Chapter 11
There was a reason why Damian coveted Briseis’s wealth.
Damian’s family, the Grand Ducal House of Maze, was heavily in debt. He married Briseis under the condition that the Viscount House of Philia would forgive that debt. Part of the reason was also that the Philia family had demonstrated their affection for Briseis by providing her with an enormous dowry.
However, until Damian went off to the battlefield, their debts continued to grow. Apart from what the Philia family had forgiven, Damian’s business acumen was terrible, and he repeatedly ran ventures into the ground.
Those were the very businesses Briseis had turned into profitable ones, using the knowledge she had gained from the original storyline.
All of that had been achieved through investing and cultivating her own personal assets.
Even so, Briseis had also managed the affairs of the ducal house in place of her husband while he was away at war. Although she reduced her social engagements as the Grand Duchess, she actively participated in the ducal house’s business activities and expanded its wealth.
In truth, the Maze ducal house was debt-free now not because of the Grand Duke’s military achievements, but simply because of Briseis’s business acumen and the growth of her initial capital, which she used to repay the debts.
That was why she acted as she did.
War merits would be honored, but once they passed into the Emperor’s hands, redistribution would take time.
Moreover, with the current greedy Emperor, even if he praised achievements generously, he was the type to reward them stingily under the pretext of loyalty.
“You used the Maze Ducal House’s assets in my place, so you should repay them.”
“Repay them? That’s something you should be saying, Damian. Do you not know that I already paid off all the ducal house’s debts?”
Briseis hated even bringing this up. She had paid off those debts twice out of love.
At first, the House of Philia had only intended to cover half of the enormous debt incurred due to the Maze Duke’s failed policies.
“Please trust me, Father. I will lead the ducal house so that I won’t disappoint you.”
Briseis had even persuaded her own father to fully clear the Maze ducal house’s debts. And yet, despite having their debts paid off at the time of their engagement, Damian had incurred debts again—debts that Briseis had entirely repaid while he was away at war.
“I don’t know anything about that. All I know is that you used the ducal house’s assets as you pleased. So return everything.”
“Then should I also return the debts? Is that what you want?”
“When your husband speaks, you should not talk back and answer obediently. That is the virtue of a wife.”
Briseis had never found Damian’s large frame more intimidating than today.
“Are you really the Damian I know?”
His golden eyes looked strangely dull today. It was as if he were dreaming.
“Then who do I look like?”
“You feel like a different person now. Not the Damian I knew.”
“Your lovers must have seduced you in that way, I suppose.”
Briseis found that remark absurd. After all, it was Damian who had been the one to take lovers.
“Whether you have lovers or not doesn’t matter, but if a woman isn’t with her first partner in bed, it tends to show. Then you should know what kind of compensation I might demand from the House of Philia.”
“I’ve already said that’s not true, but you keep repeating the same thing. I no longer wish to speak with you. Move.”
Briseis seemed to lose all will to engage the moment Kalisten’s name was mentioned, and she simply passed by him and walked down the corridor.
Without once looking back, she continued on her way when Damian spoke.
“Do not forget your place. Even if you graduate from the Academy, a woman can ultimately do nothing.”
Ignoring his words, Briseis continued toward the Academy.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Bri! Sit here!”
The moment Briseis opened the classroom door, she nearly closed it again. The first thing she saw was Kalisten loudly calling her to sit beside him.
“Who told you to wear your uniform like that? Can’t you dress properly?”
Kalisten had left two more buttons undone than required, exposing the upper part of his chest.
“Why? Can you see anything like this?”
“Yes.”
“Then look closely. I undid them so you could see.”
“You’re insane.”
Briseis frowned without realizing it and tried to sit elsewhere. However, Kalisten happened to be seated in the very front seat she usually occupied as if it were her designated spot.
Although the rest of the students had not yet arrived and the seats were not full—
“Bri, good morning.”
“Oh, Kaz, good morning.”
“Wait, you two know each other?”
Kalisten looked at Cassius with a peculiar expression when he greeted her.
