10 - Valentina's Paradise
He held the dog and rubbed his face against it for a long time, then slowly stopped smiling. And he didn't move anymore. The women gathered behind him cupped their hands to each other's ears and whispered. The clanging of the armor of the escort knights standing far away scratched her ears. The chickens and ducks around them wandered around, making cooing sounds. Valentina felt the white sunlight blazing around the two of them was very noisy.
"Dominella…. I have a favor to ask."
Looking at his face as he raised his head after a long time, Valentina turned her gaze away again. His expression was simple and calm, but his thick eyelashes were clumped together with moisture. Valentina thought it must be because he had washed his face.
He put the puppy down next to him and knelt before her.
"Please… save this child."
"……!"
Edeled's words were like a fist suddenly punching her in the solar plexus. Valentina grabbed him, who was kneeling on the dirt floor, and forcibly pulled him up, scolding him.
"No one told you to harm anyone, neither you nor the dog. Why are you saying such strange things?"
"Stop pretending you don't know. You know very well what I'm talking about."
"……."
Edeled whispered, squeezing his voice, with his head bowed.
"My uncle was screaming in the letter to capture and kill me, wasn't he?"
That crazy bastard, what are you doing here…!
Valentina hurriedly grabbed his wrist and started running.
It seemed like he had wanted to tell this story for a while. But why in this place where so many people come and go? Is this also planned? Or is he doing this out of desperation? She was confused.
In fact, she wanted to deny in any way that the letter contained content instigating assassination. And she was planning to talk to Edgar when he came and make it as if nothing had happened.
Of course, it wouldn't have been easy to deny it to the person who clearly understood the situation. Moreover, Valentina's personality was such that everything was revealed on her face when she lied, so it might have been impossible from the start.
But she couldn't let the people hear that content!
Fortunately, Edeled didn't resist and followed her willingly. The women's curious gazes seemed to be piercing her back like arrows.
Even while running like that, his words didn't stop at all.
"When I think about it, my uncle is really… shameless. To think of making a noble… lady do such a harsh thing… If it were me, I wouldn't let you get a drop of blood… no, not even a drop of water on your hands…."
Ah, if only she could shut that mouth.
Valentina ran and ran like crazy. Only when she came to a place where no one was around did she let go of his hand. She was out of breath and her heart was about to burst.
"...Haa."
Her rough breathing slowly subsided. When she turned around, she saw him looking up at the sky with a bitter smile. The moment she was about to point out his mistake, she realized.
That she had been exposed for knowing about the assassination plot.
If she really didn't know, she would have asked, 'What nonsense is that?' at the well earlier. But the very fact that she grabbed him and ran away like this so that the people wouldn't hear was tantamount to admitting that she already knew.
He hadn't made a mistake in front of the people as he pleased.
"……."
Now she wasn't even angry. The thought that this man was looking into her mind in detail made fear rush in like a wave, and a clear warning sound rang out in her heart.
It would be dangerous to have that man as an enemy.
He slowly turned his head and stared at Valentina. Unlike before, he no longer hid his gloomy and heavy expression. When Valentina gestured for the escort knights who had been diligently following to go away, only then did he open his mouth.
"Dominella, I… have lived under the threat of death for a long time. I wouldn't think it was particularly strange if I died tonight. But this child has no reason to suffer such a thing. After all, dogs don't live longer than humans anyway."
"……."
"Please save it. I beg you. I'm going to die at your or my uncle's hands anyway…."
"Who is saying that you will die? Why are you so sure?"
His brow twitched at her words. Ha, the laughter that suddenly burst out was definitely a sneer. Now the surroundings became frighteningly quiet. He twisted his lips and spat out.
"Why are you doing this when you know everything, are you making fun of me?"
"Know everything? What are you talking about right now?"
Valentina felt like she was suffocating more and more. Through her scattered hair, his black eyes were seething.
"Stop teasing me. I know better than anyone that I've become more ridiculous than a clown. Just the fact that I handed my uncle's letter ordering me to be killed directly to you, the assassin, makes me want to cut off my own hands."
He had returned to his usual sharply shining eyes.
"Can't we be a little honest with each other?"
Two gazes intertwined violently. Valentina felt for the first time that a person's gaze could dig into someone like a well-honed sword.
