Chapter 15

“Ah.”

Briseyes gently opened her mouth as Callisten instructed. He was looking inside her mouth, but there was no way he could see anything.

“I can’t see. Can I touch it?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Briseyes pulled his hand down. At that moment, he stared at her blankly, and Briseyes unconsciously sighed because her cheeks were still so painful.

“Touch the inside of your cheek with your tongue. Are there teeth marks?”

Briseyes was about to refuse to do as he said, but thinking that he might not leave if she didn’t comply, she did as instructed.

She rubbed the inside of her cheek with her tongue. Her face grimaced in pain, and she felt something strangely bumpy.

“If there are teeth marks, it won’t feel smooth like your cheek usually does. It feels bumpy and painful.”

“There are marks.”

All of this was unfamiliar to her since she had never been slapped before.

“Are your ears okay? Really no ringing?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good. If you’re hit incorrectly, you could damage your eardrum. Do you feel dizzy or have any pain in your nose? Or the front of your forehead?”

“Why have you become so knowledgeable in medicine?”

“I usually know but don’t say anything, but it keeps spilling out.”

He was looking at her again as if worried. Briseyes didn’t trust this man who pretended to be pitiful.

No matter what anyone said, he was someone who couldn’t be considered a normal person.

—Knock knock.

“Come in.”

Ella brought in a large basin filled with broken ice.

“I’ll do it.”

“No, you go to the imperial palace and bring my seal. My aide knows your face, so it won’t be difficult.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m going to send a letter directly to Attorney Jeronis’s office.”

It usually takes quite some time to get a case accepted. Attorney Jeronis’s office was the most prestigious place for divorce lawsuits in the capital.

Divorce was no longer difficult, so wives who were beaten or people who found new love could cleanly divorce and make a fresh start.

It was all thanks to the Emperor. The Emperor had changed the law to marry the current Empress and had incited the imperial citizens to avoid criticism himself.

It was during that time that Jeronis, who had worked as the Minister of Justice, established that office upon his retirement.

Noble marriages were more complex and intricate than commoners’, so one shouldn’t enter divorce proceedings without an attorney.

Still, society’s views had not changed in many ways.

Divorce was still a blemish and a difficult matter. It also required a very big decision.

“I’ll be back!”

However, Ella didn’t want her precious Miss to live like this.

So she left.

Briseyes sighed and looked at Callisten.

He pretended to be indifferent as he placed ice on a white cloth. Then he wrapped it and came near Briseyes.

“Stay still.”

At his words, Briseyes stared at him. He pressed the cloth containing ice against her cheek.

“It hurts.”

“Of course it hurts.”

The heat from her cheek was slowly melting the ice. The cloth was becoming increasingly damp, which seemed to draw out the heat faster.

When one cheek was completely cold, he emptied the melted ice back into the basin. Then he wrung it out tightly, placed only ice chunks back on the cloth, and pressed it against her other cheek.

He strangely stiffened when he noticed Briseyes looking at him before lowering her gaze. His pinky finger brushed against her lip, and Briseyes groaned in pain.

Her lips were swollen too.

It seemed there were marks on the inside of her front lip as well.

“Ugh…!”

Callisten suddenly stiffened and involuntarily screamed.

“Cal?”

“It hurts so much.”

“Ah.”

Briseyes briefly worried about him before looking at him with cold eyes.

“Since you’re here, take the key.”

She tried to remove his hand, but he firmly gripped her shoulder and was trembling.

“Let go.”

“Keep, it, on, your, cheek.”

He was speaking while holding his breath, and she found this situation truly absurd.

“Your body is reacting because I was hit and swollen?”

“I react even when you just smile at me. Just a moment.”

He soon raised his hand and covered Briseyes’s face with one hand. He was careful to keep the hand holding the ice from touching her cheek.

Her face, completely covered by his large hand, couldn’t see his expression.

“Does this help?”

“It was getting better, but you made it worse by talking.”

“I’ll give you the key, so let me go.”

“If I let go now, I don’t think I can control myself.”

“Then go back to the imperial palace and calm down.”

She thought about removing his hand but waited instead, wondering when he would calm down.

