Strategic Marriage with the Mad Villain - Chapter 83

‘Ah, right. I think it started after I fell seriously ill from the poison.’

After I got sick, he began to change a little, and some time later, he suddenly asked about birthday gifts. From then on, our relationship gradually improved to what it is now.

“If I remember correctly, it was after I got sick. It was about two weeks after Reus returned from the battlefield.”

Theron, who had been silently looking at me, suddenly asked an unexpected question.

“But seeing him like that, don’t you have any thoughts about how insane he is?”

“Well… I was a bit surprised at first, but now I’m kind of used to it…”

“I can’t believe you got used to that. Amazing.”

A sigh of disbelief came back, and I quickly added.

“It definitely wasn’t this bad at first…!”

“Ha-, as if. He made such a fuss over the slightest touch back then.”

I asked him to repeat the muttering that followed after his sigh, but Theron just shook his head as if it wasn’t really important.

“Okay, let’s say that’s true. Anyway, he’s not in his right mind now, right? What do you think whenever you see him?”

Wondering if I should say it, I carefully continued after a moment of hesitation.

“Actually, at some point, I was a bit confused because he was treating me too well.”

Theron raised one eyebrow as if he immediately understood what I meant.

“So I asked him why he was treating me so well, but he said there was no particular reason…”

“…? He said there was no particular reason for doing that?”

“He didn’t say that exactly, but… from the nuance, he implied that he’s just treating me well because I’m his savior.”

“Oh my…”

“Anyway, it was just my misunderstanding. But then I realized his reaction was only natural.”

Not knowing what happened between my father and Reus, I had always vaguely thought that I might have committed some great wrong.

However, a while ago, when I saw Reus tearfully talking about my late father, I thought that perhaps it wasn’t just the Emperor who was involved in the death of the previous Grand Duke and Duchess.

Reus was particularly keeping an eye on the imperial family and… the Everlet family.

‘There was a reason he said that before.’

The contemptuous gaze that always turned towards me. The reason why he blatantly ignored me among so many people.

“Even if Reus and I get along well now… I’m not simply his savior.”

It was because I was the child of his enemy.

It was a fact I wanted to ignore until the end if possible, but after that day, I could no longer pretend not to know the truth.

“Actually, I still don’t know what happened between my father and Reus. Nevertheless, I can vaguely feel that Reus made a big decision to accept me.”

“…”

“But sometimes I feel sorry and wonder if I really deserve this much consideration just for saving his life once by chance…”

Theron, who had been silent for a long time as if lost in thought, soon spoke with a face that had completely lost its smile.

“I roughly understand how you feel… but you don’t need to feel guilty.”

His lowered voice sounded somewhat blurry. It also sounded as if he lacked confidence, and as if he was talking to someone other than me.

“If you don’t know exactly, don’t try to find out more and just live like that. It’s not even something you did, so what does it matter? You’re not going back to Everlet, are you?”

“Of course not…! I don’t want to cause any trouble for Reus, no matter what it is. I will make sure that I never become an obstacle to him.”

Theron stared at me intently. Whether he was just smiling or expressionless like now, he seemed to be as hard to read as Reus.

“Well, okay. If you’re not going back to Everlet, that’s fine. Don’t dig yourself into a hole and just stay comfortably until you leave. And as for why he’s lost his mind to that extent… it’s better not to know.”

When I slowly nodded my head in understanding, Theron continued.

“What’s so important between people who will part ways anyway? Perhaps the most important thing is to maintain an appropriate distance.”

“…”

“The relationship, and the truth entangled somewhere.”

* * *

At that moment, Reus couldn’t concentrate on the conversation at all because he was constantly bothered by the sight of the two people who somehow looked close.

What were they talking about for so long while facing each other like that?

He couldn’t shake the thought that it was a mistake to assign Theron as Roel’s escort. Even so, he had no intention of entrusting Roel to someone else, but the irritation was unavoidable.

At first, Reus only turned his head slightly to check the atmosphere, but eventually, he stopped his conversation with Dwin and stared intently at the two.

Now, Roel had completely turned her body towards Theron and was saying something seriously.

When the woman’s affectionate gaze was directed at him, it felt so sweet, but when that gaze was directed at someone else…

Irritation welled up inside him, and his eyes naturally narrowed.

