TMGDW 07

Chapter 07

Her flowing golden hair was just like a field of golden wheat, and her crescent-moon shaped eyes were also pleasant to look at.

Her full lips, softly curving like a bow, seemed as if they would taste of fruit if bitten into.

His wife was undeniably a beauty.

If he showed her his true appearance, not this one hidden through the magic sword, what kind of face would she make?

Would she be angry that he had deceived her? Or would she treat him the same as now?

Calix was surprised that he was even having such thoughts.

*’I nearly fell for her innocent face. I suppose I’m no different from anyone else after all.’*

With that self-deprecation, Calix released her hand and began walking ahead.

It had already been three months since his wife had come to his castle.

To Calix, she was still a highly suspicious person.

She would peek her head toward the training ground almost every day to steal glances at him, and during meals, she would constantly cast sideways glances.

Was it a ploy to find his weaknesses or openings?

*’There must be a reason. I’ll have to investigate her myself.’*

First of all, that bastard Jerome was a lost cause.

Just today, he had forgotten his duty of surveillance and had come out for a stroll with his wife.

*Stop.*

Calix suddenly halted his steps.

Selena, who had been following behind, nearly collided with his broad back.

“……Archduke?”

She had been calling him by name just moments ago, and now it was Archduke again.

“Whether you call me by name or Archduke, I’d prefer you pick one.”

At his words, he felt Selena behind him hold her breath.

“And starting today, we’ll share a room. It’s been nearly a hundred days since we became husband and wife, and it doesn’t make sense that we’re still sleeping separately.”

The added words were spoken with the intent of keeping her close to observe what kind of person she was. Of course, if she refused, he planned to find another solution.

*’She’ll surely refuse.’*

Thinking that, Calix turned around to gauge his wife’s reaction.

But contrary to his expectations, his wife was beaming brightly.

Her large eyes curved into crescents. She was so overjoyed that even the tips of her thick eyelashes were glistening with tears.

“Yes, Calix.”

Just as I thought…… suspicious.

Calix narrowed his eyes and strode quickly toward the Archduke’s castle.

—

* * *

Returning to the castle, Selena was overwhelmed with mixed emotions.

Today was an incredibly happy day for her. Her husband had said they would share a room, and he had allowed her to call him by name.

*’Calix…….’*

Selena softly murmured her husband’s name to herself.

Murderer, War Demon, Monster.

Her husband, who carried all sorts of rampant rumors.

But to Selena’s eyes, her husband was different from the rumors.

At the training ground, her husband trained harder than anyone else, regardless of whether she was watching or not.

When a young knight, who still bore the freshness of a new member of the order, collapsed during training, her husband personally carried him to the physician to receive treatment.

*”The Commander has said that anyone can leave the knight order whenever they wish. Every single one remaining now is here by their own will.”*

As Jerome said this, his eyes radiated a steadfast loyalty toward her husband.

Selena wanted to know more about her husband.

She was curious as to why he had taken her, someone of no particular worth, as his wife, and why he always covered one eye with a black eyepatch.

But her husband kept avoiding her, so she never had the chance to properly ask.

And yet…….

*’From today, we’ll share a room…….’*

Selena gazed silently at the man before her.

The place she was in now was not her bedroom, which had only a bed, but her husband’s study where he worked.

Her husband, seated in a brown chair, was absorbed in processing the documents piled before him.

*Scratch, scratch.*

The sound of the pen filled the space.

*’He told me to come to the study first, so I came…….’*

He had called her there, but he was too busy wrestling with documents.

But worrying that speaking might disturb his work, Selena kept her mouth shut.

Instead, she decided to observe her husband while he worked.

The sight of him working felt refreshingly new to Selena.

He had looked magnificent drenched in sweat at the training ground, but now, wearing a monocle and scanning through documents—how could he look so handsome?

Selena watched him, focused on his work, for a long time.

How much time had passed like that?

After finishing his work, Calix set down his quill.

As he removed his monocle and rubbed his tired eyes, his wife’s figure belatedly came into his view.

“Ah.”

Calix let out a low sigh.

Seeing his wife asleep, leaning against the wall of the study, he felt complicated emotions.

His wife had been staring at him so intently that he had deliberately avoided even looking in her direction.

*’I was wrong.’*

He had called her here and only worked.

