What’s Wrong With My Marriage? I Was Bought as a Wife, Yet My Husband Is Madly in Love With Me! - Chapter 3

After having tea with Klaus, I was shown to my room. It was considerably more spacious than the one I had back at my parents’ house.

The walls were covered in pink wallpaper, and there was a dressing table framed with elegant white molding. Decorated with ribbons and floral motifs, it was the kind of room a young girl might dream of. As I stood there, surprised by the overly adorable interior, Nora, the head maid, spoke up.

“Madam, this room is…”

“Oh, was there a mistake? I was just thinking it might be a bit too ‘cute’ for me.”

(I wonder if this is a room for Klaus’s niece, or perhaps a sister or some other relative staying here?) I thought.

“No, this is your room, Madam. However, if it is not to your liking, there is another room for you next door.”

(What do you mean, there’s “another” one next door?)

The second room she led me to was roughly the same size as the first, but it was decorated in white and gold with ornate patterns. A room that could truly be described as magnificent.

Just like the previous one, the furniture here was far more expensive than anything in my family’s home.

“Madam, we also have this one.”

Nora continued, leading me to yet another room.

There was a room with furniture upholstered in velour, a room adorned with jade-green wallpaper, and even a foreign-style room said to be in a tropical theme.

“The Master has instructed us that he wishes for you to use whichever room you like, whenever you like. Should you have any specific requests, we will rearrange the decor immediately, so please do not hesitate to ask.”

“…Um.”

“Yes, Madam?”

“Are these not rooms intended for Klaus to host his close friends…?”

“Heaven forbid! …Ah, excuse my rudeness. The Master prepared these rooms solely for you, Madam. In fact, we had to desperately talk him down, and we somehow managed to settle on just these five.”

(They “stopped” him? They stopped him and he still prepared five rooms?)

Luce was bewildered. She tried to compare this to her own common sense wondering if it was normal to provide five rooms for a wife upon marriage and concluded that it was definitely strange.

“And this is your dressing room, Madam. Please choose a dress from here for dinner. The Master mentioned that he would like to take you shopping for new dresses starting tomorrow.”

Inside a walk-in closet about the size of her entire bedroom back home was a massive collection of dresses. As Luce stood there in a daze, wondering why there were so many, Nora spoke in a flat, rhythmic tone.

“All the dresses here were personally selected and purchased by the Master because he wanted to see you in them. If any are not to your taste, it would be better to return them so the Master can reflect on his… well, I have said too much. My apologies.”

“O-Oh, I see.”

“I advised him until I was blue in the face that women have their own preferences, but he simply would not listen. It is truly a failure on our part. Madam, please forgive us.”

(Is that something you need to apologize for?!)

Luce didn’t know what to make of any of this anymore.

For the time being, she chose the room that seemed the most calming and decided to rest there. Nora suggested a bath before dinner, and Luce nodded.

While there had been a bathtub at her parents’ house, she was always the last one allowed to use it. Her sisters took such long baths that the water was always cold, and sometimes there wasn’t even enough hot water left. One might think they could just boil more, but her father wouldn’t allow it, calling it a waste of fuel.

Consequently, she usually just wiped herself down with warm water and had rarely ever soaked properly in a tub.

The bath Nora prepared was filled with fragrant oils. An experience Luce was having for the first time in her life. Several maids treated her with the utmost care, washing her hair beautifully. They massaged her arms and legs, and the sensation was so pleasant she nearly drifted off to sleep.

While marveling at such lavish treatment, Luce thought about Klaus. She still couldn’t recall his face from her past, and it felt as though she had never met a man like him in her entire life.

The men Luce had spoken to until now were her father and brother, the mansion’s servants, and Lord Riekel, the man who had been furious when introduced to Luce after asking for her sister’s hand. Other than them, there were only the poor people she met at church while accompanying her sister’s volunteer work.

She remembered Lord Riekel’s face well enough to know he wasn’t Klaus. Klaus’s brilliant golden hair was the kind you wouldn’t forget once you’d seen it, so she could only tilt her head in confusion, wondering where they could have possibly met.

(It must be someone else. …He’s making a mistake.)

Someone, somewhere, must have used Luce’s name without permission and misled Klaus. Otherwise, it was impossible for someone to hold such deep affection for her.

After all, Luce hadn’t even been loved by her own flesh and blood.

(I just wanted to be loved… I just wanted to hear someone say, ‘Luce, thank you.’)

Her life had ended up being a series of being looked down upon.

She had thought that if she devoted herself to every request, they would love her. That was Luce’s way of showing love. But to her family, it meant nothing. They never returned that love.

A lady who worked devotedly at the church used to say that one shouldn’t seek anything in return for love, but Luce had wanted something back for the love she gave.

(…That’s why my resentment toward my family kept building up.)

And so, out of desperation and a desire to get away from them, she was here. If Klaus realized he had made a mistake and kicked her out, what would she do? Returning to her parents’ house was out of the question from the start.

In that case, Luce figured she should stay in Klaus’s good graces for as long as possible so that, when the time came for her to be cast out, she might at least have some money or a recommendation for a job.

“Madam, what would you like to wear for dinner? Do you have a favorite color?”

Nora asked, offering to bring several options. Luce blinked, realizing she had never been asked what her favorite color was when choosing a dress before.

“My favorite color… perhaps orange.”

“Then I shall bring several dresses in that shade.”

Even after stepping out of the bath, Luce was treated with meticulous care. Cream was carefully applied to her rough fingertips, her hair was styled, and makeup was applied. The person reflecting in the mirror had changed so much she could hardly believe it was herself.

“It suits you beautifully, Madam.”

“Your neck looks a bit bare; would you like to wear some jewelry?”

She put on the accessories the maids recommended, but the size of the gemstones made her feel dizzy. (Surely, he won’t say he prepared these for me too?) Luce looked at Nora as if pleading for help. Receiving that gaze, Nora nodded silently.

“He purchased these the day before yesterday, believing they would look lovely on you.”

The day before yesterday—wasn’t that the very day her father sent the letter accepting the marriage?

(He went out and bought these accessories immediately after receiving the letter?)

“There are many other varieties as well. Madam, please do not hesitate to tell the Master clearly if something is not to your taste.”

“O-Oh, I see.”

“Otherwise, I fear he may attempt to buy the entire shop.”

“The whole shop!?”

(…S-Surely, she’s joking?)

Nora stood there with a perfectly serious expression. There was no hint of a joke in her demeanor, so Luce decided it was best to stop thinking too deeply about it.

“Luce, you are truly beautiful and lovely all dressed up… Ah, you are like the angel of my dreams.”

(…I-Is that not a bit too much praise!?)

Klaus, meeting her again at the dinner table, pressed his hands together and cried out in apparent moved emotion. Having never been complimented like this, Luce was filled with a mix of itchiness and embarrassment. Though she didn’t consider herself particularly beautiful, Klaus went on and on with words of admiration.

If it had felt insincere, she would have been repulsed, but as Klaus gazed at her with flushed cheeks, he didn’t look like he was acting. If this was an act, he was a genius at deception.

As she pondered this, dinner was served. Every dish laid out was one of Luce’s favorites.

(I only answered because Nora asked me during my bath. I can’t believe they served every single one of them.)