Chapter 17
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Izek mmed the door as soon as I followed him in. The sound of the door closing was loud. Tears
welled up in fear, but I held it in.
“Sit down.”
I hesitated and sat on a nearby chair.
Izek, who sighed as if he was trying to suppress his boiling anger, was in a messy state. His clothes
were covered in dirt, sweat had drenched them all the way to the back of his neck, and his silvery hair
was all over the ce.
“Alright.” He finally straightened himself up, folded his arms, and gazed straight at me.
His eyes, which had been zing with heat, were already bone-chilling now.
“Tell me what happened.”
What was he trying to do?
I gulped dry saliva down my throat, and quickly began to exin, “While riding, Lady Furiana asked me
topete till the other side, so I started first along the path she told me. Suddenly. something popped
out of the bushes and grabbed my ankle and pulled me. I was trying to get out of its grasp, but I
couldn’t manage since I had hit my head hard.”
I caught my breath, wondering whether I should tell him that I met Popo monster or not, but his
expression was so unusual that I stopped.
His gaze was somewhat empty…
“Freya said you ran into the woods to y on your own. Even though she told you not to.”
“What? What do you mean…”
“So, Freya lied to us? Is that what you’re trying to say?” His eyes, which had been suppressing his
anger, shone coldly.
What the hell was going on?
I felt like I had been hit on the head.
(T/N: You already have been hit once, sweetie.)
Why did Freya say that? Why? Why would she do that? Just because she didn’t want to take
responsibility? Afraid to say that she had offered to y first?
No, it was not that. I was sure she didn’t have any animosity until today, so why would she do that? She
didn’t even seem to care about me, but what was up all of a sudden? I didn’t expect to be kidnapped by
Popo but she had definitely shown me the wrong way. And now thanks to her, Izek misunderstood me.
I was no match for Freya here, and it was only natural for Izek to trust her more than me. Once I was
branded wrong, and if something simr was repeated in the future, he would be swept away by the
wrong impression. I’d be chucked into the swamps. It was something I’d learned from experience.
Why was she messing with me like this?
It was then that Izek, who was silently looking at me, lost for a moment, spat out in a subdued tone,
“You, just go back.”
“What?”
“Return to Romagna, I’ll send you back without any conditions.”
…what did that mean?
Izek agreed to marry me only to prevent Ellenia from marrying Enzo.
Everyone knew that one day our marriage would dissolve. However, even my father or Cesare was in a
situation where I could not ask for divorce if I wished, and on the other hand, I was a hostage that
Britannia could not easily let go of. But it hadn’t even been a month since I arrived here, and he was
ready to cancel without any strings attached. No matter if he was the king’s nephew and the next Duke
Omerta, this was not his decision to make.
And if I went back to Romagna in this state, apart from my personal fear of my family, Ellenia would
marry Prince Dorias in half a year. Who would stop her from being assassinated?
Even if it wasn’t for me, my father’s spies here would do their work, and Ellenia would die…
If I can’t do anything and just go back home like this, I’ll…
“I didn’t marry you because I liked you anyway, and if you stay here, you won’t be able to see me, so
go back to your house. As you may have known, this is not where you belong.” His voice sounded as
cold as a knife. His calm tone, which waspletely drained of emotion, was very determined.
It was too unexpected for him to explode because he thought I was trying to drive a wedge between
him and his childhood friend.
I don’t think the original Rudbeckia had ever been so hard on Freya that this kind of situation took
ce.
Knock, knock.
Izek now turned to the door, sweeping his hair back with a short sigh.
“It’ll be a while before the physician arrives, so until then…”
“I-I don’t want to.”
“What?”
ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
Bam!
I clung to him, almost falling off the chair. My leg was tingling, but I didn’t care. Instead, I hugged his leg
tightly.
I had to solve this first. Even if I got hit for lying…
“What the hell are you doing…”
“No, I don’t want to go back. I was wrong. It’s all my fault. Please don’t throw it away like this…”
I knew crying would irritate him, but there was nothing else I could do in this situation.
I sat on my knees sobbing and sping my hands together. Izek was staring down at me with a look
simr to the one I saw in the stable this morning.
