Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 63

“I’m going somewhere…? No, that’s not it….”

Worried he might tease me again, I quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway…! Shanette was right. You really do sleep well when someone strokes your hair.”

Reus responded a bit flatly.

“The person doing the stroking?”

“Huh? No… of course I meant you, Reus.”

His eyes, which had been staring at me, suddenly looked a bit drowsy.

“But weren’t you the one who fell asleep first?”

“What? When did I…?”

Huh? I guess I don’t clearly remember last night… so maybe I did fall asleep first?

But if I fell asleep first, how did Reus fall asleep? I thought I was helping him… was I wrong?

“Maybe you just happened to sleep well that time? I thought I helped you sleep….”

Reus paused for a moment, then spoke.

“I was joking.”

“Huh?”

“Thanks to you, I slept deeply.”

He kept switching what he was saying, so I didn’t know which part to believe. Maybe sensing my confusion, Reus spoke again.

“You said you noticed that I usually can’t fall asleep, right?”

“That’s true… but… when was the last time you slept well?”

Reus seemed to think for a moment, then answered casually.

“I think it was the first time.”

“That was a joke too, right?”

“Not counting my childhood, yes, it was the first.”

His serious face left me speechless.

It wasn’t just the fact that he was talking about such a serious problem so casually it was also how he seemed to think it was normal to not sleep.

If that was true, just how long has he been suffering from sleepless nights?

It made me feel upset. Maybe he’s had it even harder than I have as just a side character.

“If you ever need me… please don’t hesitate to say so.”

“Anytime.”

Reus repeated my words softly, almost tasting them, and gave a faint smile.

“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“But I’m not just saying it.”

“What if I ask you every day?”

“Uh…”

I hadn’t thought of that.

‘Every day…’

While I hesitated to answer, Reus gave me a look that said, “I knew it.”

“I-I could! I mean, I can.”

Now that I thought about it, there was no reason to hesitate. If stroking his hair helps him sleep, why wouldn’t I do it?

I made a face like I truly meant it.

“I’ll remember that, Loelle.”

“Yes, really, you can tell me anytime.”

Reus gave a low chuckle, his voice rumbling. I had answered sincerely, but I didn’t understand why he was laughing like that.

In the end, we stayed lying down like that and went to eat a late dinner. After a short walk to help digest, we went to bed a bit early again.

Since I had already slept a lot the night before, I wasn’t that tired, so I fell asleep later than usual. But Reus had fallen asleep even earlier than me.

Maybe the fatigue had piled up too much he didn’t even move when I nudged him. Because of that, we both ended up waking up much later than normal the past few days.

Today too, we had a relaxed lunch together. After that, Reus headed to the office, and as usual, I had nothing to do, so I went to the library.

Today, the sunlight hitting the wooden desk felt especially warm. Suddenly, I thought about the attic at the very top of the building.

‘It must be even warmer up there.’

Without thinking much, I picked up the book I was reading and headed to the attic under the glass dome. As soon as I stepped in, warm air and the cozy scent of sunlight wrapped around me.

I wondered where to read and decided to lie on the carpet where the sunlight hit the best.

The book I’d been reading lately was part of a 9-volume mystery series with horror elements. It was so engaging that time flew by.

While I was fully absorbed in the book, the cozy atmosphere of the attic made my body slowly lean backward. When I came back to my senses, I was almost lying down on the floor, hugging a blanket from the couch.

I needed to get up to grab the next volume, but I felt too lazy. I waved my arm, trying to reach the book.

But as soon as my fingertips brushed it, the books toppled over and crashed against a large picture frame hanging on the wall.

“Ah… I should’ve put them a little further away.”

Grumbling, I set the book down and sat up. Well, not fully I just lifted my upper body.

As I was tidying the books, I turned my head and noticed a strange mark at the edge of the picture frame.

“Hmm? What’s that?”

I hoped it wasn’t from the falling books.

