The Villainess Enjoys Her Married Life
Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Chapter 11. A Wife Seeking Her Husband’s Attention
2023.12.11.
The swordsmanship training grounds of the Klaus estate.
The private soldiers of the house were drilling in sync to rhythmic chants.
Kalian watched as they moved in flawless discipline.
With every gust of wind, thick beads of sweat rolled down the soldiers’ necks.
“Your Grace.”
At the knight’s call, Kalian turned his gaze slightly to the side, then froze.
His brows knit in a faint frown.
He had spotted a figure approaching from the distance.
“I wondered if she might…”
Kalian’s lips parted slightly.
“As expected.”
It was only a few days ago that he had felt a jolt of shock at the sight of Eshika rising to leave, acting as if she had no interest in him whatsoever.
Who was Eshika Klaus?
Was she not the woman who dogged his every step to the point of utter exhaustion?
Under the pretext of bringing refreshments, she used to push her way into his office four or five times a day.
She would come to the training grounds too, constantly talking to him and acting overly familiar.
Even when he simply tried to take a walk, she would inevitably follow, and whenever Kalian lost his temper, she would tear up with that foolish look on her face and whimper:
“I only… need to talk to you, Kalian. We are…”
How suffocating it had been to watch those stammering lips.
“…husband and wife, after all.”
Every time he looked at that face, he felt nothing but sheer disgust and weariness.
Conversation? That was meant for people who could actually understand one another.
Hailing from a merchant family that cared for nothing but coin, she was completely ignorant of aristocratic manners and the topics of conversation among the high nobility of the capital, Torres.
Thus, Kalian had no desire to converse with her.
He had neither the intention nor the desire to indulge the pleas of a woman who had bought her place as his wife with money, wondering why he should ever waste casual chatter on her.
Yet, the words that very woman had so indifferently tossed out:
“It strikes me that this is a waste of time for both of us.”
And she had risen from her seat with ice in her eyes.
He should have felt relieved, yet it was strange. A subtle, unpleasant twist had gnawed at his gut.
A lingering irritation, something uncomfortably unsettled, had remained in his chest for far too long.
Yet at this moment, all Kalian felt was the familiar irritation flaring up once more.
“…”
Eshika stopped before Kalian.
She wore the same red dress she always favored, though today she was not draped in those gaudy, mismatched jewels.
Her complexion seemed somewhat clearer and her gaze colder, but her purpose for coming all the way here could only be one thing.
Kalian spoke.
“I do not have time to entertain—”
“Do not worry, Your Grace. I did not come to see you.”
Kalian’s brow twitched.
Eshika lowered her gaze slightly in a polite nod.
And then, she brushed straight past him.
Kalian stood motionless, replaying the scene in his mind.
Eshika had come to the training grounds. Without a doubt, her reason for coming was to speak to him.
Yet today, Eshika had cut him off mid-sentence and walked right on by.
“…?”
Kalian swiftly turned toward the direction she was heading.
He caught sight of her back.
She was walking toward the armory beside the training grounds.
When she stopped before it, an elderly soldier emerged and bowed respectfully to her.
He could see the two of them exchanging words.
Kalian stared at Eshika’s back.
As if Kalian did not even exist in her world, she did not spare him so much as a single glance.
Just like someone who had genuinely come on her own business…
‘Absurd.’
Kalian shook his head.
What reason could the Duchess possibly have to visit the training grounds?
Eshika was an incompetent woman who could barely manage the household’s simplest affairs.
There was no way she could have any interest in matters concerning the military or private forces.
‘Is she trying a different tactic to get my attention?’
There were occasionally women like that.
Women who pretended to be interested in subjects other women avoided, all to make themselves appear special to men.
He hadn’t thought Eshika clever enough for such schemes, so this was unexpected.
‘Should I applaud her effort? Ridiculous.’
Kalian curled his lip in a sneer and looked away.
In times like this, the best response was indifference.
If he showed no interest, she would grow anxious and give up on her own.
Kalian was certain that, in the end, she would not leave the grounds.
Not until he spoke a word to her.
“…”
Yet after watching the soldiers train for a few more minutes, he turned his gaze back toward the armory—only to find it empty.
Once again, his expectations were completely shattered, and his brow stiffened.
When he hastily shifted his gaze, he saw Eshika already far off in the distance, shrinking into a tiny dot.
His lips parted slightly.
She truly came here for business? It was hard to believe.
Kalian strode over to the armory.
As he approached, the elderly soldier who had spoken with Eshika stepped forward and quickly bowed low.