“I-I must have misunderstood what she was saying. How dare I make up that Lady Furiana lied to me?
I’ll, I’ll apologize to her. I apologize to everyone else. From now on, I’ll just stay at home doing nothing. I
won’t do it again, so please forgive me.”
“I will-will do whatever you tell me to do. I’ll take any punishment. Even if I’m treated badly, I won’t get
angry. I’ll be good… “
His face, which was half-frozen, slowly became distorted.
The next moment he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up. I closed my eyes, thinking he was about
to p his face.
“I hate you so much.”
His ear-piercing voice made me hup.
I’m already aware of that!
Even though I already knew it well, this was the first time he spoke to me in such a determined and
emotional way, and I was half-blown away.
Izek growled with each word, his fiery gaze burning into me, “I get so annoyed with you.”
“Hic…”
“Why have I been so riled up all night, why are you making me worry about things that don’t matter to
me, and why do I care about whether you die or not….All you do is f*cking troublesome. I can’t figure
out why I’m so concerned, so I’m really annoyed. I’d rather you go around with a sassy smirk like this
was your hometown. So, why do you keep behaving like this? What the hell are you? All you’re talking
about is crap, but why am I thinking about you all the time…!”
What…?
“I’m going crazy because I can’t figure it out. That’s why I hate you and I feel annoyed.”
I was suffocating. The waves of emotion flowing from him were so intense that I couldn’t breathe
properly.
In the midst of a heavy silence, we…
We were both staring at each other from afar. Though his zing eyes were fierce, I didn’t want to
separate myself from him. A sudden chill of relief struck my heart.
He didn’t just want to let me go because of Freya. It wasn’t like that. He didn’t get tired of me. Above all
else, the fact that he was a little shaken by my words despite the testimony of his ten-year childhood
friend was paramount.
A beam of light seemed to shine in the dark.
Whether it’spassion, interest, or a mix of something else…
In such an intense situation, I still had hope. As the unknown author had said, Blue Beard and the
Shining Knight were the same person.
“I-I… just tell me what to do. I’ll do anything. I’ll do everything, so please don’t throw me away.”
Izek slowly pulled away from me.
I was the one who was sniffling and shivering, but maybe because of the mood, his red eyes looked
pained.
He turned as soon as I opened my mouth again. The door thumped shut.
The best knight in the North ran away like that.
What was Freya’s character like? A perfectdy who was confident, cheerful, full of dignity and loved
by all. Other than that, there was no special description. In addition, I read the novel so long ago that
my memory was hazy in many ways.
Of course, even if it came to mind, most of the narrative was centered on the plot of the Borgia family
and the northern knights including Izek, so it was unreasonable to know Freya’s detailed tendencies.
However, even if Rudbeckia fought, she responded wisely every time, and if there was a possibility of a
disturbance, the time when she stepped up to mediate seemed impressive.
Although I don’t remember anything more than their friendship, as the protagonist’s childhood friend
and the main character of the epilogue part, I thought that even if she or Izek had feelings more than
that of friends, it would not be a variable.
Because I was the wife who’d be thrown out and everyone knew that.
I thought she’d be fine if I didn’t look like I was tormenting her or jealous of her like in the original. But
why did Freya do this to me, who was pretending to not be worthy of a counterattack? She had no
reason to.
She would have been fully aware of the danger of getting lost there, wandering around, or encountering
monsters.
She just didn’t expect me to be attacked in such a short time.
So, she went back and lied right away…Perhaps, she expected them to find me soon, but her motive
was to brand me as a liar in front of northern nobles.
Why on earth?
I didn’t think she had any animosity towards me from the beginning. It was a different story if it was her
brother… I thought it was not worth paying attention to, but I could only conclude that it’s starting to get
on my nerves because it didn’t seem like this was unimportant. Whatever it was, it was going to be
really difficult if this carried on.
Even if it’s not a big deal, even if it’s childish and trivial, it was never small enough considering my
situation and situation.
My suspicions proved right the next day when Freya personally visited me.
—
T/N: Daym, I totally did not expect Izek to say that XDDD This legit exins why he was being so
tsundere lmaoooo– i’m so looking forward to what he’s gunna do :3