Chapter 5
“I’ll dig a little deeper.”
“Yeah, please do. It’s honestly frustrating. How do they always send exactly the type of women I hate?”
‘Why is he grinning like that if he’s so frustrated?’
Tiago looked at Charles’s beaming smile with a bitter expression.
“Currently, Lord Bonaparte is thoroughly investigating how to return your body to normal. However, there doesn’t seem to be any progress yet…”
Tiago finally reported on the current situation. Charles replied blandly, “Is that so?”
“I’m also looking for clues within the house, but haven’t found anything yet.”
“Well, take your time. There’s no rush, is there?”
“There is a rush. Please, feel a little sense of crisis.”
Tiago pleaded sincerely, but Charles had been through worse. He had once been surrounded by hundreds of soldiers alone and had even hovered on the brink of death after consuming poison his cousin had slipped into his food. Compared to those situations, this was nothing.
But more than that—
“I just can’t figure her out.”
At Charles’s muttered complaint, Tiago tilted his head.
“Who are you talking about?”
“Eve.”
“The Duchess…?”
Isn’t the duchess just the duchess? What’s so mysterious about her? But Charles seemed to think otherwise.
“I need to confirm something.”
With that, he smiled pleasantly.
Seeing a rare, genuine smile from someone so inhuman, Tiago narrowed his eyes.
“You look… happy?”
“Hmm.”
At that, Charles thought: maybe he’d been enjoying this from the moment he learned Duke Fontaine couldn’t eat silver cod.
Why would she prepare a dish her loving husband couldn’t eat? Why was she trying to push other women onto him?
Charles already knew. The gaze she secretly cast toward him was filled with hostility. And every time they faced each other, the hand hidden beneath her sleeve would tremble.
For a wife who was supposedly head-over-heels for her cheating husband, Eve was far too suspicious.
Eventually, Charles smiled faintly and agreed with Tiago’s report.
“Luckily, I don’t think I’ll be bored.”
Tiago frowned instead.
It seemed the Duchess had caught the attention of this unreadable emperor. That was quite unfortunate—for the Duchess.
***
“Why? Why?!”
Eve clutched her head. Her plan was perfect—so why…?
“Is Arsen sick?”
She seriously considered calling a doctor to examine her husband.
I mean, the womanizer Arsen de Fontaine was refusing women.
She had carefully selected women matching his exact preferences, but each one failed to even get a word in before being rejected.
‘I even had him followed to see if he was seeing Cecilia, but nothing’s going on there.’
He hardly left the mansion these days. He worked hard, didn’t argue with her, didn’t pick fights… He had to be sick. What else could explain such a drastic change?
“Emma, call a doctor. I need my husband examined.”
Storming down the hallway, Eve gave her order. Emma, trailing behind, blinked in surprise.
“Pardon? The Duke? Why? I mean, if I may say so, this is the best he’s ever been…”
“Exactly. Isn’t that strange? Since when did he suddenly become mature?”
“…That’s true. It is quite sudden.”
But ma’am, you’ve changed too. You’re like how you were before the wedding. Actually, you seem even angrier now…
Emma swallowed the words. She only looked at Eve with sympathy. ‘She must love the Duke so much that she worries even when he’s doing well… He must have really disappointed her before…’
Just then, Arsen himself appeared down the hallway. He walked with a blank expression but smiled as soon as he saw Eve.
“Eve.”
“…Arsen.”
Whether or not Eve’s face cracked with annoyance, Arsen—no, Charles—strode up to her with a wide smile.
“Where are you going?”
“Just… somewhere I need to be.”
Eve originally planned to push him away but suddenly changed her mind. A good idea had come to her.
Putting on the expression of a demure duchess, she said,
“Arsen, perfect timing. I was about to meet a guest. It’d be best if you joined me.”
“Hm, alright. If my wife commands it.”
She wanted to snap, Don’t call me your wife, but held it in. It was better than hearing him babble, “Eve, Eve~” in that cloying voice.
When they entered the parlor, a gorgeous woman in a revealing dress was already waiting for them.
“Miss Céline, thank you for coming. This is Duke Fontaine.”
