Chapter 102

Jocelyn showed no sign of departing even after spring arrived. Rather than leading an expedition, he remained in Eisenwald, loitering conspicuously around Odelliana day after day and pestering her without the slightest shame.

“You’re remarkably talented,” he remarked lightly, watching her work. “Competent in so many areas. Where on earth did you learn all this?”

“…Are you bored?” Odelliana replied flatly.

Being forced to see her former husband every single day felt like torture of the most exquisite kind. No, torture hardly covered it. It was torment so grotesque it bordered on cruelty. Jocelyn’s constant intrusions, his smug presence stamping itself into her daily routine, gnawed relentlessly at her nerves. The stress piled up until she felt worse than she had before her injury. Lately, her condition had been deteriorating from sheer anxiety.

“…The war situation is unfavorable,” she said sharply. “Is it really acceptable for someone of your stature, the supreme commander of the allied forces, to waste time lingering here?”

Despite her biting tone, Jocelyn only smiled, unfazed.

“Waste time? This too is part of strategy. Sitting around all day makes the body stiff. Shall we go for a walk?”

“To think that strolling about counts as strategy is impressive in its own way,” Odelliana retorted. “Why not train with the knights stationed here instead? That would be far more productive than a walk.”

“I command soldiers,” Jocelyn replied smoothly. “I am not manpower meant to charge into the front lines.”

“That’s absurd,” she shot back. “My eldest brother died on the battlefield.”

“And that is precisely why he died such a pointless death,” Jocelyn answered casually.

In her previous life, Jocelyn and Hermann had been closely connected. Hermann was older, but the two had interacted almost as friends, their relationship amicable by all accounts. Yet now Jocelyn mocked Hermann’s death without the faintest hesitation, as if the man he had shared political camaraderie with for years meant nothing at all. It was proof enough that he felt not a shred of attachment or regret.

“Then could you please find somewhere else to idle about?” Odelliana said coldly. “You are seriously hindering my recovery.”

She selected each word with painstaking care, restraining herself with immense effort. Several times she nearly spat out curses she had no business voicing. Filthy bastard. Wretched scum. Utter trash. She swallowed them all. Had he not been a prince, had he not once saved her life, she would never have needed such restraint.

The fact that the best she could do was politely beg him to leave, instead of wishing him to be run over by a speeding carriage, filled her with bitter humiliation.

“I have a duty,” Jocelyn said calmly, “to ensure that the young lady whose life I saved at the risk of my own is doing well.”

There it was again. Every conversation inevitably circled back to the favor of saving her life. Each time, an overwhelming urge surged within her to list, in excruciating detail, the life she had lived for him, the devotion she had poured out, and how miserably she had been discarded in the end.

Saving her life once could never compensate for the years she had given only to be thrown away like refuse. Receiving his help was, if anything, an insult. Gritting her teeth, Odelliana glared at him.

“I will not go for a walk. I am returning to rest, so please attend to your own affairs.”

She rose brusquely. In that instant, Jocelyn seized her wrist, his grip closing around her fragile arm.

“How long are you going to keep behaving like this?” he demanded.

“And how long do you intend to harass me?” she shot back.

“Harass you? I am trying to grow closer to you,” Jocelyn said, irritation creeping into his voice. “I am doing my utmost to make up for the mistake of our first meeting.”

For once, even the perpetually glib Jocelyn seemed annoyed by her continued rejection. Odelliana snorted and slapped his hand away.

“Applause requires both hands to meet,” she said coldly. “If I have no desire to engage with you, what difference does your effort make?”

“You are truly worse than a beast,” he snapped. “Even after I saved your life, you insist on baring your fangs at me?”

“I admit our first meeting was terrible,” Jocelyn continued sharply. “But when someone shows this much sincerity, shouldn’t you at least try to meet them halfway? Why is your temper so foul?”

“When you looked at me like an insect, that was fine,” Odelliana replied. “So why this now?”

“The more you behave like this, the more I feel like tormenting you,” he said bluntly.

“Sit down,” Jocelyn ordered. “That is a command.”

At his imperious tone, Odelliana reluctantly complied, sinking back into her seat. Once again, she was reminded just how absolute the authority of a prince truly was. Why had the gods ever granted royal blood to such a vile creature?

“Yes, that’s it,” Jocelyn said with a thin smile. “You should learn to endure like this.”

“That way, I might continue feeling inclined to protect you.”

He chuckled softly and brushed her disheveled hair back with an almost affectionate touch. The warmth of his hand felt deeply wrong. She wanted nothing more than to shove him away, but instead she stared at him with naked disdain.

“I no longer require your protection,” she said. “I believe I told you before. I want nothing left between us.”

“It is because I am protecting you that you can remain here, comfortably handling administrative duties,” Jocelyn replied evenly. “You are not under the impression that, with Hermann gone, no one could send you back to the Grüsewald ducal residence, are you?”

His calm words ignited her fury.

“I would rather bite off my tongue and die than return to that hellhole,” she hissed.

“Then I would have to bind your limbs and gag your mouth to prevent you from killing yourself,” Jocelyn said mildly.

“Calm down. I am merely saying that if you continue behaving badly, I could hand you over,” he added. “Even I have limits to my patience.”

“You think doing this will let you have Matthias?” Odelliana demanded suddenly.

