#044
‘Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?’
Eliana pressed her lips tightly together.
She had left the mansion this morning without hearing the news that Rodin had regained consciousness.
Eliana had seen with her own eyes the terrible wounds carved into Rodin’s body. Most of the scars layered over older ones had been inflicted while protecting her.
She couldn’t abandon him.
From the moment she saved Rodin, he had lived for her like an imprinted duckling, giving everything he had. Knowing he was injured because of her, she could never coldly cast him aside—especially when he was an orphan with no one else in the world.
“……”
“So you have no intention of driving him out, I see. Not a gift I’m fond of, but since it’s my husband’s first gift to you, are you choosing to generously overlook it?”
At Grady’s sneer, Eliana’s steady gaze met his. She said nothing, but her eyes dismissed his opinion outright.
Grady clenched his jaw under her gaze.
‘Why are you looking at me like that? Damn it!’
Her eyes, brimming as though tears might spill at any moment, carried a look he faced several times a day—yet every time, his chest clenched. It felt like something stuck in his throat, making him uneasy.
While Grady pounded his chest twice in frustration, Eliana spoke.
“Rodin is a person.”
“So he can’t be a gift?”
Her silence was an affirmation.
But her unspoken agreement only twisted Grady’s mood further. It was nothing compared to the irritation he’d felt when that arrogant knight had had the gall to ask to be taken to her side.
“……”
“First love truly is terrifying.”
She was guarding him.
Like a gatekeeper, Eliana stood before the injured knight, her small, fragile body facing off against Grady. He neither could nor wanted to understand her. Consumed by fierce, burning jealousy, Grady lost his reason.
“What?”
Though Eliana’s face filled with confusion, Grady didn’t stop his hurtful words.
“Isn’t that what people say? That Grady Cryver’s first love was Empress Rosella. That no matter how many other women he dated, he always returned to the Empress in the end.”
“……”
“I think you’re the same.”
“……”
“You’re hurt by that, aren’t you? If you wanted to fool me with that wounded expression, you should have hidden it better. Rumor has it you’ve been protecting him since your first marriage.”
Grady pressed his tired eyes.
He had spent the whole night thinking about Rodin, Eliana, and the missing painting, without a wink of sleep.
Above all, what he disliked most was Eliana, clueless and still hovering around that arrogant knight.
“……”
“Is it because your beautiful wife has all your affection that he’s so brazen?”
“……”
“Still, what can I do? I have no intention of catering to your… particular tastes, but I can’t have us spending our whole newlywed life dissatisfied, can I?”
“Your Grace!”
“Since you’ve been together so long, I suppose I needn’t worry about your tastes.”
“Stop it!”
“When I heard about the wounds on that knight’s back, do you know what I thought?”
The blood drained from Eliana’s face. A chilling sensation crawled up her back, freezing her in place, unable even to blink. Grady delivered his blow straight to her heart.
“……”
“It reminded me of the first time I met you. Your back was also torn open by a whip.”
“……”
“According to the physician, it was the same kind of whip.”
Eliana closed her eyes. A sudden crimson drop welled up and stained her pale chest.
She quickly opened her eyes, trying to steady her vision as white spots flashed behind her eyelids.
Biting her trembling lips, she forced her eyes wide. Her determination not to lose consciousness was fierce.
Through her blurred vision, Grady’s face swam. He simply looked down at her, calm, as she struggled against herself.
‘All I need to do is say it’s a misunderstanding.’
Her lips moved with words that never became sound. In the end, her truth never reached him.
‘Even if he believes me, would anything change between us?’
The despair she had carried for so long made her give up on her own.
Her lowered lashes trembled before her eyes emerged again.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
Grady flinched at the sudden words. Her voice was flat, expressionless as she thanked him.
“Now?”
“I suppose I overlooked the fact that, no matter how much I pretend otherwise, I’ve been in the palm of Your Grace’s hand from the start.”
“Hah!”
Eliana lowered her head. It was her baseless hope—that he might see her differently—that had caused this mess.
Grady instinctively pounded his chest twice again.
It felt like something was lodged there, tight and unyielding.
Seeing the white nape of her neck turned away from him only made the heaviness worse.
‘Look at me. Don’t turn away—make an excuse at least.’
Grit.
A harsh sound came from between his clenched teeth.
But Eliana still didn’t lift her head. Grady’s lips twisted.
The sting of being ignored curdled into anger.
“I’d almost forgotten—come to think of it, we haven’t even consummated our marriage yet.”
Shadows deepened over Grady’s face as he tilted his head, fingers brushing his jaw. Beneath his lowered face, his twisted lips looked ominous.
“Consummate?”
“It may be quite familiar to you, but for me, it’s my first time. I was looking forward to it.”
The hand supporting his chin moved toward her. His cool hand brushed over her delicate cheek.
The slow sweep of his gaze from her toes upward sent goosebumps along her arms. More than discomfort, a vague anticipation swelled in her chest.
Eliana had always been sensitive to the eyes of others—especially men—and had often bitten her lips to endure their stares.
But Grady Cryver’s gaze was different. It wasn’t curiosity toward a temptress, but the eyes of a man looking at a woman.
That tingling in her chest urged her expectations higher. It was a feeling she had never experienced before.
“Yes. We’re husband and wife, aren’t we?”
Just as Eliana swallowed hard, the carriage came to a stop.
Grady’s expression changed instantly. The tension that had filled the carriage vanished at a flick of his hand.
“Huh?”
Startled by the sudden change, Eliana looked at him blankly, like she’d been yanked out of a dream. But unlike her confusion, Grady remained composed.
Having already arranged his expression, he opened the carriage door and offered his hand.
“Shall we, my wife?”
Sunlight poured down over Grady’s head as he stood outside the carriage. The two of them stood in stark contrast—one in light, the other in shadow.
‘What is this?’
Nothing was wrong, yet a strange disappointment pressed on Eliana’s chest.
In that moment, her face paled—because she realized the true nature of her disappointment.
Unlike her own roiling emotions, there was no trace of feeling toward her on Grady’s face.
“…Thank you.”
After a long moment, Eliana took his hand. The warmth between their fingers made her body tremble faintly.
Eliana had volunteered to be his shield. Even the fact that the Emperor had summoned him at dawn was, in a way, because of her. If not for her, Grady would never have had reason to visit the marquis’s storeroom.
She felt sorry for him—for enduring trouble he needn’t have, all because of her.
So she thought it only right that she take the lead.
But the moment she faced him in the carriage, she’d briefly regretted it.
The way he spoke of them being husband and wife didn’t feel like other married couples.
What burned in his black eyes was the heat of desire she’d seen in other men—but here, it was born not of affection, but of curiosity.
Even so, she resented her own racing heart toward him. But it was a turmoil she had to bear alone.
“You’ll have to get used to the palace.”
Walking hand in hand, Eliana stopped at his voice. His gaze had drifted to a fountain where water flowed.
A winged angel held a jar, pouring water from it. The pure white sculpture was spotless.
“I just hope our business ends before I have to.”
Grady looked down at her. Her sunlit face seemed strangely pale.
‘And here I thought you’d seemed more human these past few days.’
He didn’t like that the word “end” had left her lips. A vague, creeping unease over something that hadn’t even happened yet began to seep into his chest.
“You’ve still got a long way to go, yet you’re acting like you’ve already reached the destination alone. Don’t fool yourself—this is only the beginning.”
His tone was sharp, his furrowed brow clearly showing his displeasure.
Eliana reached toward that frown. Because of their height difference, she had to stand on tiptoe just to touch his brow.
