Chapter 51
Throughout the entire conversation, Ellen’s hands wouldn’t stop trembling. His face had gone pale, and cold sweat trickled down his temples. Sitting beside him, Gideon quietly reached out and held his hand.
Watching that, Odelia thought to herself briefly. So that’s why he drank so much today… At least one of them seemed to have very deliberate intentions.
After hearing everything, Odelia finally opened her mouth after a long silence.
“…I thought you were being unusually straightforward. That’s why I felt comfortable around you. I even wondered if perhaps you had no intention of proposing to me.”
“As I said before,” Ellen stammered, “I only ever thought of you… as a person I admired. I look up to you. Truly. The way you walk proudly, unashamed of who you are, no matter what others say… It’s… it’s amazing. I really think you’re remarkable.”
His hands still shook as he wiped his face again and again. His pallid complexion and the sweat clinging to it made his voice sound like it was collapsing in on itself.
“I really do think you’re amazing. The way you stand tall and strong despite people’s judgment… It’s admirable. The more I got to know you, the more I wanted to be close to you.”
Ah. Odelia began to understand what he was trying to say. Ellen’s shoulders trembled slightly.
“…But it’s disgusting, isn’t it? Two men being like this.”
He forced a laugh, but it was closer to desperation than humor.
“I’ll never show myself before you again. Please, just for today… keep this a secret. Please, Lady Odelia…”
Still holding Ellen’s trembling hand, Gideon spoke up in a quiet, steady voice.
“We do not believe that we’ve committed any sin. We simply love each other. If you find it revolting, we would never dare resent you for it. That’s fine. But… Ellen fears being found out more than death itself. So please, Lady Odelia — I’ll do anything you ask, whatever it may be. Just protect Ellen’s secret.”
For a while, Odelia said nothing. Then, slowly, she lifted her head.
“…Truly? You’ll do anything I ask?”
Both men nodded at once.
Their faces betrayed both anxiety — not knowing what demand she might make — and a faint spark of hope that perhaps their secret might remain safe.
Who on earth started those rumors, Odelia thought, that Ellen Bardot was some kind of licentious scoundrel? The man agreed so earnestly to anything that it was hard to see him as anything but sincere.
Odelia let out a quiet sigh. Through the carriage window, she could see a familiar gate in the distance. They were nearing her mansion.
Despite the late hour, warm yellow lights glowed inside. Odelia gazed silently out the window — and then saw Calix standing far out in the garden.
Her hands clenched tightly on her lap, gathering her skirt in her fists as she pressed her lips together. A silent decision formed within her.
Then she turned to Ellen.
“Then, Lord Ellen… marry me.”
***
When Calix returned to the Imperial Palace, his face was expressionless as he strode swiftly down the corridor.
Each step echoed heavily — the sound of anger restrained but not extinguished.
The attendants pressed themselves flat against the walls, hardly daring to breathe, unable to meet his eyes.
At last, he reached his destination. The door burst open.
The air inside was perfumed with wine and soft music. Fabiana, holding a wine glass, flinched at the sudden intrusion.
Without a word, Calix walked straight toward her — and drew his sword.
Slash!
The scent of blood filled the air as the ankle of the aide standing beside Fabiana was severed clean off.
The man fell to the floor, shrieking in agony. In an instant, blood pooled across the marble floor as the maids screamed in terror.
“What the hell are you doing, Calix?!”
“That was where Odelia was hurt.”
His voice was cold and flat. Fabiana’s expression froze — then she forced a laugh, pretending ignorance.
“Are you insane? What does that woman getting hurt have to do with me?”
“Don’t play dumb. I already know everything.”
Calix’s gaze bore into her, sharp enough to pierce through flesh.
“The reason I’ve tolerated you this long wasn’t because I feared your father or your power, Fabiana.”
He had endured — sometimes pretending ignorance, sometimes feigning defeat — all for one reason: to protect Odelia. Never to demean her.
He knew that if he reacted harshly, the retaliation would fall upon Odelia.
So he swallowed his pride and endured.
Even if it meant bowing his head, he would protect her.
But this time was different.
This time, Fabiana herself had tried to harm Odelia.
And that crossed a line he could never forgive.
“Every time your filthy little schemes hurt Odelia—”
His voice dropped low, carrying both fury and menace.
“—I’ll carve the same wound onto your lover’s body. Remember that.”
Calix said nothing more. He turned away, his actions declaring his intent louder than any threat could.
This time, he would not back down.
As his footsteps faded, a suffocating silence filled the chamber.
Fabiana stared blankly after him, then looked down — at the severed ankle lying on the floor, still bleeding.
Her breath caught in her throat. The image of Calix’s face, cold and detached yet burning with dark intensity, would not leave her mind.
He had always reacted with indifference or icy detachment, no matter how she provoked him.
Perhaps that had made her careless.
But when that mask cracked — when she saw genuine, murderous rage flicker beneath his calm exterior — her body had trembled on its own.
Her fingertips shook uncontrollably. Biting her lip did nothing to stop the trembling.
“…All that, just for that woman?”
Fabiana muttered bitterly, but there was a trace of fear in her voice that even she couldn’t deny.
If Calix was truly willing to throw everything away to protect Odelia —
and if that fury ever turned fully toward her —
then she wasn’t sure she would survive it.
She squeezed her eyes shut, then forced them open again, pushing her fear aside and clinging to her wounded pride.
“Physician! Call the physician!”
Her gaze fell on her aide — her lover — writhing on the floor in agony.
But there was no pity in her eyes. None at all.
It wasn’t the sight of his severed ankle that filled her with pain — it was the meaning behind Calix’s act.
How dare he touch what’s mine?
He hasn’t even secured real power yet — and he dares to humiliate me so openly?
It was a declaration of war.
A refusal to fear her.
A refusal to bow.
Yet, no matter how she tried to twist it into anger, she couldn’t erase the chill crawling through her chest.
The cold, predatory look in Calix’s eyes — the decisive swing of his sword — lingered in her mind like a hand clutching her throat.
A gaze filled with madness — a promise that he would protect Odelia even if it meant destroying the world.
He had always been calculating, cold, weighing every action for advantage.
But now… he had acted purely on instinct, purely out of obsession.
For her.
Odelia.
What on earth was that woman to him?
Could it truly be just love that drove him to this?
If not—
Then who — or what — was Odelia, really?
