Chapter 30
Time passed again. Riv didn’t get out of bed until three days after she woke up. The doctor advised Riv to rest for a few more days, but she couldn’t bear it anymore. She didn’t want to just lie down idly.
But Riv regretted her decision a few minutes after she got out of bed.
“What is all this?”
Riv was speechless as she looked at all the gorgeous dresses laid out in front of her.
“These are new clothes for you.”
Riv thought that she should change out of the sheer muslin pajamas she was wearing, but…
“This is too much.”
For Riv, who only wore a black mourning dress, bright dresses that revealed her body shape were burdensome.
‘Will these fit me?’
Compared to the gigantic dress she wore as Madame Katana, these dresses looked like they would fit a child.
“Try one on.”
“Will it fit me?”
Despite Riv’s concerns, the maids were confident.
“Try it on. We ordered them, adding allowance to the sleeves considering your arm length and height, but now, we’re worried that they might be too big.”
“This is big for me?”
Riv asked, then reluctantly picked one. An unadorned, light green dress.
Contrary to the maids’ fears, the dress sleeves fit her arms. The maids slightly adjusted the straps on the sleeves.
“Are the sleeves too short? What about the shoulder?”
“Everything is fine.”
In fact, it had been a long time since she wore clothes that fit her body. Riv could barely feel it on her.
The maids began to decorate Riv after meticulously examining her clothes.
Her dark hair flowed over her shoulders, and a bit of makeup was applied to her pale face.
Riv felt strange looking at the woman transforming in the mirror.
‘Is this me?’
Her flowing dark hair glistened and her pale face was bright.
The dress accentuated Riv’s slender figure.
‘I can’t believe this is me.’
Riv’s undergarments, dress, and shoes fit her body so well that it felt strange.
“You look so elegant.”
The maids were genuinely delighted.
After they left, Riv sat in a chair, dazed, staring into the mirror.
‘How did this happen to me?’
She was out of the royal family’s grasp, but how was she supposed to handle this situation?
With her body exhausted just by changing her clothes, it would be difficult for her to escape from this place.
“Haa.”
Riv sat on the couch and rested.
It was not until late in the afternoon when Riv gathered her strength and walked out into the hallway.
She had only taken one step beyond the door. It was difficult for Riv. By the time she came out the door, the sun was already setting.
On this floor, through a window to the west, a burning sky could be seen. Riv leaned against the window in the hallway and looked outside.
The maids went downstairs to prepare dinner, and the escorts guarding the hallway were away for their rotation.
“Why are you here?”
Riv turned her head towards the familiar voice.
Lionel was approaching.
“Are you feeling better now?”
He walked across the dark hallway.
Seeing him right next to her, he looked so tall and overwhelming that she couldn’t speak.
“I, I.”
“Riv, you changed into new clothes. You look pretty.”
She pondered what to do as Lionel whispered her nickname so naturally.
She held her dress with both hands and greeted her benefactor.
“Thank you, Duke.”
“Pfft.”
Lionel burst out laughing.
“It’s good to be polite, but your movement was weird.”
“What?”
Riv realized that her wrist’s angle and her arm’s position were a bit odd.
She just did it how she had always done it, but what was different was that she was wearing clothes that fit her body. She became much smaller.
Riv slightly changed the angle of her hand, but it wasn’t easy for her to change her long-standing greeting habit.
Lionel pretended not to notice her mistake.
“My apologies, Duke.”
“It’s Lionel.”
Riv was so distracted that she didn’t know what he was talking about. Lionel stared at her.
“You have fair skin, so you look good in a bright dress.”
“Oh.”
Riv’s cheeks felt hot at the barrage of compliments.
“Hmm, do you have a fever?”
Lionel, who stepped in front of Riv, reached out his hand. His big, cold hand caressed her forehead.
“I don’t think you have a fever.”
Riv knew that she was taller than most women and was as tall as most men.
But Lionel was one head taller than her.
“Riv, I’m glad that your complexion is better, but don’t overdo it.”
“I’m not overdoing it. I just came out because I didn’t want to lie down.”
“Still.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Riv couldn’t avoid Lionel’s gaze, so she lowered her eyes.
