Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 49

Peria slammed the door a little hard as she left. At that sound, Loelle’s shoulders twitched slightly.

He froze for a moment, then his shoulders moved up and down just a little. It seemed like he was quietly holding his breath so no one would notice.

If it were the old Reus, he would have told Loelle to pull himself together and immediately left the room.

But now, he felt strongly that he shouldn’t leave Loelle alone.

Still, staying wouldn’t help either, and he didn’t know how to comfort him.

Reus was really at a loss about what to do.

Ah. Maybe leaving would actually help in this situation.

He thought about this too late, but the answer was already clear. Even if Loelle had asked him to leave, Reus probably couldn’t have walked out.

Reus stared quietly at Loelle, who remained frozen in place. After dozens of silent thoughts in that brief moment, he finally took Loelle’s hand.

Immediately, Roel’s fragile shoulder trembled.

Roel stared blankly at Reus for a moment, then suddenly tried to get up in a fluster.

“Ah…! I told Yulia to wait for a moment…”

“Loelle.”

“Yes, yes?”

“The Baron and Baroness Gretion have been sent back, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

Though Reus said it to ease his worries, Loelle’s face quickly went pale again. Just when he thought Loelle was starting to accept him, things stayed the same.

Watching Loelle nervously watch him again and look extremely anxious made Reus feel twisted inside, almost going crazy.

He had sent Peria away as soon as possible for Loelle’s sake, but he shouldn’t have. He should have used the situation with the Ivelle family as leverage to threaten them, making sure they never dared come near the Duke’s castle.

It was a painful mistake. But when Loelle’s voice came again, Reus’s anger naturally faded. Instead of getting angry now, he just didn’t want to make the already frightened woman feel worse.

“I’m sorry… I should have expected my mother to visit like this… I… I was so careless… If I had just sent one letter, none of this would have happened…”

“Loelle.”

Loelle stopped rambling immediately. Reus swallowed the words he wanted to say.

Be selfish for a moment. If anyone was more responsible for today’s events, it was Reus.

He was the one who ruined the Ivelle family in the first place and knew their situation better than anyone. Even if he expected something like this, he should have handled it.

But Reus had overlooked the fact that today’s disaster was only the beginning of what was happening to the Ivelle family.

He had known from the start they were a rotten family, but if they would take out their anger on their innocent daughter, he would have locked the main gate of the Duke’s castle long ago.

Seeing Loelle’s face pale without any blood, Reus sighed softly, feeling a bit exhausted.

He thought it might be better if Loelle cried like last time when treating his wounds… it was pitiful.

Reus gently stroked the hand he was holding with his thumb.

“I’m not blaming you. The Baron and Baroness Gretion were sent back because they cared about you.”

“Why?”

“Because they expected you would react like this.”

Loelle looked confused, not fully understanding. So Reus calmly explained.

“I knew from the start that even in this situation, nothing was more important than your safety.”

“But I can’t trouble others with personal matters…”

“Yes. Even things like that.”

As he spoke, Reus’s hand moved to gently touch Loelle’s slightly messy hair. Loelle flinched in surprise.

Reus didn’t push it. When Loelle seemed okay, he lightly tidied his hair, then withdrew his hand, speaking a little playfully.

“Isn’t it time to stop being afraid of me?”

“I’m not scared.”

“If you say that while looking at me like that, everyone will think otherwise.”

At that, Loelle’s eyes rolled slightly. But compared to before, he seemed more at ease. His heavy breathing calmed, and a bit of life returned to his lips.

Feeling a little relieved, Reus spoke again.

“I sincerely apologize for today.”

Roel’s eyes widened, as if not understanding.

“You’re the one ruining the Ivelle family, not me. Even if I expected today’s events, I should have handled them. I’m also truly sorry for not foreseeing this.”

“I promise nothing like this will happen again. And I hope you don’t feel like you’re causing trouble. Well, you probably already do.”

“Your Grace.”

Reus disliked that title, but he ignored it this time and nodded as if to say, “Say whatever you want.”

Loelle asked with a face that looked like she wanted to laugh or cry.

“Are you trying to comfort me?”

“If you feel that way, then yes.”

