42
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His voice sounded somewhat angry. Could this be the first time in her life that Cesare would scold her? Aileen shrunk back, answering meekly.
"No..."
Aileen recoiled slightly. Cesare reached out and caressed Aileen's eyes.
"Lord Elrod's wife, are you?"
Aileen could neither confirm nor deny his words.
In truth, she knew. Her mother loved her, but she gave the Grand Duke an even greater love. Between her mother's love for her and her love for the Grand Duke, there was an unbridgeable gap that only continued to widen.
The distance gradually increased, and the moment it crossed a certain line, her mother became strange. She was aware that her condition was abnormal. She made constant efforts to overcome it herself.
But even when she suppressed it well, once it burst, she completely lost control. The first time her mother exploded was when Aileen was twelve.
A few days after Aileen was kidnapped and rescued by Cesare, her mother, having heard some story from somewhere, severely beat Aileen with a switch.
"Because of you, because of something like you...!"
That was also the first day she screamed at her not to look at her with such disgusting eyes. When her mother's anger subsided, Aileen hugged her, who was apologizing, and they cried together. Her calves were swollen and bleeding.
From that day on, her mother couldn't control the anger that surged up from time to time. She tried to stab her eyes with scissors and vented the anger she got from her father on Aileen.
But it wasn't always like that. There were kind moments, joyful moments. Memories of cooking and washing dishes together, laughing. Memories of making flower bracelets together with wildflowers Aileen had picked. Memories of gently stroking her hair before she fell asleep...
If she could receive even a little love from her mother that way.
If she could receive her mother's affection, even if it was just the leftovers aimed at the Grand Duke.
Aileen could endure it all.
As Aileen bit her lip, thinking of her mother, Cesare frowned slightly. He used his fingers to pry her gnawing lip open and said,
"Your mother isn't the whole world, is she?"
"But my mother wouldn't have said such things without a reason."
"And my words have no reason?"
"Ah, that's not it, of course, Your Excellency, no... Cesare-nim too..."
The more she spoke, the more she felt like she was digging her own grave. Aileen brought out the best words for times like these.
"I'm sorry."
She apologized for whatever it was. But Cesare was not an easy opponent.
"Why?"
Aileen was lost in thought again at his short question. And she brought out the most innocuous answer.
"Because I seem to have made you angry..."
"Me, at you?"
As if he had never even considered such a thing, Cesare retorted in an absurd tone. Cesare let out a hollow laugh and pinched Aileen's cheek. Aileen, whose sins were great, couldn't even say it hurt and obediently offered him her cheek.
Fortunately, Cesare only pinched her for a moment and let go. Aileen rubbed her slightly sore cheek with her hand, and he muttered in a low voice.
"Can't dig up a dead person from the grave."
"Yes?"
When she asked again because she didn't hear properly, Cesare dismissed it as nothing and raised Aileen.
"We should go home."
Already time to go home. Time had passed too quickly. She knew she had to disappear quickly so as not to disturb Cesare, but she couldn't readily answer because of her regret. She wanted to be with him just a little longer.
When Aileen hesitated, he gave her another option.
"Or you can sleep over again today."
"I, I'll go home since you must be busy!"
The answer that hadn't come out so easily just a moment ago popped out right away. Cesare naturally led Aileen to the front door. At first, she thought he was seeing her off, but that wasn't it.
He opened the door of the waiting car, put Aileen in, and got into the driver's seat himself.
"Are you going with me?"
Cesare, seeing Aileen's surprised eyes, squinted one eye and replied.
"Then are you going to go alone?"
He mimicked Aileen's tone and started the car, saying,
"Your husband will take you, so let's go together."
It had been a very long time since he had visited the brick house.
Aileen inwardly hoped that Cesare would mention the small changes in the brick house. For example, the growth of the orange tree.
But Cesare's eyes were indifferent. He seemed to be treating a place he had visited countless times and was overly familiar with. He paused in front of the orange tree and looked up at it, but that was all. There was no other special reaction.
