WHCCP 10

CHAPTER :10

“And do you even have any sweetness? Any charm? Considering the years we’ve dated, I’m willing to go as far as marrying you, so what on earth is your problem?”

The more he spoke, the more it felt like swords were flying and piercing my heart.

This moment was far more shocking to me than the night Delos had abandoned me and fled.

*So that’s how he’s been thinking of me all this time.*

A profound sense of disillusionment surged within me at his tone, which treated me not as an equal partner, but as his pet.

“Ha…”

It seemed the saying was true: when you are utterly dumbfounded, you are left speechless.

As I stood there in silence, Delos gently intertwined his fingers with mine and whispered in a low, suggestive voice.

“We used to be so good together.”

The moment Delos took my hand, a wave of nausea-inducing dizziness washed over me.

My headache was so severe that I could barely think straight, and I almost nodded to his words without realizing it.

Fortunately, someone quickly pulled my shoulder back, snapping me out of my daze.

“Are you alright?”

Seeing my face turn suddenly pale, the Duke must have sensed I was in trouble and pulled me toward him.

Just as I was about to tell him I was fine, I heard Delos muttering darkly right in front of us.

“How dare you…”

Turning my head, I saw Delos scoffing, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

“Hey, Duke. You must not know since you’ve only recently arrived in the capital, but when you stumble upon your superior’s private life, the polite thing to do is back off.”

Although he addressed him as “Duke,” his tone was no different from how he would order servants around, which made me feel insulted on the Duke’s behalf.

However, the Duke ignored Delos’s provocation entirely and asked me again.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. I’m fine.”

Watching us, Delos flew into a temper and reached out his hand toward me once more.

Seeing this, a sudden burst of courage flared within me, and I forcefully slapped his hand away.

*Slap.*

“Dahlia. Did you just…”

I stared down at him with pity as he stood there, dazed and shocked, before speaking.

“Keep your hands off me.”

“Have you lost your mind? Why have you changed so much?”

Looking at him, still unable to believe I had shoved him away, I couldn’t even bring myself to laugh.

“Why? Am I not even allowed to say this much? I lived exactly how you wanted me to all this time—like a doll. I didn’t laugh, and I begged whenever you told me to.”

As the words spilled out, the years I spent with Delos flashed through my mind like a kaleidoscope.

“I only did what you wanted because I loved you.”

Yet by the time I came to my senses, everyone was calling me Delos’s puppet.

They say there are countless kinds of love.

But I could say with absolute certainty that for him, I didn’t fall into any category of love.

“Did you ever love me, even for a single moment?”

If you had, you wouldn’t be speaking to me like this now.

I looked at him with eyes devoid of any emotion and said,

“It is none of your business who I marry now, so get out of my life.”

“Ha…”

At my final words, Delos let out a succession of harsh breaths, utterly speechless.

Unwilling to look at his face for another second, I turned around.

My eyes met those of the Duke, who was looking at me with a surprised expression, as if he had witnessed something completely unexpected. Right then and there, I grabbed his hand and ran in the opposite direction.

***

How long had we walked?

Only when we reached a secluded spot did I finally let out the breath I had been holding.

“Ha.”

It was absurd how much of my life I had wasted living for him.

“Sob…”

As my thoughts drifted there, tears suddenly began to leak from my eyes, drop by drop.

Why were these tears bursting forth only now, when not a single tear had fallen on the day I actually broke up with Delos?

*Drip. Drip.*

I was endlessly wiping away the tears that streamed down without pause.

It was then that a snow-white handkerchief was offered in front of my eyes.

“Use it if you need to.”

Looking up slightly, I saw the Duke holding out the handkerchief with his gaze averted.

*Right. I dragged him along with me.*

I had completely forgotten about the Duke’s presence for a moment due to the sudden wave of sorrow.

“……Thank you.”

I accepted the handkerchief he offered, my voice still thick with tears.

As I fiddled with the handkerchief, a belated sense of embarrassment washed over me, making my face flush red.

As I sniffled with a tearful face, I heard a soft sigh from in front of me.

“Unless you still have feelings for him, stop crying. If you broke up with a bastard like that, shouldn’t you be throwing a party all night?”

Words that would have caused a massive scandal if heard by anyone else flowed smoothly from the Duke’s mouth.

Startled, I opened my eyes wide and stared at him.

The Duke, who was looking at my face, let out a faint snort and casually threw in a comment.

“Your nose is running.”

“Oh!”

At his words, I hurriedly wiped my face with the handkerchief.

How much time had passed?

The Duke, who had silently stood by my side until I could compose myself, spoke up.

“It seems you have calmed down now.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Once I had wiped away the remaining tears and finished tidying my face, the Duke, who had been quietly observing me from beside me, spoke.

“May I ask you something?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“What did you mean when you said you lived like a doll—never laughing and begging whenever told to?”

Hearing his question, my face went blank for a moment.

Perhaps because he had not been in the capital for very long, the Duke seemed unaware of the rumors about me circulating in high society.

It was a fact that almost any noble knew, but hearing it directly from his mouth made me feel ashamed, as if my deepest flaw had been laid bare for the first time.

After hesitating for a moment, I opened my mouth with a bitter smile on my lips.

After all, it was a rumor he would eventually find out anyway.

“Exactly what it sounds like. Delos said he hated seeing me smile, so I barely laughed, and if he was even slightly displeased, I groveled like a bug. Pathetic, isn’t it?”

“It is pathetic.”

The resolute tone that followed immediately made my heart drop.

Though it was true that I was pathetic, hearing it from the Duke made my chest ache as if it had been pierced by a sword.

“I-I knew you’d think so. But I’ve really come to my senses lately…”

“Even the word ‘trash’ is too good for him.”

Hearing his next words, I realized that the one he called pathetic was not me, but Delos.

Especially when he referred to Delos as trash, the Duke’s face looked somewhat angry.

“But now that you know what kind of trash he is, never meet someone like that again.”

“Oh, um, yes…”

At the sudden rush of déjà vu, I nodded with a strange look on my face.

Hearing the words I had heard from him right before I died once more made me feel oddly glad.

“Since you seem to be feeling better, I shall be on my way.”

After checking my face, which was now completely dry of tears, the Duke turned around as if to resume his departure.

His cool, detached attitude made me grab his hand without thinking.

“Wait!”

Halting his steps, the Duke looked down at his hand in my grasp and raised an eyebrow slightly.

Fearing he would tell me to let go of him immediately, I tightened my grip on his hand instead and spoke.

“We’re not finished talking yet.”

“As I said earlier, regarding that matter…”

“Just one year! If you hate the idea of marriage, we can just live together for one year and then get a divorce.”

Under imperial law, nobles could only apply for a divorce after at least one year of marriage.

“My Lady. First, please let go of my hand and let’s talk.”

“No. Give me an answer first.”

The Duke tried to pull his hand away, but I refused, pulling it even closer to myself.

I felt his hand flinch and stiffen in my grasp.