I Became The Wife Of The Cursed Grand Duke

Her heart sank. Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut in despair.

 

The man who had just realized something was wrong grabbed her roughly by the shoulders.

 

The man in the snow-white priest’s robes lifted Evelyn’s chin and flipped up her hood.

 “Ohora, you are the intruder disguised as Michael!” 

Evelyn chewed her lip in frustration, and the priest looked at her and laughed like an animal.

 “How dare a wench creep into our sacred space… I will have you kneel before the High Priest and make you pay dearly for your blasphemy against the sacred!” 

Warning bells rang in her head that she needed to get the hell out of here. Just as she clenched her fists to somehow push him away and get away.

 “The venerable priest.” 

A puff of black smoke from nowhere caught her by the shoulder and twisted her wrist.

 “Ugh!” 

It was Kalian who emerged from behind the priestess’s back, battered by the sudden intervention.

 “What an unholy thing to do in the halls of the gods.” 

Evelyn’s legs relaxed in relief at the sight of him.

 

The priest, who had been sprawled on the floor, sensed something was wrong and quickly scrambled to his feet.

 “What the hell, Hic…!” 

Evelyn spun around, her eyes widening, but the priest was speechless, and she knew why.

 

The grand duke had arrived.

 

Dressed in black from head to toe, he exuded an aura of imposing power that darkened even the snow-white priest.

 

The bewildered priest bravely broke the stifling silence and explained his situation.

 “Your Highness, you’re in the right place at the right time. That wench is a minion of evil who took advantage of the chaos to break in!” 

Her heart sank again, fearful of relief.

 

If Kalian helped a suspicious intruder, he would surely be aroused to suspicion.

 

That must not happen, Evelyn bit her lower lip.

 

‘No, he won’t help me outright, he’ll have other ideas.’

 

Undaunted, Kalian stepped to Evelyn’s frozen side and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

 “I don’t know who’s blaspheming.” 

Now was not the time for this, was it?

 

Evelyn looked at him with bewildered eyes, and Kalian, sensing her gaze, turned his head to lock eyes with her.

 “How dare you insult the woman who is to be my wife by calling her a minion of evil.” 

With a languid laugh, he turned back to the priest.

 “I could apply Johansen’s law and cut out your tongue, but I don’t think it would be cool…” 

The bass voice neutralized his opponent without effort. The golden eyes that stared straight ahead glared like a hungry beast.

 “There’s no need to arouse suspicion by leaving a trail of traces.” 

An odd aura hovered over Kalian’s palm as he raised it in the air.

 “Then I will retire.” 

The smoke that had wrapped itself around the priest’s wrists soon curled up his arms and into his head.

 

His once-blue eyes clouded over.

 “Please, I want you to forget about today.” 

The pupils focused on the two of them, and with a snap, Kalian’s hand flicked away.

 Push— 

Black smoke rose from their feet.

 

The smoke swirled like a wave, enveloping them both.

 

And when Evelyn opened her eyes again.

 “Huh!” 

She was stunned to find her surroundings completely transformed.

 

* * *

 

It had been exactly one day since Kalian and Evelyn had fallen into the enchanted carriage of a temple patron.

 

The carriage carrying them was speeding toward Parminion.

 

The carriage was silent.

 

Evelyn sat in one seat, unmoving and sleeping.

 

She did not drink or eat, and her face was pale and emotionless, as if she wore a mask, as if something in her body had broken down.

 

As she wrestled with her unspeakable emotions, Kalian sat beside her, pulling her limp head to his.

 

Her feverish breathing was ragged and her forehead beaded with sweat.

 

Tongue lolling low, Kalian wiped the sweat from her brow with his thumb, then cupped the back of her neck so she could lean back a little more comfortably.

 “You’re getting on my nerves.” 

Yesterday, when she’d regained her composure, she’d blurted out what had happened at the temple.

 “It was the Empress who spoke to the Countess about the Primal Stone, but I’m not going to say anything until I find the link between her and the temple.” 

