You Can't Catch the Wind (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 0

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Whoosh.

Ael slowly opened her eyes at the sound of the fierce wind rushing past the window. At the same time, she felt an unbearable thirst.

“Water…”

Ael reached out her hand toward the bedside table, searching for the water pitcher she always kept there.

Instead of the familiar feel of the nightstand, her fingers brushed against soft cushions.

What’s this?

Where’s the water pitcher?

“Jena, are you outside? Could I have some water…?”

As Ael called out to her maid, the returning thirst forced her to painfully open her eyes once more.

With a few blinks, her blurry vision gradually cleared.

The moment she saw the beautiful ceiling painting, Ael realized where she was.

“…!”

This wasn’t her own room. More precisely, it was her husband’s room.

“Ah…”

As soon as she realized this, a dull ache throbbed through her entire body.

From her throat down to her lower abdomen—honestly, nearly every part of her body hurt.

Ael’s face flushed as she touched the sore areas. The worst pain came from deep inside—a place she could never reach herself.

“Ugh…”

With a groan, Ael sat up.

The blanket slid limply off her, revealing her body still bearing traces of the previous night.

Before looking at herself, Ael turned her head to the spot beside her—the place where her husband had lain last night.

No one was there.

All that remained was a crumpled sheet, as if proving someone had once been there.

Ael ran her fingers over the wrinkles, then gave a bitter smile.

The creased sheets held no trace of warmth—only coolness, as if to confirm the person who’d been there had long since left.

Ael turned her gaze toward the window.

The distant horizon over the sea was already tinged red. Even though the sun hadn’t fully risen yet, her husband had already left.

He might have gotten up early because he was busy. After all, as the owner of the continent’s premier trading company, he surely had countless duties awaiting him.

But anyone who wasn’t a fool would know this: no matter how busy he was, the morning after spending time with his wife shouldn’t always be so rushed.

Ael tried to recall whether she’d ever seen him after waking up since falling asleep beside him. Ridiculously enough…

“I never have.”

Since their marriage, she’d only seen his face once a week—only at night, and even then, it never lasted long.

He always came home late and moved silently to fulfill his duty without a word.

Whenever Ael fell asleep first, he’d quietly leave without waking her.

As if to say, “Now that my duty is done, I have no reason to stay and look at you.”

“Do I really disgust him that much?”

Ael’s lips twisted into a self-mocking sneer as she thought alone.

Of course he wouldn’t like her. After all, she was merely a wife he’d bought with money out of necessity.

Even calling her “wife” might be an act of excessive courtesy. To him, she was nothing more than a tool to produce an heir for the Golden Law.

“…Though I haven’t even managed to do that properly.”

Muttering bitterly, Ael carefully got out of bed. But no matter how gently she moved, the lingering pain still made it difficult for her.

She barely managed to pick up the robe lying on the floor and put it on, then headed to the adjoining room. Just like the bedroom, it was completely empty—but her clothes were neatly arranged there.

Ignoring the throbbing pain, Ael dressed as quickly as possible.

The sun would fully rise soon. Once it did, the servants of the main house would emerge and begin their daily routines, so she needed to leave before then.

If she ran into them, both she and they would feel uncomfortable.

No—more precisely, she didn’t have the courage to endure their stares.

Still unable to properly fasten the top button of her blouse, Ael hurriedly put on her shoes and opened the door. She cautiously checked the hallway—fortunately, it remained just as empty. Quickly slipping out of the room, she headed outside the mansion.

Leaving behind the wide corridor leading to the mansion’s center, she descended via the narrow staircase used by maids, then pushed open the side door as if someone were chasing her and stepped outside.

Whoooosh.

The moment she opened the door, the fierce wind—having raced across the ocean and barely reached land—lifted Ael’s hair into the air.

Trending

But Ael didn’t even try to fix her hair; instead, she practically ran toward the garden.

Anyone witnessing this scene would surely find it strange.

This mansion belonged to Calon Ash, owner of the Ash Trading Company, and Ael was his wife. Thus, staying here should have been perfectly natural. Yet she was fleeing the mansion in a panic, as though she were an intruder who shouldn’t be there.

After passing through the well-kept garden and entering the path through the woods, Ael turned to look back at the mansion.

Sunlight, now fully above the horizon, softly bathed the mansion’s orange roof, making it gleam brilliantly.

Blinking slowly against the glare, Ael shielded her eyes.

This was the largest and most beautiful mansion in the Kingdom of Denertum. Yet even at this hour, bathed in morning sunlight, it remained eerily quiet—as if not a single person lived there.

Was it really normal for such a vast mansion to show no sign of life at this hour?

Unlike usual, Ael stepped deeper into the path and hid behind a tree.

After a short while, figures began appearing one by one throughout the previously silent mansion.

They hurriedly opened windows and swept the garden, moving as if they’d been delaying work and had only just been allowed to start.