"Thank you for taking me home."
When Aileen greeted him at the door, Cesare crossed his arms and looked down. Aileen looked up at him, feeling the height difference anew.
"Just a greeting?"
"Oh, then..."
"I think I deserve at least a dinner."
He was referring to the time when he had only called the knights for dinner. Cesare rested his hand on the door and lowered his head towards Aileen. A large hand came and touched her shortened bangs.
"I helped you cut your hair, too."
Aileen, who had only been blinking, invited him in for now.
"Then, would you like to come in? I haven't prepared anything, so it'll be a little lacking."
As she spoke while opening the door, Cesare strode inside without refusing even once. Aileen looked at Cesare, who was towering in the brick house, with unfamiliar eyes.
The brick house had an overall cozy and homely atmosphere. It felt very out of place for Cesare to be in this simple place.
But Cesare scanned the interior as if he were familiar with it, as if it were his own home. His gaze reached her father's bedroom.
Aileen quickly went to her father's room, knocked, and turned the doorknob. The door slid open. It seemed he had gone out.
"Lord Elrod is still wandering around outside, I see?"
"Yes. But he doesn't seem to go to Fiore Street these days."
"He can't go, you mean."
The words he added with a crooked smile were accurate. Cesare leisurely said as he passed the dining table and looked around the kitchen.
"If you want the Baron to stay home, tell me. I'll make it happen."
"No, it's really okay."
Aileen followed him into the kitchen. Then, in front of Cesare, she rattled open and closed the cupboards, checking the ingredients.
Fortunately, it seemed she could make a simple sandwich. Sandwiches only required assembling the ingredients, so even if it didn't taste good, it wouldn't be too obvious.
Of course, it was a very poor dish to serve to Cesare...
'Should I go out and buy something now?'
Aileen glanced at Cesare with a paper bag containing a baguette in her hand. He tilted his chin and asked.
"Are we having sandwiches?"
"...How did you know?"
She was so surprised that he guessed so accurately that she almost dropped the bread. Cesare took the baguette from Aileen's hand and placed it next to the cutting board.
"It was written on your face. Sandwiches."
"I'm not good at cooking... With the ingredients I have now, I'm only confident in making sandwiches."
She habitually tried to push up her glasses, but only vaguely groped around her eyes. It seemed too early to adapt to life without glasses and bangs.
"If you had the ingredients, you'd be confident?"
"No."
She answered seriously, just in case he might order her to. Then, Aileen realized it was a joke after seeing him smile.
'But it's hard to tell...'
She was always confused about whether it was a joke or serious. Thinking that she should just continue to live seriously, she rolled up her sleeves to her elbows. And she turned on the faucet and washed her hands first.
But Cesare also took off his leather gloves, rolled up his sleeves, and naturally washed his hands with her. He placed the baguette on the cutting board and picked up a large bread knife.
"P, please give it to me!"
"The knife?"
He chuckled and quickly cut the baguette lengthwise. Even though everything in the kitchen was small and low for him, making him uncomfortable, he wielded the knife without difficulty.
Aileen widened her eyes at the bread that was sliced as neatly as if it had been measured with a ruler.
'It would be nice if His Excellency could do this when dividing research materials.'
She felt an instinctive greed for his talent, but Cesare was too great to wield a knife in the lab. Aileen, having missed out on an excellent research assistant right in front of her, swallowed her disappointment and stacked ingredients on the halved baguette to make a sandwich.
Salami and capicola, black olives and lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, and several kinds of cheese were piled up, and then the bread was used to cover it again. It was an assembly that was too embarrassing to call cooking.
Aileen, watching Cesare cut the long sandwich into bite-sized pieces, suddenly realized.
'This is the kind of marriage I wanted.'
A peaceful time sharing simple daily life. But as long as she was going to be the Grand Duchess, it was a wish that could never be fulfilled.
