Chapter 26.2

did he want to twist edith’s thin neck, smiling with a face he’d never seen before? or did he want to mercilessly stab the stomach of the man who touched her clothes without a clue?

calm down, curtis caballero.

instead of taking out his blue blade, curtis slowly brushed the corner of his mouth without a smile.

when his clumsy anger subsided, cold emotions filled in. it was a sense of betrayal toward edith.

how dare she laugh in front of another man?

if she was lonely, he’d come to her bed for three days and nights. if she was bored, he would follow her even though he just returned from the battlefield, smelling of blood that wouldn’t go away, and attended social parties with her.

nevertheless, edith blamed curtis for all the misfortunes that happened to her. from little things like gnashing her nails to being left out of the post of her successor. he did his best to satisfy his lady, edith, but edith was a woman who was never satisfied.

she would do anything to keep curtis by her side, to get an extra grain of his attention.

curtis had to deal with the resentment of a woman and her parents whose fingers were cut off just because she spoke with him. he had to endure edith, who’d cut her wrists just to dance with him.

the boy curtis caballero grew slowly, and the human curtis caballero slowly died.

edith couldn’t let go of curtis like a toy until the moment his nerves eventually dried up and crumbled like autumn leaves.

edith also became crazier day by day because curtis was becoming more and more indifferent. when she eventually began to abuse him in the same way as the grand duchess did, all the affection that remained was lost.

it was the moment when the friendship between the boy curtis caballero and the girl edith abina ended.

so, curtis may have been angry, but he wasn’t surprised that edith abina lured his younger brother to fight. for him, edith abina was already someone who could do such a thing.

but now, he was amazed at her smile.

there were also many surprises that he felt like a shameless idiot.

curtis’ foolishness was funny and unfamiliar, but he couldn’t calm his racing mind.

edith’s smile caught him off-guard that his fingertips trembled at the great sense of betrayal. it was a sensation he couldn’t deny.

“edith.”

as he tried to suppress his emotions and called her name, her eyes widened like big crystal balls as she looked back at him.

“his highness the grand duke?”

edith no longer called him curtis.

she bowed her head politely, as if dealing with a noble person she didn’t care about.

“hello… but what brings you here?”

“…his highness, the grand duke?”

before curtis could answer edith’s question, the man she stood behind from as if he was protecting her looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“the grand duke of caballero?”

the man was very tall for a knight and looked slender at eye level with curtis, but he wasn’t a man who had never held a sword.

it was an eye that only those who have experienced battle acquire. it was the aura of a blood-soaked killer.

“…if you understand that i am the grand duke of caballero, you should probably bow your head.”

he’d never pressed anyone with his status before, but curtis wasn’t impressed with the man’s attitude as he held his head high toward him.

“oh, i’m sorry. i haven’t learned anything.”

only then did the man bow down at his shallow words. even in the face of the title of “grand duke”, the momentum wasn’t pressed at all. wouldn’t it be an attitude that can’t be seen unless you spent your whole life as a noble person yourself?

“well, your highness… what brings you here?”

edith, who looked nervous, pursed her lips. curtis replied, glancing at her red and thick lips like cherries, despite the hardships of the past.

“to take you to the palace of the grand duke.”

“what?”

edith’s eyes widened in surprise at curtis’ reply.

“oh, that wouldn’t work out.”

but this time, the answer didn’t come out of edith’s mouth.