“Even someone like me from commoner origins knows the importance of marriage vows. It’s even harder for me to believe that a noble lady like you would completely ignore them.”
“W-what do you mean by ignore?”
He sharply retorted toward her, who was confused.
“If it’s not ignoring, then what is it? You ignored my existence completely even after marrying me. Don’t expect me to tolerate that attitude from now on.”
She gaped in astonishment. How could he make such an accusation? The person who had left without a single word the day after the wedding!
“I-I, I never ignored y-you! O-on the contrary… y-you…”
“Don’t mess around! You were called Lady Calypse, yet you stayed in Duke Croixo’s castle for the past three years. Even though you should have naturally left for my territory after the first night, you chose to remain in your luxurious father’s castle!”
He snorted loudly.
“Well, of course. Who in the world would be a noblewoman who gives up her position as the Duke’s daughter to guard her husband’s home, not knowing when her husband might return as a corpse?”
She was so flustered by his accusations that she couldn’t even refute a single word. This man was just spewing incomprehensible nonsense.
“H-how was I s-supposed to know where y-your h-home was or how to f-find it? Y-you d-didn’t say a-anything…!”
“Don’t play innocent. Before departing, I had made all the arrangements for you to come and stay. If I died, the territory I managed was to be inherited by you. It might not matter to the Duke’s daughter what happens to that chunk of land, but it was an important property to me. And you completely neglected it.”
Anger was evident on his face. It didn’t seem like he was fabricating lies. From the beginning, he had no reason to deceive her. Maxi swallowed dryly.
“I-I didn’t k-know…. N-not a s-single word of t-that…”
“My subordinates said you refused to leave.”
He said bitterly.
“Don’t bother. I’ve known exactly how you feel about me since three years ago. Damn it, but why have you been trembling like this since earlier? Are you afraid I’ll beat you?”
“I-I’m s-sorry. B-but I r-really didn’t k-know. When I w-woke up, y-you had a-already left…. I-I didn’t h-hear a-anything…”
As if gauging the truth, he narrowed his eyes. Maxi waited for his next words with the heart of a prisoner awaiting judgment.
After a moment, the man spoke in a slightly softened tone.
“Even if that’s the case, you should have naturally gone to my territory. Protecting the husband’s home is the natural duty of a married woman. The fact that you didn’t even think of that means this marriage was insignificant to you.”
She couldn’t refute his words at all. It wasn’t that she had treated their marriage as insignificant as he said, but she hadn’t taken it seriously either. She had only thought of herself and him as sacrifices for her father’s sake. Their marriage was an inevitable ‘sacrifice.’ But had he taken this marriage seriously?
“What if you had gotten pregnant? What were you planning to do then?”
“P-pregnant?”
Lost in thought, Maxi jerked her head up in surprise at the unexpected word. The man twisted the corner of his mouth.
“That night, I definitely fulfilled my duty. Isn’t it a possibility?”
Her face drained of color at his sarcastic tone. The act from that day remained a painful and humiliating memory for Maxi. Even now, knowing it was to establish the marriage, recalling that act made her body tremble.
But this man was mentioning that day’s events lightly, as if they were no big deal. Maxi trembled anew with fear toward him. Seeing that, the man distorted his face and then slammed his fist against the wall with a bang.
“Damn it, don’t make that face! As if having my child is horrifying…!”
The man, who had been growling savagely, suddenly shut his mouth. Maxi let out a scream. He reached for the scabbard at his side and abruptly leaped out of the speeding carriage.
“Commander, it’s an ogre!”
“I know! Throw up shields around the carriage immediately!”
Riftan, who had issued the command to someone, turned to her and shouted sharply.
“Don’t come out no matter what!”
Then, without even waiting for a reply, he roughly shut the carriage door. At that moment, a thunderous roar that seemed to shake the earth resounded as if it had been waiting. She plugged her ears. With each thump, thump, the ground vibrated, and the carriage shook faintly.
She collapsed to the floor and curled up as much as possible. She didn’t have the courage to look outside through the window. She had vaguely heard rumors that monsters had been appearing frequently near the Duchy lately, but it hadn’t even been an hour since they left Croixo Castle. To be attacked by a monster near the manor. Her entire body trembled at this first-time experience.
“Block it right now!”
She swallowed her sobs. Following someone’s shout, the carriage shook violently. Then, roars that weren’t human and the knights’ yells responding to them echoed. She buried her face deeply in the folds of her skirt.
Thump, thump, the dull sounds of something colliding continued incessantly. Fearing that the carriage roof might collapse, Maxi cautiously lifted her head and screamed in terror. A huge, bloodshot green eye was staring right at her from beyond the window.
Maxi pressed herself against the wall. At that moment, her body was flung backward, and the world flipped upside down. She screamed. The door had opened, and she had rolled out onto the floor.
Terrified at having escaped to an unsafe place, Maxi paled and hurriedly tried to get up. But her legs gave out, refusing to obey. She looked around to ask for help. But everyone was preoccupied with fighting the gray giants.
In the end, trying to climb back onto the carriage on her knees, one of the monsters charged toward her with heavy thuds on its feet. Maxi screamed. At that instant, a flash of light blazed, and the giant’s body toppled backward.
“My Lady! Get inside immediately! We’ve put up a barrier around the carriage. You’ll be safe inside.”
Startled by the hand grabbing her shoulder as she sat there dazed, she turned around. A slender-built man was glaring at her.
“It’s ogres that came down from the mountains. It’s bad luck, but with Lord Calypse here, there won’t be any problem. Get inside!”
“I-I… I d-didn’t mean to c-come out. I j-just rolled out…”
Maxi stammered in panic. Riftan’s command not to come out echoed in her mind. She had no intention of disturbing them.
“Th-the carriage sh-shook, and…!”
“My Lady! Please get inside!”
The man irritably cut off her rambling words. She flinched and shut her mouth at his snappish reaction. This wasn’t the time for excuses. Barely pulling herself together, she tried to climb back onto the carriage with trembling steps when another thump sounded.
Unthinkingly turning her head, Maxi covered her mouth at the sight of blood spurting like a fountain from the severed upper body of a giant. Her stomach, tense from days of anxiety, twisted painfully, and bile surged up.
She tried to hold it back by covering her mouth, but it was no use. She vomited pale gastric fluid onto the ground. Her throat burned like fire.
“Lady Calypse!”
The man, surprised, supported her shoulder. She clutched her stomach, gasping for breath. Tears welled up from the tearing pain.
“Oh my god… A-are you okay?”
She panted heavily. She tried to compose herself with the hand patting her back, but once started, the nausea wouldn’t stop easily.
“What happened?!”
At Riftan’s startled voice, she finally lifted her head. He was standing beside the bisected ogre’s corpse, looking at her. Unconsciously, Maxi backed away little by little. With each step he took toward her, dark red bloodstains stamped clearly on the ground. His sharp longsword dripped blood menacingly, and his silver-white armor was soaked and mottled with black blood, gleaming ominously.
It was a terrifying sight like a lion from hell. Maxi retreated, lost her balance, and staggered, clutching the carriage wall. His figure shimmered like a mirage and then distorted strangely. Her vision spun. Her sight gradually darkened, and all sounds slowly faded away. She soon sank into deep darkness.
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