IWDGD 15

Chapter 15

A child might be different since it was a matter of succession, but still, she couldn’t help but feel afraid.

If Fernan’s cold, indifferent eyes were ever directed at a child as well, she truly wouldn’t be able to bear it.

*’In any case, His Highness probably has no intention of sharing a bed with me either…’*

Yulia mindlessly stroked the stiff-edged paper, then rose from her seat.

She habitually tried to call for Melissa, but then remembered that Melissa had left on vacation today.

Without Melissa, who was her only companion by her side, she felt somewhat empty.

Leaving the bedroom, Yulia walked slowly to the end of the corridor.

She planned to spend the day in the library today.

The Caesar Grand Ducal Castle had a total of five libraries. The one Yulia frequently used was located on the fourth floor.

It was a quiet place, with no one coming or going except when the maids came to clean.

“Good morning, Your Highness.”

Just then, two maids who had finished cleaning the library came out and bowed to her.

Yulia nodded and was about to enter when she heard the maids whispering very quietly behind her.

She already knew that lately the maids had been gossiping about her and laughing among themselves.

Being ignored by servants because she wasn’t treated well by her master was something she had experienced countless times while living at the Marquis’s estate.

They knew well that even if they tormented their superior like this, their master would take no action.

Yulia, too, didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble, so she endured their whispering as she always did.

Letting out a deep sigh, she picked a random book from the shelf and sat down at the table.

When she immersed herself in a book, she could forget all the reality surrounding her.

Today again, Yulia desperately immersed herself in reading in order to digest her emotions.

—

Time passed quickly. She had come to the library in the morning, and before she knew it, dusk was settling in.

Yulia rose from her seat, put the book back in its place, and approached the door.

*Clack.*

Yulia, who had been turning the doorknob, froze in an instant. The door would not open.

*…Surely, they didn’t lock it from the outside.*

With a bad feeling, Yulia quickly rattled the handle and called out.

“Is anyone out there? The door is locked!”

She pounded on the door and shouted loudly, but the outside remained silent.

“Is there no one?”

After shouting until her voice went hoarse for a long time, she finally slumped down in place. Her heart began to race wildly.

The maids had clearly seen her enter the library that morning.

Moreover, it was still a long time until lights-out, so there was no reason to lock the door at this hour.

Which meant the maids had deliberately locked the door, knowing she was inside.

Yulia bit her trembling lips tightly and gazed at the window, which had grown completely dark.

If no one came even after all this, they were either pretending not to hear, or they truly couldn’t hear her.

Without Melissa, there was no one who would notice she was missing and come looking for her.

“Hah…”

A hollow laugh escaped her. *Why do they go this far with me?*

Drawing her knees up and curling her body tightly, Yulia clasped her trembling hands together. Inside the library, which had no fireplace, a chill set in as soon as the sun went down.

After staring blankly at the floor for a long time, a faint hope suddenly arose in her.

*Perhaps His Highness might notice I’m missing…*

“…That’s impossible.”

Yulia immediately muttered self-deprecatingly. There was no way Fernan would care about someone like her.

He wouldn’t even care whether she had disappeared or run away, and even if he did notice she was gone… he was the kind of man who would do nothing.

In an instant, her chest turned cold.

Yulia buried her face in her knees and let out a trembling breath. Her mind was raging like crazy.

After crouching there for a long time, Yulia rose again. She approached the door and pounded on it until her hands were bruised.

But no matter how much she pounded and pounded, no one came.

Yulia let her red, swollen hands drop limply.

It was hard to accept that among all the many people in this castle, not a single one would heed her cries.

*Had I done something so wrong that I deserved this? What could they possibly gain by going this far…*

Her eyes grew moist. She didn’t want to cry, but tears spilled out on their own.

The library that had once felt comfortable and cozy now seemed frightening and terrifying. The time spent trapped alone stretched on like an eternity.

Her breathing began to grow short and rapid.

—

When she barely managed to open her heavy eyelids, the first thing she saw was a tall man.

Even through her blurry vision, she recognized him immediately. That man was Fernan.

“You need plenty of rest. Your body has taken a toll, but fundamentally, it seems mental stress has played a major role.”

The physician’s serious tone mingled with Fernan’s voice, occasionally responding.

Yulia closed her eyes again. She didn’t want to wake up.

“When will she regain consciousness?”

Fernan’s low voice pierced her ear.

That voice, which she had always thought pleasant to hear even when indifferent, now didn’t sound welcome at all.

