We're Married, After All - Chapter 15
Right after the wedding, it was difficult to even step outside the mansion. The turmoil around me was overwhelming, and more than anything, the emotional shock had been immense. Desperate to clear my mind, I tried everything I could—including reading a few books.
“While I’m here, maybe I should take a book back with me?”
With that thought, I wandered along the shelves, recalling those days. Back then, I had chosen mostly light novels that weren’t too complicated. Perhaps they would still be easy enough to read now.
But no matter how much I looked, none of the books I’d read back then were on the shelves. At first, I thought they might have been moved, but after thoroughly searching, it was clear they were nowhere to be found. Resigned, I pulled out a book from a familiar author instead.
It was then that I felt a cold breeze brush against my fingertips.
I quickly glanced around. The door to the study was still firmly shut, and there was no sound of wind coming from outside the window.
So where was this chill seeping from?
Sliding my fingers over the spines of the books, I followed the wall. Eventually, I stopped in front of a bookshelf near the farthest corner of the study, next to Danel’s desk. The draft was coming from there.
Looking closer, I noticed a small crack between the shelves. It seemed like something had been placed over it to conceal it.
I pushed against the bookshelf with all my strength, but it didn’t budge. However, the slight rattling suggested it was secured by some kind of mechanism.
Instead of continuing to search the area, I pulled out one of my practice javelins. Holding the bookshelf as far open as I could, I slipped the javelin into the gap.
How long did I probe the inside? Eventually, the tip of the javelin caught on something. Feeling around carefully, I traced the shape of a latch with my fingers and gave it a firm push, causing it to spring loose.
Click.
The mechanism engaged, and the bookshelf slid inward effortlessly, revealing a small room filled with meticulously arranged items.
But I couldn’t bring myself to step inside.
My hand instinctively flew to my mouth, stifling a gasp. Every item in the room was disturbingly familiar. Most notably, the clothes displayed in the large glass case—I recognized them all too well.
The wedding dress and veil I wore at our ceremony.
The reception dress.
And… the lace gown I wore on our wedding night.
A chill ran down my spine, making the fine hairs stand on end. It wasn’t just the clothes. The bouquet that had gone missing halfway through the reception was now dried and hung on the wall. The riding crop I had discarded after it became too worn was carefully placed in a small display case.
Sunlight poured in through a window, illuminating the small room in stark clarity. My frozen gaze took in more of the contents. For instance, those things arranged neatly below the display case.
Drawn as if under a spell, I stepped into the room. In the spotless cabinet, free of even a speck of dust, lay familiar objects. Among them were all the books I had desperately searched for—every one I’d read during those early days.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the floor.
The concept of a hidden room itself wasn’t unfamiliar to me. In ancient, storied estates like this one, secret chambers were common. Even the Marquessate of Temesio, where I was born and raised, had one.
Even back when I was not yet Laurea Veloce, I was forbidden from entering the secret room behind my family’s drawing room. That space held only the most important possessions.
Heirlooms passed down through the generations, fatal vulnerabilities, secrets that must never be revealed—those were the things stored in such hidden chambers. As someone whose marriage had already been arranged, I wasn’t meant to see them. Yet, they were the things I had desperately wanted to glimpse.
Perhaps all secret vaults in the world are the same. Though their contents may differ, they hold the most vital and perilous secrets.
But this room…
I stared blankly at the interior. The display cases were filled with items that were either very old or had only been used once. It was an obsessive collection, meticulously curated to an unsettling degree.
At this point… isn’t it less that Danel is running away from me, and more that he’s surrounding himself with me?
The study was where Danel spent the most time, his sanctuary. And within that sanctuary was this hidden room, filled with my belongings. The implication was clear:
This is his most important and dangerous secret.
I don’t know how long I sat there, lost in thought, before I remembered that the afternoon would soon be over.
The maids would be looking for me soon.
Staggering, I got to my feet. No one could know I had been in this room—or even in the study at all. Only then could this moment be erased.
I picked up the javelin I had dropped on the floor and gathered the rest of my belongings. Still uneasy, I glanced around the room, fearing I might have left some trace of my presence.
That’s when I noticed a basket on a low shelf near the door. It was the only item in the room I didn’t recognize.
Something was sticking out from beneath the cloth covering the basket. Holding my breath, I reached for it.
