TMGDW 02

Chapter 02

The man’s face, with a black eyepatch over his right eye, had no unscathed areas. Moreover, the long scar running from his forehead down to his left cheek gave a sense of the horrors of war.

But Selena hadn’t been startled because of the scars on his face.

His blue eye, the only one visible.

It was because that eye was so devastatingly beautiful that she had lost her words.

“…….”

His eye was the deep blue of the sea she had once seen in a painting.

His black hair was darker than obsidian, and his pale skin, contrasting sharply with his hair color, even evoked a sense of mystery.

After gazing at Selena for a moment with a dry look, the man turned off the lamp without a word, just as he had when he first lit it.

Last night, he had left the bedroom leaving Selena alone on the bed, and he hadn’t returned by the time the birds began to chirp outside the window in the morning.

Selena had assumed yesterday that she had been brought here merely as a means to bear an heir. After all, they had led her straight to the bedroom without even holding a wedding ceremony.

But her husband had left her alone and departed the bedroom.

*’What’s going to happen to me now?’*

Left alone, Selena had been so anxious that she couldn’t sleep properly all night.

“Your Highness the Archduchess.”

As she curled up on the bed listening to the distant chirping of birds, she heard someone calling her from outside the door.

“Yes.”

Her voice was small, but the maid outside seemed to understand perfectly and opened the door.

The maid who entered drew back the blackout curtains hanging by the window.

*Swish.*

The room instantly brightened.

With the suffocating curtains gone, the pleasant morning sunlight settled upon Selena’s face.

The maid dressed Selena in a blue long dress and helped her with simple grooming.

“Breakfast is prepared.”

“……And the Archduke?”

“He finished his meal and is currently at the training ground.”

Unlike herself who had barely slept, her husband seemed to have rested quite well.

But she didn’t feel disappointed.

If not here, she had nowhere else to go anyway. Even if he was only her husband in name, he was the one who had taken her in as Archduchess.

Above all…… she wanted to face him properly once more and speak with him.

Not in the pitch-black darkness, but under the bright sunlight.

Eating alone in the large dining hall would only make her feel self-conscious, so Selena told the maid to prepare a simple lunch box and decided to go to the training ground where her husband was.

“You want to die, is that it?”

“N-No, sir!”

“Then why can you barely wield a sword like that? You’re not asking me to kill you.”

Calix was personally commanding the knights under his command as their commander.

The Elixion Knights, established under his family name, boasted greater skill than even the Imperial Knights.

In a way, it was only natural. It was a knight order directly led and commanded by Calix, known as the War Demon.

The knights feared Calix, but their respect for him was as great as their fear.

His many scars from the battlefield, his black hair as though darkness had taken form, and his vivid blue eyes that seemed to hold the legendary blue flames—one would believe it even if told.

Though he wore an eyepatch because he had lost one eye, the intimidating aura Calix emanated was immense. Even the knights who had fought alongside him on the battlefield would avert their gaze when meeting his eyes.

“Speaking of which, I heard you got married yesterday.”

Jerome, his adjutant and the only one who could meet Calix’s gaze for more than ten seconds, the one who had fought alongside him the longest on the battlefield, cautiously brought up the topic.

As soon as marriage was mentioned, Calix’s brow furrowed sharply.

“Who spread that?”

“…….”

The already cold northern temperature seemed to drop another degree.

Jerome, watching Calix’s reaction, pointed a finger at someone.

“No, yesterday, I happened to see a woman entering—”

“Really?”

“I’m telling you. When that woman got off the carriage, all the maids in the castle rushed out to take her inside, and at first glance she was— *Eek!*”

The face of the knight who had been chattering turned pale as a giant shadow loomed over his head.

Sweating profusely, he tilted his head back to find his superior glaring at him as if he was about to devour him on the spot.

“C-Commander…….”

Without a word, Calix grabbed the knight by the scruff of his neck with one hand and flung him to the ground.

With a loud *thud*, the knight who had suddenly been thrown to the ground had red blood trickling from his nose.

“Did I tell you to wag your tongue or swing your sword?”

“I-I’m sorry!”

“Your mouth is as loose as your lower half.”

The other knights, who had also been pierced by Calix’s icy dagger, wanted to protest their injustice right then and there. It was the Commander who was being unreasonable.