Loelle laughed softly and said,

“But Your Grace shouldn’t comfort others so easily. You’re not the type to do that… It almost makes me want to cry.”

Biting her lower lip tightly as if trying not to cry, Loelle looked away. Reus frowned slightly.

“Is there really a need to hold it in? If crying makes you feel better, you can cry. No one here will blame you for anything you do.”

Loelle seemed about to cry, pouted for a moment, then sniffled quietly and slowly shook her head.

“They’ll think it’s strange.”

“So what if they think it’s strange? It’ll pass soon.”

“But… it’s a bit awkward after my mother visits.”

“I’m the one who made you cry. What’s awkward about that?”

“That’s still pretty strange…”

The sadness in Loelle’s voice faded a little.

“If I cried more often, I would have cried with you so you wouldn’t look strange alone. Sorry about that.”

Loelle, with a slightly sulky face, whispered,

“I told you not to comfort me… I didn’t say to tease me.”

“It’s a shame my true feelings didn’t come through.”

Reus smiled very slightly, barely noticeable, at Loelle’s face, which looked like she had a lot to say.

It seemed like that day’s matter ended well. But it took a little time for Loelle to step out of Peria’s shadow. How much effort had been made so that she could straighten her shoulders, look into his eyes properly, say whatever she wanted, and feel comfortable in the Duke’s castle.

‘It all went to waste.’

It was already close to lunchtime, but seeing Loelle still unwilling to get up, Reus clicked his tongue softly.

Lately, Loelle had been spending more than half her day sleeping because of unresolved anxiety and sadness.

Unintentionally, he had seen with his own eyes how she had endured the Ivelle family.

He thought it was amazing she had survived so well without anyone to rely on, but he didn’t want to realize it this way.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to bear Loelle’s sadness, but because he already knew she wouldn’t be able to do anything right now.

Reus fiddled with Roel’s hair with his fingertips.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t really paid attention before, but there were many habits left from the abuse.

On their wedding night, Loelle curled up close to him. Now it seemed strange. The room was warm, never cold. But Loelle kept saying she was cold over and over.

‘She was like that even when she was briefly sick.’

Just raising her hand to face level made her flinch and hold her breath. Besides those, there were several small habits that clearly came from abuse.

Reus finally understood exactly why Loelle tried so hard to escape from the Ivelle family. He even thought maybe she wasn’t comfortable in the Duke’s castle but was just enduring it similarly.

Since Peria’s visit, Loelle probably saw the place as unsafe and would think so even more.

What good is regretting it now? He just had to make sure she could stay comfortably at the Duke’s castle until she left.

Since he had stepped out of work for a moment, Reus pulled the blanket up a little more and was about to leave the room.

But the rustling sound made Loelle lift her eyelids. Her eyes, still not fully awake, barely looked toward Reus.

“What time is it now…?”

“It’s 11:36.”

Loelle nodded slowly, as if understanding. She suddenly opened her eyes wide.

Lately, her waking time had been irregular. She had decided to wake up at the usual time today, but it was too late again.

Sitting up, Loelle smiled awkwardly.

“What are you doing at this time?”

“What do you mean? I was waiting to have lunch with you.”

Until just now, Reus had planned to return to his office, but now he acted like nothing had happened. Loelle gave him an apologetic look, unaware of this.

“I just got here not long ago.”

Reus naturally lied again.

When we ate breakfast, you always told me to eat this or that, but lately you don’t say that.

Not hearing the usual words made me notice it more.

As I was holding my spoon, Reus said,

“If you want to stop eating, that’s fine.”

“No, I want to eat a little more.”

Though slightly full, she thought she could eat a few more bites after eating so much recently. As she emptied the plate with effort, Reus suddenly said,

“After lunch, it might be nice to spend some time in the garden.”

Having a light walk and tea time in the garden overlooking the sea after lunch had become part of her routine. Reus surely knew that.

But mentioning it now meant…

“Are you asking me to have tea time together?”

“If you allow it.”

Except for me, everything in the Duke’s castle belonged to Reus. So he didn’t really need my permission. But he waited quietly, as if my opinion mattered most.

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