Episode 21. A Truly Beautiful Person When Silent2023.10.21.Oh, it was an imagination more wretched than pain, but Clade was too breathless with the impending agony to entertain such rational thoughts.

The body and mind, pushed to their limits each time, had finally crushed his pride after two sweet slumbers.

“Are you acknowledging me as the lady of this house, and as Your Highness’s wife?”

“You begged from the start not to be driven out. You have nowhere else to go, don’t you?”

Clade did not hide the defiance peeking through even in that moment.

If he was going to keep her around, it was better to clearly define their relationship.

Even if the Pelliese family wanted this woman, the reason she so desperately didn’t want to return home was obvious—she wasn’t treated properly there.

Moreover, having proven her wedding night, there would be no suitor willing to take an unchaste bride.

In other words, she was a woman of marriageable age whose “value as a bride had utterly plummeted.”

Yuan, unable to respond to the piercing question, closed her mouth.

Clade, suppressing the rising tide of pain, curled one corner of his lips into a slant.

There was no greater villain.

“It’s a useful talent. Plus, I won’t have to see those tiresome bridal processions or hear rude screams anymore.”

Yuan, feeling as though she had passed through a long tunnel and faced a distant white light, gripped her knees tightly with her damp hands.

This defiant man might have found the answer she most desired.

“I’ll treat you as a useful vassal. So live quietly, as if you’re there but not there.”

It was as if a massive wall had risen before her, drawing a line—a cold dismissal absurd for a husband to say to a wife who had consummated their marriage.

But Yuan felt such overwhelming joy at not being driven out of this house that her vision turned white.

‘I don’t have to return to the Pelliese estate.’

She could live here peacefully, maintaining an appropriate distance as she wished.

Perhaps one day, close enough, she could even talk about Louise.

“Answer.”

Her head, already shrinking, had no further room to withdraw, like a turtle’s.

Even if she tried to act confident, her conscience pricked, and after ten years of helpless timidity, she couldn’t feign boldness before a hostile royal.

To even bring up Louise, she needed to be not just a useful vassal but a friend he’d want to share everything with.

But to this deposed prince, sharp as a wolf caught in a trap, this was as good as getting everything.

Fearing Clade might change his mind, Yuan quickly replied,

“Yes. I’ll do that. Thank you.”

At her docile and positive response, one of Clade’s eyebrows shot up. But the conversation wasn’t over.

“But that intimate warmth.”

“!”

“Do we really have to share it?”

Yuan had to stiffen her body to keep from retracting her neck like a turtle again.

It was the bare minimum precaution.

To absorb his pain, she had to touch him somehow, a rule born from the fear that if there were a great medicine, he might demand only that and cast her out.

From the few days of observation, the deposed prince not only avoided touching others but also limited who entered his domain.

Even letting someone see him for a short time made him shudder with disgust.

For such a prince to share “intimate warmth” with the butler Gustav, or occasionally with Lancelot Rev, who greeted her greasily as “Madam,” or Eddie Rev, full of wariness, or the Marquis Companni, with his snake-like gleaming eyes, seemed unlikely.

Besides, he must have known what “intimate warmth” meant.

Rather than spending nights with new women, wouldn’t Yuan, who had spent several nights with him and was nominally his wife, be preferable?

“Answer.”

Look at that fastidious, rude temperament.

Even if a child clung to him, his sharp nose and stubborn lips suggested he’d kick them away. Yuan might be lucky not to have been struck for kissing his cheek under the guise of treatment.

“If you dislike it, I can call the butler or someone else to…”

The man, who could convey disgust with a glance, furrowed his brows sharply.

As expected.

“If you dislike it, I’ll… do it.”

Yuan stood and approached Clade, who truly looked unwell.

Since he had called her to use her, Clade knew this was part of the treatment.

Whether out of dislike or tension about this unknown healing, Clade, who had been sitting carelessly, straightened up to look at her.

Despite his height, he didn’t quite look up at her, but his faintly wavering eyes seemed like those of an abandoned puppy.

