Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 84

The two returned to their room and were getting ready for bed a little earlier than usual. Reus, who came out of the bathroom late, sat down on the edge of the bed and quietly watched Loelle drying her hair. Then, with a calm expression, he spoke gently.

“You seemed to have a long talk with Theron earlier.”

“Ah…”

It was obvious to anyone that he was curious about what they talked about. Loelle immediately understood his intention. But after thinking carefully, she gave a vague answer.

“Just… this and that. It wasn’t anything special.”

In fact, she had deliberately avoided the topic with a polite excuse.

But Loelle had her own reasons.

“What if I make a mistake by making it sound too plausible?”

Especially when talking with Reus, she often found herself dragged into conversations, making promises she didn’t want to make, or adding things she hadn’t planned to say.

If it were a trivial story, she would have chatted freely while sitting beside him, but the whole conversation with Theron was about Reus from start to finish. Since she indirectly revealed her feelings during the talk, it made it even more awkward to share the details.

Still, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Reus stories that might make him angry if he heard them.

So, Loelle gently told Reus, who was still curious, that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“It wasn’t a special conversation, so I have nothing more to say.”

“I see. Understood.”

Reus answered more calmly than expected. But inside, he was already uneasy, sensing that Loelle couldn’t reveal everything openly.

“Could she have asked Theron for something? What else?”

Recently, Loelle had asked Theron to transfer money into her name so she could use it freely whenever she wanted. Just hearing that made Reus very anxious, and now, not knowing what kind of request she made this time made him even more restless.

For a moment, Reus felt like Loelle might suddenly leave without a word. On the other hand, he felt deeply hurt that Loelle—who usually never kept secrets—was hiding something from him.

“She can talk to Theron, but what could she possibly hide from me, the person closest to her?”

That thought stirred a deep feeling inside Reus, but it quickly faded away before he even noticed the change happening inside him.

“I can’t even ask her directly…”

As always, the thing Reus was most curious about was Loelle trip to Veliata, but he couldn’t bring up that topic anymore. If he mentioned it directly like before, Loelle would surely think he wanted her to leave.

He forced himself to calm down, reminding himself that if he brought it up too soon and made her uncomfortable, she might leave earlier than expected.

“Definitely better to avoid the Veliata topic for now.”

Soon, Reus lowered his head weakly and looked at his palm.

Earlier, Loelle hesitated before holding his hand. The slightly different expression and hesitant movements didn’t leave his mind no matter what.

Reus sighed silently and then raised his head to look at Loelle’s back.

The woman in the mirror had her gaze lowered, lost in some deep thought.

Just watching her for a moment, the unease he had barely pushed away rushed back fiercely in Reus’s heart.

Unaware that Reus was anxiously watching her back, Loelle was quietly pondering Theron’s words from earlier.

[“What’s so important between people who are going to part anyway? Maybe the most important thing is just keeping the right distance. In relationships, and the truths tied somewhere.”]

Before opening her heart even a little, she hadn’t realized it, but since Reus had regained his strength, a growing guilt was silently building inside her. She also realized she had given her heart to Reus more than she had thought.

She wasn’t planning to do anything immediately, but Theron’s words stayed in her mind for a long time.

They spent most of the last two days on the cruise resting. Finally, on the last day, they arrived at the kingdom of Leveren across the ocean.

As soon as they got off the cruise, the intense sunlight poured down on them. Even standing still for a short time, the air felt thick and hot as they breathed in and out.

“Leveren is hotter than I expected.”

The Ashelit Empire was relatively dry, so it was hard to feel intense heat unless it was midsummer. But Leveren was different. The occasional breeze made the air feel heavy, as if they were trapped in the middle of summer.

But at the same time, it felt good that the complicated thoughts filling her mind for the past few days seemed to melt away in the heat.

The clear blue sky with no clouds, leaves slowly swaying in the soft wind, and people casually walking in light clothes—everything made the exotic scenery feel even more real.

But that didn’t last long. After walking a little, sweat started dripping down. Unable to stand the heat, she instinctively fanned herself while moving forward.

Fortunately, not long after, they boarded a carriage sent by the Leveren royal palace. Thanks to magic stones, the temperature inside was cool and comfortable.

Soon, the carriage slowly picked up speed. The passing scenery was unusual. Unlike the Ashelit capital, which had relatively tall buildings, most buildings in Leveren were no more than three stories high, and even those were rare. Most visible buildings had only one or two floors.

Interestingly, there were many white buildings. The bright sunlight reflecting off the white walls made even an ordinary street look like a beautiful summer scene captured on a painting.

Soon, the Leveren royal palace came into view not far away.

The palace was clearly different in style from the Ashelit imperial palace. If the Ashelit palace was the peak of grandeur and splendor, the Leveren palace had a simpler but cleaner image.

Lost in the unfamiliar view like a tourist, Loelle glanced quietly at Reus, who seemed unusually quiet today.

“He’s looked off since earlier…”

In fact, he had looked unwell for a few days.

Since Reus began sleeping well, they usually woke up around the same time.

But last night, he tossed and turned and seemed unable to fall asleep easily. This morning, he woke much earlier than her and had already finished preparing.

Though it was just one day of poor sleep, his complexion looked so bad she couldn’t stop worrying. But since his mood seemed so low, she hesitated to speak to him.

Finally, seeing how troubled he looked, she carefully spoke.

“Reus… are you tired?”

Usually, he would immediately deny it and tell her not to worry so much. But this time, no usual gentle reply came. Only a weak smile as if saying it wasn’t serious.

As soon as they got off the carriage, the king and queen of Leveren approached them as if they had been waiting. Among them, a blonde woman with her hair tied up high walked briskly right up to Loelle.

She gave a lively and bright impression and smiled playfully as she briefly introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Helen. Your name is Loelle, right?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Helen then lightly pressed her cheek against both of Loelle’s cheeks. Loelle knew Leveren was an open country, but the sudden contact surprised her, and she stiffened a bit. Then Helen suddenly hugged her tightly!

“If we talk about who’s happier to meet, it’s definitely me. I never imagined I’d actually meet the woman who is Reus’s wife. I’ve truly been looking forward to today. Thank you so much for visiting the palace, Loelle.”

Before becoming queen, Helen had been the captain of the knights in Leveren, so her body was very strong. From the arms wrapped around Loelle’s back to the closely pressed torso, every part felt muscular.

But because Helen’s strength was so great, Loelle’s body gradually felt crushed and it became hard to breathe. Just as a muffled groan was about to escape, Reus gently pulled Loelle back, freeing her from the pressure.

“Enough already.”

Hearing Reus’s cold voice was strange, since recently he had mostly spoken softly.

Helen, pouting as if disappointed, said,

“Are you afraid I’ll eat your wife? Even after marriage, you’re still as prickly as ever.”

“Yeah. Don’t be so harsh; we haven’t met in a while, Reus. Helen’s been looking forward to this day.”

The reason they could speak so casually with the king and queen of a country was thanks to a long-standing deep relationship between the three of them.

Because Ashelit Empire and Leveren Kingdom were allied nations, the three had often gone to war together. Meeting on the battlefield at a young age, they had maintained a good relationship even now. It was nice to see.

Especially since Loelle never imagined Reus had close friends, she felt even more welcomed by them.

Of course, Reus didn’t show much sign of being glad.

“But since his tone isn’t sharp, I guess he feels comfortable with Claude and Helen.”

At that moment, King Claude approached Loelle.

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