My Husband Picked Up a Woman - Chapter 5

The Calisten of the original story was a madman, but he was a different kind of madman than the one I knew.

In Delilah: Master of the Grand Duchy, he was certainly crazed, but he was a man entirely devoted to the heroine, Delilah. The problem was that because I had changed, the original plot had twisted. Just as I had only met Delilah for the first time this week, Calisten had yet to lay eyes on her.

Instead of a heroine appearing to suppress his madness, he simply grew up as an unbridled lunatic. He had even skipped enrolling in the Academy to live exactly as he pleased.

Our childhood years together had been grueling. He was the type of person who had to possess anything he desired, and I was one of those things. It was not out of love or romantic affection; it was a sheer, obsessive need for ownership.

“Did you actually think I’d miss you?”

“Hahaha. I truly missed your voice.”

He was still wearing his blood-stained, intimidating armor. Having come straight from the battlefield, he smelled faintly of earth and sun-dried cloth. Yet, he remained strikingly beautiful. Perhaps because he was cruel and unstable, his external perfection seemed to compensate for his lack of character. Objectively speaking, there was likely no one in the Empire more handsome than Calisten.

“I really wanted to see you. I missed you.”

But that was exactly why I did not believe a word he said. His hair was neatly swept back, unlike someone who had just stepped off a battlefield. His pitch-black locks still looked glossy and soft. His blood-colored eyes were as enchanting as rubies shimmering underwater.

Nature’s most dangerous creatures are often the most brilliantly beautiful, just like Calisten Ethan Cropus.

“You know, I thought a lot while I was at war.”

“Thinking isn’t enough for you. People don’t change.”

“Nothing changes as easily as a person.”

“Not you.”

He laughed at my conviction, his eyes crinkling as he chuckled aloud. One could not afford to let their guard down around him. He was like a bundle of needles hidden in silk; a dangerous man who would leave you badly wounded if you touched him unawares.

“If this is about our childhood, I apologize.”

“Which act are you apologizing for?”

“When you wouldn’t play with me and I let all your canaries go. That.”

“Is that the only thing that comes to mind?”

“Chasing away the young lords who wanted to be your friends?”

“So you did that too.”

“Ah, so it wasn’t that either?”

He did not love me. He was simply a man with an overpowering sense of exclusivity, someone who drew a sharp line between what was his and what was not. He had been unable to trust anyone since his mother died; the only people he had ever opened up to were those of the House of Philia.

“I’ve changed now.”

He had left for the war against the Viathen Empire immediately after the conflict in Mervenia broke out. Before that, he had been away subjugating the Sotan. In the original story, he was supposed to have spent four years at the Academy obsessed with Delilah. Instead, he had spent those four years, from the age of sixteen, living on the battlefield.

“I won’t do the things you hate and fear anymore.”

“Could you please start now?”

I stared at him pointedly, thinking his words were rich coming from someone who had just broken into my carriage. He gave me a gentle, pleasant smile.

“I really want to have you.”

“Didn’t you just say you were going to be good?”

“I am. I’m asking nicely.”

I instinctively frowned. He laughed brightly and continued.

“So, I will work hard until you want to give yourself to me.”

“Have you forgotten that I am married?”

His smile turned even more ecstatic.

“But you haven’t had your wedding night yet, have you? An annulment is easy, then.”

“…”

“Besides, the Briseis I know is not the type of person to allow her husband to keep a mistress.”

When I remained silent, he seemed to take it as confirmation and continued with a smile.

“If you come to my side, I will never let such a thing happen.”

“You are the Crown Prince and the man who will one day be Emperor. If you become Emperor, would you really not take an Empress?”

“Here.”

In response to my interrogation, he placed a strange piece of metal in my hand. When I opened my palm, I saw it was a key.

“What is this?”

“The key to my chastity belt.”

“…What?”

“I don’t want anyone but you. And I never took it off once while I was at war. I kept the key hidden here in the Imperial Palace the whole time.”

Wondering if he was telling the truth, my eyes involuntarily drifted toward his lower body. He shifted slightly, and I heard the faint, metallic clink of moving iron.