Looking closely, it clearly wasn’t. At the bottom left corner of the frame, there was a small gap. I felt like I could open it if I tried. As I fiddled with it, the gap widened, revealing something hidden.

Beneath the wooden frame was a solid piece of metal with a groove carved into it. It wasn’t just scratched randomly the engraving looked very deliberate and intricate.

Upon closer look, the design looked like a flower.

‘This pattern looks familiar.’

It looked a lot like my ring.

‘Actually, it looks exactly like my ring.’

The ring on my right ring finger was the one Reus gave me at our wedding.

Shanette had said the ring was an heirloom passed down through the Rochester family.

Back then, I told him it felt too burdensome and asked for a different one, but Reus insisted that giving a different ring would be even more unnatural.

I felt burdened then, but now seeing this pattern made me feel even more pressured.

‘This ring… it doesn’t seem like just a ring, does it…?’

I took off the ring and, just in case, placed it into the engraved pattern. It fit perfectly, and the ring slid in with a whoosh. I heard a mechanical sound from somewhere, and a piece of metal popped out from under the picture frame.

“What now?”

I touched it a bit and, following its movement, pushed it. I heard a click.

“Ahh—!”

Suddenly, the picture frame swung open like a door and smacked me squarely on the right side of my head.

Thud! A dull sound echoed as my body reeled. Before I could regain balance, I collapsed onto the floor.

It felt like all the blood rushed to my head. My vision blurred, and a sharp pain radiated from the point of impact. As the pain grew clearer, I couldn’t help but whimper.

I lay there holding my head for a long time.

“Ah… it hurts… it really hurts…”

Only when the loud ringing in my head subsided did I manage to open my eyes properly.

I lay there dazed, then slowly sat up.

That’s when I felt something wet trickling from my forehead. I touched the spot where I hit the frame and found something sticky on my hand.

“Is this… blood?”

I thought I’d hit my head, but not hard enough to bleed…

“Why did I mess with something weird…”

Even though I caused the trouble, I couldn’t believe how foolish I was.

Still, I needed to check what I had activated. I pulled myself up.

“Huh.”

I thought maybe I’d found the location of a hidden safe or something. But what I saw behind the open frame was a pitch-black empty space.

‘What is this place…? It doesn’t look like just a hole—it seems like a passageway?’

As I stared, it felt like a ghost might jump out at any moment.

Maybe because I had just been reading a horror novel, I was twice as scared as usual.

Fear crept up my back, and I started backing away toward the attic entrance. When I bumped into the wall, I flinched and shook uncontrollably.

I had planned to check it out, but I changed my mind.

Passageway or not, it was too scary.

I huddled in the corner, trembling, then turned my head away from the dark hole. I quickly approached the frame and shut it.

A click sounded from behind the frame as it locked back into place. It looked like nothing had happened.

Then the ring fell to the floor and rolled away.

I should’ve picked it up immediately, but I was so startled by the sound that I ran out of the attic without looking back.

Only after I left the attic did I realize the rolling sound had come from the ring.

It was my wedding ring, so I should’ve brought it with me, but today… I just couldn’t go back in there alone.

With nothing else to do, I returned to the bedroom.

‘What was that dark space?’

When I thought about it more, the two metal rods and the horizontal bar between them looked like a ladder. So maybe it really was a passageway leading somewhere.

‘I want to ask Reus about it…’

But I wasn’t sure I should bring up the library. If it were just about the library, it would be no problem. But what I wanted to mention was the very top floor.

It was clearly filled with memories of his parents, so Reus probably wouldn’t be happy about me talking about the attic.

‘If he had known, maybe he wouldn’t have given me the ring…’

I was deep in thought, wondering how to bring it up casually, when I heard the door click open behind me.

I was still shaken, so even that small sound made me flinch hard.

But since someone had come, I thought I should greet them. I got up hesitantly.

“Reus—”

“Loelle!”

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