*’When you’re stuck on the battlefield for so long, urges are bound to build up!’*

The Elixion Knights were the most frequently deployed knight order.

As a result, no matter how brave they were, there were no women willing to marry them rashly, and even the lucky few who managed to start a relationship would soon be rejected.

Because of that, many knights would get drunk and spend the night with women after the war ended.

But Calix had never once done such a thing.

He never went to taverns, nor did he tour his territory like other lords.

Ever since a young child had burst into tears the moment he appeared in the market, he rarely ventured outside the castle except when heading to the battlefield.

*’What on earth does the Commander find enjoyable in life?’*

All the knights were curious.

Some even harbored the irreverent thought: *’Maybe the Commander doesn’t like women—maybe he likes men.’*

And then yesterday, they witnessed a slender woman get off a carriage and enter the castle.

The knight who saw it was so itching to talk that he could barely contain himself.

“Didn’t I teach you to pretend you didn’t see, pretend you didn’t hear? You’re not even satisfied swinging your sword until you drop dead, and now you’re ruining the mood with useless talk.”

Calix pressed the knight’s torso down with his boot.

Though he was pressing lightly, the sharp gaze looking down at him made the knight feel like his internal organs were shriveling up.

“C-Commander…….”

“There won’t be a second time. If this happens again, I’ll throw you into the lion’s den.”

The knight, not even thinking to wipe the flowing blood, desperately nodded his head.

As if accustomed to this scene, the other knights didn’t even glance their way and focused solely on their training.

It was right then that a completely unfitting voice interrupted.

“Archduke.”

The eyes of everyone in the training ground, including Calix, turned toward the owner of the unexpected voice.

There stood a beauty in a blue long dress that suited her perfectly—flawless fair skin, golden hair as if embroidered with stars from the sky, accompanied by a single maid.

The woman with pale sky-blue eyes was Calix’s wife, who had just arrived in the North yesterday and whom he had left alone in the bedroom the night before.

*’Was this not a place I should have come?’*

Selena blamed her own ignorance.

She had come all the way to the training ground where her husband was supposed to be, but—

This man dressed in black, currently stepping on a knight with his boot—who was he exactly?

Selena felt confused as to whether the man who had caught her when she almost fell yesterday and the man before her were truly the same person.

“Why are you here?”

Calix asked as he looked at Selena dryly.

His gaze, as if reproaching her, made Selena grip the hem of her dress tightly to keep from trembling.

She had considered dozens of times what to say.

But now that she was face to face with him, her mind went completely blank, and her whole body stiffened.

While she hesitated, Calix’s gaze landed on the lunch box the maid was holding.

“Haven’t you eaten yet?”

At Calix’s question, Selena gave a small nod.

The knights watched their exchange with their mouths hanging open.

“Enjoying the show?”

“……!”

“Before I pluck out those useless eyeballs one by one with my own hands, get back to swinging your swords.”

Did that monster have eyes on the back of his head? At Calix’s threat, the knights cleared their throats and resumed swinging their swords.

Calix fixed his gaze on Selena again and coldly muttered.

“For a young lady raised delicately, you don’t seem content to stay quietly in your room, do you?”

*’Raised delicately?’*

Her days had been nothing but abuse and neglect even when she did nothing wrong. But Calix seemed to misunderstand that she had been raised gently.

It was unfair.

Even though she had been sold off, it wasn’t as if she didn’t feel hurt.

“I came here because I wanted to meet your eyes once more and talk with you.”

When she spoke honestly in a trembling voice, she felt Calix gazing at her silently.

Under the gaze of his single blue eye without the eyepatch, she felt as though her innermost thoughts were being laid bare.

It was Calix who looked away first.

“……As you wish.”

Muttering as if chewing on the words, just like yesterday, Calix gestured to the maid behind her, instructing her to take Selena back inside.

“I don’t care if you wander around the castle freely.”

“…….”

“However, I would prefer it if you didn’t come near the training ground again.”

His tone was as chilling as a winter north wind, cold enough to wound.

But Selena felt differently.

She had only just arrived and didn’t know the rules here, so she thought her husband was kindly teaching her not to come to the training ground.

“Thank you for letting me know. I’m still unfamiliar with things, so I made a mistake.”

Apparently not expecting gratitude in return, Calix’s eyebrows shot up.