The End of Your Arrogance - Chapter 73

After finishing her work for the day, Ilya visited the tower. René had just finished a late dinner of wild boar roast and was indulging in sweet desserts. As Ilya briskly entered the parlor, René greeted him with a wide smile.

“It seems like you should have come tomorrow.”

“Oh, no, you’ve almost finished anyway,” replied Ilya apologetically as  René waved it off with a gesture.

“Your Highness, have you come?”

The red-haired young wizard, holding  René’s dinner tray, placed a dessert plate, fork, and teacup in front of Ilya. Ilya watched silently as the wizard heated the teacup with hot water, discarded it, and poured tea again. Once the wizard finished his task, he promptly disappeared.

René picked up a delicate sugar cookie from Ilya’s plate and handed it to him.

“I received this as a gift… It should suit Your Highness’s taste well.”

Iliya took a bite of the seemingly precious sugar cookie. As he chewed it with a distant expression, René frowned slightly. After finishing the cookie, Ilya stared at  René and asked, “What’s the story with the eagle in the annex?”

René sighed deeply before speaking. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

René hesitated for a moment. “When I returned from meeting Your Highness in Tartar, the eagle came looking for me.”

After meeting Ilya in Tartar, René had hidden in a small village in the Edith Earldom. While idling away her time at an old friend’s house, a strange eagle appeared.

“The wizard said to take me with him when he returns to the Grand Castle.”

“Why do you have to go there?”

“I have something to attend to there.”

The eagle’s words were all it had to say. René didn’t mention how she knew he was a wizard, who she was, or who the target she needed to protect was. With that, the eagle sank into a long sleep.

As strange as it was for a bird to speak, there was something even more astonishing. The eagle, which had been René’s torso, gradually shrank while sleeping until it became a mere sparrow. René carried the diminished eagle and wandered around the Grand Castle. Then, upon hearing the news of the end of the war and Ilya’s return, she returned to the castle with the eagle.

“The eagle woke up as soon as we returned to the Grand Castle.”

“You finally found what you needed to protect. Is that little brat who looks disgustingly like me?”

It was the eagle tasked with guarding the lineage of the Grand House. Though there was a hint of jealousy, Ilya shook his head.

The notion of that mischievous creature being responsible was absurd. Moreover, that brat… There was nothing extraordinary about him. Perhaps it was because he was still young, but the family’s curse didn’t seem to affect the brat. The curse, infamous within the Ajauntice Grand House, inflicted everyone with severe insomnia and tinnitus from birth, regardless of gender or age.

Nevertheless, that brat… Evelyn claimed he was doing better now. Improved? Was such a thing even possible?

In any case, Libe Ajauntice was the healthiest child among the Grand House lineage, both physically and mentally.

If it weren’t for his striking resemblance to himself, no one would have considered him part of the Grand House lineage, not because of any doubts about his wife, but because such a healthy child couldn’t possibly have been born into the Grand House lineage in the first place.

That may be why I dislike him even more.

Ilya shuddered at his pettiness.

“Madam, are you feeling alright? Arthur seems to be worried more than usual.”

With a cautious tone, Ilya’s mind shifted away from thoughts of the brat filling his head.

“Well, you’ve been pushing yourself too hard lately. Constantly on edge at the Grand Castle and even journeying to the Black Forest. And since then, taking on the role of an illusionist…”

“Besides, you’ve been tormenting me to the point of madness,” Ilya said with a bitter expression. That night, when he recalled the woman murmuring with a vacant look in the Tower of Repentance, a chill ran down his spine.

“I’ll take my leave now.”

As Ilya rose, he glared menacingly at a spot on the table. Following his gaze, René saw the dish of wild boar roast, the evening’s menu, and looked at Ilya with a puzzled expression.

“Why on earth would we have wild boar tonight of all nights?”

René trembled, recalling Ilya’s fierce glare when he had once menacingly eyed the wild boar brought by Nicholas, Evelyn, or rather Pia.  René hastily spoke up.

“Your Highness, jealousy in a man is unsightly.”

“I know, so stop it.”

With a heavily furrowed brow, Ilya left the tower. After smoothing out his contorted expression, he headed towards the annex. Tonight, he hoped Evelyn would wake up and greet him.

Contrary to Ilya’s wish, Evelyn still hadn’t awakened. He sat on a small chair beside the bed after dismissing everyone and closing his eyes. Amidst his labored breaths, a soft whimper caught Ilya’s attention, making him snap his eyes open.

Evelyn was dreaming. She wandered through the halls of Arcrid Castle, where she spent her childhood. The world in her dream was shrouded in dull gray.

Her life, confined like a bird in a cage, was always the same.

