IDLYITL CH 5

Chapter 5

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The Devil's Spawn

 Even though Anna is her closest confidant, it was best to keep her words to herself as little as possible.

She certainly couldn’t say that she had seen the future, that she was unloved by her husband for over four years, or, to make matters worse, that the entire family would be destroyed for treason.

Instead of offering a complicated explanation, Psyche simply smiled.

“It wouldn't be proper for me, who was sold to the ducal family, to wear such expensive dresses. People would be watching, after all.”

“But if you wear things that are too cheap, the other nobles will bad-mouth you.”

That's true.

Psyche blinked a few times. Since Anna was so vehemently against it, Psyche decided to sell just a few of her less-worn gem rings for now.

“By the way, Your Highness—I mean, Madam, I never thought you would ask the duke for such a thing. Why on earth did you do that?”

“Just because. I had a lot of time to think for three days, you know. It's not a strange request, is it?”

“Oh, Madam… What do you mean it's not strange!” 

Anna complained, her heart nearly dropped to the floor. Psyche just gave a wry smile at Anna's reaction.

Psyche's mind was filled with the image of her husband, who looked exactly as he had four years ago, just as she had met him a moment ago. Admittedly, looking at Ikali Demiosis, whom she hadn't seen in four years, was enough to bewitch anyone. He was a man so beautiful he looked like a statue breathed into life.

But when she met his cold, azure eyes, Psyche felt like she couldn't breathe. After she accepted Ikali's sword and regressed four years into the past, the first thing she did was assess the situation, and the second was to understand her place.

She was a woman who had been sold to Ikali to pay off the royal family's debt. The marriage had originally been arranged with Warren, the biological son of the former Duke and Duchess who had returned after ten years, but the terms had changed somewhat after Ikali became the family head.

Even after Warren and Madam Tilly were driven from the ducal manor, Ikali had insisted that the marriage between the Demiosis family and the Dawson royal family proceed as planned. The groom had changed, but the price had not decreased.

The royal family probably didn't want to refuse either, since if they refused him, they would have to find another household to take Psyche. Whether it was Ikali or Warren, only the groom had changed, it was still a marriage on the condition of money.

Therefore, it wasn't something she could just divorce him outright. And she certainly couldn't do it with no money. But she couldn't just stand by and do nothing either.

Psyche turned her head. On the wall hung the pure white wedding dress she had been wearing for the past few days. It was one of the treasures made by Dawson's tailors, who had worked through several nights, unable to resist the king's pressure.

It was the only one in the world, made with rare jewels from the royal family.

When Psyche stared intently at the dress, Anna recoiled.

“Oh, no, not that dress. What kind of princess sells her own wedding dress!”

“That… would be a bad look, right? It wouldn't look good to others?”

“It's not about what others think!”

Anna’s eyes wide with alarm. Psyche seemed to agree, and nodded.

“Don't even look at that dress. No funny business, either.”

“Okay. I won't sell it. Don't worry.”

Despite her words, Anna's wary gaze didn't change. Watching Anna spread her arms to block the dress with such exaggeration, Psyche let out a faint laugh for the first time since her regression.

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It had already been a week since she married into the Duchy. A week was a longer time than one might think.

The peach blossoms that had been stretching their branches near the window were falling to the ground in due to an early downpour. Before the rain started, Psyche had plucked a lovely blossom that was closest to the window and hand-pressed it to make a dried flower.

From time to time, whenever the part of her chest that Ikali's sword had pierced ached, Psyche would take out the flattened petal and look at it.

“I think it would look pretty if I framed it and put it in there later.”

“I agree. I'll get one for you when I go out to the market.”

Anna was thrilled that her mistress was slowly regaining her spirit. Anna braided her long hair and coiled it up, then tucked flowers in between the braids. The pink petals matched Psyche's cheeks well.

“So, you're going to meet the head butler today?”

“Yes. There's something I need to check personally.

Psyche's eyes darkened again. For a few days now, Psyche had been thinking that she had to find the butler and see the family's heirloom sword herself. The very heirloom sword that had sliced through her body, separated her flesh and soul, and sent her back four years into the past.

The Psyche of her previous life, even after living in the ducal manor for over four years, had never known about the sword's existence.

It's probably in the underground vault. The one where the family head's treasures are kept.

