Chapter : 10
“A Stranger of a Husband”
Come to think of it, until now there had been no real need for her to take a different attitude. All she had to do was maintain a good relationship with the duke.
“The affectionate duke and duchess.”
That was merely the outward image she had managed to maintain, precariously, for appearances’ sake.
She let out a short, derisive laugh. Unaware of what lay beneath her thoughts, the Crown Prince spoke again.
“This place is dangerous. I’ll take you back.”
“No, thank you. I appreciate it today, Your Highness. As you said, this place is dangerous—so I should return.”
When Psyche refused so decisively, the Crown Prince looked openly disappointed. The expression was almost childlike.
There was no benefit in provoking him before making her escape, so she thought it best to stop here and head back.
“Hmmm. I’m bored, though.”
He showed no sign of leaving her side. With a languid expression, he continued to follow behind her.
As she headed toward the ducal castle, the Crown Prince still trailing her felt like a nuisance. Psyche suddenly wondered whether it was really all right for him to be wandering around at this hour. If anything, he was the suspicious one.
“Does His Majesty know you’re roaming around like this, Your Highness?”
“Wow. Was that an attack just now? That one really hurt, Miss Psyche. You’re actually pretty sharp.”
He clutched his stomach, acting as though he’d been stabbed.
“So please, Your Highness, you should return as well.”
“Then promise me. That you’ll teach me.”
“……”
“I really don’t understand why Father removed herbal studies from the core curriculum. It’s this fun.”
He pouted as he complained, looking exactly like a sulky child. He kept clinging to her persistently. Thinking that she absolutely had to prevent the duke’s private soldiers from coming all the way out here and causing a scene, Psyche hastily answered in a roundabout way.
“Is that something I can decide on my own? You’ll need to get my husband’s permission.”
“Oh? So you use the duke as a shield in situations like this?”
Since she believed they would never meet again anyway, she expressed her refusal indirectly.
“I’ll get permission from the duke. When should I come to see you?”
“……”
He was truly tenacious. Even as she quickened her pace, he followed right behind her without showing the slightest fatigue.
“Or should we just go together right now and ask for permission?”
“……”
Even when she made her discomfort blatantly obvious, he refused to back down.
“You’re bored on your own anyway. Let’s go together.”
The tone was like a child begging someone to play with him. Psyche felt irritation rise, but she reminded herself repeatedly that he was the Crown Prince, and did her best to keep a polite smile on her face. Before she knew it, they had reached the edge of the bustling district.
“Then I’ll be going now.”
“You’re really leaving?”
The Crown Prince stood there, looking genuinely regretful. At his wide-eyed expression, Psyche unconsciously shook her head.
“I have to.”
Before things get any bigger.
“What a shame. Really.”
The Crown Prince lifted Psyche’s hand, intending to bid farewell, bringing it up as if to kiss the back of her hand. Just as his lips were about to touch her skin—
“Here!”
From somewhere, a heavily armed group appeared and in an instant subdued the Crown Prince. Before Psyche’s eyes, he was forced to his knees.
It all happened in the blink of an eye. Psyche stared, stunned. Then, from the back of the group, the duke emerged.
He approached slowly, his gaze fixed squarely on Psyche.
“Ah…”
Psyche pressed a hand to her head at the commotion unfolding before her.
“That’s why…”
She’d tried to hurry back. Lifting her eyes, she saw the duke walking toward her.
The very situation she most wanted to avoid was unfolding right in front of her. It made her head ache. With armed knights blocking the alley, attention inevitably gathered. Psyche let out a sigh and approached the group restraining the Crown Prince.
But the duke stepped in front of her.
“My lady.”
“Aaaaaah! Let go! That hurts!”
The Crown Prince shouted at the top of his lungs as he was restrained by the knight. His reaction was so straightforward that it was obvious just how much pain he was in.
“Perhaps you could release him first—”
Psyche rubbed her face, clearly flustered. The duke, staring intently only at her, seemed not to even register who had been forced to kneel. He appeared to have no interest at all.
Only after Psyche spoke did he finally notice the Crown Prince being restrained, his eyebrows lifting slightly. Without showing much surprise, merely mild curiosity, Clint asked calmly—still leaving him on his knees.
“Why is Your Highness here?”
Only after confirming his identity did he gesture for the knights to release him. But as though he had no interest in hearing the Crown Prince’s answer, Clint immediately turned his gaze back to Psyche.
