Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 106

Because I had been cold toward Reus every time he came to see me, I was able to go several days without running into him.

‘At this point, maybe I can call Theron?’

I was thinking of breaking the bracelet as soon as I returned to the bedroom, when I saw Millie.

Now that we were using separate rooms, unlike when we shared the bedroom, Millie would air out the room and tidy up the bedding in time for my return.

Usually, she would quietly greet me and leave right away, but today she was standing at the bedroom door. As soon as she saw me, she rushed over.

“Your Highness! Something terrible happened!”

“Millie, what is it?”

“Well, the Duke told me not to say anything… but I thought you really had to know.”

“What did Reus say? Tell me quickly.”

Because her behavior and tone seemed a bit dramatic, I first suspected that this might be part of some scheme. But Millie gave an answer I completely didn’t expect.

“The Duke is hurt!”

“What?”

“He had a bandage wrapped around his arm! I’ve never seen him like that while working at the Grand Duke’s estate. Isn’t it serious?”

“Are you sure? You didn’t see it wrong?”

“I would never lie to Your Highness! He definitely had a bandage.”

Startled by her words, I started heading to the bedroom but suddenly stopped.

‘Wait a minute. What if those two are working together to trick me?’

I had told Reus that unless he had something to say about Veliata, he should deliver his words through Dwyn instead of coming to see me. Since he had no more excuse to visit, could this be his way of making one?

Still, I couldn’t ignore what Millie said about him being hurt, so I resumed walking.

“Reus, it’s me, Loelle. Can I come in?”

I knocked softly. There was a crashing sound inside, and then the door swung open.

“Loelle…?”

“Is something wrong? I just heard a loud noise…”

“Nothing you need to worry about. But what brings you here?”

Though he asked why I was here, Reus naturally pulled me into the room. As if that wasn’t enough, he firmly shut the door behind me.

“Why are you closing the door?”

“So you don’t get cold.”

I had a lot I wanted to say, but I held back and reminded myself why I came here in the first place.

“Millie said you were hurt…”

But no matter how I looked at him, he didn’t look like someone who was injured. His limbs looked completely fine.

Just as I was convinced they had lied to me, I noticed his hand on the doorknob. A light-colored cloth was wrapped around it—clearly a bandage.

But this was odd. When Reus returned from the battlefield, he would often unwrap his bandages because they got in the way. Now, he was calmly wearing one? I got confused.

Was he faking it, or was the injury actually serious?

‘Is there even anywhere in the Grand Duke’s estate where someone could get hurt that badly? And he’s using that injured hand just fine.’

My thoughts began to lean toward the idea that he was pretending to be injured.

“You’re not really hurt, are you?”

As I said that, Reus slowly took his hand off the doorknob, making him look even more suspicious.

“Don’t tell me you’re lying again?”

“I’m not. I really am hurt.”

Even after hearing his answer, I couldn’t shake my doubt. Reus gently took my hand and, like last time, led me to the bed.

“Why are we going to the bed?”

“I figured you wouldn’t believe it until you saw it.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Reluctantly, I sat down on the bed. Reus began unwrapping the bandage, and at that point, I was still pretty skeptical.

But soon the red-stained bandage came off, and underneath was a long cut running across his arm. I quickly covered it back up with the bandage, unable to say a word.

‘I didn’t expect him to actually be hurt…!’

I was so flustered that my mind froze for a moment. Reus then leaned his face slightly on top of my head.

“Loelle.”

“Yes?”

“It hurts…”

“Oh, it hurts? Does it hurt a lot? I’m sorry. I saw you using your hand so normally, I thought you were pretending again…”

“It’s fine. I know very well that I’ve completely lost your trust.”

“So I understand why you wouldn’t believe me even if I said I was in pain.”

He was completely right, but I still felt terribly guilty. Forget sleeping in separate rooms—I needed to take a proper look at his injury.

“You treated it by yourself again, didn’t you?”

The bandage was wrapped decently, but the ointment under it was clearly applied in a sloppy way. It reminded me of how he treated himself when he got badly hurt in the past, so I didn’t even need to ask.

