The End of Your Arrogance - Chapter 70

As the flames consumed the giant’s hand, a heavy silence fell between them. The surroundings dimmed in an instant. Ilya gazed down at Evelyn and spoke.

“Now spill it. Besides Arthas, what else is entwined in those hands of yours?”

Evelyn struggled to speak, her lips opening and closing several times. Frustrated, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along. He led her towards the Tower of Repentance, next to the Magic Tower. Riding the magical box ascending to the middle level, he seated Evelyn on the sofa and released her hand.

Returning with a lit lamp, Ilya sat across from Evelyn.

“Do you have to prove the capabilities of that cursed ring like this? It’s not like you at all. A woman who can’t harm a fly…”

“No, it’s not like that. Every night, I have dreadful thoughts.”

Ilya smirked.

“As I mentioned earlier, even if you have dreadful thoughts, it won’t change anything.”

“When I was younger, I wanted to cut off that hand. I wanted to do it myself.”

 Ilya  unexpectedly fell silent.

“The Akrid Castle where I lived is different from here. People lived or died depending on my grandfather’s mood.”

 Ilya  listened silently, growling as if chewing on her words.

“Did that monster lay a hand on you too?”

“My grandfather never did anything directly. It’s the same when tormenting people.”

 Ilya  sincerely regretted not killing him when he came to the North. That giant too.

“Did he command you to cut off a throat instead of a hand?”

In response to his words, Evelyn lowered her head and burst into laughter.

“Ha, ha, hahaha, hahahaha…”

 Ilya stood up abruptly, roughly removing the veil she was wearing.

“Damn it! Please, don’t laugh like that. Do you have any idea how insane it makes me feel every time you do that?” Ilya growled, staring at Evelyn with a suppressed intensity.

She spoke, her voice an unfamiliar, dark tone never heard from her before. The forceful sound echoed sharply from her petite frame.

“I’ve thought about it every night! Someday, I’ll tear that bastard apart!”

 Ilya prodded her further, “Is that so? Tell me more.”

“With a knife, no, a whip…”

As Evelyn mumbled absentmindedly, he responded with a bewildered expression, “Is that all? Go on.”

“Just thinking about it is terrifying, so that’s why.”

Sometimes, merely thinking about it could turn into a grim reality. Like the Marquis Malduse’s legs.

So, whenever brutal thoughts surfaced, Evelyn quickly buried them deep within her chest. Never to be unearthed. Then, she laughed like a fool. It was her own way of survival.

Even after marriage, Evelyn remained consistent.

Falling for the man in front of her at first sight was genuine. She didn’t ask for much. She was just grateful for the new family. The fact that the family’s new member was handsome like a fairy tale prince was just luck.

In the North, nobody hit her or dismissed her because she was a woman. That alone made Evelyn content with her life here.

Her world was simple.

Until her brother betrayed her husband.

“When you’re not around, I often had such thoughts here too.”

Evelyn muttered without even knowing what she was saying.

Those who threw stones while strolling in the garden with Sophie, those who tainted the scarce soup with foreign substances, the few who stole insignificant trinkets, and those who cursed themselves and their babies when the newborn couldn’t sleep, regardless of drought or rain.

“If they all just dropped dead, it’d be a relief!”

 Ilya’s eyes narrowed. He grabbed Evelyn’s shoulders and shook her roughly.

“Why are you telling me this now? What in the world was my brother doing?”

Evelyn weakly chuckled.

“Ilya, even a duke with unrivaled power can’t know everything that happens in a place like this.”

She reached out to the twisted face of her demonic husband.

“I was lonely. There was no one on my side here. It was terrifying because enemies surrounded me from all sides.”

Her hand finally touched his face.

“I, I wanted someone to take care of me. I wanted to do well alone, but I couldn’t.”

“…”

“I, I would have taken anyone. If they just treated me a little better, anyone. It was so warm that I wanted to lean on it.”

So, she clung to Nasser and Anastasia. She was hanging on desperately, like a moth darting towards a flickering flame. Because this place was bone-chillingly cold and lonely.

CHapter

Those who once shared warmth in this cold place had all disappeared. Only she remained.

One became a star in the sky, and the fate of the other was unknown.

Thinking of them, Evelyn became blindly devoted. Even though sometimes Ilya misunderstood, she couldn’t stop.

“If they treated me a little better, I would wag my tail, look only at that person with expectation… What you said was right. What I do is just like a dog.”

Her heart ached, and it felt like her head was splitting.

