I Became The Wife Of The Cursed Grand Duke Chapter 140

Kalian silently locked eyes with his wife, who sucked in a breath like a frightened small animal. 

 

‘If she’s afraid of me, I can’t help it,’ he thought. ‘The world is too dangerous for her.’

 

“By the way, I don’t know what all this nonsense about saints being fake is about.”

It didn’t matter to him whether the saint was real or not. What bothered him was the fact that his wife was denying their relationship, not her doubts about the saint. That was what made him lose his cool.

 

“Don’t you think you’ve gotten everything you want and don’t need me anymore?”

Evelyn suppressed her emotions once more as she looked at Kalian, who seemed to be questioning her heart.

 

“Don’t accuse me of that. I just want to know the truth!”

In a moment so tense she barely blinked, Kalian reached out and grabbed her by the back of the neck. He sucked in a deep breath and locked their foreheads together. 

 

Kalian stared at Evelyn for a long, long time, until she could barely bear to look into his sunken eyes.

 

“Suppose the saint is a fake, as you say. Then who do you think is a real saint?”

Evelyn tried to pull her upper body back, but his grip was too tight to move. A dry grin played over Kalian’s expressionless face.

 

“You’re not going to tell me that’s you, are you?”

A stirring of emotion—whether it was sadness or anger—welled up inside her at the thought of him denying everything when she was clearly the Purifier. 

 

Unable to swallow the emotion, Evelyn replied in a sharp voice.

 

“What a fool you think I am! With all the evidence in front of me, if you say it’s true, and I’m supposed to believe it like a fool again, what’s the point of denying the facts!”

 

“You’re crazy.”

He rumbled low.

 

“So, you’re saying you’re going to deny the oracle in your own delusions? They’ll accuse you of being a witch in the temple, and no one will be able to save you then. Nothing but destruction!”

She paused, losing her composure and raging. She had forgotten for a moment what would happen if she denied the existence of a saint and was labeled a witch.

 

Evelyn recalled a scene from a dream she had once had:

 

[Witches who have given their souls to the devil, listen up! You have caused a tragedy for the Empire, a sin that cannot be paid for with your life. You will be burned at the stake!]

 

As she remembered the flames raging beneath her feet, the fury of the crowd, and the acrid smoke, a shiver ran up her spine.

 

‘I can’t. If I stay by his side, I’ll end up giving away the child’s existence…’

 

Completely consumed by the thought of protecting the child, Evelyn muttered softly, not wanting to talk to him anymore.

 

“Now… I want to stop.”

Kalian’s eyebrows shot up. “You mean you want to break up with me.”

 

Her tiny head bobbed up and down slowly, and Kalian felt his feverish head go cold again. 

 

The violent impulse of possessiveness overrode the need to convince her that she could trust his word.

 

Kalian lowered his rising tone and replied calmly. “Whatever.”

 

“…….”

 

“You may have set the beginning, but I set the end.”

With that, he calmed his raging emotions and took her hand, carefully applying the ointment.

 

She bit her lip. She didn’t even have the strength to respond to his words.

 

‘Everything between us was dependent on your decision, from one to ten…’

As she mulled over his words, she felt a stinging pain that started at her fingertips and spread to her chest. She squirmed and tried to pull her hand away, but he wouldn’t let go.

 

He was so meticulous in applying the ointment that she wondered why it was taking so long. All the while, there was a discomfort between them that she had never felt before.

 

How much time had passed? After what seemed like forever, the touching stopped, and he got out of bed. Without looking back, he set the ointment down on the dressing table and spoke coldly.

 

“I’m a lot harder than you think, and nothing would ever happen that would cause you to worry. So please… don’t ruin our relationship over something that didn’t even happen.”

 

* * *

 

As he closed the door and disappeared, the bedroom became eerily silent. Only her breathing drifted lonely in the silence. 

 

Her head throbbed from all the yelling and anger. The tension in her body relaxed, draining her energy.

 

“Haa…”

Evelyn slumped to the ground and hugged her legs tightly.

 

‘Was it really me that ruined things between us?’

 

She buried her face in her knees and closed her eyes, letting the thoughts swirl through her head. She sat there for a long time, until dawn peeked through the blacked-out windows. 

 

Unmoving, soulless, like a person without a soul, she just stood there, thinking of nothing.

 

‘f only I could have burst into tears, it would have made me feel better.’

Even as she felt like giving up, her stomach throbbed in the morning, as if by instinct. Tears finally welled up in her dry eyes as her baby seemed to scream out, “I’m hungry.”

 

“I’m hungry.”

Evelyn wiped her tears and runny nose roughly with the back of her hand.

