I Tamed My Ex-Husband’s Mad Dog - Episode 36

There were two reasons for her bewilderment. First, Wilhelm had something to say to her; therefore, it was clear he was trying to avoid her.

For the past six months, Reinhardt found Wilhelm to be unfamiliar not only because he acted meekly in front of her, but also because his manners were cruel and ruthless. Wilhelm, who was not good at anything and found it difficult to work with Dietrich, became as quick as anyone else. He approaches her as if to ambush her, courts her, and then runs off without saying anything important.

It was the same now. If she didn’t catch him quickly, Wilhelm would slip away like a lizard from her grasp, without revealing any substantial details.

“Wilhelm.”

In a rare stern voice, she called the young man. Wilhelm’s eye area trembled slightly, but he managed to maintain his composure. Reinhardt sat on the bed with her arms crossed and continued speaking.

“If you were trying to amuse me, I’ll grant you that your joke was successful.”

“But you’re not laughing.”

“Firstly, people naturally gossip about me.”

Wilhelm’s expression became subtle. Reinhardt tilted her head and smiled arrogantly.

“Even when I sat quietly next to that Michael, there were always people watching me with suspicion. Do you think I’m scared of such people?”

“…”

“Secondly, people already think that I’m involved with you. Even when we’re together during the day, people who want to gossip will do so.”

At the second word, Wilhelm’s cheeks turned red. Reinhardt belatedly realized that she might have used quite a provocative remark on someone much younger than herself, but it was too late. She uncrossed her arms and smiled.

“Thirdly, as long as I’m honest, it doesn’t matter.”

“Conf-confident?”

A question appeared on Wilhelm’s face. Reinhardt sat with her legs crossed, clasped her hands in front of her knees, and smiled.

“Just a few years ago, I personally washed you up when you were nothing but skin and bones. To think you’d grow into a man is an unexpected development. You might as well be my child.”

It was almost like a boast.

As expected, Wilhelm’s expression immediately frowned at those words. Marc, who was standing on one side, saw the reaction and chuckled. Boys his age usually despised being reminded of their childhood stories. Reinhardt laughed heartily, her face brimming with amusement, and flicked her hand.

“So don’t think of running away. Close the door and come in.”

“Ah, Luden’s thunder looks like a baby in front of the lord.”

Marc teasingly said, gently pushing Wilhelm inside and closing the door with his toes. The door closed, leaving only Reinhardt and Wilhelm in the room.

Wilhelm looked at Marc bewilderedly, then turned his gaze to Reinhardt. Reinhardt, who had been laughing at Marc’s words, still hadn’t erased the smile from her face.

But Wilhelm didn’t seem to like that smile.

He approached Reinhardt with a furrowed brow, his face quickly turning serious. Without giving her a chance to react, his shadow loomed over her. Though sleek and twice as big as Reinhardt, the young man put his left knee on Reinhardt’s bed and leaned over her.

In the blink of an eye, Reinhardt found herself facing Wilhelm’s face as he leaned over her. Where did the frowning expression go, and a crooked smile settled on Wilhelm’s face.

“Wilhelm?”

“Have you ever seen such a child?”

Reinhardt hesitated for a moment but couldn’t help bursting into laughter. The sharp glint in Wilhelm’s eyes only intensified with that laughter. However, even with the intensity in his eyes, Reinhardt couldn’t possibly erase her smile. She held onto the bed under Wilhelm’s shoulder and chuckled.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Okay. When I was only like you, I was a little embarrassed that my father called me apple pie every time in front of everyone. I never did that in front of Mars.”

Every time Marquis Linke addressed her as ‘little apple pie’ in front of Dietrich, the young girl going through her first love felt embarrassed to the core. No matter how much she intended it, Wilhelm was the one who raised Luden as a Grand Duke.

‘Luden’s thunder.’

A young man like him, reminiscing about childhood when they bathed together, was enough to hurt his pride. While Reinhardt’s words were intentionally provocative, the consequences of her provocation were far greater than she thought.

“I was frivolous.”

“…Besides that.”

Wilhelm whispered softly, almost groaning. His gaze looking down at her was so daring, not that of a knight looking at a noble. However, Reinhardt did not shrink away from it. On the contrary, she met his eyes head-on.

“You and I are only eight years apart.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“You can’t have a baby when you’re eight.”

That’s right. Reinhardt bit her lip, barely holding back her desire to say something.

<I just want you to kiss my forehead right now>

<I love you, Rein.>

Embarrassing and unfamiliar words overlapped with the young man leaning in front of her.

In truth, Reinhardt could somewhat understand why Wilhelm acted this way.

A boy’s and girl’s first love usually blossoms during their teens. For Wilhelm, who was awkward and inexperienced in everything, Reinhardt was probably the only suitable object of love. Luden was a desolate territory, and as soon as the boy could act like a man, he was dragged to the battlefield.

So, it was understandable and sad that Wilhelm hastily chose her as the partner of his first love.

So Reinhardt decided to push Wilhelm away gently. In the first place, it was later than this that she would push Wilhelm’s embarrassing confession out of her plan. However, as she tried to catch Wilhelm, who was quickly running away from her, the answer was suddenly pulled.

