Chapter 40

At the orphanage, I got along with most of the kids.
But the one I was closest to was her.

More precisely—it was that she clung to me more than anyone else.

“Hana-unnie is my best friend! She’s my real sister!”

She even picked fights with the others, insisting she was closer to me.

Even after I left the orphanage and started living on my own, she kept in touch with me.
And when she, a year younger than me, also left the orphanage, she was the first to suggest we live together.

At the time, I’d been used to always living around people, and the loneliness of living alone had just begun to sink in.

So her offer felt like a blessing.

I was such an idiot.

The price of trusting the girl I’d known for over ten years was cruel.

The savings I’d built up through tutoring and part-time jobs during high school, plus the government stipend for leaving the orphanage—
everything I owned vanished.

There was no time to wallow in despair.
The lease on my apartment was just days from expiring.

That’s why I desperately looked for a live-in teaching job… and ended up here.

I’d been avoiding the memory ever since.
Too painful, too raw a wound to touch.

It was only seeing those pickpocket kids that dragged it all back.

They weren’t even related by blood, yet they looked out for each other like true siblings—
so unlike what I’d had with her.

Their trust had been beautiful. And it made me ache with envy.

As I sank into thought, Edmund’s voice broke in unexpectedly.

“Why do you look like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like… you’re about to cry.”

At his words, I touched the corner of my eyes. Dry.

“I’m not crying. Are your eyes going bad already?”

“I didn’t mean literally crying—I meant your mood. Never mind.”

Normally, Edmund would’ve pressed for answers.
But this time, for some reason, he backed off easily.

And I realized something strange.

Why was I able to think about her at all?

That memory was one I usually avoided at all costs.
Too painful, too heavy, too fresh a wound that hadn’t even begun to scar over.

But… it doesn’t hurt as much as I expected.

Yes, it still hurt a little. But compared to before, it felt lighter.

Like I’d already started to heal.

Maybe… it’s because I fell into a completely different world. That’s why it’s easier to face.

If that’s true—
if that’s really true—

Maybe it’s okay for me to stay here. Maybe I don’t have to go back.

For the first time, that thought came to me.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Edmund’s annoyed voice.

“You know, if you keep living like that, you’ll get into real trouble someday.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Those pickpocket kids earlier. If you keep going soft like that, one day it’ll bite you hard.”

But something about his tone made it feel like he wasn’t just talking about those kids.
Like he was also talking about me being kind to him.

For a second, I was touched.

Then he ruined it.

“If you were dropped into a big city right now, you’d probably get scammed and lose everything in a single day.”

…Canceled.
Touching moment canceled.

“Wh-what?! Who’s getting scammed?!”

“You. Or robbed. Or something. I’d worry.”

His tone was serious.
Mine was furious.

“Excuse me? Did you not see me in action? I’m ruthless, thorough, absolutely unshakable!”

“…If you really weren’t, why are you yelling like someone guilty?”

“I’m not! Not one bit! What do I have to feel guilty about?!”

The more I shouted, the hotter my face burned.
Anyone watching would think I was very guilty.
Which… wasn’t wrong.

Edmund must’ve noticed too, because he smirked.

Then he muttered casually,

“Guess it can’t be helped.”

“What can’t?”

“Even if it was my uncle’s doing, the fact is—you’re a Cohen now.”

“Ah.”

He meant our marriage.

We never had a wedding, and we were way too young, but legally, we were husband and wife.

“And since I’m the rightful heir to the Cohen family…”

Edmund looked out the window, voice light, almost careless.

“…I guess I’ll have to stick by you and make sure you don’t get scammed.”

“Wha—?”

I tilted my head.
The nuance behind his words felt… strangely different.

For Edmund, those words had taken immense courage.

“I guess I’ll have to stick by you and make sure you don’t get scammed.”

Not just now.
But in the future too.
After he escaped, after he became the real duke, even beyond that—

But Edmund swallowed those thoughts down.

“Once the world is safer, once I don’t have to suspect everyone just to survive… then I’ll say it properly.”

They were still young.
There was still plenty of time.

Meanwhile, Cassia, unaware of his inner thoughts, bristled.

“Excuse me?! Why would you need to ‘stick by me’? Do I look like some fool who walks around begging to be scammed?”

Edmund didn’t answer, looking away instead.
If he met her eyes, he might give too much away.

Her face went redder.

“I’ll have you know, I am not a pushover! How dare some brat talk down to his noona like that!”

This time, Edmund looked her straight in the eye.
His crimson gaze seemed to pierce straight through her skin.

It startled her into silence.

Then—

“…No.”

“No? No what?”

“You’re not my noona.”

“What do you mean? I’m a whole year old—oh.”

Cassia froze mid-sentence, realization dawning.

Edmund’s smirk spread triumphantly.

“Today’s my fourteenth birthday. We’re the same age now.”

“Well… technically, but still—!”

But inside, I’m in my twenties already! You’re still a kid!

Of course, she couldn’t say that out loud.

So she just fumed silently instead.

But then Edmund added something she never expected—
words that pierced straight into her chest.

“You’re not my sister. You’re my wife.”

“…Huh?”

Cassia froze like a statue.

“You’re my wife. Isn’t that right?”

It felt like someone had smacked her over the head with a giant fluffy pillow.

On the carriage ride back to the villa, I couldn’t get my head straight.

“What did I just hear? What did he just say to me?”

My mind was blank, my chest stuffed full of something huge and soft and overwhelming.

“He really did… he really called me his wife.”

Objectively, I already knew the truth.
From the moment we met, we’d been legally married.

I’d even used it myself—declaring to Moretti that I was Edmund’s wife.

But to hear Edmund himself say it?

That was different.
Strange.
Unsettling.

“Why? Why do I feel like this?”

It wasn’t like I planned to hide my legal husband under my seat cushion forever.

Still, the confusion swirling in my head didn’t last long.

Because when we arrived back at the villa—

We were met with something we hadn’t expected at all.

The head maid rushed up, face pale, and cried,

“Hurry, young madam! The duchess herself is here!!”