The End of Your Arrogance - Chapter 6.1

“Your Majesty! I would’ve been split in two if I weren’t so good!” Nazz yelled with anger.

“Your Highness, please. That’s enough…….!”

Ilya picked up his sword and dashed towards Nazz again. The knights anxiously watched the two swords clash.

“General!”

The hesitant knights drew their swords as Nazz was pushed back. They marched towards Ilya at once, but all ended up on the ground, bleeding.

“Evelyn.” Ilya started to walk with his bloody sword dragging on the ground.

The constant whispers inside his head. The boiling heat inside him. They would all go away once he drank her blood. But after seeing her cry that night, I…

“Damn it, that’s the annex where Madam is. Stall him!”

As Nazz yelled, the knights hurriedly ran towards the archduke.

* * *

Evelyn was about to head to bed after putting the whining baby to sleep, but was confronted by an unwanted visitor. Ilya, dragging his bloody sword by his side, looked frightening.

“No greetings towards your husband even after so many days?”

She noticed his face was thinner and sharper than before. There were dark circles beneath his eyes. He looked exhausted. Thin lines of blood on his face made him look like a complete mess. Seeing the cruel archduke return in such a wretched state made her feel tired.

“You look horrible. You must’ve been busy.”

“Do something…,” his voice cracked as he whispered.

Evelyn fidgeted with her fingers. What do I do? I can’t use a knife, there are too many knights around.

Evelyn looked at Ilya’s sword. She walked towards him and grabbed his hand holding the sword. He flinched when he felt her hand over his. Evelyn placed her thumb on the edge of the blade. The blade was so sharp that even a small touch could cut flesh.

“Ah, ow.”

The knights gulped as they watched them from a few steps away. She dared to grab the archduke’s hand so boldly. The knights were confused on their plan of action if the archduke attacked his wife. Should they draw their swords then?

Evelyn raised her hand to his face. Ilya grabbed her wrist and stopped her. He looked disturbed.

“What are you doing?”

Ilya could see the blood dripping from her fingers. He let out a sigh. It was futile to ask. As he loosened his grip on her wrist, her thin fingers touched his cheek. She placed the bleeding thumb in his mouth.

As she watched her husband sucking her thumb, blood rushed to her face. When the bleeding finally stopped, he stopped and placed a kiss on the tip of her thumb.

“If I knew you had such talents, I would’ve brought you along to the battlefield with me, my lovely wife,” he said and dropped the sword on the ground.

Evelyn’s heart pounded. After all the things he had said and left unsaid, after all her crying, her heart still beat for him. She felt like a fool.

The knights, who had been watching everything, looked at Nazz with a confused face. Nazz shook his head.

“Everyone out! I want to be alone with my wife.”

The knights rushed out. Evelyn was too embarrassed to look at her husband, so she just stared at his chest. She shut her eyes tight. She feared what would come next.

“It’s loud.”

Evelyn slowly opened her eyes hearing him mumble. She looked up to see him frowning.

“That sound… It’s loud.”

She looked around, but there was nothing. “What do you hear?”

He covered his ear with one hand. He reminded her of her own child. Their son would cry and claw at his own ears too when he cried. She had to wrap his hands with a piece of cloth sometimes.

It’s the noise in his head. How can I tell him that he was so like his son even in pain? She hated him but seeing him like this softened her heart.

Ilya now covered both of his ears. She closed her eyes and tried to focus. What would I normally do when Livell was in pain? If I can’t get rid of the sound… maybe I can bury it with something else…