“The one I’m wearing hurts if… things expand.”

I wasn’t entirely ignorant of what a male chastity belt looked like. I was simply stunned that he was actually wearing one.

“It always hurts whenever I think of you.”

“Get out of the carriage. Now.”

“Hahaha.”

He laughed at my command, but then he firmly closed my hand around the key, forcing me to make a fist.

“There is only one key. If you throw it away, I’ll have to wear this forever.”

“Why are you giving this to me? Take it back.”

“Because you are the owner.”

“I am married.”

“But you’ll make the marriage void soon. Or you might divorce him.”

The fact that he knew me so well was becoming a problem.

“I will never, ever let you worry about things like that.”

“Cal…”

“I thought about it a lot. I wondered what I lacked compared to the Duke of Mayze, and what it was about him that made you feel so secure.”

“…”

“The Duke might have been a fake, but I am the real thing. I’ll become the ‘real thing’ you desire. I won’t let you suffer because of another woman. I won’t even let the seeds of doubt take root.”

The key in my hand felt incredibly cold. He was still holding my hand, which was wrapped around the key.

“Brie.”

“…Yes?”

“Just say ‘Welcome back’ once.”

“Go.”

“Hahaha.”

He laughed as if he had expected my answer and met my eyes with a smile.

“I am truly happy to see you again.”

“…”

“It hurts.”

I felt my face flush, sensing exactly what he meant by it “hurting.”

“Please, just go.”

“Right. Sleep well, Brie. I’m truly happy to see you now that I’m back.”

With that, he stepped out of the carriage. As soon as he was out, he shouted for the coachman to proceed to the Grand Duke’s estate. I finally arrived at the mansion and was able to return to my room.

❖ ❖ ❖

Damian and Delilah did not return to the estate that night.

Briseis could not fall asleep, perhaps because they hadn’t come home. Because she stayed up all night, the bruises all over her body felt even colder and sharper.

Morning came as she waited, and she had to prepare for the Academy. Honestly, whether they returned or not, she just wanted to scrub them out of her life. While she wasn’t sure if meeting Calisten yesterday was a blessing or a curse, she was at least lucky that he had reminded her of the possibility of an annulment.

However, everyone in the Empire knew that Briseis and Damian were married. Even so, a divorce or annulment was possible if the marriage hadn’t been consummated.

The real problem lay with the House of Philia. They were the ones who had used their daughter as a bargaining chip because they coveted the title of Grand Duke. If she broke her engagement with Damian, she would surely be sold off again, this time as “damaged goods.” People would view her as flawed because she had already been married once. She might even be sold to someone in their sixties.

That was why she was so obsessed with the Academy. Even if she had to sever ties with her family, she needed to secure a way to survive on her own. At the same time, she thought it might be better to find a new marriage partner the moment she ended things with Damian. At least if she chose the person herself, it would be better than living with him.

“How should I do your hair?”

Ella asked, carefully gauging Briseis’s mood. Briseis was regaining her composure thanks to Ella, who cared for her more than anyone and had grown up with her like a sister.

“Just brush it.”

“Pardon? Ah… yes, Milady.”

Normally, Briseis would have tied it up neatly. That was the tidy, feminine style Damian preferred. But the current Briseis had no interest in such things.

Yet, leaving her hair down felt so foreign that she wasn’t sure if she looked okay. A part of her heart still held onto the words Damian had once said:

“Brie, your neckline is truly beautiful. That is why I can’t help but stare whenever you tie your hair up high.”

Recalling those words, Briseis bit her lip in self-mockery and looked into the mirror. She headed to the Academy having put significantly less effort into her appearance than usual.

❖ ❖ ❖

Damian and Delilah were nowhere to be seen at the Academy either, even though the morning assembly was about to begin. They had pushed themselves to attend yesterday, yet they were absent now.

The door slid open.

“We have a visitor today.”

The professor in charge of Class 1 spoke and looked toward the door. A figure stepped inside. Briseis stared at him, her mouth agape in pure shock.

“Please greet him. This is Calisten Ethan Cropus.”

Calisten wore a faint, peculiar smile as he fixed his gaze on Briseis.