Episode 64
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"Then, let’s begin the acting in earnest." Like a lover.”
Having said that, Ludville very naturally pulled the tip of Odelia’s hand and kissed her on the back of her hand.
A courteous and elegant gesture.
But his gaze was so sincere that it felt as if this play was genuine.
“Your Highness.”
Odelia’s eyes widened as if she was momentarily flustered.
Quickly pulling her hand away, she took a half step back without realizing it.
However, Ludville moved even closer and wrapped his arms around her waist even more tightly.
“If we’re acting, we have to do it seriously. The Cardel family is watching.”
“……”
“What if they think our relationship is just a contract and try to kill you?”
He was smiling.
A playful tone, light gestures.
But his eyes, as dark as the deep sea, held even deeper emotions.
“I never told you to go this far.”
“People are watching, Odelia.”
Ludville held her hand tightly.
The moment she was trapped in his arms and her hand was intertwined with his, Odelia was like a butterfly caught in a spiderweb, unable to move.
She could feel his warm body temperature through the thin silk dress.
‘It’s just a contract. It’s just a contract.’
She repeated it in her head, but her senses were not easily fooled.
Her heart kept reacting on its own.
“If you can’t even handle this much now…”
He lowered his head and whispered in her ear.
“What are you going to do on our wedding night?”
“Wedding…”
“Surely, you weren’t thinking of using separate rooms?”
Ah, that’s right. She was so busy worrying about the Cardel family that she forgot to discuss separate rooms.
But a couple who fell in love at first sight and rushed into marriage like a bolt of lightning using separate rooms from the first night…
Wouldn’t that be too suspicious?
Anyone would suspect that it was a political marriage disguised as love.
‘Ah.’
It wasn’t just about getting through the wedding ceremony. Now, there was no turning back.
In front of Cardel and in front of Castia.
The two had to look like they couldn’t live without each other.
‘It’s not just that it would be difficult if I didn’t act like I was in love…’
It was a situation where Odelia’s remaining five-year plan would be completely ruined.
Odelia glared resentfully at Ludville, who had first proposed this plan.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“……”
Even though she had created a clause to completely exclude personal feelings.
Even though it was acting, it was impossible for Odelia to see it as just acting.
‘No, get a grip.’
Ludville doesn’t remember anything.
As long as Odelia keeps her mind focused, nothing will happen.
She tried to calm her heart, which kept wavering on its own.
“That’s not the look of a lover in love.”
Looking down at her flustered face, he raised the corner of his lips and gently brushed Odelia’s eyes as if telling her to pay attention to her gaze as well.
Her eyelashes fluttered as his rough fingertips touched her eyes.
“……”
Ludville forgot what he was about to say playfully and froze for a moment.
An elaborate curve as if woven with silver thread.
A shadow cast over her pale, shining skin.
A delicate movement like the fluttering of a pure white butterfly.
That one moment of trembling stirred the fog that had been vaguely gathering in his mind.
For a moment, he felt as if the commotion of the banquet hall was fading far away from his perception.
Her gaze, every breath, captivated all his senses.
Everything flowed slowly.
As if time flowed around her.
Ludville’s gaze briefly touched the scar on Odelia’s collarbone.
The scar she had made up to pretend to be the Blue-Eyed Woman when she first tried to enter the Ducal Palace.
‘Why does it feel so…’
Like it’s mine.
Like it’s been mine from the beginning?
Ludville was seized by an unknown feeling.
The thought that he should be the only one who can see this being, that he should protect her, that he should have her, kept…
Ludville fixed his gaze on her eyes and said as if muttering.
“You suit this role better than I thought.”
What does he mean?
It was when Odelia blinked, not understanding for a moment.
Suddenly, the music that was playing stopped, and an elegant waltz flowed into the banquet hall.
Looking back at the musicians, they must have seen the Grand Duke and his wife standing close together and tried to change the atmosphere in their own way.
Doing things they weren’t even told to do…
While Odelia was clicking her tongue inwardly, Ludville smiled and said.
“It seems our acting is working better than I thought.”
“……”
“Then, shall we go and show everyone a friendly appearance…?”
He naturally led her to the center of the banquet hall.
Given the position of the two people who were about to get married, the crowd naturally cleared the center.
Odelia was unwittingly waltzing in front of everyone.
The first movement was cautious.
But the two’s breathing quickly matched.
The two people’s bodies moved naturally as if they had been breathing together for a long time.
As if they had danced this dance hundreds, thousands of times.
And only with the person in front of them.
Come to think of it, the only person Odelia had ever danced with was Ludville.
During the thousands of regressions, Ludville had never allowed Odelia to dance with another man even once.
Not only that, but Ludville himself had never danced with another woman.
Really, not even once.
Odelia bit her lip for a moment and said as if muttering.
It was a word that flowed out without her even realizing it.
“You can dance the last dance with another woman.”
“Are you kidding me?”
Then Ludville suddenly stopped dancing and became serious.
“It seems you’ve forgotten Article 10. During the contract period, emotional or physical intimacy with others is prohibited.”
“……”
“And what husband dances with another woman the day before his wedding?”
“No, not right now…”
Odelia quickly added in embarrassment.
“Sometime in the future. It’s a five-year contract.”
At those words, he narrowed his eyes and looked at her strangely.
It was a gaze that seemed to be trying to figure something out.
And then, he frowned slightly and said.
“You dance more skillfully than I thought.”
“……”
“I don’t think the Cardel family would have taught you how to dance?”
Of course.
There was no way they would have done something so bizarre as to not let her out of the mansion and only teach her how to dance.
Ludville seemed to recognize that fact as well, and suddenly a different energy appeared in his eyes.
A sticky, obsessive energy.
“Who did you learn from?”
…You.
“That man who looks like me?”
No, just, you.
“You said you never left the mansion… So you must have met him in the Cardel family.”
“……”
“A bodyguard?”
You were a Cardel knight once, too.
Lude, a low-ranking knight from a slave background hired by the Cardel family.
‘It wasn’t exactly guarding.’
Because his role on the surface was to monitor her, not protect her.
He stood silently in front of the secret underground room where Odelia was imprisoned, at the bottom of the dark stairs.
Of course, even that was because he had infiltrated to help Odelia escape…
“That man, you said he was dead. Did he die protecting you?”
“……”
“So you still remember him? Enough to marry a man who looks like him?”
