TMWL 04

Chapter 4

“What?”

For a moment, Pesha wondered if she had heard correctly.

Everyone knew this was a political marriage, so did they really have to kiss when they were practically strangers?

Panicking, Pesha looked around, but suddenly Owen’s large hand grabbed her face.

He forced her to look directly at him, but his expression remained as stiff as ever.

“L-Lord…”

Ignoring Pesha’s obvious embarrassment, Owen lowered his head.

Surely he’s not actually going to do it?

At that moment, she felt something soft against her lips.

He really did it.

Owen gently pressed his lips against Pesha’s frozen ones before pulling away.

“……”

Pesha couldn’t say a word.

All she could do was stand there like a statue, her eyes wide open.

Whether the officiating priest knew how shocked the bride was or not, he repeatedly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead before finishing the wedding vows.

“Now, let us give a round of applause to the newly united couple.”

Whatever their true feelings were, applause came from the guests on the bride’s side.

And the guests on the groom’s side…

Good grief.

Creak.

Pesha stiffly turned her head and saw Owen’s guests.

They weren’t even pretending to clap. Instead, they sat with their arms crossed, looking thoroughly displeased.

Damn it…

The hostile looks they were giving her seemed to warn her that her future would be anything but smooth.

Well, I can understand how they feel. Of course they’d hate me.

They had been given the perfect chance to inherit the dukedom, only to lose the title and gain the duke’s daughter as their burden instead. How unfair must that have felt?

If she had been sitting in their place, she probably wouldn’t have been able to look kindly at the bride either.

I can already see what married life is going to be like.

Having given up on everything, Pesha let out a hollow laugh.

She could already foresee all the hardships ahead.

After the wedding, Pesha climbed into the large four-horse carriage that had been prepared in advance.

They had said she would leave for the Namoi County estate, Swap, immediately after the wedding, and they had meant it.

Owen escorted Pesha into the carriage and helped her settle in before taking the seat opposite her.

Silence filled the carriage.

Pesha had her head lowered, so she couldn’t tell for sure, but she had the feeling he was staring at her.

She cautiously raised her eyes and glanced at him.

As expected, Owen was glaring at her with a terrifying look, as though he could bore a hole right through her.

Eek.

Startled, Pesha quickly lowered her eyes again.

But it was unbearable to sit under that gaze forever.

She realized she had to start a conversation and opened her mouth.

“L-Lord Namoi.”

“……”

He didn’t answer. He simply watched her as if telling her to get to the point.

I should apologize first.

It was ridiculous to be getting married in such a hurry and only now offering an apology, but she couldn’t just pretend nothing had happened.

She needed to tell him she was truly sorry for humiliating him. But her mouth was dry and her tongue felt stiff, making it difficult to express her sincerity.

Pesha squeezed her eyes shut, gathered her courage, and apologized.

“I’m sorry about what happened back then.”

No matter how desperate she had been or how afraid she was of dying, she shouldn’t have humiliated someone who had rushed back after protecting the country, especially in front of so many people.

“Back then?”

The man’s deep, low voice sounded threatening.

Pesha fidgeted nervously before answering.

“I-I mean when I said I didn’t want to marry you.”

“……”

“It wasn’t because I! Because I disliked you! I just thought it was too early for me to get married… I wasn’t thinking properly.”

“Since you thought it was too early to marry, I suppose you were planning to enter a convent altogether.”

Huh?

Pesha was confused by his words for a moment before remembering what she had said that day.

“Your Majesty! I don’t want to marry Lord Namoi. I… I will become a nun instead of getting married!”

The memory came rushing back, and Pesha groaned.

“Ah…”

I’m doomed. Why did I say something like that?

Anyone who heard it would naturally think she was saying she would rather become a nun than marry him. There was no way to take it back now.

“I-I mean, that’s…”

She was desperately trying to come up with an excuse when Owen cut her off with a cold voice.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know my wife was so devout. I’ll order them to expand the chapel as soon as we arrive at the estate.”

“No… That’s not what I meant.”

“Then? What else do you want?”

His gaze as he looked down at Pesha was so cold it was almost chilling.

Meeting his eyes, Pesha’s guilt was washed away halfway.

In its place, a surge of irritation rose inside her.

This petty man. I apologized properly, and he still has to mock me?

He really was just like the cold-blooded male lead from the original novel, who never even bothered to listen to the villainess’s side of the story before getting rid of her.

What an irritating protagonist!

She could curse him all she wanted in her head, but there were limits to what she could actually say aloud.

“Ah… Nothing. Haha, hahaha.”

With an awkward laugh, silence settled over the carriage once again.

The awkward silence was so suffocating that Pesha felt like she might actually choke to death.

Several hours passed, and the scenery outside the carriage changed as they left the city behind.

Fields stretched endlessly in every direction.

Sitting there without speaking for so long made her restless.

Before she knew it, Pesha began to doze off.

Thud!

Then the carriage hit what felt like a large stone, and her head slammed against the window.

“Ah!”

Pesha grabbed her forehead and secretly glanced at Owen.

He was staring out the window as though he had absolutely no interest in her.

He was clearly pretending not to notice.

Her face flushed with embarrassment, but Owen, who had been quietly looking outside, suddenly slammed his fist against the carriage wall.

The carriage gradually began to slow down.

The knights escorting the carriage also approached the windows.

“My lord, is something wrong?”

“Let’s take a short break.”

Pesha’s eyes widened at his words.

Come to think of it, they had left in the morning, and the sun was already beginning to set.

I thought we were going to be stuck in this carriage all the way through the night.

The moment the carriage came to a complete stop, Pesha practically fled outside.

The maids from the other carriage, including Mini, soon got out and hurried over to her.

“Miss! We were going to help you down…”

“It’s fine. More importantly, I feel like I can finally breathe now that we’re stopping for a while. Ugh…”

Pesha stretched both arms, loosening her stiff body.

That was when she noticed Owen getting out of the carriage.

He had remained inside while Pesha was getting out, but now he was talking with the knights.

Feeling self-conscious around him, Pesha slowly moved as far away from him as possible.

It had been painfully awkward inside the carriage. She didn’t want to stay close to him even after getting outside.

Seeing that Pesha didn’t look well, Mini carefully spoke to her.

“Miss, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

“No. I’m fine.”

But Pesha certainly didn’t look fine.

Mini glanced discreetly at Owen, who was talking with the knights, then brought a hand to Pesha’s ear and whispered.

“It must have been difficult being alone with Count Namoi, right…? But please stay strong. You’re married now. Surely he wouldn’t do anything to you, would he?”