IBWMD 104

~Chapter 104~

Honestly, I hadn’t liked him from the start.

“The way he barged in and took Elaine away—he looked no different from a kidnapper.”

And then he just hugged that small, innocent girl so recklessly?

Anyone who knew Elaine would’ve fainted hearing that. Only Kailen might have partly agreed. But Reina stayed firm.

Elaine had always been her beloved little sister.

As the older sister who had raised her after their mother passed away, Reina saw the Grand Duke as a man who might take her precious sister and even kill her.

And Kailen could feel all of that clearly.

“Are you really welcoming me sincerely?”
“Yes.”

Kailen thought calmly.

“You are my bride’s family.”

He meant it.

A man who disliked balls and social gatherings in the first place—why else would he prepare such an event?

Elaine and her family…

“Because they wanted to feel welcomed here.”

If he hadn’t learned what Elaine truly felt about her family, things would’ve been different.

He would’ve turned them away at the entrance to his estate, assuming they had thrown their daughter to a monster duke as a sacrifice.

“If she were truly precious to them, would they have sent her to a monster?”

It was a thought born half from bitterness.

But Elaine had said otherwise.

“Stop insulting my family. I wasn’t abandoned or mistreated.”
“Do you know how kind, gentle, caring, and beautiful my sister is?”

Kind, gentle, caring, beautiful…?

It sounded strange coming from the little “chihuahua” glaring sharply at him.

But Elaine’s face as she said it had shown unmistakable pride and warmth.
Even affection so strong it made him jealous.

“But now that I’m here… I’ll have to make a new family here, won’t I?”

When she had said that, his heart had stirred deeply.

He imagined a small Elaine in a tuxedo, but over her image appeared two other children.

One had black hair like his own, with Elaine’s soft cheeks and bright features.
The other had warm chestnut hair like Elaine’s and golden eyes that shone.

‘Ha… A foolish dream.’

But with a sigh, the lovely image cracked apart.

‘To have them, Elaine would have to die. And I will never allow that.’

Yet if what he was considering might be possible… maybe…

In his memory, Jeremy’s voice cut in.

“Your Grace, are you truly serious? Now may not be the best time for this…”

But the voice that broke through was not Jeremy’s.

“Do you really want to know that much about Elaine’s past?”

Of course he did. Kailen nodded silently.

Reina gave a small, wry smile and looked at him strangely. Then she spoke evenly.

“Elaine was hardly ever a crying baby.”
“……”
“She was oddly quiet and mature for her age. Can you imagine that?”

Even a quiet Elaine would have been adorable.

“So small and pretty you’d be afraid to touch her.”

“She almost never refused what was given to her. Honestly, she must have disliked some things, but…”

“……”

“She was always gentle and well-behaved. Even when she occasionally got upset.”
“Is that so.”

Gentle and well-behaved?

Kailen smiled faintly behind his mask. He could hardly imagine it.

Reina sighed softly and continued.

“So in a way, she was hard to read. Even when struggling, she rarely showed it. She’d clearly have worries, but never told her family.”

Kailen felt a strange emotion.

The Elaine he knew had always spoken her feelings to him—complaining, worrying, showing her heart.

‘So that side of her… was only for me?’

His chest tightened. And he wondered—what had troubled her so much back then? Was she still hiding worries now?

“So when she suddenly insisted on coming here, I was truly worried. It was the first time she defied Father to choose her own path.”

Reina’s expression grew heavy.

“I should have supported her. But I couldn’t. Because I thought… she might die.”

Her blunt honesty didn’t anger him. He felt the same.

Elaine was…

Reina hesitated. Kailen immediately sensed the words left unsaid.

‘She deserves a better partner.’

Someone ordinary, without dragon’s magic. Like Karl, the monster hunter.
Someone who wouldn’t hurt her, who could travel freely with her.

Such a partner.

Maybe that was why Kailen still couldn’t reveal everything—even though his face was nearly healed.

If Elaine learned the truth later and realized he wasn’t the man she thought—how disappointed would she be?

‘How pathetic, holding back out of fear of the truth.’

Bitterness welled up again.

Reina looked at his silence and gave a twisted smile.

“I expected you to get angry. You’re behaving differently than I thought.”
“What did you expect of me?”
“I heard from a letter…”
“A letter?”
“A letter Beth sent me.”

Her expression turned oddly cold as she smiled, like someone recalling a detail they had forgotten.

The faint warmth in her gaze disappeared completely.

Kailen remembered who Beth was.

‘Chihuahua #1.’

The maid who had tried to separate him from Elaine, yet ironically had ensured they ended up sharing a bed.

So Chihuahua #1 had written to Chihuahua #2.

What could she have written to make Reina so hostile?

Normally he wouldn’t care about insults, but because it was about Elaine, he wanted to know.

What if Beth had poisoned Elaine with the same words?

He needed to clear up what could be cleared.

Just as he was about to ask more about the letter—

“Oh, and I heard you once wrote Elaine a strange letter too?”
“……”

He froze.

“To such a sweet, gentle girl who never once hurt her sister’s heart.”

There was no excuse for that letter.

Kailen stayed silent, his eyes flicking toward Elaine.

“A letter full of cruel words…”

At that moment, Elaine was slowly descending the stairs.

‘Time to end this dance.’

He needed to ask her for the next one.

But just as he was signaling the orchestra—

“……”

The man leaning against the wall stepped forward and offered his hand to Elaine.

The one who had unsettled Kailen from the start.

“May I have this dance, milady?”

It was the Captain of the Holy Knights—Elaine’s former superior.

* * *

“They look friendlier than I expected.”

From above, watching the hall, the tension in my body loosened.

I had half-feared I’d see a scene of love and war—but it was calmer than I thought.

“Most of all… Reina and the Grand Duke’s dance was like a picture—so elegant and beautiful.”

The feeling that rose in me was hard to put into words.

‘Will this be okay?’

In the original story, Reina had fallen for the Grand Duke.

Maybe I didn’t need to stop them from being together…

But what right did I have to stop them?

I was the Grand Duchess, yes—but in this situation, telling them not to dance would make me look like—

“A jealous, petty wife.”

Still, my stomach churned. I didn’t like this feeling one bit.

‘Karl or the Grand Duke. Pick one already.’

Tsk. I clicked my tongue inwardly. My heart was a mess.

The man who had been my first love had only made me ashamed of loving him.
And the man who had been so persistently kind now danced with another woman without a care.

‘I don’t even know anymore.’

If Reina fell for the Grand Duke, maybe I could let her… No.

“Reina would be the only one suffering. How could I allow that?”

But then again—lately the Grand Duke wasn’t like the cold man from the original. He was kind and gentle. Maybe this time…

“…Lady Elaine.”
“……”
“Lady Elaine?”

I was so lost in thought I almost missed Jeremy calling me.

He scratched the back of his head nervously.

“About what you asked earlier. The answer I meant to give you is…”
“……”
“His Grace… he really cares a lot about you…”

That was when—

“May I have this dance, milady?”

The voice was calm, respectful, and it cut off Jeremy’s words.

I turned.

Captain Ista was holding out his hand to me, beckoning discreetly.