Chapter 12: TWOCM

Kaiden curved his lips into a faint smile as he anticipated Reina’s reaction.

The more he saw her, the more interesting she became. It made him want to keep her close and watch her.

She had suddenly become an intriguing presence in his otherwise monotonous life.

Until now, he had assumed she was a woman he would never be involved with.

If he had known she was this interesting, he would have approached her much sooner.

On impulse, Kaiden brushed his fingers lightly over Reina’s cheek.

Though they had only known each other briefly, every moment felt intense.

It seemed he had truly ended up with an amusing bride.

Gently wiping away the soot, he murmured,

“Did you enjoy playing with fire?”

Meanwhile, Reina blinked blankly at his words.

Since when had he been here?

From what it looked like, it could easily seem as though she had deliberately set Isabel on fire.

Moreover, she had no allies here.

Fearing she might be falsely accused again like before, she quickly tried to explain.

But Kaiden didn’t seem to care about any of that.

Instead, he asked about her feelings, leaving her unsure how to respond.

How should she describe this emotion?

She did feel refreshed after striking back at the one who always tormented her.

But facing fear stirred up a far more complicated feeling than she expected.

Lowering her head, Reina murmured softly,

“It wasn’t bad.”

“That’s good then.”

The warmth of his hand still cupping her cheek felt comforting.

Even the faint smile on his lips shimmered under the moonlight.

It felt as if time had stopped, leaving only the two of them in the world.

Her heightened emotions slowly began to settle.

It was strange—just being looked at like this made her feel so at ease.

Perhaps it was because of the time they had shared in her previous life.

A blind trust in the one person who had once reached out to her for the first time.

Just then, Wendy spoke up belatedly, appealing to Kaiden.

“Duke, you saw it too, didn’t you? Reina deliberately set fire to Isabel!”

As expected, Isabel’s sobbing grew louder.

She was clearly acting to make it look like Reina was the aggressor.

But Kaiden’s reaction remained indifferent.

“Well. From what I saw, it looked like the opposite.”

Then, with his arm around Reina’s shoulder, he growled lowly,

“Wasn’t that lantern originally Princess Isabel’s?”

“T-That’s true, but! Reina was the one who knocked it toward Isabel after she dropped it!”

“It was a reflex. She nearly burned my wife in the process, didn’t she?”

“….”

Wife?

Reina flinched at Kaiden’s shocking word. Wendy and Isabel were equally stunned.

Although the engagement had been announced at the banquet, this was the first time he openly referred to her as his wife.

Ignoring everyone’s shock, he continued calmly,

“Look at her. She’s so shocked she’s frozen stiff. How do you plan to take responsibility for this?”

This is just because you scared me…

Reina couldn’t bring herself to explain.

Before she knew it, Kaiden had lifted her into his arms like a princess.

Then he said to the frozen Isabel,

“Princess, you seem to have plenty of people to take care of you. We’ll take our leave now.”

“D-Duke!”

Despite Wendy’s call, Kaiden walked away from the fountain without hesitation.

As if eager to get Reina out of there as quickly as possible.

Carried in his arms, Reina’s face turned bright red with embarrassment.

It felt awkward to be treated so carefully, like a child—but strangely, she didn’t dislike it.

More than that, it made her feel like he truly considered her his own person.

At the same time, she also felt a bit frustrated for not being fully honest earlier.

After a while, they arrived at a quiet garden. Reina spoke as if confessing,

“Actually… I did it on purpose.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

Reina looked up at him in surprise.

She hadn’t expected him to side with her while knowing everything.

He lowered his head to meet her gaze.

His violet eyes shimmered with moonlight. There was no trace of judgment in them.

Instead, he looked amused as he continued,

“I also know they’ve been bullying you for a long time. My aide is quite capable.”

“Oh…”

Well, he wouldn’t have proceeded with this marriage without investigating properly.

Reina suddenly felt exposed and embarrassed.

Then Kaiden said,

“Well done.”

In that instant, all the guilt weighing on her moments ago vanished.

Those words alone were enough to comfort her.

Seeing her silence, Kaiden muttered lightly,

“Had you just endured it silently, I would’ve thought I misjudged you.”

“….”

“Do you feel better now that you’ve let it out?”

“…A lot.”

“Good.”

Kaiden smirked and set her down.

He then ruffled her hair gently and said,

“From now on, do whatever you want. I’ll take care of the aftermath.”

Reina felt a lump in her throat at his gentle encouragement.

But not wanting to show it, she asked instead with feigned composure,

“And what if I do something outrageous?”

Kaiden replied with a faint laugh,

“Anything would be interesting.”

His tone suggested he truly didn’t care.

Relief washed over her, and Reina finally smiled.

“You’re really strange.”

“I’ve heard that often.”

Kaiden extended his hand.

“Let’s go back.”

Reina looked at his large hand for a moment, then placed her own in it without hesitation.

The next day, Reina finally left the imperial palace she had grown to hate and headed north.

She had never expected leaving to be this easy.

In her previous life, it had been an almost impossible task—but after meeting Kaiden, everything had become surprisingly simple.

Reina gazed out the window of the carriage with mixed emotions.

They were heading toward the Great Temple, where a portal to the North was located.

The Great Temple stood on the outskirts, slightly away from the capital.

Reina’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Watching her quietly, Kaiden asked,

“What’s so interesting?”

“It’s just been a long time since I left the capital.”

“If you wanted, you could’ve gone to the Great Temple anytime.”

He tilted his head in confusion.

Even as a royal, she wasn’t restricted from visiting nearby places.

At his casual words, Reina’s expression turned serious.

She looked out the window with a faint sadness.

After the Iv family left for their territory, Reina had confined herself indoors for three years.

No one had forced her to.

She didn’t even know why leaving the palace had felt so difficult.

Perhaps she had isolated herself because she had no one left to rely on.

Reina murmured quietly as she recalled the past,

“Yeah… I could’ve gone if I wanted to. But it was hard.”

Kaiden said nothing, simply staying beside her in silence.

After a while, she turned back and said,

“Now I know better. I’ll try to be a bit braver.”

Her bright smile looked somewhat fragile.

And so, almost impulsively, Kaiden spoke,

“If you want, we can stay at the Great Temple for a day.”

It was a ridiculous suggestion, considering they were on an urgent journey due to a monster threat.