If so, did Ikali know that the sword could turn back a person's time? He probably didn't know, either. It was common for a family's or royal family's heirloom sword to be of immense value but little practical use, so it would just be kept in a vault, rarely looked at.

He probably only had a vague idea, having heard as a child that such a sword was in the vault. That its purpose was to end a person's life painlessly.

Maybe only that much.

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Ikali Demiosis was a very busy man.

When he killed his adoptive father and hung his head on a stake, half of the vassals who had served the ducal family left in disgust at his brutality.  No one in high society neither invited him to parties nor called on him at his manor.

On the other hand, Ikali had to spend very busy days with his business affairs. He either skipped breakfast or simply had a cup of tea in his office. He would be looking at documents, and when he looked out the window, it would already be afternoon.

He realised belatedly that it had been a week since his new bride arrived at the manor. Besides the excuse of being busy, Ikali hadn't left his office. Despite the arrival of a new bride, the manor where he lived was as desolate as ever.

The afternoon sun settled on his well-combed black hair. He squinted his tired eyes. The manor where the murderer resided was eerily quiet.

But there had been a recent change. Ikali rubbed his tired eyes and stood up. For the past few days, whenever he stood up from his seat to rest by the window, a familiar sight would come into view.

Psyche, walking among the rose bushes. The one and only change in the desolate manor.

With perfect timing, he would always find Psyche making her way through the colourful bushes whenever he got up to rest.

“…”

The princess of a small kingdom who had married him.

They had crossed paths as children when he visited the Dawson royal palace, but after they became adults, he had only seen her from afar at diplomatic events between their nations.

But he couldn't recall a single image of Psyche in his memory where she looked so dejected. Even when she had first seen him after their marriage, Psyche Dawson's face was stiff and unmoving.

What's more, she had bluntly brought up Madam Tilly's protest to a husband she was seeing for the first time since she'd crossed over from Dawson three days ago.

“I can endure being called a princess who was sold to a murderer. However, I don't want to hear Madam Tilly insult my royal family. I ask that Your Grace take appropriate action.”

Psyche was completely different from the one he knew. The princess, praised as the Flower of Dawson stared at him with a face as cold as a winter's frost. After all, who would want to marry him?

It would be stranger for her to be blooming with laughter after marrying the empire's murderer.

“…This is pathetic.” 

It was a well-known fact that Psyche was a princess loved by everyone in the Dawson royal family. Yet there she was, walking precariously among the greenery with a shadow cast over her face. The princess whose face had never been without a smile.

Seeing her like that, Ikali felt a hot sensation in his gut. He was so angry that it felt like his insides were twisting.

Along with the request to get rid of Madam Tilly, Psyche had also asked for her residence to be moved to the annex. No matter what affection they might have had as children, it must mean she didn't want to share a single breath in the same space as the empire's brutal murderer.

Ikali finally muttered a curse and fumbled inside his jacket. As he put a cigar between his lips and looked for his flint, Hans asked,

“Pathetic? Are you talking about Lord Warren?”

“That, too, is pathetic.” 

He said irritably while staring on the window. He squinted one eye against the blinding sunlight. Hans shrugged his shoulders.

“I've heard that Lord Warren, who was driven out of the family, is colluding with Marquis Williams. It seems he's trying to get financial help from the marquis to reclaim the viscounty that was under his name when he was the duke’s son.”

“As soon as he reclaims the viscounty, he'll crawl back up to the capital.”

“Yes, that's right.”

“With those legs of his.” 

Ikali let out a short, cynical laugh. The thought of his stepbrother, whom he had crippled, made his mood even darker. The body that would have to rely on a wheelchair for the rest of its life was also his handiwork.

Warren had called him a devil's spawn.

Before he knew it, Psyche had walked away and slowly disappeared among the rose bushes. The maid who had been following her also vanished from sight. Ikali subconsciously searched for the brown hair that had disappeared between the leaves, then frowned.

“…She became an imperial noble, but she's not going to tea parties or out into the square.”

“Pardon? Who?” 

Hans came over and lit his cigar. He took a puff from the thick cigar and exhaled, and the hazy smoke filled the office. Only after approaching the window did Hans realize that Ikali was talking about his own bride.

“It seems being married to me is so awful. She's just holed up in the manor, always looking so gloomy.”

Chapter 4

Chapter List

Chapter 6