Chapter 35
Riv hoped that Lionel would not regret his choice.
“Lionel, if you later regret marrying me, or if I cause trouble for the Duke of Sentoren…”
“Then?”
“Tell me anytime.”
Lionel looked displeased.
“Riv Katana, what are you afraid of? The rumors outside? Marianne and the Queen? Or all of it?”
Lionel met Riv’s eyes and whispered to her as if he was hypnotizing her.
“Just remember that you will be my bride.”
Lionel gently laid Riv on her back and pulled the duvet up to her neck.
“Now go back to sleep.”
“Okay.”
Lionel comforted Riv with his words. He did not touch her further.
“Just sleep tonight.”
After a while, she closed her eyes with peace of mind. Lionel turned off the lights and left.
It didn’t seem like she would have a nightmare tonight.
Late at night, Rambaud, the Duke’s physician, stayed in Lionel’s office instead of returning to his home.
Rambaud stole Lionel’s brandy and drank, then looked at Lionel, who had become reticent.
Lionel stood by the window, looking at the Duke’s garden in darkness. Rambaud asked, observing his broad back.
“Are you really planning on marrying Madame Katana, Duke?”
Rambaud was a commoner, but Lionel was a childhood friend and considered him a brother.
Rambaud believed he could understand some of Lionel’s thoughts, but Madame Katana was an exception.
Lionel casually replied.
“Her name is Riv.”
“She’s going to be a Duchess so it’s ambiguous to call her by her name. Besides, I’m worried that the Duke seems to be in too much of a hurry to get married right after the cancellation of the engagement. Well, it feels like this isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation.”
Rambaud’s concerns were valid. However,
“Yes. Regardless, I broke up with Marianne.”
“I think you did well on that too.”
The young Marianne would cry whenever he stopped watching her play.
Would he accept such a child as his wife? Lionel couldn’t imagine it.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that Marianne, who had rejected Lionel, was rumored to be weak in front of a group of young boys.
Marianne became more selfish day by day.
Ironically, his parents couldn’t have imagined that at all until the day they died. They regarded their promise to the royal family as their honor. Lionel’s father was very straightforward in that respect.
“It was only a matter of time before Marianne’s scandal broke out. I’m tired of receiving the princess’ evil pranks. Rambaud, you knew that if I married Marianne, we wouldn’t be a normal couple.”
“There’s no way that I wouldn’t know that Princess Marianne is someone who ignores and treats people like they’re nothing.”
The king would accept all of Marianne’s folly.
Marianne, who hated all things about Lionel and only loved Ailte Palace, would not leave the palace even after her marriage.
He did not know whether Marianne was going to squander the Duke of Sentoren’s wealth for all of her luxuries.
“Still, Madame Katana.”
“It’s not Madame Katana, it’s Riv.”
Rambaud observed Lionel’s actions, kindly correcting her name.
“Do you like Miss Riv?”
“I like her. I can trust her.”
Such an answer was enough for Rambaud.
“May the Duke have a happy marriage”
Rambaud gave Lionel a glass of brandy. He offered a toast and the two glasses clinked.
“Congratulations.” Lionel and Rambaud emptied their glasses at once.
Rambaud made a sullen face.
“I will go back and rest. Please rest too, Duke.”
Lionel also returned to his bedroom.
It was a very busy day. And now it was night. Madame Katana and Riv. When he thought of her, Lionel’s heartbeat began to race.
“Haha.”
Funnily enough, Lionel longed for Riv Katana.
From the moment they first met in the palace until now.
The change from Madame Katana to Riv Katana was so dramatic that anyone could tell just by a glance. It was such a perfect escape that it was doubtful whether she was the same person.
A caterpillar evolving to a butterfly could not compare.
Riv’s skin looked exceptionally white. The contours of those features seemed to stand out more as she had lost weight while she was sick.
A slender body that anyone would question how she inflated to fit a gigantic dress.
Her thin waist that seemed like it could be wrapped with one arm even without a corset.
As he recalled her body, his head felt dizzy again. He wanted to quench his desire.
Lionel got up from his bed, thinking of Riv. He was driven by his urge to see her one more time.
His footsteps headed for the guest room downstairs where she would be.
