Chapter 31

Muffled by the gag in her mouth, Lariana’s pronunciation became distorted. She couldn’t make a loud sound.

“Lariana Delacroix, shut your mouth and stay quiet.”

She’s going to die. She will die at the hands of Cain Delacroix. With the gag in her mouth, soon her hands and feet will be bound, and she will die.

Cruel delusions swallowed Lariana.

“Let go of me! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to!”

“I won’t kill you! Calm down!”

How did it come to this? He just wanted to rest quietly. The two of them were consumed by their own thoughts and didn’t listen to each other.

Lariana struggled to survive, but she was no match for Cain.

The carriage shook violently due to the struggle between the two. If it continued like this, it was only a matter of time before the coachman or the servants inside the carriage noticed the disturbance. Anxious, Cain used Lariana’s cloak to restrain her.

However, either because she gathered strength or due to her slender physique, Lariana’s cloak tore. Through the tear, her hand was seen. Seeing her hand, Cain grabbed Lariana’s hand. No, he grabbed the dagger.

“Damn it.”

Cain, holding the hidden dagger in Lariana’s hand, cursed under his breath.

He took the dagger from Lariana’s hand. Blood dripped from his hand, where he clenched the blade. It was clearly visible even to Lariana’s eyes.

Cain’s white shirt and Lariana’s white muslin dress were dyed red. With the view of blood, Lariana regained her senses.

“Cain, did I… stab you? Did I stab you?”

Lariana cried out in shock.

“My lord, what is happening?”

Finally, whether the sound leaked out or not, the coachman asked.

Cain anxiously alternated his gaze between Lariana’s trembling eyes and the blood dripping from his hand.

“We are having a good time, so don’t disturb us.”

As a sign that everything was okay, Cain tapped the carriage wall twice.

“Understood.”

The coachman didn’t ask any further after his master’s command.

“Lariana Delacroix, lower your voice.”

In a gesture of agreement, Lariana nodded vigorously. She hugged her knees and blocked her mouth, which was releasing sobs.

“I’m… sorry…”

“Enough. Stop making noise. Close your mouth.”

Finally, the carriage fell silent. It was the tranquility that Cain had desired. He stood up, threw the dagger out of the moving carriage, and slumped back into his seat.

Blood overflowed from his hand as he pressed his forehead, streaming down his wrist and pooling on the carriage floor. It was fortunate that the carpet was already red.

“Isn’t it you, not me, who’s crazy?”

Cain muttered, his voice filled with bitterness. In response to his question, Lariana repeatedly questioned herself. Was she really the crazy one, not him? Why did she engage in such insane behavior?

“I… I thought you were trying to… kill me…”

“You, making excuses like that… I don’t want to hear it.”

Seeing her unable to speak properly due to her tears, Cain coldly looked at her.

“If you look underneath the sofa, there should be a box of medicine. Take it out, please.”

With disheveled hair and tear-stained face, Lariana look underneath the sofa and retrieved the box of medicine. She placed it on Cain’s side and returned to the opposite sofa, wrapping her knees with her arms.

“So, do you expect me to treat myself now?”

“If… if I do it, wouldn’t you… dislike it? Sob…”

“Stop fooling around.”

With a thud, Cain struck the medicine box with his fist. Startled, Lariana flinched and tightly closed her eyes. Several bandages, meant for wounds, fell to the floor from the damaged medicine box. Sobbing, Lariana crawled to pick up the scattered medicines and bandages from the floor.

“…Did you deliberately drive me crazy all this time?”

“…Cain?”

“You planned to kill me in such a calculated manner, didn’t you?”

Cain, tapping his blood-covered fingers, lifted Lariana’s chin. Lariana turned her head, wiping away the spot where his touch had landed. However, there was still blood at the tip of her chin.

Knowing that she had done wrong, she tried to silently endure the humiliation, but it was difficult to bear the accusation of trying to kill her husband.

Each sharp word struck her body like thorns, and as they pierced deeper, her tears began to subside. Regaining her composure, she moved closer and sat down, placing the medicine box on her lap.

“You want me to treat your wounds, so could you take off your shirt?”

“I suppose crying would be more suitable. It suits you better.”

“That goes for you too. Do I have to undress you like when you used to beg and cling to me in the bedroom? Or would you prefer to undress yourself?”

Lariana’s words made Cain’s face turn red. He had never expected that he would behave in such a way during the moments he couldn’t remember.

Unable to find words to retaliate against his wife’s counterattack, Cain silently removed his shirt. Soon, his sturdy upper body was revealed. His chest was sculpted with muscles.

He pretended to be unaffected, but he was very conscious of his wife. However, Lariana had already shared countless moments and intertwined their bodies so many times that she had become accustomed to this perfect physique, and she could look at it with indifferent eyes, unstartled.

Only one thing surprised her, and that was seeing him wearing the necklace she had given him as a gift for victory during the period when she was obsessed with delusions.