“Greetings, Your Grace!”
“What did she say to you?”
The soldier seemed slightly taken aback by Kalian’s question.
However, he quickly composed himself and answered.
“Ah… Do you mean Her Grace the Duchess? She asked about the swords.”
“…The swords?”
“She asked if she could touch the swords and admired their quality. She said the forging craftsmanship seemed quite fine… And she asked where we procure our blades. I mentioned that today was the day new shipments arrived, so she examined those just now as well. She seemed particularly fond of the rapier.”
Kalian furrowed a brow and asked,
“This wasn’t her first time?”
The soldier nodded.
“Yes. She first came by five days ago.”
Kalian’s fist flinched.
Then was it truly out of interest in swords, and not to see him, that she had come to the training grounds?
No, how could that possibly be?
Eshika was nothing more than an aristocratic woman who would faint at the mere sight of blood on a blade.
“Well… Her Grace appeared to know quite a lot about swords. Things like edge alignment and durability. It was certainly not shallow knowledge.”
Yet the soldier continued, speaking of Eshika with clear admiration.
Kalian’s eyes wavered for a moment before returning to composure.
Coming from a merchant family, she might have studied various goods.
Weaponry could well have been among them.
Yet what grated on Kalian’s nerves right now was not the fact that she had inquired about swords.
“So…”
Kalian turned around, his lips parting in disbelief.
His violet eyes trembled with deep unrest.
“…She really didn’t come to see me?”
A strange mixture of indignation and displeasure twisted across his face.
**
With a sweat-soaked face, Yuri changed the cloth wrapped around her legs.
Blood seeped into the cotton, for the wounds had yet to heal.
The saltwater Eshika had poured over them had caused the wounds to fester.
Yuri ground her teeth viciously.
“Eshika… I will never let you get away with this.”
Venom flashed in Yuri’s eyes as she thought of Eshika.
That foolish wench was acting out as if possessed, but Yuri would make sure she learned her place once more.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
Moments later, the door opened and Lusa, one of the Grand Duchess’s three personal maids, stepped inside.
She was young, timid, and faint-hearted.
“Are you all right, Head Maid?”
“Does this look all right to you?”
Yuri snapped at the maid in baseless fury.
Everything happening to her lately was maddening beyond endurance.
“Um… It’s just that the Grand Duchess…”
Yuri, whose eyebrows had been arched in anger, flinched slightly at her words.
Though the Grand Duchess was the one who had reduced her legs to this state, Yuri could not bring herself to hate her.
She was Kalian’s birth mother.
Even if she managed to seduce Kalian, seizing Eshika’s position would remain an impossible dream without the Grand Duchess’s favor.
“…Did she say she was sorry?”
Yuri asked with a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes.
After all, she was the one who had constantly siphoned Eshika’s jewelry to offer to the Grand Duchess.
Having favored Yuri enough to appoint her Head Maid, perhaps she felt remorse for having her beaten so severely.
However, Yuri’s hopes were immediately shattered.
“No. She said she looked for a suitable marriage match for you, Head Maid…”
The maid drew a crumpled piece of paper from her skirt.
Yuri’s brows contorted in sheer horror.
The maid stepped closer, reading through the three crumpled pages as she spoke.
“First, the first prospective groom is the son of a butcher well-known in the commercial district. There will be plenty of chores once you marry, but you will never go hungry.”
Envy shone in the maid’s eyes.
To a commoner like her, it sounded like a remarkably fine match.
Yet Yuri, who held even the faintest shred of noble lineage in her surname, felt her mind go dizzy.
“And… the second candidate is a farmer who supplies wheat to the Duchy of Klaus. He is fifteen years older than you and has two children. He had a wife, but she passed away last year from a strange illness. Though he is older…”
“…Ha…”
Yuri’s face turned red and pale in turns.
Her ideal man, the one she dreamed of, was the Duke of Klaus.
There was no way commoners could ever satisfy her.
“The third candidate is a petty official at the magistrate’s office. His salary is modest, so his wife would need to take on piecework sewing, but…”
“Stop it!”
When Yuri screamed, the maid shrank back in fright.
She looked at Yuri with bewildered eyes.
The maid had no idea why Yuri was so enraged.
She did not know the inflated sense of worth Yuri held for herself.
‘She dares offer me men of that caliber? Eshika… even that foolish Eshika married the Duke of Klaus, and to me, they offer only…’
“Get out!”
Yuri shrieked at the maid.
Her eyes burned with rage, malice, and festering jealousy.
