The Nanny of House Herzen - Chapter 45
Once he had a clue, it wasn’t difficult to piece everything together.
He learned all about Evelyn’s forced marriage into the Marquis’ household, but he didn’t confront her with this knowledge. He still wanted to hear it from her.
Suddenly, Evelyn dropped to her knees. As if she had committed a grave sin, and began to plead with him earnestly.
“I’m so sorry, my lord. I know I must be causing you trouble… I, I mean, I am…”
“Evelyn, please…”
When he knelt in front of her as well, Evelyn almost jumped in surprise. Tears streamed from her blue eyes.
“If my husband finds out I’m alive, he will come to kill me. We never officially divorced. Hiding me would put you in a difficult position. Master’s honor…”
“Honor…”
Carius let out a sigh, as if holding back his frustration.
“If I were someone who cared about that, you would never have had the chance to misunderstand and run away from me in the first place.”
It was true. He was undoubtedly aware of the rampant rumors in society. If he had appeared even once, whether the rumors were true or not, everyone would have silenced themselves. But Carius didn’t do that.
Yet Evelyn was still afraid. If he was found to be hiding the Marquis’ wife, it would create a scandal far beyond any unfounded rumor. There was no reason for him to bear all the blame for something he was unaware of.
“But…”
Carius interrupted her.
“Your former husband, Genove Luke, remarried for the fourth time last month.”
“What?”
Evelyn looked up at him in shock.
“If he claims he never divorced you, he would be guilty of bigamy. He wouldn’t dare.”
The sapphire eyes widened in astonishment.
The Marquis was evidently convinced she was dead. But even that posed a problem in its own way.
Evelyn hurriedly explained.
“He tried to kill me just because I gave birth to a stillborn. He might have done the same to his second wife. Knowing his secrets, he will stop at nothing to…”
“Evelyn Vyche.”
When he called her name softly, it felt like an overwhelming pressure bearing down on her shoulders. His dark gaze looked directly at her, and though his voice was slow, it was undeniably firm.
“Understand that I’m holding back… a lot. Don’t speak as if I can’t protect you from that vile old man. Remember who you are talking to right now.”
Evelyn exhaled a warm breath, looking again at the man before her.
Carius Demik Herzen. Lord of the West… A man she once couldn’t even dare to look up to was now promising to protect her.
His lips parted again, whispering sweetly.
“Not even the king could take you away from me.”
A large hand cradled her pale cheek.
When his red lips approached, Evelyn could only close her eyes. She drank in the dreamlike solace he offered, taking it in deeply and gratefully.
For a long time.
* * *
Evelyn opened her eyes slowly. The warm weight of the man’s body half-covers hers.
Not wanting to believe it was a dream, she stayed still, blinking slowly. The incredible things he had said still echoed in her ears.
“Let’s start over with me. Like it’s the first time for both of us… we can do it again.”
He had told her that he had never shared a room with his cousin, the former Duchess, even for a single day. He said she was his first… the first woman to catch his eye.
It was too hard to believe. In his position, he could have called upon anyone with a mere gesture, yet he claimed that she was the first he had truly noticed.
Unable to believe it, he told her about his unhappy childhood, the day his mother died, his first hunt and taxidermy experience, and the day he came of age…
In all those moments of misfortune, she had been equally unfortunate. Hidden from view, both of them had been isolated in their misery, and finally, they found and clung to each other.
By a stroke of luck, they recognized each other.
If all that suffering had been to meet him, Evelyn no longer felt her past life was in vain.
Even if she had to go through it all again, she would endure it. She would bear every bitter hardship if it meant meeting him once more.
“Then, the former Duchess, who was also your cousin…”
Evelyn asked hesitantly.
“I said I didn’t need an heir if it meant saving her… but I couldn’t. We never found the true father of the child.”
He admitted that he resented innocent Johanson. If the child had at least inherited the dark hair of his cousin, the sight of her would have been less painful. But Johanson had none of Herzen’s traits.
So, he had given money to the healthy wet nurse and sent her away to keep her quiet. In the end, none of the things Evelyn had feared had come to pass.
When she cautiously mentioned the rumors about Herzen she had heard from outside, he laughed. He knew about them and offered to clear them up if they bothered her.
“Let’s have a grand wedding. Invite the nobles of the West, Madam Celsius from the central, and even your father from the South.”
Evelyn shook her head at his generous offer.
“Leave out my father. I’d prefer if he thought I was dead. He wouldn’t be that upset anyway.”
Carius nodded immediately. He was not a man to lecture about filial duties.
