jumped to that. Honestly, if you can’t trust someone who worries about you this much, then who can you trust?

“You’re worrying for no reason. I always say this—I’m not a child, Reus.”

“Yes, that’s a relief.”

What’s supposed to be a relief…? Honestly, he says and does things I don’t understand sometimes.

“I should be the one worried. Reus, you’re more emotional than you seem and you worry too much.”

“Haha, are you worried about me now?”

Reus smiled playfully and slowly brushed the ends of my hair with his fingers.

“You never change, Loelle. That’s what worries me.”

I didn’t know exactly what he meant, but since he was smiling, I just smiled back and let it pass.

From that day on, I hardly saw Reus anymore. Now I ate alone, slept alone. The person who used to be with me every day, outside of set hours, suddenly disappeared. It felt lonelier than I expected.

Even now, while still in the Grand Duke’s castle, I felt this way. Wouldn’t I miss him even more once I got to Veliata? But Reus didn’t seem to feel that way at all.

‘Is he cutting me off since I’m someone who’s about to leave?’

I knew he was busy. I knew he’d been putting off almost all his work because of me. But he had still made time to show his face before. Now, it felt like he’d been waiting for a reason to disappear.

‘Still… it’s the last time.’

What if, when he said he didn’t want me to leave last time… he was lying?

Our conversations had always been limited, so sometimes the topic of Veliata would come up. And whenever it did, Reus acted completely indifferent, unlike before.

Maybe he just couldn’t say he wanted a sick person to leave, so he pretended otherwise.

‘He said he liked how we’d grown close…’

Was that just talk, too?

Thinking about how Reus hadn’t returned to the castle for days now, I started to doubt everything.

“Millie.”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Still no word from the Duke today?”

I asked with the hope that maybe he’d return today. Maybe I’d get to see him one more time. But Millie only shook her head awkwardly.

Feeling down, I grabbed a shawl and left my room. Even if I couldn’t say goodbye to Reus, I wanted to at least bid farewell to the people of the castle.

As I wandered the castle, I noticed something.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Enni around.’

Since staff rarely changed at the Grand Duke’s castle, I had a general idea of who worked where.

But now, the hallway from the lobby to the dining room—usually cleaned by Enni—was being handled by someone new. Many familiar staff members had quietly been replaced.

“Did the missing people go on vacation?”

“If you’re talking about Enni… she quit a while ago.”

“She left just like that, without saying anything?”

“I heard she told the butler and the secretary, but not the rest of us. We’re all a bit upset she left without a word.”

Millie grumbled about how people she’d gotten along with just vanished without saying goodbye. It made me want to grumble too.

‘I’m leaving, and no one seems to care enough to check on me…’

It felt like I’d gone back to when I first married Reus.

‘Back then, he followed me around all day…’

But now that I was leaving, he acted like I didn’t exist. Wasn’t that a bit too much?

I let out a deep sigh. Then, in the distance, I saw Dwyn approaching. Sensing he had something important to say, I quickly sent Millie away.

When he reached me, Dwyn handed me something.

“It’s your ticket to Veliata, Your Highness.”

“Oh, thank you.”

The ticket was for a ship departing in three days. The time was tighter than expected, so I was glad I had packed and said my goodbyes early.

‘But the departure time is so late…’

When I went to Leveren, I boarded the ship in the middle of the day. This ship was scheduled for the evening. I didn’t know if that was normal or just for that day.

‘Well, it’s not like Dwyn would give me the wrong ticket.’

As I thought that, I heard Dwyn’s serious voice.

“Your Highness.”

His tone sounded almost solemn, so I quickly looked up at him.

“About that ticket…”

But for some reason, Dwyn hesitated for a long while.

“I mean… the thing is…”

“Dwyn. If something happened, you can tell me. I can just take the next ship…”

“N-No, it’s not that! I just wanted to say… we’ll have a carriage ready for you before the ship departs. If you come out two hours before departure, you’ll be fine.”

It wasn’t even anything major, so I didn’t understand why he had so much trouble saying it. His nervousness made me ask out of concern.

“Dwyn, are you okay?”

“Y-Yes! The carriage is totally fine, Your Highness! I-I think…”

That answer came out of nowhere.

“No, I mean you, Dwyn.”

“Pardon?”

“You don’t look well. Are you okay?”

“Ah… me? I’m really fine! Truly… You don’t have to worry. I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

Dwyn said he was fine, but his gloomy expression and quiet murmuring said otherwise. And his constant apologizing made everything feel even more suspicious.

I should have realized then that those sudden apologies were sincere.

But by the time I did, it was already too late.

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