 

‘It’s stupid to regret something you know you can’t take back. What’s important to me—that’s all I can think about now. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself and end up miserable again.’

 

Rising to her feet, Evelyn picked up the jar of ointment from the dressing table, opened the window, and threw it out without hesitation.

 

‘Now that he has no faith in me, there’s no reason to stay by his side.’

A bone-chilling wind whipped across her pale skin. Evelyn turned coldly and left the bedroom.

 

* * *

 

After that day, when the Saint came to Johansen, not much changed. 

 

Evelyn practiced her magic and swordsmanship at dawn in her private training room, paid her godmother a visit, and ate in the common dining hall.

 

Kalian did the same. He’d moved his bedroom to a separate wing, so Evelyn didn’t expect to see much of him, but he was acting like his usual self. 

 

He spent all day in her bedroom, except when he was working, as if nothing had happened.

 

Even at night, he didn’t go back to the outbuilding.

 

He never hugged her, but he chewed on her body like a ravenous beast, and Evelyn was exhausted.

 

“I said I was moving my bedroom to the outbuilding. I didn’t say I was going to stay there.”

 

Kalian sighed at her need to be alone for a while and pulled Evelyn into a tight hug.

 

“Nothing happened with Deborah, and it never will.”

Sometimes living with uncomfortable truths can lull you into the illusion that everything is fine. 

 

That’s exactly what Kalian was doing right now.

 

‘No matter how much she blindfolded herself, would her misery be so easily concealed?’
Evelyn smiled bitterly.

 

“I see.”

 

“Hang in there.”

 

She nodded. She felt like she would go mad if she didn’t kill her emotions.

 

“I’ve got a problem with a crystalline stone on the other estate. I won’t be long.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Let’s go out as soon as I get back. There’s something on the menu at the new restaurant that I think you’ll like.”

With that, he kissed her, tightened the laces of his leather boots, and strode out of the bedroom.

 

The moment the door closed behind him, Evelyn let out a pent-up breath as she wrapped her arms around her lower belly. 

 

She could suddenly feel the presence of a child with completely opposite tastes to hers at her fingertips.

 

“Hang in there, baby.”

 

She looked up at the sky, which had cleared of the overnight rain, and slowly began to formulate a plan to leave Johansen.

 

* * *

 

Evelyn was having breakfast with Lucy in the noisy communal dining room when Charlotte approached her. They had almost finished eating. 

 

Evelyn and Charlotte went for a walk side by side.

 

It was a beautiful day for a walk. Even in Johansen, where it was winter most of the year, it sometimes felt like this. Charlotte glanced at Evelyn’s pale face and said, “You still look tired.”

Evelyn paused in her pacing, then answered. “I guess I just haven’t gotten used to the Johansen weather yet.”

 

“I don’t know about anyone else, but you can be as honest with me as you want. Just like I did with you.”

Evelyn smiled bitterly.

 

‘No matter how much Charlotte had suffered similar losses to mine, she’s Kalian’s mother. She could never be on my side, even in death.’

 

“Yes. I’ll try, Mother.”

Charlotte’s eyes flickered with regret as she watched Evelyn smile weakly at her.

 

“If there’s anything else you need, just let me know.”

 

“Yes, Mother.”

She patted her lower belly out of habit as she rounded the corner of the corridor.

 

“!”

Evelyn caught her breath and froze in place.

 

There, in the center of the wide corridor, Kalian held Deborah in his arms, her cheeks as red as a rose.

 

“A woman so full of life is the daughter of the devil? It’s impossible.”

Evelyn looked at them as if they were one and quickly turned away.

 

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

When they stopped moving, Charlotte stuck her head out in wonder.

 

“Why are you sweating like this…”

‘I didn’t want to be miserable here.’ Evelyn hastily stepped in front of her.

 

“Oh, it’s nothing. We’d better go that way.”

She turned to leave with Charlotte, but heaven forbid.

 

“Uh… Your Highness?”

The saint who had found her called out without realizing it. No, it was obviously on purpose.

 

Unable to ignore it, Evelyn turned and forced a smile.

 

“It’s so nice to see you here.”

 

“Oh, how I love this. I’m sorry, Your Highness caught me when I was about to fall.”

 

“I see.”

‘Why are you using that as an excuse for me?’

Evelyn looked at them, scoffing inwardly.

 

No, she didn’t look at Kalian’s face; she couldn’t bring herself to see his expression.

 

As if reading her agitation, the saint placed her hand on his forearm and tilted her head.

 

“Thank you for understanding.”

 

Evelyn tore her gaze away from the two of them, as if she’d seen something she shouldn’t have.