102. I Told You Never to Appear Before Me Again

2024.01.10.

Regina had a particular talent: once she fixated on something, she would wildly imagine things on her own, then relentlessly grill people until she got the answer she wanted.

Yuan no longer wished to exhaust herself dealing with Regina.

So she decided to make it clear to Regina that Yuan Pelliese was no longer the person Regina once knew, and that the difference in their power was now unmistakable.

She also refused to allow Regina, still clinging to Bollonico, to interfere in any small way with what she was about to do.

“It was all part of the plan. There was only so much I could get from the Crown Prince and Locksenhart. What I truly wanted was Pelliese—not dried meat or potato soup. As you know, that’s not something just anyone can have.”

“What? Pelliese?”

Regina’s fluttering eyelashes froze in shock.

She couldn’t even let out a groan in response to Yuan’s sudden confession, only trembling slightly in her shoulders.

Yuan continued coldly.

“So it would be best if you never act as if Pelliese belongs to you again. Unless you’d like to take a single horse as your dowry from a territory that has nothing left to give.”

“Don’t try to divide my family! You wandering bat! How dare… how dare… even speak Pelliese’s name? Just months ago, you couldn’t even lift your head properly in front of me!”

Yuan lightly patted Regina’s shoulder, which looked as if it might collapse from shock, then walked past her.

She had lingered too long in one place.

Bollonico, eager to boast his spoils freely to Clade, was not a man with much patience.

And Yuan, too, had little patience left.

She didn’t have much time remaining.

She would gladly allow those laughing together with Bollonico to kiss the back of her hand, and fairly share the suffering of the beasts they offered.

“You’ve made a mistake. How dare you speak Pelliese’s name? This time, even Father won’t let it slide!”

Regina growled, shaking off Yuan’s touch.

Yuan didn’t even glance back, simply turning away.

But the moment she stepped out from the shadow where she had hidden with Regina, toward Glory Hall, Yuan froze in place and slowly lifted her head.

There, standing very close to the entrance of Glory Hall, was her husband, Clade Euphris.

Regina would never let such a scene—this couple, drawing everyone’s attention, facing each other—pass unnoticed.

Her eyes gleaming from the darkness, she immediately called for Bollonico, intending to inform him that Yuan was now with her own husband, then swiftly dashed off in the opposite direction.

***

Even though she had stood before nobles she had never seen before, her heart, once as solid as stone, began to beat wildly.

Yuan quietly stared at Clade, who was clinging to a noblewoman obviously drunk.

Whether or not he knew she was there, Clade leaned against the wall with his long frame, clearly looking down at the woman clinging tightly to him.

The neatly groomed woman’s fingertips gently tugged at the loose end of his cravat.

She didn’t look like an unmarried young lady, but was undeniably beautiful and exuded the charm of a mature woman.

The noblewoman with lush brown hair gazed up at Clade’s jaw with a dazed expression, letting out a soft “Hnnn-,” and rubbed her flushed red cheek against his firm chest.

Yuan lost all will to step forward, paralyzed on the spot.

This was the man who, just months ago, would bristle at anyone who even glanced at her.

Yet perhaps with a stranger he had just met today, he remained still as she stroked his chest, opened his clothes, and caressed his cheek.

The bright light, music, and voices of people from the narrow doorway a few steps away sounded muffled, as if heard from underwater.

Despite Regina’s fierce warning, cold sweat now dampened Yuan’s hands.

The man just a few steps ahead, though not right before her, was an immense wall standing directly in front of her.

As if responding to the presence nearby,

the man, who had been indifferently looking down at the woman in his arms, slowly raised his head.

Unlike Yuan, whose body temperature surged between boiling and freezing, Clade remained dry and calm even upon seeing her.

Just as he had been the day he let her go without hesitation.

Unlike herself, who had worn scents mixed by Bollonico’s tastes, carrying mismatched fragrances.

Unlike herself, who had spent several sleepless nights upon hearing he was coming to Cielo.

Unlike herself, who had spent all her time with Noel, desperately searching for the image of Clade Euphris as if dying of thirst, yet just as desperately trying to flee from it.

A soft sheen glimmered on his golden hair, neatly swept back to expose a smooth forehead.

The moment she used to secretly stroke that golden strand and whisper inwardly, “How pretty,” now felt not like the past, but like a previous life.

She had expected they would meet eventually, knowing Bollonico was determined to provoke Clade.

