Chapter 60
“Here? In this mansion?”
Sylvia and Mielle hesitated at the sudden suggestion.
“Yes. There are plenty of rooms, so if you only bring a few things, you can stay here comfortably. You can use this place as your workshop, or if you need a larger space, I’ll prepare one for you somewhere else in the mansion.”
“……”
“I heard that Zephyros and Mielle’s houses are quite far apart. Isn’t it tiring to travel back and forth all the time when you’re working?”
“Well, yes, but suddenly showing up to stay where you live, Lady Dalia—it feels like we’d just be imposing on you…”
“She’s right, Lady Dalia. And the sound of sewing machines is quite loud. It’ll disturb you.”
It was a generous offer, but both of them had already received so much kindness. Though tempted, they hesitated and politely declined.
Dalia reassured them.
“If that’s what you’re worried about, we can just assign rooms on the opposite side of the house. As long as you two are comfortable living here. I’ve heard people gossip when they see you visiting each other’s homes so often.”
“That’s…”
It was true.
Market folk often joked—half-serious, half-teasing—about the two of them, hinting that maybe there was something going on between them.
When they protested angrily, people only laughed and said, “Why so defensive if it’s not true?” The humiliating memory darkened both Sylvia and Mielle’s faces.
“You don’t have to pay attention to idle talk, but it’s better to avoid unnecessary friction. Even the strongest person can be hurt by baseless words.”
As Dalia said that, she unconsciously thought of Khalid.
Even that calm, composed man had been wounded by Mary’s contemptuous words—so much that he’d flinched whenever Dalia so much as lifted a finger.
“Roy, are you okay with that arrangement?”
When she asked, Roy whispered near her ear,
“I don’t like humans… but these ones are fine.”
He looked a little embarrassed.
Finding his shyness adorable, Dalia clapped her hands together.
“Then it’s settled. It’ll save them commuting time too.”
They decided to move in the next day.
Mielle said she hardly had any belongings anyway, so it would be easy, and Sylvia repeatedly thanked Dalia before leaving.
Once they were gone, Dalia headed to Mary’s room.
“Mary, it’s me. May I come in?”
She knocked gently. A weak voice answered, giving her permission.
It was a time of day when Mary was usually up and about, but now she was lying in bed, wrapped in a blanket. Even when Dalia entered, she didn’t look at her—just turned toward the wall.
“…Mary. You’re angry with me.”
“I told you not to do it…”
Her voice was sulky and hurt, but not completely closed off.
Dalia approached the bed and gently patted the back of Mary’s head through the blanket.
“I know you’re doing this because you care about me.”
“Then how could you go running to that monster?”
Mary’s voice was sharp and resentful. Dalia sighed softly.
“Mary, he isn’t a monster. Let me explain everything. The terrible rumors surrounding him—they’re all lies…”
But before she could finish, Mary threw off the blanket and sat up, eyes blazing.
“This isn’t the time to talk nonsense! If I don’t stop you, who will? Even if everyone else has lost their minds, you have to come to your senses!”
“Calm down. I can guess what you saw.”
Mary froze at Dalia’s composed reply. Dalia took her hands gently.
“I know everything, Mary. And I still chose him.”
“…Miss, have you ever seen him?”
“Hm?”
When Dalia asked back, Mary’s round face twisted with emotion, and her voice trembled.
“Have you seen how horrible he looks with your own eyes?”
In truth, Dalia hadn’t.
“…Khalid said he’d show me his true form whenever I wanted.”
When Roy returned from the mines, and several times since then, there had been chances.
But she had always put it off—perhaps out of fear, perhaps because she didn’t need to see it to trust him.
“So? Did you ever see it? And you still think it’s fine?”
“……”
When Dalia didn’t answer, Mary’s eyes filled with tears.
“I knew it. If you truly knew, you could never say such things.”
Dalia sat her down and explained everything—how devoted Khalid had been, how the rumors surrounding the black dragon were distorted lies.
But the more Dalia spoke, the more helpless Mary felt.
Even Roy and Aaron aren’t human? she thought, horrified. Those monsters have clearly deceived my poor lady.
Seeing Dalia defend them so earnestly made her heart ache. She wanted to cover her ears and refuse to listen—but she couldn’t, afraid that Dalia would turn away from her completely.
So she forced herself to listen to everything, then nodded weakly.
She didn’t truly understand—but she pretended to, because Dalia looked so desperate.