Wilhelm didn’t avoid her gaze. On the contrary, he looked down at her with a daring gaze. His neatly combed black hair, was slightly messy due to Imperial ceremonies, and his well-defined black eyes were strangely charming.

‘Perhaps if I had met you elsewhere or under different circumstances, I might have fallen for you too.’

He was such a fine young man. His not-yet-full lips were red, and his strong shoulders were firm yet agile. Probably, many women would blush at the sight of him. But in a few more years, he would become terrifyingly charismatic.

‘But Wilhelm.’

Reinhardt gently tapped his cheek with an affectionate touch.

“Okay then, let’s call you my little brother.”

“…Rein.”

Wilhelm narrowed his eyes. Reinhardt looked straight into his face, which still hadn’t lost its youthful innocence.

“My proud little brother.”

“…”

It was a moment, but a silence that felt like an eternity settled between them. However, Reinhardt did not give up. Because Reinhardt wasn’t the one who needed to bend, it was natural for first love to end in failure, so Reinhardt didn’t feel sorry for Wilhelm. It was just pitiful. Wilhelm had to stay by her side, never as her lover.

Of course, there was also the fact that Wilhelm didn’t feel like a romantic interest to her. But that wasn’t the only reason. There were more calculated reasons.

It was the dynamics between a man and a woman.

Even if he didn’t feel like a man, the spark ignited when there was attraction. How often had Michael Alanquez gotten into her bed because she offered him affection? Moreover, the current Wilhelm was undeniably an impressive young man. It was like that. Reinhardt almost felt her heart sink when the young man unexpectedly got on top of her. Seeing the young man who was always standing next to me so closely and looking down at me gave me a different feeling of embarrassment than usual.

But Reinhard soon calmed down. It was because the circumstances outside the bed were terribly complicated.

Wilhelm meant more to Reinhardt than just a well-raised young man. If she played a hasty prank and ended up losing him, the blow she would have to bear would not be insignificant. Wilhelm was her only card; she couldn’t tear it apart with her hands.

In such situations, some people might think accepting that love was much better.

However, Reinhardt knew all too well how quickly love could disappear and how ridiculous it could make a person. Michael Alanquez had never loved her, but he was exceptional for treating the woman who shared the bed with him so lightly.

Reinhardt was well aware that there were tens of thousands of times more bad cases for women when they gave themselves to men than good ones. So, instead of dragging Wilhelm onto the bed to pretend to be lovers and tie him to her, Reinhardt chose to swiftly cut off the branch of the young man’s emotions.

There was nothing more painful than what she already had. On the other hand, it was difficult to throw away what she did not have, even though it was regrettable. There were people in the world who would spit on what they didn’t have, but at least Wilhelm wouldn’t be such a man. He studied under Dietrich.

And Wilhelm shrewdly seemed to understand Reinhardt’s intentions. A fire ignited in his black eyes, and Reinhardt observed that fire intently. Would it extinguish or slowly cool down? Curious about what Wilhelm had to say, Reinhardt brought up the topic.

“When and how did you know?”

That was exactly what Reinhardt was curious about.

Wilhelm replied, “I can’t tell you yet,” to Reinhardt, who asked when he learned about her lineage.

When he first met Wilhelm, Reinhardt thought he was a monster, not a human. He was so filthy, and he couldn’t even speak properly. There was no way Wilhelm could have known back then that he was the Emperor’s illegitimate child.

So when did Wilhelm find out?

At least not from Reinhardt. Reinhardt, who was trying to guess the time, decided to ask Wilhelm directly. She needed to know before the Emperor contacted them again while they were in the capital. She needed to know what cards she held if she wanted to play a card game with the opponent.

“…Are you curious about that?”

“Ah, Wilhelm. We already talked about it. I said you were like my child. Although you insisted, there’s an eight-year age difference, at least, that’s how I feel.”

Reinhardt deliberately bumped her forehead into Wilhelm’s forehead.

“Parents want to know everything about their children, right?”

At that moment, Wilhelm’s eyes grew cold. His eyes turned chillingly and decisively as if Luden’s winter had descended in an instant. Seeing those cold and unyielding eyes, Reinhardt chuckled slightly, but at the same time, one part of her heart sank. Wilhelm had clearly accepted Reinhardt’s rejection just now. It saddened her to give pain to the beloved child with her own hands. Wilhelm replied crookedly.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Saying that, Reinhardt lightly pushed Wilhelm’s chest and sat up straight. Wilhelm was now pushed out of the bed in an instant. His previously flushed cheeks turned pale.

“Even if that’s not the case…”

She was about to say that she should know before negotiating with the Emperor.

But Wilhelm didn’t even bother to listen to her words and scoffed.

“Even though you’ve never been a parent.”

“It is not necessary to know. My father…”

“But you have been a child, so you should know, right?”

The young man standing in front of her spoke in a terribly calm demeanour.

“The fact that children don’t like to ask every detail about the secrets their parents have kept hidden.”

And Wilhelm turned around. His footsteps were surprisingly calm for a man who had just been rejected, but the slamming of the door soon after expressed his turbulent emotions. Now, only Reinhardt remained in the room. She had wide eyes, and only after a while, long after the door had closed, did she let out a heavy sigh.

There was no way she would get a straight answer after kicking the child’s first love away.

But there was something Reinhardt didn’t know.

Sometimes coldness is more dangerous than fire.

***