Chapter 71………………..
“If I recall correctly, your nickname was Tisha. I heard Lady Heinz call you that.”
Etisha nearly fainted and shook her head violently.
If Kaien were to call her Tisha, it would be a disaster like no other.
Every time he called her that, her ability to think and even to move would stop completely—how could she possibly live her daily life like that?
Clunk, clunk.
She shook her head so desperately that the lift swayed.
At first, they hadn’t risen very far, but now they were already quite high up. If she fell from here, she would surely be badly injured.
“Oh dear. Stay still, Tisha.”
“……!”
Wouldn’t it be better to just fall?
Kaien’s grip around her waist tightened.
Both his arms were wrapped around her waist now, so Etisha was practically in his embrace. And in that position, she had to hear him call her by her nickname.
She stammered in hasty excuse.
“I-I meant, please just call me what you used to… ‘Lady Etisha.’ Wouldn’t that be all right?”
“……”
“My lord…?”
Kaien was silent for a moment, then finally replied in a low voice.
To Etisha, his tone sounded somewhat curt.
“That will not do. I cannot call my wife as I did before our marriage. The form of address must change.”
“Ah…”
“You are now my wife. You must get used to it.”
What he said made sense.
Whatever their private relationship was like, to the world they were now husband and wife in every way.
If the way of address had to change eventually, perhaps it was best to change now.
“…Very well. Then… call me my lady.”
Among all the choices, she picked the least troublesome. She had already heard him use it several times, so it was somewhat familiar.
At least it was better than a nickname.
Kaien gave a short nod. Then, as though negotiating, he added:
“Very well. Then you must call me by name.”
“…Pardon?”
“My name. Kaien.”
Etisha looked up at him in shock, unable even to shake her head this time.
“I… of course, I know your name, but…”
“What’s wrong? You agreed to change the way we address each other. As husband and wife, we cannot speak as before. Naturally, the way you address me must also change.”
“……”
“Kaien. Unfortunately, I do not yet have a nickname.”
Etisha almost wondered if he was joking.
Could a person really change this much overnight?
They say people change after marriage—was this what that meant?
It felt strange, but at the same time, she couldn’t deny his reasoning.
‘Come to think of it, Dithe used to call him Kaien too…’
Lady Cyrilleze called him Kaien, and so did Kailes.
The only ones who addressed him as “my lord” were his vassals and servants.
‘Maybe I really should call him Kaien too…’
Her expression shifted constantly—thinking, realizing, hesitating—until at last she parted her lips slightly.
Her small, rosy lips opened, as though to speak.
“Ka…”
Yes, do it!
Just say it!
Perhaps she was making too much of this name.
What was so special about Kaien’s name?
In this empire, no name was forbidden—except the emperor’s.
So she could call him Kaien.
“Kai… en… uh…”
Her face flushed bright red, like it had been set over fire. She stammered—“Ka, Kai, Ka…”—but in the end, closed her mouth.
‘I can’t. I just can’t!’
She shook her head, apologetic.
“I’m sorry, my lord. I can’t do it.”
“……”
“My lord?”
Kaien’s eyes were fixed on her, entranced by all her shifting expressions and the way her small, lovely lips fumbled at the sounds.
“Um… are you angry?”
She misread his frozen expression.
‘Oh no… he really must be angry. Maybe he thinks I’m pathetic for failing at something so simple…’
Fear prickled—what if he was disappointed in her? But still, speaking his name was far too difficult.
“I-I don’t mean I can’t ever do it. It’s just… sudden. It’s hard right now, but I’ll try. Give me a day—or three—and I’ll manage. I’ll practice.”
She pleaded earnestly, but Kaien wasn’t listening anymore.
The lift was small, they were pressed close, and—damnably—it was a beautiful day.
It seemed as though the breeze carried the scent of blossoms, birds chirped somewhere in the distance, and everything else faded away into emptiness.
Kaien leaned toward her, slowly closing the distance.
To bridge their height difference, he bent his head down, lifting her slightly by the waist.
His face came so close, about to spill into hers.