However, the hand he held in front of her eyes remained there for quite some time. The sound of the bed creaking, mixed strangely with the creaking sound of metal, made Briseyes feel odd as well.

“Bri, tell me something that will help me be rational.”

“My ideal type is Kaz.”

“What?”

At that moment, he lowered his hand and looked at her.

“I mean in terms of appearance.”

He was smiling again. At least he no longer seemed to be in pain.

“What’s good about such a bland face? The Grand Duke of Mays would be better.”

“Isn’t Kaz quite handsome? And I prefer lighter hair colors. Also, Kaz has a nice voice.”

“My voice is better. I’m taller too. My face is also more handsome.”

“Your confidence is excessive.”

It wasn’t wrong, but Briseyes deliberately disagreed with him.

Anyone could see that Callisten was better than Casius. At least in appearance.

“And Kaz is easy to talk to. He’s considerate.”

“I can be considerate too.”

“Why don’t you try being considerate first before saying that?”

Briseyes said this because she had never seen his considerate side.

“Casius is useless. If I say I want you, he’s someone who could never have you.”

“Who said anything? I just said Casius is handsome.”

“That’s what I mean.”

Since Callisten’s eyes were flashing like a madman again, Briseyes sighed.

“Are you calmer now?”

“No, I’m completely excited. Angry.”

“I was joking. Casius isn’t my type.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But he was handsome.”

He was smiling again. Briseyes knew he made that expression whenever he was angry, so she thought she should moderate her words.

“Thank you for coming today, Cal.”

She couldn’t bear to look into his eyes, so she lowered her gaze as she spoke. Then he lowered the hand holding the ice and said:

“If you’re going to divorce, come live in the imperial palace. There are many empty places in my palace. Too many, actually.”

“If I become the guilty spouse, I can’t request a divorce. To do that, I need to prove that Demian is the guilty spouse.”

“What’s wrong with living separately?”

“I’m telling you, if I want to request a divorce, I need to prove that the reason for breaking this marriage is because of Demian.”

“There’s already more than enough proof, isn’t there? He even brought a lover.”

Callisten was a warrior. Although the Academy’s knowledge came easily to him, he was not the Minister of Justice, and he only knew the theory about the law.

“But there’s insufficient evidence to prove that Delilah is his lover.”

“What do you mean…”

“What if a trial were held today? Would Demian readily admit it? Wouldn’t he rather say Delilah is an aide he cares for and make me look like a strange woman?”

Briseyes hadn’t realized that explaining why she couldn’t hastily leave this mansion would feel so strange.

“Then I’ll kill him.”

“There you go again. This isn’t a battlefield, Cal.”

“The battlefield is much easier. After killing someone, you can just process it as disobeying orders.”

Briseyes looked at him, wondering if his words were sincere. He avoided her gaze, pretending they weren’t. So Briseyes realized that he had spoken sincerely.

He would probably pretend to be what she most wanted until he possessed her.

But this monster would abandon her most miserably the moment he possessed her.

When that time came, she might think that Demian would have been better.

Whenever she saw Callisten being nice to her, her heart grew cold instead. He wasn’t someone who could feel love like ordinary people.

He wasn’t someone who could love like that either.

This was already evidenced by the original work and the numerous incidents she had experienced in her childhood.

“I’ll help with your divorce. Allow me that much.”

Briseyes nodded.

“But wouldn’t it be better if the Grand Duke doesn’t know we’re gathering evidence?”

“He needs to know. The fact that he didn’t listen despite my warning will be more advantageous in court.”

Callisten suddenly noticed that the corner of Briseyes’s lip was split. There was a little blood pooled there, apparently from when she was hit.

“Bri, we need to apply medicine to your lip.”

She nodded as he suddenly looked directly at her lips.

Soon he squeezed ointment onto his hand and touched her lips. Although the bed didn’t move, there was a sound of metal friction coming from somewhere. A strange sound, like a spring being squeezed.

“Ugh…”

His face and ears were very red, and Briseyes closed her eyes because looking at him like that was uncomfortable.

This made the ticklish sensation on her lips feel even more pronounced.