"Dominella. I haven't dated a lady yet, but I know that a relationship where you exchange rings engraved with each other's initials and letters with codes is not a normal relationship."
"What are you talking about? I think there's some misunderstanding."
Valentina tried to deny it for now, but her lips felt dry. But he was persistent.
"It's strange from the start that His Highness the Grand Duke is still unmarried. You broke off the engagement with me when you were sixteen, but you should have found a new marriage partner right away, shouldn't you? Moreover, when Emperor Alexius, who is only lying in bed, pressured you to remarry, why did you make the excuse that there were marriage talks with the 'Nobleman of Nebulosa'? You'd be ruined if the lie was exposed, wouldn't you?"
Valentina missed the timing to deny it due to the clear questioning that pinpointed the core from the start. Edeled brought his face close to her chin and concluded the story.
"There's only one conclusion. That 'Nobleman of Nebulosa' must be my uncle, not me. At least that's not a lie."
"……."
"I'll believe it's a conditional contract marriage since someone as cold as the Ice Princess wouldn't recklessly fall into a dangerous game with a Wandering Knight who doesn't even have a piece of land. Considering your position as an Elector, the condition must be equivalent to a Grand Elector, right?"
He sighed and drove a wedge.
"The fact that the marriage proposal was finalized in the first month of this year means that my uncle met the marriage conditions at that time. The rebellion succeeded two and a half years ago, but he paid the Allegiance Oath to the Imperial Family and became the Duke of Nebulosa at the New Year's ceremony this year."
He understands the situation so accurately with just a few clues?
Valentina was surprised, but on the other hand, she was secretly curious.
What kind of person was my old fiancé whom I had abandoned? What kind of thoughts does he have, and what kind of life does he live to suddenly appear in this form?
This curiosity came too late. It would have been better if it had come a little earlier, at the age of twelve or sixteen.
No, would anything have changed even then? I had no choice.
"...Amazing."
Valentina spat out like a sigh. It felt futile to even deny it. Since the public wedding with Edgar was just around the corner, it was difficult to keep saying no.
Edeled only smiled gloomily even though his guess was correct.
"Dominella, I don't have much time. I don't want much either. So instead of tiring each other out with a war of nerves, how about we tell each other what we want to say frankly? Lying to others, deceiving others, and stabbing them in the back, isn't that actually painful for your personality?"
"Yes. Maybe that would be better."
"Well thought out, beautiful Dominella."
Edeled tilted his head slightly to the side and smiled silently. His eyes narrowed like a pen line drawn diagonally, and the corners of his red lips curled up softly. The sight was so wickedly beautiful that Valentina frowned.
Pepe was wrong. The young man before her had already become a very beautiful man, not later. And he knew his charm well and even actively used it.
His beauty exuded an extreme atmosphere that was as noble as an angel and as wicked as a devil. There seemed to be no suitable middle ground for him. Valentina was dizzy from the constantly changing atmosphere like a chameleon.
"Dominella, at the time, I was the official successor of Elector Duke Edwin. I was also your fiancé. But why did you choose my uncle, who had nothing?"
'Because your bloodline was being questioned. You were a dangerous card that could be stripped of your qualifications at any time. In fact, you are not qualified to inherit Nebulosa. Isn't Edgar the rightful heir?'
…She couldn't say that honestly.
Valentina found it difficult to tolerate a bastard or illegitimate child seizing the rights of a legitimate child. In her standards, it was a clear illegality and injustice.
But she didn't want to hurt Edeled again. Being born as an illegitimate child was not his fault. He was also just a victim who unfairly bore the fault of his parents. It's not his fault that he was born four years younger than her, or that his body became weak after overcoming the threat of poisoning several times.
She couldn't say, like the twelve-year-old girl who was furious when she heard the news of her engagement with the eight-year-old boy, "I hate weak, milk-smelling kids. I need a powerful husband with a strong country!" That statement didn't seem like it would be less hurtful either. Her mind was wavering.
Suddenly, she felt strange feeling pity for him. Valentina hoped that this pity would not be caught and answered carefully.
"What you have no choice in is not a choice. It's called fate."
"……!"
But unlike her wish, Edeled had a rather hurt expression.
For a moment, Valentina wondered.
What kind of expression would her old fiancé make if she told him that she had confessed to Edgar that he was the Owner of the Heart?