Yes, shortly after giving birth to Libe, her whole body hurt. The child, restless like her father, cried incessantly to the point where her throat felt like it would tear. If she tried to go outside for some fresh air, the whole world seemed to throw stones at her.

Did she love Libe as much as now? No, she shook her head. In reality, she wanted to escape every single day, from this place and the child.

What kept her bound to this place was a fragile sense of responsibility, or perhaps one could call it guilt. Surprisingly, for someone who had lived fiercely, there was a sense of duty—or should it be said, a kind of obligation.

How was life when this man returned? The situation had improved significantly, but her life remained challenging. She smiled when she was with the knights. There were many joyful moments.

However, it wasn’t the same when she was with this man. There were moments of happiness that felt like soaring in the sky, but when it was painful, she almost preferred the past.

“When I’m with you… I feel too lonely. More than when I’m alone…”

She spoke absentmindedly.

“I know it’s all my fault, and I’m sorry… You didn’t do anything wrong…”

She rambled like a drunk person.

Ilya ran his hand roughly through his hair. He had to tell her it wasn’t her fault, but he didn’t know where to begin. Standing in front of his wife, he became like a rebellious teenager. This was all he could say.

“You… you’re not at fault.”

Even as he said that he lacked confidence. It was he who unjustly blamed his blameless wife not long ago. From lack of sleep to tinnitus, and even the sincerity she showed recently… he felt like he was going mad.

 Ilya forcibly pulled her. With one hand gripping her throat as if he would swallow her whole, he pressed his lips onto hers. As his masculine lips lightly bit her lower lip, her mouth involuntarily opened. Taking advantage of the opening, his warm tongue pushed in. Their tongues entwined in a thick dance, and Evelyn’s head tilted backward.

She looked at him with half-lidded eyes, partially out of her senses. Her eyes, lost in the absence of easy green, stared at him as if he would devour her with his intense storm-gray eyes. Her heart raced at the sight of those eyes like a night sea engulfed in fierce waves.

“I want… to hold you.”

Frozen by his whispered words while their lips almost touched, Evelyn started pushing him away with all her strength. With the hand that had been gripping her arm, he forcefully pulled her towards him.

“Allow me.”

He whispered on the verge of touching his lips. Getting no response from her, he attempted to overlap their lips once more.

Evelyn turned her head and murmured. It was an uncharacteristically cold voice.

“What if you get pregnant again… what will we do?”

The man, who had been passionately kissing her as if he would devour her, instantly distanced himself. He staggered for a moment. As his eyelids began to droop in this moment, a sense of dizziness struck. Sitting on the bed with some effort, he mumbled, 

“Yeah, a child. We still have an issue to resolve between us.”

Evelyn glared at him, breathing heavily. The absentminded state she was in earlier was nowhere to be found.

He pulled the statue-like Evelyn towards him, and they lay down together. Evelyn tried to escape his embrace, striking his chest. Not long after, she too seemed exhausted. Although he didn’t particularly like the unusually rigid woman, he closed his eyes for the time being.

Regarding the child, the little one, that was something to consider from tomorrow onwards.

The next morning, they woke up in the same bed. Evelyn was startled to find the man staring at her. She quickly sat up on the bed.

Evelyn sporadically recalled the indiscretions she committed last night. She yelled, cried, babbled incoherent words towards him, and in the end…

It was a range of emotions from begging him to love her to expressing buried emotions deep in her heart.

Lately, she was undoubtedly not in her right mind.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

He acted as usual, pretending as if nothing happened between them last night.

Familiar resignation visited her.

 Ilya , fully dressed even in his jacket, extended a hand to her.

“Let’s go to the annex for breakfast.”

Unexpectedly, Evelyn raised her head at his words.

“You might be busy, and it’s okay to go back first…”

At the abrupt suggestion, Evelyn fell silent. But the mood wasn’t bad. Her throat felt scratchy, but her chest felt clear as if something blocked had been opened.

Sighing deeply, he said, “I know I’m not a saint. Still, I’m not such a bad guy to leave a woman I spent the night in a place like this alone.”

 Ilya stretched with a pleased expression on his face.

“Hurry up and get up. I’m hungry too after all the yelling last night.”

At his urging, Evelyn quickly got up from the bed. Smoothly smoothing out the crumpled dress with her hands and tidying the tangled hair at the back of her head, she looked exactly like the usual Evelyn.

 Ilya, basking in the morning sunlight, burst into a refreshing laughter.