I Became the Villain’s Wife - Chapter 74

~ 74 ~

Translator: Lioness

Eun-woo felt the unsteady energy that flowed down her spine and she was distracted. People around her were paying close attention to the knight that was arguing with her.

She didn’t know why this knight didn’t want to verify her candidacy, saying that they made no mistake in their work, and now suddenly wants to take her into the church.

Eun-woo looked at Lucinda, who was worried about her and said,

“I… I am not yet done. I still have to go through the evaluation…”

“You want to do that? I doubt you even have something to offer for the evaluation.”

Eun-woo felt the knight’s gaze scrutinized as if criticizing her poor behavior. Her white robe was soaked in black firewood because she had been in a commotion before, and her skirt was torn and tattered here and there.

Hearing those words, her earlobes flared up. She had never felt like this. In the end, Eun-woo had to leave the line where she was standing with her arms held without time to be angry at the knight’s unpleasant gaze.

“Wa, wait a minute…! Where are you taking me…!”

From behind, she heard Lucinda anxiously calling her name. However, despite Eun-woo’s efforts, the knight hurriedly dragged her to the entrance of the Cathedral, instead of slowing his steps.

“Hey, let go of me! I’ll go! I’m going…! I, I can walk alone…!”

Eun-woo resisted the unpleasant force and pushed the knight’s huge arm surrounding the armor with all her might.

For a moment, she felt that the knight was pushed with her struggle, while fiercely staring at her through his helmet. However, Eun-woo didn’t back down and looked at him, grinding her teeth.

Then, without hiding his annoyance, the knight slapped her on the back with a scabbard.

Her body staggered despite the fact that she wanted to stand firm, but Eun-woo had no choice but to move her steps in the direction the knight was pointing. It was better than having her arm tightly grabbed by him as if she was a dog on leash.

She could feel the eyes of the other candidates falling behind her back. Countless pairs of eyes captured her worn out clothes and the way she was being dragged along by the knight.

All of them were wondering why she was disappearing with the knight inside the White Cathedral without going through evaluation.

The inside of Eun-woo’s neck burned with a strange shame that could not be described.

“Everyone, be quiet…!”

The murmuring was silenced again by the shouts of the other knights.

“This way.”

The knight led Eun-woo into the interior of White Cathedral with an unkind attitude.

The interior, which went through a door located in a different direction from the main entrance through the admission screening process, was gloomy in contrast to the brightly lit exterior.

As soon as Eun-woo entered the White Cathedra, she felt an illusion of chills and withdrew his body. The large, opened interior was filled with air as cold as the winter wind.

The heavy footsteps of the knight made a creaking sound while he guided the way.

Eun-woo walked down the hallway, relying on the torch the knight was holding. She couldn’t see much since her vision was simply limited, but seeing the knight’s footsteps resounding unexpectedly loudly, she could guess that the passage in front of her was bigger than she thought.

The picture frames hanging on the wall all looked bigger and more antique than any picture frame she had seen in the Duke’s Castle. At the same time, there was an eerie aura.

Her thin white dress did not provide any wind protection at all, as they were tattered and torn. Eun-woo felt goosebumps on her arm and felt the urge to crouch down but couldn’t.

After walking for such a long time, the knight stood tall in front of a room and bowed to someone.

At first, Eun-woo watched the knight with narrow eyes as she greeted the seemingly air, then realized that there was a large person’s shadow in that direction and was terribly surprised.

A man, skinny like a long scarecrow, stood in front of the door.

Eun-woo swallowed dry saliva as she watched the man’s grayish eyes twinkle in the color of wine burned by the torch the knight was holding.

It was a man she knew.

“I’ll deal with her from now on. Go back.”

It was a hoarse voice that made her feel unpleasant. The knight, who had brought her here, bowed his head deeply and went back to the passage where he had come. Bascal looked at her indifferently with the other, while his other eye was still closed with an engraved scar.

“Keep walking. If you keep quiet, harm is unnecessary.”

At his command, Eun-woo did not even think to respond and moved her feet mechanically.

Her body trembled as if a needle was pierced to every corner. Her heart trembled sharply as an unexpected person appeared, and the blood vessels in her body constricted with tension.

Eun-woo doesn’t know this man well, but she knows that this man has a hostile relationship with Ikshid. And then, she remembered who this person was assisting.

Eun-woo realized who Bascal was leading her to, and felt her body drained of strength as if it were a transparent liquid. Against her will, she struggled to strengthen her limp legs.

She said nothing. So, as she walked for a long time, Bascal led her to one of the doors.

It was a heavy door that was engraved with metaphysical characters in a mess and looked unusual at first glance. The door opened easily with a single gesture of Bascal. There was a squeaking noise from the poorly lubricated door.

