Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 73

Reus spoke to Dwyn, who was standing blankly in the middle of the office.

“Tell King Leveren that I accept his invitation.”

After regaining his strength, Reus wanted to spend the remaining six months entirely with Loelle. So, he postponed or canceled more than half of his scheduled appointments—nearly all the major ones and over half of the minor ones.

One of those minor events was the invitation from King Leveren.

King Claude of the Kingdom of Leveren was known for never letting his guests leave once they visited, which made him a troublesome person. So Reus had placed that invitation at the top of his cancellation list.

But things changed once the Emperor got involved.

He didn’t know why the Emperor had taken an interest in Loelle but Reus figured the easiest way to keep others away was to never leave Loelle’s side.

Since the invitation had already been accepted long ago, no one could fault him for leaving the Empire. It was the perfect opportunity.

Dwyn had been struggling to keep up with his master’s recent mood swings, but this time, he fully supported Reus’s decision.

Today, I had breakfast alone for the first time in a while.

Usually, Reus would tell me in advance if he couldn’t join me for a meal. But for some reason, today I only found out through Loteo, and that too, quite late.

I thought I’d enjoy eating in peace without any nagging for once, so I began my meal without much thought.

But somehow, I felt an emptiness inside. Toward the end of the meal, I even missed the quiet voice that would usually urge me to have one more bite.

“I must be crazy…”

With a heavy heart, I sat by the window in my room, staring outside blankly. Then I heard the door open. Turning around, I saw Reus, whom I thought I wouldn’t see all day, standing there.

“Did he forget something?”

He was so busy he didn’t even have time to eat what other reason could he have to come to my room?

But Reus approached me as if he had come here for me all along.

“What’s that in your hand, Reus?”

Reus placed two cases on the table and naturally sat me down beside him.

“The two travel bags you mentioned.”

“Oh.”

Ah, the birthday gift we had talked about. I had completely forgotten.

As I stared silently at the cases, Reus said,

“You can open it.”

I carefully opened the one closer to me. Inside was a neatly designed camel-colored travel bag.

It was made of sturdy fabric, with the bottom and handle made of a slightly lighter-colored leather.

Even though it had been lying flat inside the case, the bag still kept its perfect shape.

“That’s amazing. It looks like normal fabric, but it feels so different.”

My eyes were drawn to the handle, where my name was engraved. Seeing my name there made it feel truly like mine.

It was the most meaningful gift I’d ever received. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes… very much. It’s beautiful, Reus.”

Then I opened the second case. It was identical in design to the first bag. But this time, there was a piece of paper I hadn’t seen earlier.

“Huh? What’s this?”

As I stared at it, my eyes caught the long string of numbers. Wait—this wasn’t just a random number. It looked like the price of the bag.

Though I had a rough idea of the cost at first glance, I counted the digits again just to be sure.

“Thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million… ten million?”

Was something wrong with the units?

“Did I read it wrong?”

I counted again calmly. No matter how many times I checked, the answer didn’t change.

A single bag costs over ten million won…?

I was still staring at the paper, dumbfounded, when Reus casually took the estimate from my hands and tossed it out the window.

Since I was half in shock, I couldn’t even react to what he had just done. I just stared blankly at the spot where the paper had been.

A travel bag that costs ten million won…

Even if it were gold-plated, it shouldn’t cost that much. Whether it was a mistake on the estimate or with my eyes, something had to be wrong.

“Reus, I must’ve read that wrong, right?”

“Yes.”

Unbelievable. So I really had read it right.

“So… this bag really does cost over ten million won.”

When I was saving money to create a new identity, I couldn’t even save ten million won in a year.

That’s why the price of the bag shocked me even more.

I turned to Reus with my mouth slightly open. A frustrated voice slipped out unexpectedly.

“I-I didn’t ask for something this expensive. I meant a travel bag that’s easy to find and okay to use roughly, even on the street…”

“No matter what, how could I give you something like that as a gift? And a birthday gift, at that.”

“Why not? It’s only for temporary use while traveling. Wouldn’t that be better? But this bag… no matter how I look at it, it’s just too expensive. There’s no way I could use this as a travel bag.”

Even though I tried to explain how I felt, Reus replied in a calm, unaffected voice.

“That’s the cheapest option from that workshop.”

I didn’t know if that was true or not, but the bag was clearly made by a famous artisan whose name alone made it expensive.

I had so many things I wanted to say, but my lips just moved uselessly. Meanwhile, Reus sat beside me looking as if everything had been explained and it was time to move on.

“But still…”

A ten-million-won travel bag? That’s too much!

As I sat there blankly, staring at the bag in disbelief, I heard a soft, dejected voice beside me.

“You really don’t like it?”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t expect you to dislike it this much…”

I didn’t mishear. That disappointed voice definitely came from Reus.

“Uh, um…”

“I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable, Loelle.”

“N-No…! That’s not what I meant… I don’t hate the bag at all…”

But Reus looked away, not even meeting my eyes.

“Re-Reus?”

“I’m sorry. It’s not that I didn’t like the gift. Really…”

“There’s no need to apologize. It was my mistake for not thinking it through.”

I quickly grabbed his hand and told him again and again that it wasn’t like that.

“I really love the design. My reaction earlier was just from being shocked by the price. I hope you don’t misunderstand. I truly like the gift.”

Even after all that, his expression didn’t change. It looked like he was genuinely hurt.

“What do I do now…”

Looking back, I had been so focused on the price that I didn’t thank him properly.

“Was I complaining? Maybe not quite… but still.”

“Did I really upset you that much…? I’m really sorry, Reus.”

“No, you don’t need to apologize. And I have no reason to be upset. If anyone’s at fault, it’s me.”

I could feel his sadness in every word. I had never seen him so down before, and I didn’t know what to do.

“He did cry on my shoulder like a child not too long ago…”

Remembering how vulnerable he had been made me feel even worse.

This whole situation could’ve been avoided if I hadn’t overreacted. How was I supposed to fix this?

Then Reus said,

“I’ll take care of the bag myself.”

“What? Take care of it…?”

“It was custom-made for you. It wouldn’t be right for anyone else to use it.”

He didn’t mean throwing it away… right?

I looked around in panic as Reus began organizing the bags. The way he moved without hesitation made it clear: if I didn’t stop him now, those bags were going straight to the trash.

“Reus, please don’t throw them away…!”

“I’m not throwing them away. I meant I’d handle them properly. Then I can get you something else—whatever you want…”

“No! How could you get rid of a gift like that?”

I grabbed both of his hands just as he was about to close the case. Still sounding a little down, he said,

“You shouldn’t feel pressured to accept a gift you don’t like.”

“No, I said I liked it… I do want the gift.”

At that, Reus looked straight at me.

“Really?”

“Yes, of course…! I told you I wanted something like this, and you put so much thought into it.”

His eyes softened into a beautiful smile. As if his joy was contagious, I smiled too. But then…

“Then you can use this bag today.”

Wait, what?

Suddenly, I remembered the day Reus came to Count Ivelle’s estate and told me to pack without warning.

“I couldn’t tell you earlier since the plans were made in a rush. But we’re leaving for the Kingdom of Leveren today.”

Honestly, Reus is just…

“Nothing he does is ever normal.”

The funny thing is, I think I’ve started to get used to it. I just nodded without question.

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