Their lips were a breath away.
Clunk, clunk, clunk!
The lift suddenly jolted violently. Kaien’s shift of weight had thrown off the balance.
“Ah!”
The lift swayed dangerously, and now they were nearly at the top of the tower. If they fell, it wouldn’t just mean injuries.
Etisha squeezed her eyes shut, while Kaien braced himself, one hand clutching the railing, his breath ragged.
“…Ha.”
Finally, the swaying stilled.
“Insanity,” he muttered, like a man stifling a burning thirst.
“My lord, are you all right?”
Etisha never once thought he had leaned toward her on purpose. She believed it was only the lift’s sway that had thrown them together.
“My lord…?”
She turned her head to look at him—
And there, by pure chance, his face was exactly where hers turned.
Her lips pressed firmly, undeniably, against his flawless cheek.
“!”
“!!”
At that moment, the lift reached the top and the door opened.
The tower roof was empty, the sky wide open, but it felt as if the whole world was watching them.
Kaien’s cheek.
Too perfect a cheek.
Not a flaw on the skin, a sharp jawline—utter perfection.
Etisha stumbled back in panic.
As her lips slipped from his cheek, an absurd little smack sound followed.
“S-s-sorry!”
“……”
“Oh no… please, just pretend that never happened.”
“……”
Kaien covered his face with one hand.
Through his fingers, a hint of redness showed on his skin.
Etisha only fumbled in greater panic, apologizing over and over.
“I swear, it was an accident! I didn’t mean it. You already have a beloved mistress…”
Beloved… what?
A mistress?
Kaien snapped his head up.
In a single stride, he closed the distance she had scrambled back.
“My lady. What did you just say?”
“…Eh?”
“A mistress?”
Flustered, she stammered:
“W-well, you do have one… don’t you? And children too…”
“……”
“Isn’t that why you married me? You would continue with your mistress, while I would act as your wife in name only…”
“……”
“Don’t worry, what just happened was truly an accident. It will never, ever happen again. I swear it.”
At those words, Kaien’s black eyes blazed like fire.
It was as if he was suppressing a storm of things Etisha couldn’t understand.
“Yes… I recall. We did have such a conversation once.”
His teeth ground audibly.
With every word, his jaw tightened.
“But let me make it absolutely clear here and now… That was a misunderstanding.”
“…A misunderstanding?”
“I have no mistress. You believed a false rumor, my lady.”
Etisha’s eyes went blank.
No mistress? A false rumor?
“But.”
Then why had he married her?
Before she could voice the question, Kaien went on, growling:
“And of course, I have no child from any mistress. No such thing has ever existed, nor will it ever.”
He raked a hand through his hair and rubbed his face harshly.
“Ha…”
He hadn’t had much experience explaining himself to anyone. In fact, perhaps this was the first time.
“Damn it.”
When he had first planned the marriage, he had deliberately let her believe the mistress rumor.
And now here he was, desperate to deny it.
The irony was bitter.
Yet he couldn’t bear to leave her misunderstanding him any longer.
“I know what rumors go around about me. But all of them… all of them started because of Judithe. She was the only young woman who ever came and went from Wintel Castle with me, the only one who rode in my carriage. It was inevitable that people would gossip about her being my mistress.”
“Ah… I see.”
“I thought when you learned Judithe was my sister, all those misunderstandings would be cleared. I never imagined you would still believe them.”
“I’m sorry, my lord… I didn’t know.”
“No, I’m not blaming you. You’ve done nothing wrong. This was only my own failure to handle matters properly.”
“……”
“So the fault is mine. I’m only angry at myself.”
Yet he couldn’t quite tell what exactly he was angry about.
When Etisha had said “beloved,” for a moment he thought she might be about to confess her love.
After all, despite his cold nature, he was popular among women, and at every tedious party there were always foolish young ladies trying to confess to him.
But then the word that followed “beloved” was mistress—and the absurdity of his own expectations infuriated him.
He nearly drew the sword at his waist.
The real blade he had prepared for killing Reyen Wintel…