She had thought, meeting a man who didn’t love her, she’d be lucky to escape with nothing worse than a look of contempt.

She had imagined facing him with this cold, indifferent gaze, devoid of even a trace of curiosity.

But imagining and facing it directly were on entirely different levels.

Her chilled blood raced through her body, and cold sweat continued to seep from her hands.

Meeting Clade’s utterly emotionless face with a forced smile was incredibly painful and agonizing.

His eyes, not the ones she had secretly glimpsed through Noel, but real, crystal-clear, deep violet pupils, slowly scanned over Yuan’s appearance and then rose back up.

Every single item chosen and matched by Bollonico had passed under Clade Euphris’s eyes and fallen away.

Yuan felt as if his cold gaze was scratching her entire body.

Just as the shadow of his pale eyelashes disappeared from his cheeks, breaking the silence was the noblewoman, nearly leaning her whole body against Clade, on the verge of dozing off.

The woman let out another petulant “Hnnn-,” then followed Clade’s gaze, turned around, and looked behind at where Yuan stood.

“Oh my!”

The noblewoman quickly grabbed her attire with both hands, as if hastily adjusting clothes she had deliberately loosened, then pulled away from Clade.

After giving a brief, uncertain bow—whether to Yuan or no one in particular—she hurriedly opened the large door and rushed back inside Glory Hall.

Bright light, the loud voices of people, and rising music poured between them, then gradually dimmed as darkness slowly reclaimed the space.

To everyone’s surprise, it was Clade who broke the silence again.

He pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning against, straightened his posture, and stood upright as if nothing had happened.

Roughly adjusting his loosened cravat, he used his long fingers to brush back the golden hair falling over his forehead, then lowered his eyes.

“You’re fully awake now.”

That was it.

His first words upon meeting his runaway wife after such a long time.

Yuan could only stand there, dazed, watching the retreating back of Clade Euphris walking away without a second glance.

A sharp beam of light forcefully cut through, strongly illuminating Clade as he moved toward the door, reaching to open it.

His shadow stretched long, passing over Yuan and merging with her own.

Yuan tightly clenched her trembling fists.

Even though she knew she shouldn’t stop him. Even though she knew she had no right to.

Even though she had so desperately wanted him to leave, Yuan could not help but call out behind him, like a novice experiencing love for the first time in her life.

“Your health—”

Just as Clade Euphris’s hand was about to touch the antique bronze doorknob, Yuan’s voice echoed through the corridor.

“Your health—is it really alright…?”

Thankfully, Clade’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

But there was no reply.

Yuan scrutinized him as if peeling away his clothes with her eyes, checking whether Bollonico or Companni had harmed him in the meantime, then finally exhaled in relief.

Yuan thought she was the only one breathing in this space.

The red cloak, symbol of Locksenhart, remained perfectly still, without a ripple.

Yuan felt miserable—knowing she was doing something foolish, knowing she no longer had the right to say such things, yet unable to stop her mouth from moving on its own.

“I was worried.”

It was then that the man’s gaze, seemingly indifferent, sharply turned toward her.

His perfectly sculpted nose, which she had faced so many times before, now seemed devoid of the warmth of a living being.

It was a chilling response.

Suppressing the urge to press her small nose against his once more, Yuan spoke again to the unresponsive man.

“You look well. Congratulations on your recovery. And on receiving the countship.”

She clenched her fists tightly, overwhelmed by the urge to caress his cheek.

She couldn’t breathe.

What on earth had possessed her to call him?

Hadn’t she spent several nights vowing, over and over, to accept him exactly as he was, no matter what he said or how he behaved?

Then why—why did she feel she couldn’t endure it unless she called out to him like this?

Her eyes kept drifting to his chest, where the woman with brown hair had touched.

She knew she shouldn’t, yet she couldn’t bear the anxiety. It was an absurd reaction, even to herself.

Yuan knew Clade should hate her more, and she had decided to stay with Bollonico in his presence.

But she didn’t want to face him like this—alone, brazenly confronting him, provoking his hatred.

Unable to look up at his cold, disdainful eyes any longer, Yuan quietly dipped her knee in a brief curtsy.

It was a farewell.

Regretting her hasty action, she took one step to disappear in the opposite direction.

And then.

“Did you think my words were a joke?”

Finally, Clade opened his mouth toward her.

“I told you never to appear before me again.”