For a brief moment, Jocelyn looked genuinely taken aback. Then he burst into laughter, clutching his stomach as he doubled over, chuckling uncontrollably. After wiping the tears from his eyes, he looked at her again.

“That’s amusing,” he said.

“What I want is you,” Jocelyn continued. “Once I have you, that mongrel will come along as a complimentary gift.”

“…What?”

Caught completely off guard, Odelliana froze. In the next instant, Jocelyn grabbed her hand and squeezed tightly. She tried to wrench free, swinging her arm, but it was useless. His grip only tightened.

“Why do you think I am going to such lengths for a woman who clearly despises me?” he asked quietly.

Odelliana looked at him in disdain.

“Because you are a woman worth enduring all of it for,” he said.

From winter through spring, Jocelyn had remained in this place, and over time he had developed a personal interest in Odelliana. It was not merely because she was the owner of an exceptional hound.

Observing her daily life, he found her well suited in many ways to become a princess. She managed the inner estate with remarkable competence, possessed sound judgment, and worked closely with Blair to involve herself deeply in the overall governance of the territory. It was only natural that she would draw his attention.

“You are a mystery to me,” Jocelyn went on, smiling faintly. “Born into a prestigious family, yet hidden away as though you never existed, and still you grew into such an exceptional woman. Does that even make sense?”

“All the work you handle now requires advanced knowledge and expertise,” he continued. “Tasks that demand relentless education to master the virtues and skills of a lady of the house. And yet you carry them out effortlessly.”

He smiled gently as he helped her to her feet, then began guiding her outside.

“I like capable people,” Jocelyn said. “In that sense, you would make an excellent wife.”

“…Are you insane?” Odelliana demanded. “Are you not engaged to my sister?”

“Yes,” Jocelyn replied without hesitation. “Which is precisely why it is regrettable. If Lady Odette possessed even half of your abilities, I would be satisfied.”

“…You may be the only man who would say such a thing.”

Lady Odette was the most valuable marriage prospect in Reveln. Her status, family, appearance, and education were all impeccable. In her previous life, she had been regarded as the perfect queen.

“Lady Odette is versatile enough,” Jocelyn conceded. “An ideal wife by all conventional standards. But she is not intelligent. She learns quickly, yes, but at heart she is foolish. There is something childish about her.”

“She is still better than a cripple like me, with no real power,” Odelliana said bitterly.

“I am not so sure,” Jocelyn replied. “I think the duke may need to reassess his daughters.”

His pace was slow, deliberately so. He supported her carefully, holding her hand firmly to keep her from losing her balance.

When he smiled faintly, Odelliana was reminded of the smile he had once given her in the past, when it had been the only light in her dreary world. His happiness had once been her sole reason for living.

Now, all of it made her sick.

She knew what lay hidden behind that pleasant expression. Even now, his kindness existed only because she met his conditions.

“I hold you in high regard,” Jocelyn said. “You are not a talent meant to rot away in some provincial town.”

Odelliana did not respond. She maintained her silence, her expression cold and distant.

Together, they entered the walking path.

***

“It seems His Highness has taken a personal interest in the young lady,” Liam remarked absently.

Martin turned to look at him. “Surely not.”

“But he seeks her out every day,” Liam insisted. “Yesterday, he even waited for her on the walking path. A man without ulterior motives would not hover around her like that, especially not a prince with better things to do.”

“He may simply be concerned for the woman whose life he saved,” Martin countered. “He is known to be a man of fine character.”

“Is he?” Liam asked skeptically. “What do you think, Malena?”

Since being assigned to Odelliana’s protection, Liam and Martin had grown noticeably closer to Malena. Despite her fierce appearance, she possessed a refreshingly straightforward personality, and the three had quickly become familiar with one another.

“…I am not sure,” Malena replied slowly.

She recalled the first time the prince had stormed into the annex, openly hostile toward Odelliana. Compared to that, his current attitude was a complete reversal. As Liam said, even to an outsider it seemed as though he was unusually attentive to Odelliana. Though Odelliana herself clearly detested his presence and tried desperately to avoid him, to someone unaware of the context…

“It does look like courtship,” Malena admitted.

“Then could our young lady become a princess someday?” Liam asked, his eyes sparkling as if glimpsing his own bright future.

Martin scowled at his blatant opportunism and smacked him on the back of the head, reminding him sharply of knightly virtues. Still unfazed, Liam began babbling about whether the lady would choose Matthias or the prince.

There is no chance she would ever choose the prince, Malena thought grimly.

She recalled Odelliana’s worsening condition, her hair thinning from stress, her deepening gloom. It did not seem to be merely the aftereffects of her injury.

Odelliana did not simply dislike Prince Jocelyn. She loathed him. The raw hostility she did not bother to hide was palpable even to Malena. And the prince’s persistence, his willingness to endure such rejection, made his intentions all the more suspect.

Even if their first meeting was dreadful, Malena thought, this level of revulsion toward a man who saved her life is unusual. It does not seem like her at all.

It was a far deeper, more visceral hatred than what she had felt toward Adella, who had abused her for a lifetime and ultimately stabbed her. That was what troubled Malena most. For a single incident to breed such unfiltered, seething resentment felt profoundly unnatural.