“Duke, my name is Céline.”
Charles gave Céline, who introduced herself with a smile, a polite nod, then turned back to Eve.
“So?”
“Excuse me?”
“What is it you want from me?”
“What do I want—?”
Eve looked confused, and Charles chuckled.
“Alright then. Look carefully with those eyes.”
He turned to Céline.
“Miss Céline?”
“Yes?”
“Apologies for the late greeting. I am Arsen de Fontaine.”
“O-oh, yes…”
Céline hesitated, dazzled by his courteous manner and handsome face, but then Charles lifted her chin.
“Just as I thought. Nothing.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t know what Eve told you to bring you here, but I feel absolutely nothing for you. That’s not your fault—it’s mine. No matter who she brings, it’ll always be the same. Unless it’s her.”
At his bombshell declaration, Eve’s face went pale. Charles glanced at her, then added,
“Go out and tell everyone. Don’t fall for Eve’s sweet words. She’s testing my love for her.”
“What the—!”
“Shall I prove it?”
Just as Eve flared up at her husband’s nonsense, Charles pulled her wrist toward him. Her face instantly drew close to his, and their lips seemed mere inches from touching.
At that moment—
SLAM!
They turned toward the sound. Céline had bolted, slamming the door shut behind her.
Eve shoved against Charles’s chest.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Her heart pounded. He really was a scoundrel, coming in close the moment a woman wore a dress.
“Sorry, Eve. I apologize.”
Charles gave her a surprisingly sincere expression.
“I had to drive her away. With what she was promised and paid, she wouldn’t have left quietly otherwise.”
“…”
Eve flinched inside. It was as if her husband knew she’d paid Céline and promised noblewoman treatment. But that couldn’t be—he couldn’t be that clever.
“In any case, I won’t budge for anyone else, so stop trying things like this. You should know—there’s only you for me.”
Eve wanted to slap that flapping mouth of his. Of course she didn’t, but that didn’t mean she was going to take this lying down.
With a sorrowful expression, she welled up with tears.
“But we need an heir for the family. And I… I can’t have children. So we must rely on someone else. Didn’t you always say the heir was most important and meet women for that reason?”
“…You can’t… have children?”
Seeing his dazed face, Eve hesitated. Wait… could it be? Was she still able to have children? Did she get the timing wrong?
No, that’s impossible…
She was sure. She couldn’t forget what had happened. But the look on Arsen’s face was pure shock. Did he seriously forget something that important?
Ugh, unbelievable.
Eve cursed his thoughtlessness inwardly but kept crying on the outside.
“So I was just trying to do what I could… The elders will surely be furious. The retainers too…”
“Is that so?”
Wiping her tears with a handkerchief, Eve looked up at Charles’s nonchalant voice. The shock was gone from his face. He simply shrugged.
“But even so, it wouldn’t justify me meeting other women while married to you.”
“…Excuse me?”
“More importantly, I don’t want an heir unless it’s yours and mine.”
“What did you say?”
Eve’s mind blanked at the second shocking line. And Charles didn’t stop there.
“I’ll tell the elders that myself. That I’ll have no heir unless it’s our child.”
“W-why?”
“Why? Because you’re my wife.”
“…”
Eve had planned to persuade him somehow, but his words made her bite her lip.
If only he had said those things in the past. If only he had reassured her like this when she still trusted him.
But it was too late now. She didn’t believe in Arsen anymore. Surely, he was just trying to manipulate her again.
Did he really think that’d move me? I’m not that foolish girl anymore.
Still, she could pretend. And she did it well. Tears streamed from her eyes.
“Thank you, Arsen… I didn’t think you’d say that.”
“…”
Charles’s face lost all color, but Eve didn’t notice.
Just when she felt she had to awkwardly hug him to fit the mood—
“…!”
To her surprise, Charles gently pulled her into a hesitant embrace. He patted her back with an overly careful hand.
Eve was bewildered. Not only by the hug—but by how awkward it was.
Charles had always been smooth when comforting her, using sweet words and practiced gestures.
But now… his hand, his posture—everything was stiff, like a log.
As if he didn’t have much experience with women at all.