“She’s the elder sister of my friend.”
“Oh, right. That makes sense.”
Kalisten’s expression softened as he recalled that Cassius had also been Gael’s friend.
“How do you two know each other?”
“We met at the cemetery yesterday. And could you sit properly?”
Briseis frowned as she looked at Kalisten, who was sitting at an angle as if ready to jump up at any moment.
“I’ll behave. Just sit here.”
Kalisten tapped the seat beside him, signaling her to sit.
Briseis looked around for another place, then sighed.
She moved to sit near the back by the window on purpose. Kalisten followed her. She then shifted to a middle seat to avoid him—and once again, Kalisten followed.
“I’m not sitting with you.”
“Why not? Sitting with me will help you a lot. I’ve already learned everything they teach at the Academy anyway.”
“Did you even take the entrance exam?”
“I got a perfect score. It was easy. The exam only covered things I learned before I was ten.”
As Kalisten smiled brightly, Briseis let out another sigh. While others studied desperately, he spoke casually as if everything was already trivial to him.
“Kaz, may I sit next to you?”
“Yes.”
“Cassius, move.”
“Ah, yes, Your Highness.”
The middle seat Cassius had been occupying was cleared.
Briseis silently glared at Kalisten.
“Let’s sit in the front together. If you prefer the middle, then sit there.”
She shook her head, feeling that no matter where she sat, Kalisten would follow.
“Don’t say a word until I tell you that you can.”
Kalisten nodded as if he understood. Then he mimed zipping his mouth shut and smiled.
Briseis let out a deeper sigh and placed her bag on the front seat she had originally intended to use. She unpacked her belongings and opened her notebook to study what she hadn’t been able to review at home.
Rip.
She ignored the tearing sound coming from beside her and focused on her notes.
Briseis had excellent concentration, and since no one was speaking to her, she quickly immersed herself in her work.
Then a piece of paper slid toward her side.
She briefly considered getting angry if Kalisten started saying something ridiculous again.
But what was written was different.
“Can I look with you? I couldn’t attend the class earlier in the middle.”
Briseis nodded and moved her notebook to the center. Kalisten came closer, sat upright beside her, and began looking at the notes. Briseis also studied quietly.
While she focused on the notebook, Kalisten’s eyes drifted—not to the notes, but to Briseis herself.
He absentmindedly gazed at her slightly disheveled red hair, the ends gently curling, likely because she had rushed out. He then admired her pink lips and her sky-blue eyes, clear and beautiful like a cross-section of ice.
He subtly leaned his shoulder against hers while pretending to focus on the notebook. Briseis, annoyed by his behavior, pulled her arm away.
However, he pretended not to notice, thinking that if he was warned again, she might never sit with him again.
Assuming she had overreacted, Briseis turned back to her original posture. Soon, their arms began to touch again.
“May I also look at your notes?”
Cassius interjected.
“Oh, yes. I’m reviewing a penal subject right now. Would you like to see the administrative law notes first?”
“That would be appreciated.”
Cassius interrupted the moment the atmosphere grew close again, and Kalisten shot him a sharp glance. Cassius, however, smiled harmlessly.
“I heard the two of you have known each other since childhood.”
“That’s right.”
“So you met during the war?”
“Yes.”
As Kalisten answered, he gently brushed Briseis’s hair behind her ear.
“You used to always tie your hair.”
Without realizing it, she responded, “Isn’t it better loose?”
“You look beautiful no matter what. Loose or tied.”
Briseis didn’t place much meaning in his words. After all, he was the kind of man who would lose interest once he obtained what he desired.
It was always the same. When he wanted something, he pursued it obsessively. And once he had it, he discarded it without a second glance.
So to her, his habitual compliments were merely amusing.
They didn’t feel sincere at all.
“By the way, Bri. I heard you fell down the stairs.”
“Who pushed me?”
Satern, who had arrived at some point, casually chimed in.
“What? Who?”
But at Satern’s careless remark, a glint of madness flickered in Kalisten’s eyes.