This was even more apparent under his eyes, stained with fatigue and irritability.

Yuan saw her past self reflected in those eyes.

“I hope Your Highness has a peaceful night.”

And I hope you’ll share a piece of that precious heart with me, and talk about Louise.

I want the truth about Louise’s death.

I hope my sister, who was once your wife, can rest in peace, even in this land.

I hope even if I make such demands, you won’t drive me out, and this house will be a comfortable home for me…

With these scattered wishes, Yuan brewed an ineffective herbal tea.

She gently rubbed his wet lips with her finger as he drank silently, waiting for her next move.

As she absorbed a tiny bit of his pain, Clade took a deep breath.

Staring at his face, which changed as if peace and tranquility were spreading like paint in water, Yuan carefully took his clean hand, as if shaking hands with a businessman sealing a contract.

Despite its slender, elegant shape, Clade’s palm was calloused and firm, hinting at his past endeavors.

As she rubbed the callous with her thumb, Clade flinched.

Just enough for one comfortable night’s sleep.

And just that much pain passed to Yuan.

She had no intention of absorbing more.

If this man had tormented Louise, or worse, killed her, he deserved to suffer.

Clade’s eyes, burning as if watching exactly what she was doing to his pure body, began to blink slowly.

The violet eyes, once gleaming like sorrowful beads under long lashes, gradually disappeared beneath his eyelids.

He couldn’t win.

If Yuan, who took away pain, wished it, the other would inevitably fall asleep.

Yuan gazed at Clade’s sleeping face for a long time.

A jewel-like face, oblivious to even a speck of her pain, sparkled unknowingly.

‘A truly beautiful person when silent.’

The sentiment was fleeting.

Yuan bit the inside of her mouth, swallowing the metallic taste of blood.

She pressed her hand to stifle the scream bursting forth.

Clenching her trembling teeth.

She recited her usual mantra.

‘This is nothing. Nothing at all.’

The morning Yuan opened her eyes, exhausted.

The grand “lady’s bedroom,” now hers, was filled with the items she had ordered yesterday.

Not only the latest medical books but also shelves packed with academy papers, which her uncle never showed unless necessary, began to fill one wall tightly.

The butler Gustav, watching merchants bring in books and papers in a line, raised an eyebrow.

“Did you order all these?”

“Yes.”

Yuan, noticing Gustav’s surprised look, wondered if she’d gone overboard decorating the room to her taste as permitted. But the butler shook his head briefly.

“Curtains or canopy decorations. Carpets or bedding—are those alright?”

“These are already more than good enough!”

In truth, by the standards of typical royals or nobles, the items in Yuan’s room weren’t top-tier.

Due to a budget allocated for a single master for over ten years, everything else had been tightly scrimped.

But for Yuan, who had shared maids’ items or had none for over a decade, these were already more than enough.

“Even so, you’ll need to have clothes tailored. You brought so little…”

“Did His Highness say that?”

Yuan asked, slightly embarrassed.

Since Clade had only just accepted her presence in the mansion, she understood if he found everything about her displeasing.

In Yuan’s memory, Clade mostly looked at her with contempt, hostility, and rejection.

“Yes.”

Recalling Clade, who had frowned at her wandering the garden in this harsh cold with just a thin fur cloak and earmuffs, saying, “Get her some clothes. Do I have to care about this too?” the butler answered briefly, thinking it best not to relay everything.

“The winters here are particularly harsh, so he said to pay attention to it.”

Seeing her crestfallen look, he softened his explanation slightly.

Worried she’d overstepped, but seeing her face visibly brighten at the brief clarification, the butler gave a faint smile.

“Isn’t this too flashy?”

“Flashy? It’s just a single ribbon!”

“Exactly. We want to see some vibrant clothes too!”

“Please, go with this color, okay?”

Thanks to the seamstress summoned that afternoon, the young maids were in an uproar.

Starting with Hena, Monica and Canaria exclaimed with every fabric or lace the seamstress brought out.