My Husband Hid His Regression, So I Hid Mine Too Chapter 58

Perhaps he had been holding her all night, right up until just a moment ago.

He felt an urge to bring Odely, who had just left the room, back inside, pull her into his arms, and fall asleep beside her again.

‘……No wonder people say I’ve gone mad.’

He sat still for a long time, covering his face with his hands.

The warmth left at his fingertips refused to fade for a long while.

 

 

 

****

 

Not long after the main gates of the Grand Duke’s castle opened, an endless procession of carriages began to arrive.

From the imperial delegation bearing the royal crest to the leading families of the central aristocracy and the northern branch nobles.

The castle entrance, usually so quiet, was now bustling with people as if a festival were underway.

Odely stood by the window, quietly watching the scene.

Below, the footsteps of servants busily preparing the eve-of-the-wedding banquet for the guests echoed back and forth.

And then……

A carriage slowly came to a stop on the red carpet in front of the castle gates.

‘She’s here.’

A woman wearing a black fur cloak stepped out.

Castia Exception.

The former Grand Duchess of Exception.

She was a woman who possessed the cool dignity unique to northern nobles and a strength tempered like steel.

Once, she had led the cavalry that patrolled the borders. At another time, she had been the true ruler of the Grand Duke’s family.

Rather than wearing elaborate decorations, she preferred practical clothing that allowed her to move freely. When necessary, she was the first to draw her sword and lead the charge onto the battlefield.

She was the kind of person who could overwhelm everyone around her with nothing more than a single look or a few words.

‘I never saw her in my previous life.’

Because she had already severed ties with Ludville by then.

‘……No, should I say she’d been betrayed?’

From the moment Ludville was adopted into the Exception family, he had stopped treating her as a fellow human being.

As much as people might favor their own family, even Odely couldn’t make excuses for Ludville in that regard.

He had been utterly, shamelessly ungrateful.

From the perspective of someone who had regressed thousands of times, the former Grand Duchess was nothing more than a means to obtain the title of Grand Duke.

Ludville, the iron-blooded Grand Duke who had moved solely to save Odely, had used the former Grand Duchess as a tool before casting her aside without a second thought.

And he had imprisoned her……

All so that, after his own death, every bit of the Exception family’s wealth, titles, and other possessions could be passed on to Odely.

From the regressor Ludville’s perspective, everyone except Odely seemed no more than a background character in a novel or a few meaningless lines of text.

To Odely, Ludville might have been her savior.

But objectively speaking, he was a villain.

One without a shred of compassion.

‘I apologize on his behalf……’

Although it had already become something that had never happened, still.

Odelli felt that she should at least apologize in her heart.

‘He must have lost all his emotions while repeating his regressions.’

Odely felt relieved by the fact that her previous life was now something that had never happened.

“Where is that child?”

Just then, a cold voice rang out from down the hallway, accompanied by the heavy sound of military boots.

Odely abruptly snapped out of her thoughts and straightened her posture.

“I’ll show you to her right away, Your Grace, Castia. The young lady is preparing her wedding attire.”

Butler-in-chief Theodore responded in his usual low, composed voice.

However, given who he was dealing with, a subtle tension had crept into his otherwise calm tone.

“…….”

The thought that she needed to make a good impression made her body react before she could think.

Odelli instinctively approached the mirror and studied her own face.

‘An appearance that inspires affection……?’

She wasn’t sure.

It had been a very long time since she’d even looked at herself in a mirror.

Looking at herself now, she realized that her features were so pale and washed out that she almost looked like a ghost.

‘……I don’t think I’ll inspire much affection.’

By the standards of older people, she looked so frail that they would probably click their tongues in disapproval.

Anxiety slowly tightened its grip around her entire body.

‘It can’t be helped. It’s not like I can change my face.’

She would just have to act as she always did.

To Ludville, the former Grand Duchess had always been an annoying existence that needed to be ‘removed.’

After all, the only reason he had been adopted into her family in the first place was to obtain the title of Grand Duke.

‘Honestly, I don’t even expect Ludville and the former Grand Duchess to reconcile.’

Would this life really be any different?

After all, Ludville had summoned people from all over the empire in search of a blue-eyed woman and held banquets every single day.

But at the very least……

‘I hope she won’t be imprisoned in this life……’

Even after Odely died, Ludville would have to keep living. And as long as he survived, he would need to maintain his ties with these people.

She didn’t expect Ludville to develop something like familial affection for the former Grand Duchess.

Even if he couldn’t love her as family, she just wanted him to be…… a little more human. Just a little.

He could be cold-blooded, but abandoning all basic human decency was going too far.

If he removed everyone who annoyed him, there would eventually be no one left by his side.

It was hard to imagine now, but there had been a time when Ludville was more sensitive and tenderhearted than anyone else.

A smile as radiant as brilliant sunlight.

Eyes that revealed everything he was feeling.

Back when he was still young and inexperienced, even the smallest remark from her would light up his face. A single casual touch from her was sometimes enough for him to give her his whole heart.

There had been a time like that.

So……

She hoped he would learn to care about people other than her, too.

Odely took a deep breath in front of the mirror, then carefully opened the door.

She saw two people approaching from the end of the hallway.

As soon as the woman walking in front came into view, Odely instinctively took a step forward to greet her.

And that single step brought disaster.

The hem of her formal dress caught on the tip of her foot.

“……!”

Her foot wobbled slightly, and her body pitched forward in an instant.

Fortunately, she managed to grab the doorframe and steady herself, but everyone’s attention had already turned toward her.

“…….”

Castia quietly stared at Odely, who stood frozen in place.

She looked as though she were observing something unusual out of curiosity.

With her palms damp from cold sweat, Odely hurriedly straightened her skirt and spoke.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace, Castia.”

“Hmm……”

But Castia responded to her greeting in a rather peculiar way.

Without saying a word, she looked Odely up and down.

Then she clicked her tongue.

“Tsk. His taste……”

“Pardon?”

Odely looked up in surprise.

“It’s nothing.”

No, she’d heard that perfectly clearly.

Hadn’t Castia just clicked her tongue while looking at her face and made a remark about Ludville’s taste?

Suddenly, she remembered something Ludville had said to her a few days ago.

“Are you talking about the former Grand Duchess? She’s a troublesome, irritating, unpleasant person, so you don’t need to concern yourself with her.”

“…….”

It seemed that getting along with this woman would not be easy.

“……I should have come out to greet you, but I apologize for my lack of courtesy.”

Odelli greeted her politely for the time being.

After all, as the person who would become the lady of the castle, it was best to maintain a respectful attitude toward her elder.

Castia then looked straight through Odely with eyes as sharp as a hawk’s and asked,

“I’ve heard that the third young lady of the Cardel family is frail, but you certainly look the part.”

“…….”

“Still, since you come from a family of heroes, I expected you to be better than the rumors suggested. Hmm……”

Did that mean she was even worse than expected?

It had been a long time since Odely had received such an openly blunt criticism, so the experience felt strangely refreshing.