She must have been very tired—she was asleep, breathing softly in various shades.

*’What should I do…….’*

Calix roughly ran his hand through his hair and approached Selena.

Curled up as she was, his wife looked especially small.

*’Just like a rabbit.’*

It was Calix who had released rabbits, squirrels, and other animals into the neglected garden.

He simply couldn’t bear to pass by the abandoned young ones, shivering in the cold after losing their mothers, so he had brought them to the castle.

His black-maned horse, Tavi, whom he rode when heading to battle, was the same.

Though he deliberately entrusted Tavi’s care to Jerome and pretended not to care, Calix would secretly give him hay and brush his coat when no one was around.

Calix hated humans, but he loved animals.

That was why, when his wife brought up the garden animals, he had thought all sorts of things inside while never revealing it on the outside.

*’If you’re tired, you could have gone back to the room. Why are you so foolish?’*

Foolish.

Calix lowered himself to meet his wife’s level. Kneeling on one knee on the floor, he could see her face more clearly.

Just then, Selena moved her lips in her sleep.

“……Mo.”

“……?”

“Mother, I…… I was wrong…….”

For a moment, Calix thought she had woken up and stopped moving.

But her eyelids were trembling. As if she was being chased by something.

*’Is she having a nightmare?’*

“Don’t leave me alone…….”

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

She looked as precarious as someone standing on the edge of a cliff.

Calix tilted his head.

Just as Selena knew little about him, he also knew almost nothing about her.

*”Selena is a daughter I cherish dearly. My heart feels as if it’s tearing apart, sending my beloved daughter away. If it weren’t for the family’s debts, I would never have sent her like this.”*

A woman sold to him, called the Monster Archduke, because of debts. An unusual woman who wasn’t afraid of him when everyone else avoided him.

That was about all the impression he had.

*’I’m already busy preparing for attacks from the Imperial Court, who can’t wait to devour me—why am I even concerning myself with this woman?’*

Calix wiped away his wife’s tears with his thumb and spoke gruffly.

“Wake up. Or do I need to carry you to the room myself?”

At that voice, Selena’s closed eyes slowly opened.

“Calix? Why are you here……?”

“This is my study.”

“Ah!”

Selena scrambled to her feet.

Ashamed of having been seen asleep, Selena bowed her bright red face deeply.

“You were sleeping well.”

“I must have been tired…….”

“If you’re that tired, why didn’t you go to the room and rest first? By now, the maids should have moved your things to my room.”

Selena shook her head vigorously.

At that reaction, Calix narrowed his eyes and asked.

“Why?”

“Can’t we go back together?”

“……What?”

“We’re husband and wife, but we’ve never had a proper conversation. I want to know more about you.”

*’What on earth is she scheming?’*

Unaware of what Calix was thinking, Selena continued.

“You said you’d be going on campaign in a few days, right? I want to spend time together before then. Of course, if you refuse, I suppose I can’t help it…….”

Calix was a busy man leading the knight order. Knowing that, Selena’s voice grew smaller as her confidence waned.

It was then.

“So be it.”

Contrary to her expectations, Calix readily accepted the proposal.

“I’m just as curious about you as you are about me.”

To be precise, he was curious about her hidden intentions.

Calix swallowed the rest of his words.

—

* * *

Meanwhile, a banquet was in full swing at the Imperial Palace.

The people holding wine glasses, laughing and chattering, showed not a trace of unease.

War was, by nature, something far removed from those of noble birth.

This very gathering was proof of that.

Among those laughing and chattering in the banquet hall, not a single one would be heading to the battlefield.

Thanks to the War Demon Calix’s knight order—a legion often called the invincible knights—the once turbulent Bressia Empire had been gifted with peace for decades.

“We owe so much to Archduke Elixion—I can’t tell you how at ease we are.”

People assumed that Calix would continue to protect them as a matter of course.

“I heard a rumor recently that the Archduke has taken a wife.”

“Oh my, I heard that too. She’s the illegitimate daughter of Viscount Serius, isn’t she? I heard the Viscount couldn’t handle his gambling debts and sold his daughter to the Archduke.”

The ladies with fans laughed, their eyes curving as if they found it amusing.

It was right then.

Into the ladies’ field of vision came the figure of a man, nearly buried among the crowd.