Until our Hatred Turns into Love - Chapter 6

“Why did you kiss me?”

It was all well and good to throw the question out so boldly, but Adelheid could not bring herself to meet his eyes. Such a question was fundamentally unlike her. In her mind, she still saw herself as the Lady of Raines. Though she was no longer a noble, living her entire life as the daughter of a prestigious family made it difficult to cast aside her deeply ingrained mindset.

As he watched her, Klaus’s lips pressed thin as if suppressing a laugh before finally curving into a refreshing arc. Naturally, Adelheid’s face flushed hot.

“Why…”

“Does there need to be a reason?”

Klaus’s long fingers slowly traced his own pale lower lip. The gesture felt strangely sensual. As if she could feel the touch on her own lips, Adelheid flinched, and in that moment, he added, “I wanted to.”

At his low, hushed tone, she bit her lip. She had to keep her eyelashes from trembling just to keep herself from glaring at him.

“That was…”

That was Adelheid’s first kiss. To him, it might have been just one of many, but to her…

Then, Klaus added, “It’s not that complicated. I’m a man. And you’re a desirable woman.”

“But for such a trivial reason,”

“As you said, you are no longer a Lady or anything else.” He wore that overbearing yet elegant smile once more. “Is it not allowed?”

“…”

Taking a quiet, deep breath, Adelheid summoned every ounce of willpower to feign a composed voice.

“Your Grace,”

“Klaus.”

“Haa.”

Her transparent violet eyes closed briefly behind pale eyelids before opening again. “…Klaus, is that the kind of price you want?”

“Price?”

“You want something from me. Surely you won’t claim you’ve shown this much kindness without expecting anything in return.”

Her voice wavered slightly, but her gaze was resolute. It was a gaze so dignified that anyone would accept her as a noble lady even now.

“Do you want me to demand a price?”

“…If you don’t, I cannot stay here in peace.” Adelheid took a small breath and continued. “To be honest, if I leave this place, I might die. I don’t know when I’ll run into a monster, and since I am a fugitive, I’ll be killed on the spot if the Imperial Army finds me. Even if I were taken alive, I don’t think that would be better than death.”

“Yes, you know the situation well.”

“The winter will only get crueler. Having rested my body in such a comfortable place, I… shamefully, I lack the confidence to return to the cold streets.”

She was baring her truth quite candidly. Klaus stared deep into her violet eyes.

“Do you crave life that desperately?”

“I…” Adelheid’s brow furrowed slightly, looking pained and suffocated. “…I don’t have some grand ambition to survive and clear my family’s name. I’m not so naive as to believe I can do anything against the Emperor.”

“And yet.”

“I simply cannot just die like this. It would be a lie to say there weren’t moments when I lay alone in a freezing room, waking and sleeping with thoughts of death, but I did not choose death.”

Klaus took a sip of tea with a clinical motion before asking dryly, “Why?”

“Someone risked his life to save me. For his sake… I felt I couldn’t just give up on life so pointlessly.”

Adelheid did not miss the way the man’s face froze cold at those words. The Grand Duke’s following remark was even more baffling.

“But you didn’t love him, did you?”

“Pardon?”

The violet eyes that had been sunken in a heavy light flickered with sudden agitation. There was no way the Grand Duke of Reichardt would know Luke, a knight of the House of Raines, nor had she ever mentioned that the two were as close as lovers. So why did he speak as if he knew everything?

She began to wonder if this vague, knowing way of speaking was simply his peculiar habit. He had been like this since the moment they met. It might be due to the mysterious aura he projected or the cultural gap between the capital and the North, but his languid, riddling speech certainly left a strange impression.

“…He was precious to me,” Adelheid said firmly. She didn’t want to be swept away by him any further. “So, is there something you want from me? If it’s something I can do, I want you to tell me, whatever it is.”

“So you’re saying you don’t want charity,” Klaus murmured in a low voice. His well-defined lips curved into a leisurely arc. “Fine. Then I won’t hold back.”

“Please, speak.”

“Will you become my wife?”

Adelheid froze like a stone statue, doubting her own ears.

“…What?”

Smiling as if he enjoyed her expression, the man very kindly added an explanation. “I asked if you would become the Grand Duchess of Reichardt, Adelheid.”