There was a reason why Reus was paying more attention to the two than usual.

Although Roel was kind and affectionate to everyone, she seemed to feel unusually comfortable with Theron compared to others.

When looking at him, she still sometimes couldn’t make proper eye contact or turned her head away, but when talking to Theron, she didn’t avoid his gaze at all.

At that moment, an emotion that couldn’t be described in words surged within Reus.

He couldn’t name this feeling, but he knew exactly what he wanted right now.

Even if he couldn’t control the way others looked at Roel, he wanted those aqua eyes to reflect only him.

Dwin stopped taking notes due to a strange sense of discomfort. But his master’s eyes seemed a bit unusual today.

When looking at Roel, his eyes were filled with affection unlike when he looked at others, but now his eyes seemed similar yet subtly different.

It was a look that went beyond affection and seemed somewhat obsessive.

* * *

Coincidentally, Roel and Theron were still talking about Reus.

“So I think Reus might see me as something like a younger sister…”

“Sis…”

It was something Reus would go crazy over if he heard. It was so absurd that Theron couldn’t finish his words and quietly frowned.

Feeling embarrassed, Roel quickly added the reasons she thought that way.

Things that happened when they went to the festival together last time, and the things he usually said and did to her.

It seemed like she omitted quite a lot, but listening to Roel’s perspective, it wasn’t completely incomprehensible why she felt that way.

On the other hand, Reus felt the same way. Being the person who knew best that they had to part ways anyway, he probably expressed his feelings with the word ‘savior’ to avoid burdening Roel.

It seemed like this mess arose from a chain of misunderstandings.

“Well, it’s a situation he brought upon himself… but he must be quite frustrated too.”

“Pardon?”

“No, I wasn’t talking to you. Anyway, that’s definitely not it. Who would do that to their sister?”

“Oh, um… Maybe Reus doesn’t know the proper extent since he didn’t have any siblings…”

“No, that’s not it.”

“It’s not…?”

Theron, who answered with his gaze without saying anything, soon gave some serious advice.

“Don’t ever say that to him. I think even if it’s you, he’ll go crazy. Just think of him as someone who’s tearfully grateful to you for saving his life. If you don’t know, just memorize it. Don’t stimulate that insane guy any further.”

The stimulation Theron was talking about had a slightly different meaning, but Roel thought it meant hurting Reus’ feelings and quickly nodded.

“But do you really need to accurately define how he thinks of you? Like I said earlier, you can just brush it off thinking he’s treating you well because he’s grateful.”

At those words, Roel struggled for quite a while without saying anything, then carefully opened her mouth.

“It’s because… I don’t want to have any misunderstandings.”

It seemed that Roel had also developed some feelings for Reus to some extent.

‘Well, it would be strange if she didn’t feel it…’

Seeing how he hovered around Roel every day to the point of temporarily putting aside his lifelong revenge, even the dullest person would have noticed the subtle changes in emotions.

‘It would be strange not to fall for that too.’

Just looking at how he asked for as many medicinal ingredients as possible, even if they couldn’t all be used, and to get them quickly just because she had a cold, it was clear how he usually treated women. He must have acted so affectionately as if he would bring down the stars and the moon for her.

Then, Roel spoke in a slightly timid voice.

“I shouldn’t make any mistakes…”

A deep sense of self-blame was evident in her trailing words. She didn’t want to be caught having feelings for him as the daughter of his enemy.

The affection poured onto her, and the growing fondness within her. The guilt that rendered all of those feelings useless. Roel, who was struggling amidst the mixed emotions, strangely caught Theron’s attention.

‘Is it because she’s a woman in a similar situation to me?’

At that moment, as a shadow loomed over the two, Roel, who had been looking at Theron, raised her head up.

“Let’s return to the guest room now, Roel.”

“Are you done talking?”

“Yes.”

Reus, who lied without blinking an eye, gently reached out his hand. Roel hesitated for a moment, then held his hand and left.

Theron, who was watching the two from behind, wrinkled his eyebrows in disgust. The sinister gaze that passed over him for a moment was clearly telling him not to cross the line he had drawn.

“Sister, my ass. Look at his eyes.”

He was properly pissed off.

Soon, Theron, who roughly clicked his tongue, also left the lobby.