I Became the Villain’s Wife

~ 68 ~

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Translator: Lioness

Eun-woo felt an indescribable pain that seemed to be tearing her heart apart and after that, she closed her eyes. 

Just what kind of mess is this?

She completely relied on Tashian.
Suddenly, she felt that she had a different identity, who started anew and in a completely unfamiliar environment. 

Rather than distancing herself away from Tashian, she even created a bond with him.
It shocked her to realize that Tashian built his own image by himself, kept all the suffering inside his head and secretly let it out when he felt like it. 

But her thoughts did not last long.
Selena, who was watching Eun-woo with a tired gaze, opened her mouth.
It was a soft voice.

“Eleanor….”

Selena blinked her long eyelashes.
Eun-woo found a terrifyingly firm conviction in her face.

The question of what that certainty was about before even crossed my mind.
She asserted in a soft voice that Selena was afraid of.

“You love Duke Verk.”

Eun-woo looked up at Selena blankly briefly.

It was as if sharp words pierced her entire body wildly.

Eun-woo was so embarrassed that she shouted without even realizing that she stammered. 

“That’s… Wh, what…! Selena…!”

But despite Eun-woo’s intense reaction, Selena only wore a meaningful smile.

Eun-woo, who seemed quiet but knew her seriousness, knew that the words were sincere to the bone.
Every once in a while, everything is just a word, but that was usually a fact that everyone had to admit.

However, Eun-woo did not want to admit that fact for this moment.

Confused, she struggled to correct her friend’s words.

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“I, I… I’m just so worried about him…! I’m so upset that we parted ways without him being treated…!”

It felt like a bomb had exploded in her head.

Eun-woo poured out her excuses while frantically waving her arms in front of Selena albeit her earlobes had been dyed red.

Love, she says.

Is such a noble word possible because she wants to rely on him by referring to his situation?

If anyone asks her if she likes Tashian, that’s true.
If she doesn’t like someone who is so nice, sincere, and even sweet in the first place, does that mean that she has become numb? 

However, what she wanted to say was that she wanted to take care of him because he had taken care of her for too long now, and that she had never thought of him as a man.
(TN: Which is definitely a lie, you see? Hoho.)

But is she really like that?

Even as Eun-woo spat out gibberish words, she couldn’t stop the massive body she had seen earlier from coming to her mind spontaneously.

The stiff neckline drenched in sweat, his shoulder muscles that saw through the collar whenever he turned toward her and opened his mouth, the cast iron-hard arms that embraced her whole body as if she was a rare gem, and the stiffened palms of his.
He was stroking her head with his rough, skinny hands….

“I, I…”

Eun-woo’s face turned so red.
She guiltily looked away.

Although, she still lifted her hands to cover her blushing face, which was already hot like ripened plums.
As she lowered her head down to her knees, her golden hair cascaded down. 

It was then.
The wagon abruptly stopped.
And the voice from the coachman could be heard from outside while soothing the horse.
Then someone knocked on the door of the wagon.

“…Lady Wellwoods, Lady Muller.
This is Ouns.”

Eun-woo looked up at Selena, like a man who had lost his mind.
Selena locked eyes with her before opening the door of the carriage.

The deputy commander of the Imperial Knights, Sir Gerald Ouns, parked the wagon in a suitable corner of the street, and stood politely at the door.

Since Sir Ouns’s large body almost covered the entrance of the carriage, and Eun-woo didn’t realize that they had arrived.

Sir Ouns’s gray eyebrows were slightly curved in trouble.
Eun-woo noticed that he was about to ask them something.
She tensed her body slightly.

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“I have a question for Lady Wellwood, so I had to stop the carriage.”

Eun-woo blinked, not knowing what he was going to ask.
But Selena nodded her head to see if what she was guessing was something Sir Ouns would ask.

“You’re nearby at the center of the synagogue announcing the festival’s Flora candidates.
The captain ordered Lady Miller to get to the duke’s mansion, but…”

He looked at Selena with a more gentlemanly attitude and spoke to her.

“…I remember that Lady Selena Wellwoods participated earlier.”

His complexion was slightly distorted as if he had met a difficult problem.

Only then did Eun-woo realize the troubles he was facing.

Selena, who participated in the Flora nomination, will have to wait for her name to be called in front of the synagogue, where the announcement of all the nominees will be made.

He seemed to be in odds with the Duke’s order to take Eun-woo to the mansion but then Lady Wellwood would miss the nomination announcement if she were to follow them back to the mansion.

But before Eun-woo could say anything about herself, Selena opened her mouth without hesitation.

“Could you take us straight to the Duke for now, Sir Ouns?”

Eun-woo looked at her in surprise, which was similar to announcing that she would give up on Flora.
But Selena’s face was firm as if she wouldn’t change her decision now.