And there he sat.

Eun-woo looked at the figure of the man with his chin on his hand. His back was slanted with narrowed eyes. The room was as luxurious and tidy as the clothes he was wearing, and it was terrifyingly achromatic.

“I was waiting for you, Miss.”

Chief Reinhardt greeted her with her soft smile faded.

As she was stunned, Eun-woo had to take a step back when she saw him because his face reminded her of someone.She tried not to make eye contact with the man who had a face that looked terribly similar to Tashian. However, her eyes continued to point toward the center of the man’s face, regardless of her will.

Eun-woo prayed inwardly that her eyes looking at him were not shaking with agitation.

Behind him, he heard Bascal leave the room and slam the door shut.

Eun-woo stood still and watched Reinhardt stand up from his seat.

Seeing that, Eun-woo thought that he was a terribly tall person. She didn’t know the exact measurement but he might be the same height as Tashian.

He approached her with his strutting heels.

“You must have been tired of walking, Miss. In the meantime, you seem to have become emaciated.”

“… I heard you were searching for me.”

Eun-woo asked directly, passing over what she said as a greeting. But she couldn’t relax, that made her voice tremble and crack.

“Why…. Are you looking for me?”

“… Sit down for now.”

Reinhardt, in a very gentlemanly manner, politely pulled out the chair across from him. Eun-woo watched his action, suspicious, and then walked stiffly.

“I’m…. alright.”

He sat her down in the seat as if escorting her to, and briefly touched the nape of her neck with his hand. When she was startled by his touch, he exaggeratedly removed both of his hands and laughed out loud.

“…… It would be polite to serve you a cup of hot tea, but I too was waiting here for Miss without a servant… The situation is not easy. Please understand, Miss.”

“I don’t care.”

Even as she answered that, Eun-woo could not erase the thought from his mind that the hand that touched her was as cold as a snake’s skin.

It was not the warmth of a normal person. It was as if he had been standing alone in the snow in the middle of winter for a long time.

But while she was skeptical, Chief Reinhardt circled around the same seat and returned to his original seat.

“I don’t know why you like your life here.”

He didn’t think to answer her question and started talking in an unusual manner.

Eun-woo couldn’t understand his words.

Where are you talking about living? If it was a White Cathedral, it was the first time she had visited today. If the life he was talking about is the life she has in the duke’s residence, she was leading a very peaceful daily life with no room for his involvement.

Eun-woo answered and tried not to frown.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She added, clasping her hands under the table.

“Before that, I have a question for the chief, will you allow it?”

“Of course.”

The chief shrugged his shoulders as if he was supremely pleased by her behavior and spread his arms toward her. His attitude was tolerant, as if she could ask the questions she wanted.

Eun-woo passed her dry saliva through her throat and opened her mouth.

“The senior and I met each other at the victory banquet. At that time, I did not have any circumstances, so I could not comment. There were several strange things back then.”

“What kind of strange things are you talking about…?”

Chief Reinhardt clasped his hands on the table and placed his chin on it. However, despite his infinitely free attitude that he showed towards her, Eun-wpp was unable to relieve the tension flowing through her whole body.

This was probably because of that black pupil of Chief Reinhardt looking at me. Eun-woo blinked several times to break the thought that the pupil was a deep swamp like a snake’s eye, filled with only black irises.

Concentrating, she opened her mouth.

“… At that time, it was clear that the chief was eagerly waiting for me. And today the chief was searching for me again. I want to know why.”

She continued to speak as she felt a cold sweat running down my spine.

“As far as I can remember… it’s because I have never personally harmed or inconvenienced the chief. Could it be that I made an unavoidable mistake to the chief without knowing it? I wonder why the chief keeps looking for me.”

After Eun-woo finished talking, she swallowed her breath while looking at the chief. It felt like a grain of sand was rolling in her mouth. Eun-woo focused on the expression on the chief’s face.

He closed and opened his eyes, which had never blinked, as if he had heard unexpected words from her mouth.

Eun-woo couldn’t stop thinking that his appearance was strangely bizarre.

“… Oh, Miss, you are misunderstanding something deeply.”

Unlike his expression, he opened his mouth with a very common sense and kind attitude.

Eun-woo asked nervously.

“What am I misunderstanding?”

He rubbed his hands that he had placed on the table as if she was in trouble. He opened his mouth with a small laugh, as if the current situation was funny.

“Of course, our meetings would be enough for Miss to think so. Actually, Miss is right. Even after seeing you to this point, Miss and I are bound by a string of terrible ties.”

Reinhardt closed his eyes and smiled.

There is no relationship deeper than bad ones. Don’t you think so?”

“… What kind of relationship is that?”

Eun-woo didn’t have to wait any longer for his answer to her question, and asked quickly.