“Just as I thought… so that’s how it is.”

Watching the servants emerge only after she’d disappeared from view, Ael lowered her head.

Of course. They’d been deliberately avoiding her.

Was this Calon’s order? Or their own judgment?

It didn’t matter either way—Calon couldn’t possibly be unaware of how they behaved.

In other words, everyone in the mansion, including its master, wanted nothing to do with her. That’s why no one ever showed themselves while she was present.

Ael turned away weakly, her face flushed red.

Confronting a truth she’d desperately tried to ignore filled her with such shame that she couldn’t lift her head.

Thud. Thud.

Her already weary steps slowed even further. After walking much longer than usual, she finally exited the path and reached a hill overlooking the sea.

At the edge of that hill stood a small house.

It was an old cottage once used by a researcher who’d studied distant sea weather from this very hill.

Now, it was also where Ael lived.

“Ael-sama!”

As Ael approached the house, the door burst open and a maid with her red hair tightly tied back rushed out—it was Jena, Ael’s maid.

Long ago, Jena had called Ael “young lady.” After her marriage, she’d started calling her “madam.”

But now, she called her “Ael-sama.”

She couldn’t keep calling a married woman “young lady,” yet every time she said “madam,” Ael looked as if she might burst into tears—so they’d compromised on “Ael-sama.”

“I was worried because you’re later than usual… Wait, Ael-sama, did something happen?”

Chattering as she approached, Jena’s expression hardened as she noticed Ael’s reddened eyes and flushed cheeks. She then glared toward the mansion beyond the woods,

as if convinced the people there had caused Ael’s distress.

Ael quickly shook her head and grabbed Jena’s hand, then hurried inside the house as if fleeing something frightening. After closing the door, she deliberately coughed and said,

“No, it’s just that the wind was strong and dust got in my eyes. But could you prepare a bath for me? I’d like to wash up.”

“Huh? You always came back after bathing already… No, never mind! I’ll get it ready right away.”

“Thanks. I’ll wait in my room.”

At Ael’s request, Jena dashed inside.

Gripping the railing, Ael climbed the steep stairs to the second floor, one step at a time.

When she’d first arrived, these wooden stairs had been so rotten she’d been too afraid to set foot on them.

Now, not only the stairs but also the railing and walls had been thoroughly repaired and gleamed spotlessly.

All thanks to Calon, her husband, who’d ordered the repairs after she’d mentioned wanting to stay here.

At his single command, workers from the Ash Trading Company flooded in.

The dilapidated cabin, on the verge of collapse, had been transformed within less than a week into a cozy space perfectly suitable for Ael and Jena.

On the day she’d moved here, Ael had been immensely satisfied—she’d finally found a place offering her a sliver of peace.

But Jena had sobbed uncontrollably, cursing Calon for driving his own wife to such a place.

No matter how many times Ael insisted it had been her own request, Jena refused to listen—and proceeded to curse every servant in the mansion, including Calon himself.

Ael hadn’t stopped her. She understood it all came from genuine care for her.

Perhaps that’s why, on days like today—once a week, when Ael fulfilled her marital duty at the mansion—Jena especially watched Ael’s mood and diligently carried out every request.

Reaching the second floor, Ael entered her room and closed the door. Then she collapsed onto the bed.

She was always exhausted after being with him, but today’s fatigue felt especially heavy.

ads

“Yesterday was unusually… persistent.”

He was always demanding enough to exhaust her, but yesterday had been exceptionally intense.

“Maybe he thinks the money he spent buying me is wasted since I still haven’t conceived.”

Burying her face in the sheets Jena had freshly changed, Ael felt last night’s exhaustion wash over her again.

“How long has it been?”

Ael counted the time since her marriage to Calon. Exactly one year ago, they’d held a wedding grander than any royal ceremony.

It had shaken not only the Kingdom of Denertum but the entire continent.

And for good reason—the ever-unmarried Calon Ash, about whom not even a rumor of romance had ever surfaced, had suddenly married the daughter of a fallen noble family.

People claimed he’d finally found true love.

Every newspaper and magazine across the continent hailed Ael as the lucky woman who’d captured the heart of the continent’s wealthiest man.

“…But that’s not it at all.”

Ael buried her face deeper into the sheets. The tears she’d barely held back finally fell silently, soaking the fabric.

“This was just a business transaction.”

No one knew the truth—that there wasn’t a shred of love in this marriage.

Why he’d agreed to it.

How coldly Calon had set her price.

No one would ever know.

Her muffled sobs seeped into the sheets and vanished.

“I never expected it to turn out like this.”

Ael recalled the first time she’d met him.

When he’d called her name and looked at her with trusting eyes.

When he’d smiled at her every time their gazes met.

And her own past—when she’d secretly cherished feelings for him, free of fear or guilt, simply admiring him from afar.

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