“My lady. Let us return.”
“……”
The duke showed no sign of intending to ask why she had come out this far.
“What? You don’t even have one word of apology for me?”
The Crown Prince complained as he stood up, brushing the dust from his clothes.
“You were not supposed to be here in the first place, were you.”
The cold, clipped tone made even the Crown Prince recoil slightly.
“Be satisfied that I’m turning a blind eye, Your Highness.”
At that, the Crown Prince puffed out his lips. A grown man, yet truly childlike.
“Honestly. The duke is no fun at all. That’s why your wife goes wandering around alone, right?”
“That remark does nothing to improve the current situation, Your Highness.”
As the Crown Prince’s words only worsened things, Psyche quickly interjected. The duke’s face already looked more than angry enough.
She was tired anyway, and just wanted to go back and rest. She didn’t want to bicker about what kind of relationship he had with Rachel, or why he’d been doing what he did. She wasn’t particularly curious, either.
To Psyche, her relationship with the duke was nothing more than a contract.
“Your Highness, I enjoyed today. I’ll be taking my leave now.”
“Ah, what a shame. That request I made earlier—are you really saying no?”
“Make a formal request another time. I’ll be going now.”
Firmly shaking off the Crown Prince as he tried to cling again, she turned away.
“Then I really will come see you!”
After offering a courteous farewell to the loudly shouting Crown Prince, Psyche turned away without hesitation.
“Let’s go.”
“……”
She walked past the duke, who looked as though he had a great deal he wanted to say, pretending not to notice. She heard him sigh.
“My lady.”
Clint called to her in a low voice. But Psyche did not stop.
“My lady!”
In the end, Clint hurried forward and grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop.
At last, Psyche raised her voice in irritation.
“I said I’m going back! What is it?!”
“……”
For a moment, his eyes looked wounded—then they hardened again.
“Let us take a carriage. Are you planning to walk all the way back again?”
“……”
He spoke awkwardly to the still-angry Psyche. After all, he wasn’t the type of man to start a public argument. Realizing she’d snapped unnecessarily, Psyche nodded, embarrassed.
After seeing off the Crown Prince, the two of them climbed into the carriage in stiff silence. At the crack of the driver’s whip, the carriage slowly began to move. An unbearably awkward quiet settled between them.
Psyche wished only to arrive at the ducal estate without a word being spoken. She had no energy left for an emotional confrontation.
“Where exactly did you think you were going alone?”
“……”
Of course, the duke had no intention of letting it go.
“Strictly speaking, I wasn’t alone.”
When she replied sarcastically, Clint frowned.
“My lady, I am not trying to play word games. Do you have any idea how worried I was? You’re usually nothing like this, yet lately—”
His deeply troubled manner made Psyche look completely unconcerned.
“No matter how stable things are now, you should still show some restraint.”
“Restraint?”
Psyche asked, eyes widening.
Restraint?
Who was telling whom to restrain themselves? His face had been perfectly calm, but seeing Psyche’s expression change, the duke finally altered his words.
He had never been the sort to consider another’s position or bend himself to others. That was how Psyche had experienced him. Born into the ducal estate with everything in his grasp—had he ever truly struggled?
From childhood, everything must have gone according to his will. So of course, he must have assumed Psyche would also fit neatly into the picture he’d drawn.
She hadn’t expected deep empathy from him to begin with, but Psyche felt exasperated all the same. The duke closed his mouth, then opened it again with difficulty.
“I apologize. About Rachel.”
His apology itself felt strange. Was he really someone capable of saying sorry? She had thought she knew him fairly well, yet he now seemed full of unfamiliar sides.
More than sincerely understanding her anger and feeling remorse, it seemed he simply didn’t want the matter to escalate.
Though she felt no sincerity in it, Psyche had no desire to argue further.
“……”
With her escape approaching, she didn’t want to fight with him or raise her voice. So she chose silence.
“There were circumstances.”
Of course there were. Everyone always had circumstances.
“In the future—no. If you ever come to love someone, you should restrain yourself from those kinds of affairs with other women.”
Irritated, Psyche scolded him, then immediately regretted adding such an unnecessary remark.
Clint paused, thinking for a moment, then quietly spoke.
“You speak as though I’ll remarry someday, saying ‘if I come to love someone.’”
She pressed her lips tightly together.
“You seem different from usual these days, my lady. I hope it’s just my imagination.”
The duke let out a sigh.
End Of Chapter : 10