She would rise quietly in the morning to eat the meal brought by the maids, spend time with Sophie, play with her dolls or stroll in the garden, occasionally accompany her mother to try on dresses or jewelry, and at night… She would hide with Sophie in the wardrobe, fearing her drunken father might come.

Thud! Thud! When she heard the muffled sounds from outside, Evelyn shrank in fear, curling her body tightly. Though she knew it wouldn’t hurt in the dream, it was still terrifying enough to make her hair stand on end. As the sound of the door opening echoed, her body involuntarily tensed.

“Evelyn, snap out of it!”

At the urgent voice, Evelyn struggled to lift her heavy eyelids. Through her blurry vision, she saw the deep blue sea. Amidst the haze of her surroundings, it was the only thing that had color.

Evelyn continued to wander through her dream. The dreary, gray world was still filled with mundane activities. If there was anything fortunate, it was that once she reached the age to be married off, her father stopped laying a hand on her.

On her way back from strolling through the dream garden, Evelyn encountered Odin. Blocking her path as if he had found something amusing, he addressed her and Sophie.

“So, you’re getting married?”

Evelyn’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar voice.

“Aren’t you curious about the man you’ll marry? There are rumors that he’s older than your father, or even a savage from across the sea.”

That night, Evelyn clung to Sophie and cried until her eyes were swollen shut. Even though she knew it was just a dream, she was overwhelmed with sadness, and tears streamed down her cheeks. Rough fingertips brushed against her eyelids. The sensation felt so comforting that she pressed her face against the fingers.

As days passed in the dream world, it grew darker and more melancholic.

With a pale face, Evelyn stood before Lord Mardus. His unexpected words in the place where she had been terrified left her stunned.

“Marry the son of the Ajauntice Grand House.”

Evelyn left with Sophie for the distant northern regions. She didn’t know the face of the man she would marry, but she felt content. She was happiest to be far away from her hometown, and she felt relieved that her future husband was only three years older than her.

Upon arriving at the Grand Castle, the wedding proceeded without a moment to catch her breath. The moment she saw the young man with a sharp jawline inside the long bridal veil, she fell in love. From the moment she laid eyes on him, Evelyn’s world began to shine. She didn’t care what others said. She was just so happy to have such a handsome man as her husband.

“He’s like a prince from a fairy tale.”

She heard ridiculous laughter, but Evelyn just smiled with her mouth wide open. It was one of the few moments of true happiness in her life.

The joys and sorrows of the past two years quickly came and went in her dream.

A month after their marriage, the moment she bid farewell to her beloved man as he went off to the battlefield. The moment she learned she was expecting a child and felt ecstatic like she could fly. The moment she trembled with excitement while writing letters to him. The moment she cried and cried when she never received a reply. And finally, the moment she had long awaited when her child came to her.

All those times of tears and laughter shone brightly in every color imaginable. Even the difficult and painful moments had their unique hues. Everything was starkly different from the dull gray of her childhood.

And then… the moment the world turned its back on her and her child when Oribe betrayed her husband.

Her world turned completely black. The painful and agonizing moments flashed by quickly in the dream. Yet even those times glowed fiercely.

Dressing up like a doll, living a life dictated by others’ commands… it wasn’t that kind of life. It was a life where she fought tooth and nail to survive every moment.

“Evelyn, wake up.”

At the voice desperately calling her, Evelyn struggled to lift her eyelids. Through her blurry vision, she saw the deep blue sea again.

Her world was right in front of her, bathed entirely in deep blue.

“The one who made my colorless world shine.”

Though she knew she would soon part with the man who meant everything to her, she didn’t want to leave with regrets. She pledged to endure both his affection and his pain. She was no longer afraid of anything.

“Iliya…”

In a subdued voice, Evelyn called out her husband’s name. Just like the twenty-year-old Evelyn Mardus who couldn’t help but be thrilled just by calling his name.

“Could you… hug me just once?”

Evelyn reached out her trembling arms toward him. He, who had been sitting there motionless, slowly bent his torso as if bewitched by something. In such proximity that they could feel each other’s breath, Ilya whispered.

“You don’t want to push me away?”

He held his breath, waiting to see how the woman would react. Her slender arms reached out and wrapped tightly around his solid shoulders and forearms. Despite the challenge of completely enveloping such a large man, she clung tightly to his sturdy body.

“Iliya.”

As Evelyn called his name again, he couldn’t help but be moved.

This woman had called his name several times a day. Except for his stepbrother, no one had ever called him by his name before.

He buried himself in his wife’s embrace as if possessed. Despite the comical sight due to their size difference, Ilya remained nestled in his wife’s arms for a long while.