He held her hand and pecked the inside of her wrist. Maxi shuddered as his cool, moist lips pressed against her sensitive skin. A deep satisfaction simmered in Riftan’s black eyes.
“I shall make you the most distinguished woman in theSeven Kingdoms, and you will live an opulent life befitting a Roemian princess.” He stroked her palm and said, “If the Empire had not fallen, you would be regarded as a woman with the noblest lineage. A man like me would not even have been allowed to approach you.”
“That’s nonsense. Roem fell a long time ago, and the House of Roem now b-barely manages to keep its line…. They no longer wield any power or influence. And I am…just one among the many n-nobles of Wedon.”
“What a humble thing to say. You are a descendant of the great imperial family that once ruled over an empire, and the eldest daughter of the most powerful duke in Wedon. You are not just any noble.” Riftan’s expression suddenly turned bitter. “I may despise your father, but I have no intention of belittling him. The duke only chose me as your husband because he had a use for me, not because he thought I was a good match for you.”
Maxi wriggled her hand, but Riftan tightened his hold like a hound instinctively locking its jaws around a flapping bird.
“I have no family in the nobility, nor do I have brothers who would avenge my death. I was a knight born as a commoner, celebrated for his talent but lacking any real power. It was not difficult for him to choose me as his substitute to lead his knights, and my death would have been inconsequential. He merely picked me as the man who would die in his stead.”
“Th-That’s—”
“He only had us wed because he did not think I would come back alive,” Riftan said in a terrifyingly gentle voice. “But I did come back, and our marriage was legitimate. Thatman no longer has any authority over you. I am your family now.”
A cold tendril twined around her heart at the profound possessiveness in his voice.
She had always been useless to her father. The only daughter the Duke of Croyso acknowledged was Rosetta. Maximilian had been a failure, and her father had offloaded his worthless daughter by marrying her to a plebeian knight at the right time. The noblewoman Riftan spoke of was Rosetta, not Maxi.
She bit her lip. The fact that her father had thoroughly deceived and used Riftan filled her with rage, and the reality that she had been the means that had allowed it made her unbearably sad. The Duke of Croyso should have given the young knight he had thrust into danger in his stead the daughter he treasured—Rosetta. That was the recompense Riftan deserved.
Overwhelmed with emotions, Maxi spoke in a trembling voice. “I am truly…s-sorry.”
“Damn it, I’ve run my mouth again.” He hastily cupped her cheeks, his fervor having suddenly dissipated. “I wasn’t trying to blame you. I know that you had no part in your father’s actions. You never wanted to marry me after all.”
That was true, and Riftan smiled bitterly as he watched her open and close her mouth, unable to deny it.
“You were just a victim who was forced to marry a lowly man like me because of her father’s choices.”
“Th-That is not true. P-P-Please do not…speak like that.”
Riftan ignored her hasty objection.
“But I’m going to give you everything you could everwant. I’m going to show you that being married to me is better than being married to anyone else, nobleman or otherwise.”
“I already f-feel that way, so…” Maxi blurted out, unable to listen to him any longer. When she bent down and wrapped her arms around his neck, Riftan momentarily stiffened in surprise before returning her embrace.
He tilted her chin to kiss her, his tongue tasting faintly of green apples. Maxi shuddered as a dizzying chill raced through her body. The urge to sob overtook her, and she turned to bury her face in his neck. His inflated version of her was simply an illusion.
She would never be able to measure up to it, no matter how hard she tried. Maxi squeezed her eyes shut at the thought.
—
Riftan caressed Maxi’s cheekwith a wistful look on his face. He drowned her in kisses for a while longer before reluctantly rising to his feet when a pair of sentries came searching for him.
Her eyes dulled as she watched him leave to fulfill his lordly duties. The notion that her father had deceived Riftan, and that her silence made her complicit in the lie, plagued her thoughts. She knew she was being too hard on herself, but she simply could not shake the overwhelming guilt.
Maxi trudged back to her chambers and collapsed onto the bed. The fact that Riftan considered her as noble as a royal princess felt like a thorn stuck in her throat. For the past twenty-two years, she had been inferior even to herfather’s hounds. While the dogs had rebelled against his whip by baring their teeth whenever he beat them, she had always tearfully submitted to him on her knees.
She was acutely aware of how helpless and pathetic she was. The image of herself reflected in the mirror as she crawled to grovel at her father’s feet was etched into her memory. She had looked like a worm on the flagstones, her skin swollen red.
It was absurd to think of herself as a princess, or even a duke’s daughter.
How foolish…
Maxi curled up into a ball on her side. Her heart felt heavier the more she thought about Riftan.
Was it right to let him believe that he was the fortunate one in their marriage? Just the thought of telling her husband the truth about herself was enough to tie her stomach up in knots. She remembered very well how the Croyso Castle servants had looked at her. Their sympathy-filled glances were, at times, harder to bear than her father’s abuse.