Even though she was more beautiful than ‘Madame Katana’, Riv was not confident in her own appearance.
She was as tall as most men, and her gloomy demeanor had not changed. She died, and when she returned, she didn’t think she would ever look lovely.
It wasn’t just from lack of confidence.
Riv wanted to run away from Lionel’s gaze who was obsessively clinging to her.
But he did not move, blocking her retreat.
Was it her own misunderstanding that somehow his gaze was overflowing with deep desire?
Riv’s face turned red as she remembered the passionate night she spent with him over and over again. An awkward silence passed. Riv closed her eyes and tried to bring up another topic.
“L-Lionel, can I go for a walk tomorrow?”
“Didn’t I say you shouldn’t overdo it?”
“I just want to go to the Duke’s garden and feel the breeze. I have no intention of going out for long.”
“It’s okay to go to the garden, but it will be difficult to go outside the mansion.”
“Yes.”
“It would be difficult if you stayed too long in the garden, you could be monitored.”
“Monitored?”
Riv seemed to understand the situation.
“Are the rumors of the Duke and I spreading again?”
Lionel didn’t deny it. It was only a few days ago that a scandal about the love triangle between Lionel, Madame Katana, and Princess Marianne spread.
If Marianne and the Duke of Sentoren broke up before the rumors subsided, and if the Duke of Sentoren had brought Madame Katana to his mansion, gossip thirsty people might attempt to climb the Duke’s mansion’s walls.
“Haa.”
Riv sighed.
“I don’t know why the rumors spread like that.”
“Ah, I was the one who spread them.”
Riv stared at Lionel’s face.
Her head went blank.
“You’re behind the scandal between ‘Madame Katana and the Duke of Sentoren?’”
“Yes.”
He easily admitted.
“Why?”
“Riv Katana, you seduced me first.”
‘I never seduced you. No way, don’t tell me that short peck seduced him.’
Riv’s head was so hot she felt like she had a fever again.
Lionel chuckled.
In his view, Riv Katana did fail to seduce him. But her clumsy behavior remained in his mind and stimulated his curiosity.
And that was how they got to the present. Was it him who was seduced, or was it Riv Katana? Either way, it didn’t really matter to him now.
As Riv said, Lionel chose Riv Katana instead of Marianne.
“I started the rumors about Madame Katana, but I didn’t spread them myself. It was the coachman who came with you to my mansion.”
“Ah.”
Riv exclaimed, but that was the only reaction she could muster. She couldn’t understand Lionel’s intentions, but she was too tired to argue about the situation. Lionel also noticed her condition.
“Riv Katana, you don’t look good. Have you been out too long?”
Lionel stared outside, which was now completely dark.
“The wind is blowing. Let’s get you inside.”
Lionel deliberately opened Riv’s door and urged her to enter. Riv stared intently at him as he held the doorknob and told him to enter.
“Can I ask you one thing, Lionel?”
“You can ask me anything.”
Riv didn’t know how to react.
“Lionel, do you really want to marry me?’
“What if I say yes?”
Riv took a deep breath.
She thought it would be better if Lionel and her weren’t involved.
She wasn’t even sure why Lionel wanted her as his Duchess.
“Duke, no, Lionel. Don’t make stupid choices in the spur of the moment.”
“What does that mean?”
Riv knew that before her return, she had no contact with this man. She herself was likely to die as scheduled. She didn’t even want to explain it.
Lionel’s expression distorted as if he were angry. The red scar on his left cheek stood out.
“A spur of the moment? A stupid choice? Why do you think so?”
“Because no one would be happy by my side. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.”
The doorknob Lionel was holding was about to break.
A fire blazed in his golden eyes.
“Your words are illogical. Why are the Queen and Princess Marianne, who have been with you for so long, fine? They didn’t look unhappy.”
“The misfortune you bring may be an illusion. Or someone persistently instilled it onto you. And…”
Riv flinched for a moment. The vicious voice of her adoptive father floated in her ear.
[You are a child who brings misfortune.]
Even if she didn’t bring misfortune, she was unhappy because she was killed by Marianne. However…
Lionel whispered to Riv.
“I don’t care what other people think. I am serious about marrying you.”