In the middle of the night, Riv, who spent time in the greenhouse today, was deep in sleep.
The maid who was guarding her room carefully stepped back and disappeared.
Only Lionel and Riv were left in the room.
Lionel crossed his arms and looked at the woman sleeping soundly in bed.
“Why?”
Lionel questioned himself.
Why this woman? Why was he attracted to her?
“Hmm.”
Lionel had a hard time explaining his feelings for Riv.
Even if she aroused his curiosity and attracted him.
“Is it because you saved my life?”
If he wanted to save this woman, he didn’t need to make her a Duchess.
She would be consistently pursued by the royal family, but he could take her somewhere and hide her away. He completely ruled out that possibility.
He offered Riv no other option than to marry him.
Even though Riv Katana deliberately approached him, it was strange for him to succumb to her clumsy temptation. There were more beautiful and educated women than Riv Katana. Even if Riv Katana stimulated his curiosity.
“I desire this woman.”
Lionel recalled the passionate night he mixed bodies with Riv Katana.
Memories of that night were hazy. However, the intense pleasure he felt during their affair was imprinted on him.
“Not yet.”
Riv had yet to recover her health. After breaking out of Madame Katana’s shell, she had a fragile mind like a newborn baby.
“Not yet.”
He was about to give Riv a brief evening kiss, but he turned around without doing anything.
He thought that if he touched her in this state, he would take her as he wanted.
Lionel thought that he should keep a reasonable distance from her until she got better.
Lionel left the room and called Michelle.
“Michelle.”
“Yes. What’s wrong?”
“Has the Marquis Quill been located?”
He was Princess Marianne’s lover who tried to kill Lionel.
“He has yet to be found.”
“Is he hiding in a place where the guards can’t reach? Or is he locked up?”
“I don’t know if that’s the case. Should I investigate where he is?”
“If he’s alive, bring him to me. If he’s in the palace’s dungeon, let me know where. There is something I want to ask him myself.”
“Alright.”
They thought the missing Marquis and his friends might have already died, but they decided not to delay their pursuit.
Michelle, receiving the order, disappeared from his sight. Lionel went back to his own bedroom.
***
A middle-aged priest in an old robe entered the old Bishops’ Church. He had been away from this place for a long time.
His journey had been long and arduous. He suffered so much, enough to die and he lost precious things.
So, he returned to the royal capital after ten years.
“Sir Philip.”
The man turned around when his name was called.
He had no emotion left on his withered, emaciated face as he looked at a young priest of the Bishops’ Church.
The young priest hesitated for a moment at Philip’s gruesome appearance, but he continued with a light of indifference in his eyes.
“Sir Philip, I have heard that you have returned.”
“Yes, I am back now, young priest.”
“The Cardinal is waiting for Sir Philip. I’ll take you to him.”
“I see.”
The footsteps of the man carrying his large luggage stopped for a moment.
He pondered whether he should leave the luggage and old robe to see the cardinal first, and if so, where to put it.
“I want to wash my body before I meet His Eminence.”
“His Eminence the Cardinal doesn’t have the time.”
Philip decided to take off his old, dusty travel backpack and robe for a while.
Under the robe was a black priest’s uniform. Two cross marks were engraved on the collar indicating his status as a high priest.
The young priest looked into Philip’s eyes. He joked.
“Because the royal family is noisy, His Eminence the Cardinal is troubled. After all, the Duke of Sentoren broke up with Princess Marianne, and a scandal broke out with an ugly woman named Madame Katana.”
“That’s an interesting story.”
Philip, who said that, frowned heavily.
“Can you explain it again?”
The young priest was struggling with where to begin and how to explain the story, and he thought of Philip’s real name.
The Cardinal must have had a reason to find him.
“Oh, but Priest Philip, wasn’t your last name also Katana? Are you related to Madame Katana?”
“Perhaps, a step-sister.”
“Yes?”
The young priest was astonished, and Philip calmly shut his mouth.
A dark shadow crept over Philip’s face, as they stopped in front of the Cardinal’s office.
The shadow was dancing like a long reaper’s scythe quickly disappeared from his face.
The door opened. Philip took a deep breath and stepped into the Cardinal’s room.