I looked around. Since it hadn’t been long since he treated it, the first-aid kit was still on the nightstand. I pulled out what I needed and placed it on my lap. Then I carefully wiped away the ointment he had applied.

“When you get hurt, you should call a physician right away. You shouldn’t be doing this alone…”

“I’m uncomfortable with others.”

“Still…”

I disinfected the wound thoroughly, then spread a proper amount of ointment over it again. It wasn’t the kind of wound that would heal with just ointment, but thanks to Reus’ natural healing abilities, he usually recovered faster than others. This would have to do.

“How did this happen?”

“I lost focus for a moment during training and couldn’t dodge an attack.”

“You’re not the kind of person to make that kind of mistake…”

“I guess I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

I was grumbling quietly when Reus’ words made me shut my mouth.

‘He’s definitely saying that for me to hear…’

When I didn’t scold him outright, Reus glanced at me and started airing his built-up complaints one by one.

“I haven’t even fully recovered, and I keep overdoing it because of unnecessary things…”

“Unnecessary…”

Even if I told him that wasn’t true, he clearly had no intention of changing his mind.

“The servants say you’re eating much less than before.”

I was just eating a normal amount now after having eaten too much before, so I decided to ignore that comment.

“And at the very least, I hope you continue receiving treatment. You said yourself it helped, so just until you’re fully better.”

“That was when… I was in really bad condition, Reus.”

“Of course, you also said you couldn’t even stand the sight of me—”

“I never said it like that!”

Startled, I cut him off when he started making things up again.

“Then… can I come see you like before?”

Should’ve just let him say whatever he wanted.

“No, you can’t.”

I could feel Reus’ disappointment, but I couldn’t just let things slide when I still hadn’t gotten a proper explanation from him.

Then Reus slightly nuzzled his face against my head. Just as I was about to push him away, his weak voice made me stop.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve been worrying too much lately, but I haven’t been able to sleep well.”

“Again…?”

Reus slightly pulled his face back and stared down at me. He had the expression of someone who wanted something. I gave him a look that asked what he was expecting, and he replied.

“You said you’d help me fall asleep if I couldn’t.”

“What?”

“You said I could ask whenever I needed to…”

As it turns out, he wasn’t making that up. I clearly remembered making that promise.

At this point, my face must have shown that the memory had come back clearly. And of course, Reus didn’t miss that.

“I said I was fine, but you insisted.”

“T-That’s because…”

Reus, who had been close to me just moments ago, now pulled away. Taking advantage of my flustered state, he gently pushed me onto the bed.

“You promised I could ask whenever I needed to.”

Reus looked down at me with a bright smile as I lay trapped between his arms. For some reason, I felt nervous and swallowed hard.

Then Reus pulled my hand and placed it on his head.

“If it’s too much trouble, you can just keep your hand here.”

“But that’s not really helping, is it…?”

It felt more like I was in the way, but Reus didn’t seem to care.

“I’ll take care of the rest.”

I had no idea what he meant by that, but either way, my plan had fallen apart again.

Our plan to use separate rooms didn’t even last a few days—it was a total failure. That’s how I ended up waking up beside Reus under the warm sunlight.

‘He said he couldn’t sleep—was that a lie?’

For someone who complained about insomnia, Reus was sleeping quite peacefully. That was a bit annoying, but oh well.

‘It was my promise, after all…’

Even if it weren’t, I knew Reus had long suffered from sleep issues, so I couldn’t bring myself to refuse him when he asked for help.

Whether by chance or on purpose, it was clear this time that I had lost.

Not only would we no longer be using separate rooms, but I had a strong feeling Reus would try even harder not to leave me alone.

‘I finally made some space… what do I do now?’

As I nervously bit my lip, a good idea suddenly came to me.

Right then, Reus opened his eyes. Feeling happy at having found a good solution, I smiled and said,

“Since you’re awake, shall we go eat breakfast now, Reus?”

Reus, who had looked refreshed just a moment ago, now wore a suspicious expression. I didn’t understand why he always made the face I was supposed to be making.

Support