What’s Wrong With My Marriage? I Was Bought as a Wife, Yet My Husband Is Madly in Love With Me! - Chapter 17

The man accosting the clerk was, without a doubt, Luce’s older brother, Ideon.

“I am a member of a Count’s family. I cannot be expected to sit alongside mere commoners. Make this place private for me right now and send the rest of these people home.”

Even just listening from the side, it was an absurd demand.

Ideon’s voice carried well through the room, leaving the other customers bewildered and murmuring. Luce shrank into her seat, overcome by a sense of mortification at her brother’s tyranny.

(If my brother finds me, he’ll surely come over to find fault with me.)

He might ruin the very restaurant Klaus’s grandfather loved. Luce didn’t know what to do. But just as she started to stand up, feeling she couldn’t simply sit there, Klaus spoke.

“It’s okay. This table can’t be seen from the entrance.”

“…Klaus.”

Calming down slightly, Luce stole another glance toward the entrance.

A refined gentleman dressed in well-tailored clothes emerged from the back of the shop and whispered something to Ideon. With a smile, the gentleman began leading them deeper into the establishment.

(…That dress.)

Luce’s eyes were glued to the figure of her younger sister, Mirella, who was following behind Ideon.

(Semopsen lace.)

She remembered it because Mirella had begged for it so incessantly. It was a lovely, flamboyant dress adorned with lace and frills—something entirely beyond the Orlov family’s means.

But the fact that she was wearing it meant they had bought it. Mirella was never the type to be satisfied with second-hand goods.

But where did they get that kind of money?

Then, the realization hit Luce.

(They bought it with the money they got from selling me…!)

She wished she hadn’t realized it.

Ideon, Mirella, and then her older sister, Cassandra. Her parents followed behind them.

Everyone looked so happy.

Dressed up as if to proclaim to the world that they were superior beings, they walked toward the back.

It was exactly the same as when Luce left the house. No one cared that she wasn’t there. They wore expressions that showed they felt nothing about her sacrifice; to any onlooker, they appeared to have always been a happy family of five.

“…Luce.”

Klaus called her name, but Luce was struggling with everything she had to keep from screaming.

(How can they laugh? Am I really that insignificant to them?!)

Anger and misery welled up inside her.

She wanted to throw these emotions away. She was the one who had abandoned her family, after all.

(Then why do I feel like crying…?!)

She didn’t want them to disturb her heart anymore. She didn’t want to be hurt by them ever again.

(How long do I have to be at the mercy of these feelings?!)

She was struck by her own helplessness. Her inability to simply write this off as something from the past. She hated this, it was painful, but she had no idea what to do. Luce felt a wave of self-loathing at her inability to change.

“Luce!”

The moment she looked up, Klaus drew her close by the shoulder. She felt his body heat and that mysterious, sweet yet stimulating scent she always noticed around him. Normally, she would have hesitated, unable to do anything, but…

“…Klaus.”

In this moment, she clung to her husband as if he were her only lifeline.

“It’s alright, Luce. Please, don’t worry.”

His beautiful blue eyes gazed down at her gently.

“They were just led to the back exit.”

“…Eh?”

Luce was taken aback, unable to process what he had just said.

“This shop has many fans among the nobility. They know exactly how to handle people like that.”

“…Um.”

“The manager of this shop is a merchant, but a very shrewd one. He’s used to dealing with that sort of noble. There are employees from another shop the manager owns waiting at the back exit.”

“I see…”

“He’ll express his ‘sympathies’ for their unfortunate encounter with the commoners and offer to lead them to a special VIP room in another building. In reality, it’s a warehouse. Oh, don’t worry, he’ll serve the food properly. The taste is guaranteed. The manager is very particular about not cutting corners there. Though, I hear he adds a significant surcharge for the use of a ‘special room.'”

Seeing Luce at a loss for words, Klaus apologized, worried that he hadn’t explained well enough.

(It’s not that, exactly…)

The torrent of emotions that had threatened to swallow her had completely receded.

“They won’t be coming back to this shop today. Let’s finish our meal in peace, Luce.”

Caught up in Klaus’s smile, Luce found herself laughing before she knew it.

(Maybe when things stop making sense, you just start to find them funny. …But still.)

When she was dominated by uncontrollable emotions, it was Klaus’s presence that allowed her to calm down. It was an undeniable fact that being held by him had made her feel safe.

Klaus began to tell stories of his grandfather’s memories associated with the food.

Listening to him, Luce eventually stopped worrying about her family altogether.

After finishing their meal, Luce returned to the estate with Klaus.

Though her emotions had been a rollercoaster after seeing the Orlovs, her dinner with Klaus had been truly wonderful.

Choosing a dress had been exhausting, but it had been fun after all—even if his excessive compliments had made her want to hide.

Luce was about to speak to Klaus to thank him properly when…

“Ugh…!”

“Klaus!? What’s wrong!?”

The moment they reached the entrance hall of the mansion, Klaus suddenly let out a groan and collapsed into a crouch.

Luce called for help, and Deck the butler arrived immediately.

“I will call the doctor at once. Madam, please wait in your room.”

“…But…”

“It is alright. This has happened before.”

(Happened before…?!)

Could Klaus be ill?

Luce turned pale, her hand over her mouth.

(Is he… is he terminally ill!? Actually, that would make sense. If that were the case, it wouldn’t be strange for him to want to marry someone like me.)

If he just wanted a bride anyone would do then the daughter of a debt-ridden house like Luce’s would be the least complicated choice.

It was only human to want someone to ease the loneliness in one’s final days.

But if that were the truth, she wanted Klaus to tell her properly.

(Because, whatever Klaus’s reasons were, being with you makes me…)

Carried by the servants to the bedroom, Klaus lay in bed.

He was deathly pale; it was obvious to anyone that he was in poor health.

Luce took his hand and asked if he was hurting somewhere. Klaus only wore a look of intense awkwardness.

“…Is the reason you made me your wife also because of your health?”

“That’s not…”

As Klaus hesitated, Luce became certain she had hit the mark.

(Ah, I knew it. There really was a reason for marrying someone like me.)

She told herself she wasn’t sad, as she had known this all along.

“Madam. Please, calm yourself for a moment.”

“I am calm! So please, tell me the truth about Klaus’s body! Even if Klaus is so sick that he’s going to die, I’ll still be with you.”

“T-that’s…”

Seeing Klaus’s continued hesitation, the suspicion felt more and more like reality.

Luce looked at Klaus, tears shimmering in her eyes.

“Please, I’m begging you, tell me the truth. Klaus, how much longer do you have to live?”

At her question, Klaus closed his eyes. Luce turned even paler, wondering if the disease had progressed so far that he couldn’t even answer.

“…Madam, please, truly, calm down. Master, you can’t keep quiet anymore. Let us tell her the truth.”

“Deck, but…”

“Klaus, please.”

At Luce’s plea, Klaus nodded with a pained expression.

(He chose someone like me. I should be honored, Luce. It’s okay! The reason my heart hurts is just because I’d be sad if Klaus died. That’s all.)

Gripping the hem of her dress, Luce waited for him to speak.