Lariana calmly wiped away the blood. Her unruly hair tickled Cain’s neck and chest.

As Cain wiped the back of his neck with his hand, he roughly ruffled his hair.

“…Damn.”

Lariana looked at Cain’s face as he cursed.

“Why? Is there something uncomfortable?”

Quite a bit of blood had flowed, but fortunately, the wounds were not deep. But they were not light either.

She carefully applied the medicine and wrapped bandages to stop the bleeding.

“No.”

“Your face is red. How about calling a doctor to the carriage?”

Not only his face and ears but his entire upper body was red. Ignoring Lariana’s concerned question, he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

In response to her husband’s actions, completely ignoring her, Lariana shook her head and moved to the opposite seat.

“Right now, you despise me, don’t you? Sometimes, you even want to kill me. You can silence me anytime… It was terrifying. So, to protect myself… I carried a dagger. I never expected it would come to this. I’m sorry.”

Cain remained unresponsive, as if he were still asleep.

Lariana looked down at her own body. The muslin dress she was wearing had turned into a ghostly shape, soaked in blood.

She look down the carriage seat and took out Cain’s shirt and an indoor dress from each of their respective bags. She discarded her blood-soaked dress and placed Cain’s shirt back in the bag.

“In the hunt, please refrain from crazy acts…”

As one eyebrow arched up in annoyance, he quickly rose up. Cain intended to tell her to stop her crazy behavior, but he couldn’t finish his sentence. Forgetting to even breathe, he widened his eyes.

In front of him, Lariana was divine. Her entire body emitted a radiant light as if it were made of gems.

Lariana, who didn’t hear her husband’s words, calmly put on her chemise and then another indoor dress.

“I took out your shirt. I’ll put it on the chair.”

“Aren’t you ashamed?”

“What?”

“Undressing and exposing yourself to anyone.”

“The person who always makes me expose myself however they want has quite a lot to say, don’t they?”

Cain wiped his mouth in silence, unable to respond to his wife’s reprimanding. His gaze was filled with confusion and turmoil.

Lariana, halfway dressed in a light purple indoor dress, slowly began to tie a white lace ribbon around her chest. Beyond her chemise, which she couldn’t completely cover following her movements, her fair and smooth skin became clearly visible.

He didn’t know why he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Cain clenched his lips. His adam’s apple moved several times.

Lariana, with her chin raised, gazed at him with a slight frown.

“Shouldn’t stop looking? It seems like you’re staring right through me, trying to make me feel embarrassed.”

* * *

Damn it, son of a bitch, fuck, goddamn, crazy bastard, lunatic.

After injuring his hand, Cain repeated these curses dozens of times for each word. It was inevitable because he kept seeing flashes of Lariana’s divine form in his eyes.

Until now, his thoughts of Lariana had been filled with hatred and contempt, but now it was different.

Cain looked at the doctor, Demian, who was examining his hand with a dismal expression.

“Could the madness get worse?”

Demian replied nonchalantly, “Of course. Since it is a mental disorder, if you experience significant emotional shock or distress, it can worsen. Are you experiencing more severe mood swings when you see the Duchess?”

Cain rubbed around his mouth and silently nodded.

“Duke, currently, there is no cure or medication for mental disorders.”

After carefully examining Cain’s wounds for a while, Demian expressed his concern in a worried tone.

“Duke, it seems difficult for you to participate in the hunt. Although your hand is not severely injured, it would be impractical for you to engage in hunting.”

It had been a while since he participated in the hunt. This year’s hunt was the first competition he faced as the leader of the faction supporting Princess Sonia, and it was also the first time he faced Duke Estelle, the leader of the faction supporting the Crown Prince, in the hunting competition.

Every year during the hunting competition, he competed against Estelle, the leader of the Crown Prince faction, and this year, with both of them representing their respective factions, the competition was expected to be even more intense.

“I will stitch the wound with a thread. Chew on this. It has analgesic effects.”

Demian handed Cain a piece of birch bark, which he placed in his mouth. Soon, Demian began to suture the wound on his hand. Cain clenched his teeth tightly, enduring the pain.

The pain subsided for a moment. After completing the treatment, Demian skillfully wrapped the bandages, finishing them perfectly.

“Oh my goodness, Cain!”

Marcella must have heard the news of his injured hand as she rushed in, visibly concerned.

“Mother, please lower your voice.”

According to tradition, the hunting competition followed customs that had been passed down for hundreds of years. Many nobles prepared their own lodges and built temporary cabins, but no matter how well-built they were, they were naturally vulnerable to noise.

The red cabin built on the sparsely covered earthen floor was covered with thick wool carpets, and on top of them were simple beds, tables, chairs, and other furnishings.

In response to her son’s remark, Marcella quietly asked Demian, “Demian, what do you think? Can Cain participate in the hunt?”

As always, to Marcella, the only thing that mattered was whether Cain would participate in the hunting competition. Read ahead here.