She went on, starting with how she’d been sent to the processing room by the priest, and she’d been late because she was healing the people she’d met there.

 

Her lips twitched as if she wanted to say more, but she couldn’t, her energy drained.

 

But he knew what she was going to say even if she didn’t say it.

 

‘I didn’t find my mother. Or confirmed that she’s dead.’

 

He waited for her to speak first, but as the day wore on and the darkness returned, his patience began to wear thin.

 

Even though he knew why she had wandered into the temple, unannounced, and broken her promise, he could not contain his anger.

 

Why was this woman so insensitive to her own safety, and if her identity had been discovered there, she would not have made it back safely.

 

Just then, she opened her eyes.

 “Evelyn.” 

A stunned Kalian drew in a breath very slowly, then exhaled as he rubbed his tired face.

 “Are you going to keep being so useless?” “You’re…?” 

Evelyn stared at Kalian blankly.

 

Then he shifted in his seat across from her and jerked a disgruntled look in her direction.

 “As if you didn’t know it was going to be that bad.” 

She hadn’t been sick since he’d started touching her, and there was only one reason she was sick.

 “Didn’t I tell you, every power has a side effect.” “…….” “Moreover, overusing healing powers on a body that doesn’t work properly is tantamount to chewing away at your life.” 

‘Unless you’re a god’s agent.’

 

The gods were not so generous and gentle as to give a mere mortal the power to match their own for nothing in return.

 

She even broke her promise to never do anything dangerous.

 

Breaking a promise meant that her behavior was unpredictable, and with death lurking around every corner, that was a problem that had to be addressed.

 “Or do you want to die? Are you not afraid of death?” 

Then Kalian saw an unknown emotion stirring in the black, dead green eyes.

 

Was it too much, of course it could be.

 

But even if it was, it didn’t matter.

 

He’d rather have her glare at him as fiercely as she did the day she proposed to him than look so fragile as if she could be cut off at any moment.

 

Kalian laughed crookedly.

 “I don’t understand. You asked me to marry you based on your mother’s death from the start.” 

He added, looking straight at the woman, who was flushed and breathing raggedly as if to gather her emotions.

 “That she had been murdered by the Countess, and that I wished to discover the cause of her death with my family name on your back.” 

So to come back now and act as if she had given up the will to live just because she had confirmed the facts was not normal, not in the sense he knew.

 

It’s self-pity and self-punishment.

 “You said you wouldn’t do anything that would make me who I am, but look at you now. I could wash my eyes and look for responsibility and not see it.” 

Evelyn’s face went white, then red, then white again at the bitter, stinging words.

 

But instead of jumping to conclusions, she calmly reflected on the situation.

 

The words were a bit harsh, but it was clear that what had happened in the temple had been enough to shake her to the core.

 

‘What would have happened if he hadn’t shown up?’

 

The prospective Grand Duchess might have been caught trespassing in the temple, and it would have been a disaster.

 

Besides, they weren’t married in love.

 

In a relationship contracted to heal each other, it would be extravagant and petulant to expect futile tolerance.

 “Yeah, well, I’m not going to argue with you, but if you’re going to try to break the contract, then that’s when…” 

So the only thing she could do was to apologize now.

 “You’re right, Grand Duke, my thoughts were short, and I apologize.” “For what?” 

Just then, the dusky light of the setting sun stained the corners of the window red.

 

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed as if the brightness was unpleasant, and Kalian closed the window curtains to block out the light.

 

Then he asked in a low, even voice.

 “Why do you think I accepted your marriage proposal?” 

Embarrassed by the question, Evelyn hesitated for a moment before answering in a voice that seemed to fade away.

 “Because of my healing powers… and my ability to foresee the location of the gate.” 

She sounded like an old tree as she answered. Her mouth was dry to the point of being parched.

 “You’re right.” 

Kalian pulled a handkerchief from his inside pocket and pressed it into her hand.

 “If you know that, then stop being a nuisance and make yourself useful, because confirming what you already knew won’t change anything.”