“Now do you understand, Mary? I’m not being tricked or forced.”
Dalia asked with a hopeful smile.
“…Yes. I understand that they’re not evil villains.”
But Mary wasn’t backing down. Even if everything Dalia said was true, she still couldn’t bear the thought of her lady marrying such a being.
“But he’s still not human. A beast, no matter what you call him. I thought you’d found a good man… What is this, my lady?”
No matter how Dalia tried to reassure her, Mary’s tears fell one after another.
“Mary… why are you crying like this? Even if I regret it one day, that’ll be my burden to bear. You don’t have to suffer for me.”
Seeing Dalia’s tender, pitying gaze, Mary’s firm tone softened slightly.
“I know how I must look to you right now. You’re in love, and I’m just the wet blanket. You probably hate me for it. But… please, just think again. Once more.”
“Haa…”
“Is it because of that man, Sirei? I was wrong, I know. He kidnapped you, and I praised him as a good match—I didn’t know he was that kind of person.”
“It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known.”
“My lady… but whether it’s Sirei or that creature, please… don’t make that sad face again because of him.”
“Thank you.”
“…There must be other choices, my lady. We’re not trapped in that stifling southern territory anymore.”
“Mary.”
“It’s different here. Even the Viscount said he’d look after you. You don’t have to choose between just those two men.”
“No matter who else I meet, it won’t matter. I’ve already made up my mind.”
“Still… please, for my sake. You haven’t even met other men yet. You haven’t experienced anything beyond him. If, after all that, your heart still doesn’t change, then… I won’t stop you anymore.”
“……”
“Please, my lady. Please…”
Tears finally fell from Mary’s trembling lashes.
How much must she care for me, to beg like this?
Moved by Mary’s desperate plea, Dalia nodded reluctantly.
“Alright. I’ll think about it.”
“When we arrive in the capital, there will surely be a grand ball to welcome you both. Please… take your time to see the people there.”
“It’s probably pointless, but… alright. But if my heart doesn’t change, promise you’ll respect it.”
“Yes, my lady.”
They even linked pinky fingers before Dalia, drained and weary from tears and emotion, left the room.
Once alone, Mary bit her nails anxiously.
She was determined—no matter what it took, she would never let her lady fall into that monster’s hands.
Meanwhile, Dalia, thinking back on Mary’s words, felt her heart ache.
“Yes… some of it is my fault.”
Perhaps Khalid had been hurt because she’d avoided seeing his true form, because she hadn’t fully accepted that part of him.
I need to reassure him again. Tell him he’s loved, no matter what.
It had been a long two days of travel, sleepless nights, and endless encounters. Fatigue pressed down on her—but she pushed it aside and headed for Khalid’s room.
She missed him too much.
She would face his true form at last, embrace him, and tell him she loved him no matter what he looked like.
“Didn’t you say you were busy?”
She had gone all the way to his bedchamber after not finding him in the office.
Peeking through the slightly open door, she teased, “Is it really okay for you to be lounging in bed like that?”
Khalid looked up in surprise—but then smiled faintly, his eyes brightening.
“I was reading Aaron’s report,” he said, handing her a paper.
He conveniently left out the hours of anxious brooding he’d suffered before that.
Dalia took the letter and examined it. The handwriting was wild and forceful—clearly written in anger. The more she read, the stranger her expression became.
It was a furious letter describing how, after overhearing some humans gossip, Aaron had lost his patience and written down everything: that Dalia had allegedly named her own husband as the culprit behind her kidnapping, and that some nobles—hoping for favors—were sending their daughters to the new Grand Duke, claiming Dalia already had a husband.
“They’re all absurd lies, of course. But I thought you should know.”
Khalid added quickly, afraid she might suspect something.
But when Dalia shook her head, he blinked in confusion.
“Ah… I forgot to explain something. In my previous life, I was married.”
“To whom?”
“The man who had me kidnapped—Sirei. I must have been under the influence of some drug and confused the past with the present, calling him my husband. Aaron must’ve overheard.”
“I see. Then…”
Does that mean I came between them?
Still shaken by Mary’s harsh words—How dare a beast covet a human woman?—Khalid couldn’t help the uneasy thought.
But before he could spiral further, Dalia quickly denied it and clasped his hand tightly.
“If you’re wondering whether you stole me from someone, you didn’t. It was a loveless marriage. Those memories… weren’t happy ones.”