“…Your jokes go too far.”

With a face full of confusion, distress, and a faint trace of anger, Adelheid nervously brushed her hair. Her hair, like a night sea, billowed elegantly.

“Didn’t you tell me to say whatever it was, as long as you could do it?”

“But a Grand Duchess? I am…!”

“You don’t need to do anything. Just becoming the Mistress of Reichardt in name only. That is all I ask of you. You can simply live comfortably, just as you are now.”

“…”

“I don’t think that’s something you’re incapable of.”

In other words, they would only be recorded as a married couple on paper, and if that was all he required, it wasn’t a difficult task at all. Having grown up as a proud daughter of a Duke, Adelheid did not long for a life of dependence on a man, nor did she have any particular fantasies about marriage. The problem, then, was why he was making such a request.

Adelheid cast him a questioning look. “But I don’t understand why you’re making such a demand. Is there something you gain from this?”

“There is. Something quite significant.” He rubbed his eyes as if the mere thought was exhausting. “The pressure to marry has been getting worse. Especially since I ascended to the position of Grand Duke.”

“Ah…”

“So, if you become my wife, wouldn’t all that annoying talk quiet down? At least for a while. If you help me with that, it would be the greatest support I could ask for, and you wouldn’t have to feel like you’re in my debt.”

“…”

“Well? My noble Lady Adelheid. Would this price satisfy you?”

Adelheid fell into thought for a moment. Just by being the Grand Duke’s fake wife, she could live here under his protection. For her, it was a proposal she had no reason to refuse. Furthermore, she had lost the name Raines and her noble status. Even if she entered into a marriage that was essentially a transaction, there were no more nobles or social circles left to shame her. In short, there were no problems.

However, no matter how formal it was, the word “couple” carried a weight greater than the tolling of a cathedral bell. After dwelling on its meaning for a moment, Adelheid asked in a trembling voice, “Is there… anything I should know? Even if it’s in name only, I would be the Mistress of the Grand Duchy. Are there duties I should handle or…”

“I like that about you, but,” Klaus gave a charming smile, as if he couldn’t help it, “I have absolutely no expectations or demands of you. Keep those thoughts to yourself and just live in peace. That’s enough.”

“…”

“Oh. I suppose there is one thing you should know.”

As if remembering something, the man tilted his head with a pensive expression and laughed softly. Adelheid suddenly felt anxious.

“What is it? If it’s something I can do,”

“I said it’s not about that.”

“Then…”

“I haven’t exactly been without women. Well, even now.”

At those words, Adelheid’s fine eyebrows immediately shot up in a frown. “…Why are you telling me that?”

“Trust is the most important thing between a husband and wife, isn’t it? So, even if it’s a formal relationship, we should observe the basics.”

“…”

“Moreover, did the noble Lady of the capital not have even a single common scandal before reaching adulthood?”

When Klaus chuckled, Adelheid flushed red and snapped back, “Of course not. That would be unlike a noble.”

“Right. It’s already an unfair enough marriage as it is. So at least there should be no deception.”

“…”

“No problem, right? Since it’s only formal, after all.”

Adelheid shifted her gaze to her teacup without a word. The transparent, brownish surface, no longer steaming, was silent and still. She was not so foolish as to throw away such a certain opportunity just because it wasn’t a “noble” way of doing things. Becoming a Grand Duchess would mean becoming a noble again, but as he said, it would only be a formality, so there was no reason to give it much meaning.

Raising a determined gaze, Adelheid answered in a clear voice, “Yes, no problem.”

“Good.”

Then, Klaus suddenly reached his hand out over the table. It was the large hand that had wiped a drop of blood from her cheek and had once firmly interlaced its fingers with hers.

…It’s just a formality.

Steeling her trembling breath, Adelheid bravely reached out her hand as well. Compared to his large, sturdy hand, her hand was already as small and fragile as a child’s. She didn’t want him to notice that she was shaking.

When their hands firmly locked together, she held her breath and looked at him.

“I look forward to working with you, Your Highness.”

It was the moment she unexpectedly became the wife of this beautiful and strange man.

Support Until our Hatred Turns into Love