Yulia kept her eyes firmly closed and willed herself to sleep. Her body was so heavy it felt as if it were being pulled into the bed. Sleep came quickly.

—

When she opened her eyes again, Yulia couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

Fernan was still by her side. Sitting on the chair next to the bed, quietly watching her.

“Are you feeling more lucid?”

His voice settled heavily. After staring at him for a moment, Yulia turned her head to the opposite side without answering.

Though her intention to turn away from him was clear, he continued speaking undeterred.

“I’ve locked the maids in charge of the library in the dungeon.”

“……”

“They claimed locking the door was a mistake.”

Yulia weakly lifted the corners of her mouth. She didn’t even have the strength to be angry at the obvious lie about it being a mistake. She had even less energy to go confront them.

“Do as you wish with them.”

“……”

“I hope it doesn’t end with simply kicking them out.”

“…I won’t take any action.”

“What?”

Fernan raised one eyebrow. Yulia, still turned away from him, muttered listlessly.

“Because I think that’s what Your Highness would actually want as well.”

“…What is that supposed to mean?”

“You want me to disappear… more than anyone else. So you should be thanking those maids.”

Perhaps it was the effect of the medication. The words kept flowing out of their own accord.

She hadn’t meant to say this, but somehow her voice came out as if she were questioning him.

“…Don’t you know why those maids did this to me?”

Normally, she would have first said thank you for caring, but those words she absolutely could not bring herself to say.

Because not even a little bit did she feel grateful.

Fernan simply looked at her in silence. Whether it was because he acknowledged her words, or because he couldn’t acknowledge them and so remained silent, she couldn’t tell.

Since she hadn’t expected an apology in the first place, Yulia didn’t open her mouth again either.

After a long silence, Fernan picked up the bowl placed on the nightstand.

“At least eat something first.”

What he pushed toward her along with the utensils was a soup made of oatmeal and barley. It was still warm, as if it had been made recently.

Yulia accepted the bowl and blinked slowly. This situation suddenly felt unfamiliar to her.

She lifted her gaze and looked straight at Fernan.

He was expressionless as always, but the coldness that usually lingered was gone.

He seemed strange to her all of a sudden.

Calling a physician to treat her, staying by her side until she woke up. She couldn’t understand why he would go this far.

“…I don’t understand Your Highness’s actions.”

She held the bowl tightly and murmured quietly.

“You said this marriage wouldn’t last forever. That my feelings were utterly useless.”

“……”

“You say you dislike me, so why… why are you being so generous now?”

Fernan was indifferent and ruthless at every moment, yet at certain times, he strangely couldn’t bring himself to be cold to her.

When she had collapsed in his bedchamber that one time, when she had fallen to her knees chasing after him, and now as well.

Fernan, his expression deliberately hardened at her words, spoke slowly as if suppressing something.

“I still think about the end of this marriage. Still, your feelings are utterly useless.”

Furrowing his brow slightly, he continued as if hesitating.

“…And I don’t know the reason either. Why I keep weakening before you, moment by moment.”

His face as he said this was unfamiliar. It looked troubled, as if even he himself couldn’t understand his own feelings.

Yulia felt complicated as well, but she didn’t say anything more to him.

She silently ate the soup and took her medicine. Only after that did Yulia fall asleep again.

Fernan gazed at her sleeping face for a while.

The fiery emotions that had surged every time he faced her, the irritation—all were gone.

In this moment, his heart was strangely calm.

After a while, he left the room and called for Lloyd, who was standing outside the door.

“Lloyd.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As he walked along the corridor, his face had returned to its usual coldness.

“Take care of those maids in the dungeon.”

“Yes.”

Lloyd, understanding his words immediately, gave a silent bow and disappeared.

Yulia had said she would take no action against the maids, but he had never had any intention of listening to her from the start.

The vermin who looked down on their master had to pay the appropriate price.

Yulia, who had been trapped in the library all night, was found the next morning. The one who found her was Melissa, her personal maid, who had returned from her day off.

If it hadn’t been for Melissa, no one would have come looking for Yulia.

Fernan interrogated Melissa and arrested not only the maids who had perpetrated this incident, but also all the servants who had been looking down on Yulia and trying to make trouble for her.

Yet still, he felt uneasy.

—

*’…Don’t you know why those maids did this to me?’*

—

Yulia’s thin voice lingered in his ears. Then his chest felt heavy, as if something was pressing down on him.

Fernan frowned irritably. He himself didn’t know what he wanted to do about it.