My Husband Picked Up a Woman - Chapter 11

There was a reason Damian coveted Briseis’s assets.

The House of Mayze, Damian’s family, had been drowning in debt. His marriage to Briseis was conditioned on the House of Philia clearing those debts. Furthermore, to flaunt their affection for her, the Philia family had bestowed upon her a massive dowry.

Before Damian left for the war, however, the debts had only continued to pile up. Aside from the initial relief provided by the Philia family, Damian possessed terrible business sense and had ruined every venture he touched.

It was Briseis who had turned those businesses profitable, using her knowledge of the original story. She had achieved this by investing and nurturing her own personal assets. While her husband was away at war, Briseis had even managed the Grand Duchy’s administrative affairs. She had scaled back her social activities as a Grand Duchess to focus aggressively on business, growing their fortune.

In reality, the fact that the House of Mayze was currently debt-free was not due to the Grand Duke’s military merits, but rather to Briseis’s business acumen and her use of seed money to repay the loans.

That was exactly why things were as they were. While military merits were celebrated, it took time for rewards to be redistributed through the Emperor’s hands. Moreover, given the current Emperor’s greed, he was the type to offer plenty of praise for loyalty while remaining stingy with actual rewards.

“Since you spent the Grand Duchy’s fortune in my place, you should pay it back,” Damian stated.

“The one who needs to pay back anything is you, Damian. Are you unaware that I cleared all of the Grand Duchy’s debts?”

Briseis hated that it had come to this. She had cleared those debts twice because she had loved him. Initially, the House of Philia had only intended to pay half of the massive debt caused by Damian’s failed policies.

“Please trust me, Father. I will lead the House of Mayze so that you will not be disappointed.”

Briseis had persuaded her own father to pay off the entirety of the debt. Yet, not content with the relief provided during their engagement, Damian had fallen into debt once more. Briseis had cleared all of it during his time on the battlefield.

“I wouldn’t know about that. All I know is that you used the Grand Duchy’s assets as you pleased. So, return everything.”

“Then I should return the debts as well. Is that what you want?”

“When your husband speaks, do not talk back and answer submissively. That is the virtue of a wife.”

Briseis had never felt Damian’s large frame to be as threatening as it was today.

“Are you truly the Damian I know?”

She felt strange, as his golden eyes seemed unusually dull today, like those of someone lost in a dream.

“Then who do I look like to you?”

“You feel like a different person now. Not the Damian I once knew.”

“I suppose that is how your lover seduced you.”

Briseis found those words laughable, considering it was Damian who had brought home a mistress.

“I do not care how many lovers you have, but a woman’s ‘first time’ leaves a mark. You know exactly what kind of reparations I will demand from the House of Philia if you are found lacking.”

“I told you it isn’t true, yet you keep saying the same thing. I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Move.”

Briseis walked past him. Since the moment Calisten’s name was mentioned, Damian had acted as though he had lost his will to fight. As she walked down the hallway without looking back, Damian spoke.

“Do not forget your place. Even if a woman graduates from the Academy, she can ultimately do nothing.”

Briseis ignored him and headed toward the Academy.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Brie! Sit here!”

Briseis nearly closed the door the moment she opened it. The first thing she saw was Calisten calling out loudly for her to sit next to him.

“Who told you to wear your uniform like that? Can’t you wear it properly?”

Calisten had undone two more buttons than usual, leaving the upper part of his chest exposed.

“Why? Can you see inside?”

“Yes.”

“Then take a good look. I unbuttoned it just for you.”

“You are insane.”

Briseis instinctively hardened her expression and tried to sit elsewhere. However, Calisten was already occupying the front-row seat she always claimed. Since the other students hadn’t arrived yet, the room wasn’t full.

“Good morning, Brie.”

“Ah, good morning, Cas.”

“What? You two know each other?” Calisten asked, looking at Cassius with a strange expression.

“She is my close friend’s sister,” Cassius replied.