“Right now, Lady Miller’s wounds are more urgent.
The Flora Festival is an annual event.
I can attend again next time.”

It was when Sir Ouns heard her and nodded his head understandably.

Eun-woo hurriedly raised her voice and grabbed Sir Ouns’s attention, who was about to close the carriage door.

“Wait a minute, sir…!”

Selena, hearing her voice, was surprised, and watched her.
However, Eun-woo hastily expressed her intentions.

“N-no…! Sele… No, we’ll take Lady Wellwood to the main hall.
I don’t mind hearing the announcement.”

“However…….”

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Selena felt as if she became a burden, but Eun-woo quickly raised her hands to her and said,

“Look at all of these.
The bleeding has stopped, and I am no longer in pain.
This is a contest where Selena cheers up her cousin.
You even prepared a white dress so don’t miss it.”

The pain she felt was quite painful.
However, her wounds were not as big as she thought.
She had scratches here and there on her hands, and although it was still a bit tingling in pain, they didn’t bother her too much unless they would be wounded again, and the blood that flowed like a small fountain had stopped before she knew it.

Above all, before the festival, Selena’s unusually bright eyes came to her mind, saying that she wanted to participate in the Flora competition to support her cousin.

All they have to do is to drive Selena up to the synagogue, so what’s the problem? After that, they can just return back to the duke’s mansion.

Eun-woo persuaded Lord Ouns with her eyes full of strong will.

“Anyway, we have arrived near the synagogue, so we could wait for the announcement to come.
So why are we going away?” 

However, when Eun-woo saw Selena and Sir Ouns’s hardened expressions, she intuited that something was wrong.

Sir Ouns answered her with the corners of his lips arced up, as if in trouble.

“Lady Miller… you misunderstood a bit.
I’m asking because I think you’re a little mistaken.
Do you know how to participate in the Flora competition?”

Eun-woo asked, bewildered.

“No, is there any other way?”

Sir Ouns shook his head as if yes.
There was a slight convulsion on his cheek as he tried to answer.
Then Selena cut off Sir Ouns.

“Women who participate in the Flora competition and who are selected as candidates will live in a dormitory with other candidates in the White House Cathedral until the end of the competition.”

Eun-woo opened her mouth to the fact that she had learned new things.

“Oh, I see.
I didn’t know at all.
White Cathedral…”

White’s Cathedral was a separate term for an annex located right behind the Black Cathedral.

The room was always full of disciples of nuns and priests who were trained to assist the heir in the Black Cathedral.

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Before being subjugated to the Black Virgin Church and wearing a jet-black catechism, the trainees, like Flora’s candidates, wore a white apprenticeship uniform that was as clean as snow.
It meant to maintain a clean state of mind before accepting the teaching knowledge with the head and chest.
Therefore, the name of the training center was also called White Cathedral.

After pondering for a moment, Eun-woo persuaded Sir Ouns and Selena again.

“But it won’t be a problem, right? When Selena is selected as a nominee, she walks to the White Cathedral, and we return to the duke’s house.”

For her now, helping Selena enter the nomination is a priority.
She didn’t feel any pain in her hands.

Unexpectedly, Sir Ouns seemed to be shaken a little by her strong argument.
Selena still seemed dissatisfied with Eun-woo’s idea, and she expressed her opinion that she should return as soon as possible to the duke.

But in the end, Sir Ouns sided with Eun-woo.

“….
Alright Anyway, the distance from the Central Hall to the White Cathedral is not too far, and above all, Miss Miller insists so strongly.”

Sir Ouns supported Selena’s hand as she got off her carriage.

Eun-woo tried to follow Selena out of the carriage, but he hastily caught her hand holding her back, and her eyes narrowed.

Selena grabbed the carriage doorkeeper and quickly stopped her from posing to get off.

“Eleanor, absolutely not.
You don’t have to force me to follow you.”

Eunwoo rolled her eyes at her overreaction and answered.

“It’s okay, Selena.
I’m not coming out for Selena.
I’m just curious as to who the candidates were.
And it’s a hundred times safer to follow Selena and Sir Ouns than to be alone in the wagon.”

Sir Ouns agreed with her plausible argument.

“I want to split my body in two and escort each of the girls, but that’s not going to happen… If Lady Miller comes along, I think I’ll be less worried too.”

So they left the wagon and the coachman in the corner of the road and walked towards the main synagogue.

The street was already crowded with people waiting for Flora’s candidate.

Lord Ouns was a huge man, and he pushed the crowd back and forth, leading the two young girls safely to the very entrance of the synagogue.

In the synagogue, the leader of the synagogue, who was to announce that year’s Flora nominees, was on a high platform and was talking with the workers below him.
Hundreds of people below him were pounding like waves, waiting for his mouth to open toward them.

Most of them were virgins in white, but their families, relatives, and friends were also holding hands and waiting for the announcement.