Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 82

For some reason, I could even feel that he was satisfied with my answer.

“I’m glad you don’t like it.”

“Huh?”

What kind of answer is that?

But my doubt was brief, because I soon understood why Reus reacted that way to the next words.

“It’s better to look for a dress that’s comfortable to wear rather than such a heavy dress.”

Compared to the white dress, this one was indeed quite heavy, but ballroom dresses usually feel heavier than normal dresses.

However, Reus, who was looking at dresses for the first time ever, didn’t seem to know that at all.

‘Well, he never paid attention to what women wore at the ball, so he wouldn’t know.’

I smiled a little at the fact that there were things he didn’t know.

“That dress is especially heavy, but actually, ballroom dresses usually have that kind of weight.”

But after hearing my words, Reus suddenly became quiet and then wore a serious expression.

“So you wore dresses like this every time you attended the royal ballroom?”

“Yeah?”

His serious face soon cracked with a small shock.

Reus said it would be better to look around somewhere else and subtly led me out of the store. But this man seemed to have thought dresses in other stores would be a bit different.

Everywhere we looked, there were similar heavy dresses, and his face became more and more stiff.

He even frowned slightly, so I could guess what he was thinking. That expression was the same one he often made when I said I wasn’t hungry and skipped meals.

‘Does he really think I’m some kind of paper doll…?’

These dresses were clothes that even people thinner and smaller than me could wear easily.

Also, many of the dresses sent as gifts from Shanette were this kind. So, naturally, they assumed I could wear them, and they sent them because they wanted to see me wear them.

But Reus was quietly trying to make me not choose dresses just because of the weight.

‘Isn’t he overreacting?’

The pain was just a matter of degree, and anyone would worry about it, so I let it go. But sometimes, I just couldn’t understand him.

Of course, that included using Melcia root when I caught a cold recently.

Seeing how much he cared about my health even though he saved my life—sometimes made me wonder what he really thought of me.

At first, I thought maybe he liked me a little, but he basically said no to that.

‘Does he… think of me like a little sister?’

Come to think of it, even during the festival when the handsome contest winners took off their clothes, he treated me like a child.

‘He even took me to a puppet show once.’

He always nagged a lot and touched me a lot, but I was the only one who got embarrassed.

Putting all these reasons together, I started to think maybe Reus really did think of me like a little sister.

‘That actually makes sense.’

If that was true, there was no chance of us becoming lovers, but I didn’t feel bad. Rather, I thought it was meaningful that we got closer from a relationship where we only hated each other.

‘Yeah, the idea that Reus has romantic feelings for me… is ridiculous. I was shameless for hoping even for a moment.’

No matter how much walls come down, the core doesn’t change.

No matter what, I was the daughter of Count Ivelle, whom Reus hated, and that would never change.

Remembering that made me realize how foolish I’d been to worry so much.

Just being the blood of someone he hated meant no relationship beyond this could exist.

‘I was really a fool for getting confused.’

While I quietly realized this, Reus kept looking at the dresses with a very serious face, lost in his thoughts.

Watching him like that, I felt like he wanted this answer, so I gently said,

“Should I just not buy a dress?”

Reus, who was about to agree right away, stopped himself and closed his mouth. After hiding his welcoming expression, he spoke again.

“No, didn’t you say you wanted to go to the ball tonight? Then wouldn’t it be better to buy the most comfortable dress possible?”

Ah, now I understand why Reus is acting like this.

It wouldn’t be strange if he told me to buy something other than a ballroom dress, but the reason he was worrying this much was that he prioritized the fact that I said I wanted to go to the ball more than his own feelings.

“If it’s because I said I wanted to go to the ball, you don’t have to worry so much. I actually don’t like balls that much.”

“Then why did you say you wanted to go?”

From Reus’s doubtful reaction, it seemed he thought I was lying.

“I’ve never been to a masquerade ball before, so I just wanted to see what it’s like.”

After saying this honestly, Reus’s expression relaxed a lot. He looked genuinely relieved that I didn’t have to buy a ballroom dress.

I watched him carefully for a moment, then spoke cautiously.

“So… about the money you gave me, can I use the rest later?”

“You’re refusing again.”

“No! It’s not that! I just don’t want to buy anything else right now. Since you gave it thinking about me, I want to use it when I really want something.”

But Reus still looked like he didn’t believe me.

“I’ll try to spend all the money this month. After all, we might find something I really like while walking around Leveren Kingdom…”

Finally, after holding Reus’s hand, I gently pulled him toward the shopping center exit.

“If I don’t spend all the money this month, I’ll pay you back four times next time. Really.”

He didn’t move at first, but after I promised, he started walking. I couldn’t help but laugh naturally, seeing Reus follow silently with an unhappy face. It felt like I was digging my own grave.

While sitting on the lobby sofa, waiting for Reus and Dwyn to finish talking, Theron came over to me.

“So, what happened with the Melcia root?”

“Oh.”

After I heard from Theron that the medicine I took when I had a cold was Melcia root, I was shocked and sat quietly for a while. When I heard Reus was coming, I didn’t talk anymore and went to my room.

That day, my dazed reaction made Theron curious about what had happened.

“But how bad did it hurt for you to drink Melcia root tea?”

“I see…”

Theron had been busy with guild work and hadn’t come to the Duke’s castle, so he didn’t know exactly where I was hurting.

His light brown eyes scanned me, reading “You don’t look sick enough to have needed Melcia root.”

Embarrassed, I hesitated to answer, and Theron’s face hardened a little, maybe misunderstanding.

“Why can’t you say? Was it really bad?”

“No…”

“Where exactly did it hurt?”

“It was… just a cold…”

My voice was barely audible, and Theron frowned.

“What did you say?”

“I mean, I caught a cold…”

As soon as I said that, Theron’s face showed an expression I had never seen before, then his eyes squinted tightly.

He couldn’t hold back his shock and said roughly,

“That guy’s really crazy? Who the hell drinks that for a cold?”

Yeah, that’s the normal reaction!

Very different from Reus, who didn’t know the problem at all. But after the sudden relief, Theron’s harsh reaction made me feel a little awkward, like I’d done something wrong.

Theron sighed repeatedly before speaking again.

“So, when I talked to that guy… or rather, he said something like?”

What did he say again?

[“I felt so frustrated then that let’s just say I used it because of her.”

“If not you, who else would I use it on?”

“Loelle it’s all my fault.”]

‘I feel like I shouldn’t say everything honestly…’

I couldn’t bring myself to explain the whole conversation that day, so I summarized it in one sentence.

“He just said he’d ask first next time.”

“Crazy guy.”

Theron was shocked that he planned to use Melcia again. I hadn’t noticed that at the time, but it made sense now.

“When did he start losing his mind?”

“Huh?”

“When did he start acting like that toward you?”

“Oh…”

Hearing it expressed as “losing his mind,” I realized Reus was really being unusual. I felt awkward again and scratched my neck.

But when exactly did he change?

Before and after going to the battlefield, we didn’t get along well. Especially after I insisted on treating him, things got worse.

For weeks, Reus didn’t even talk to me or make eye contact, but suddenly, at some point, he started acting kindly toward me.

That was probably…

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