“Ah, right. That’s true.” Calisten’s expression softened as he recalled that Cassius was also Gael’s friend.

“How did you two meet?”

“We met at the cemetery yesterday. And Cal, sit properly, will you?”

Briseis frowned as she watched Calisten sitting crookedly, looking ready to jump up at any second.

“I’ll listen. Just sit here.”

Calisten patted the seat next to him. She looked for another spot but eventually let out a sigh. Briseis moved to sit by the window in the back, but Calisten followed her. She moved to the middle of the room to avoid him, but again, he followed.

“I’m not sitting with you.”

“Why? It’ll be a huge help if you sit with me. I’ve already learned everything they teach here anyway.”

“Did you even take the entrance exam?”

“I got a perfect score. It was easy. The questions were things I learned before I was ten.”

As Calisten spoke with a bright smile, Briseis sighed again. It was because while some studied desperately, others spoke so casually about subjects they had already mastered.

“Cas, may I sit next to you?”

“Yes.”

“Cassius, move.”

“Ah, yes, Your Highness.”

The middle seat where Cassius had been sitting was promptly vacated. Briseis glared at Calisten in silence.

“Let’s sit in the front together. If you like the middle, sit there.”

Realizing Calisten would follow her no matter where she sat, she shook her head.

“Do not say a single word until I tell you that you may speak.”

Calisten nodded obediently and mimed zipping his lips with a smile. She let out an even deeper sigh and set her bag down in the very center of the front row. She began to unpack her things and opened her notebook to catch up on the studying she couldn’t do at home.

Rip.

She tried to ignore the tearing sound coming from beside her and fixed her eyes on her notes. Briseis, who possessed excellent concentration, was soon absorbed in her work since no one was talking to her. The problem was the piece of paper that was slid toward her.

Briseis was prepared to lose her temper if Calisten was talking nonsense about being in pain again. However, that was not what was written.

Can we look at it together? I couldn’t attend the classes in the middle of the term.

At his request, Briseis nodded and moved the notebook to the center. Calisten moved closer, sitting up straight and fixing his eyes on the notes. Briseis also returned to her reading.

While she looked at the notebook, Calisten’s eyes drifted toward her. He stared blankly at her red hair, which was slightly disheveled from her hurried departure, curling only at the ends. He admired her pink lips and her sky-blue eyes, which were as beautiful as a cross-section of a glacier.

Calisten subtly let his shoulder touch hers while pretending to focus on the notes. Briseis pulled her arm away at the petty gesture. However, fearing that another warning would mean she would never sit with him again, he continued to look at the notes as if nothing had happened.

Thinking she had been too sensitive, Briseis returned to her original position, and soon their arms began to touch slightly again.

“Could you show me the notes as well?” Cassius chimed in.

“Ah, yes. I’m looking at the punishment module right now. Should I show you the administration notes first?”

“I would appreciate that.”

Calisten glared at Cassius for breaking the atmosphere just as their shoulders were touching. But Cassius simply smiled with a harmless expression.

“I heard you two have been close since childhood.”

“That’s right,” Calisten answered.

“By the way, did you two meet on the battlefield?”

“Yeah.”

As Calisten answered, he tucked a stray lock of hair behind Briseis’s ear. “You usually kept it tied up.”

“Is it better down?” she asked reflexively.

“You’re beautiful no matter what you do. Beautiful with it down, beautiful with it up.”

Briseis didn’t place much weight on his words. He was a madman who would lose interest the moment he possessed what he desired. It was always the same: if there was something he wanted, he would work himself to death to get it, only to discard it without a second thought once it was his. She found it laughable that he was trying to win her heart with these habitual compliments. They didn’t feel sincere at all.

“By the way, Brie. I heard you fell down the stairs.”

“I heard someone pushed you.”

Saturn, who had just arrived, cut in tactlessly.

“What? Someone pushed her?”

At Saturn’s careless words, a spark of madness flickered in Calisten’s eyes.