Debunked It

A place as beautiful as this, Svanna understood more and more the purpose of Nightroe forbidding her to roam freely. He did not want her to enjoy anything that was truly relaxing. The green grass was wet in the morning, and across the way—just a short distance away from the back garden of the mansion—was the expanse of the Mediterranean Sea and the rolling waves that seemed to move perfectly.

Svanna knew that she might incur Nightroe's wrath when she decided not to be obedient. Silently escaping from the room was against the rules. Elisabeth looked so worried when she saw her leaving the room, but she made sure the middle-aged woman would not get involved in anything.

It felt like there was a desire to go further there, but Svanna could not overstep the boundaries. She did not know when Nightroe would return home. Hopefully not soon, then she could return to the room in peace after being completely satisfied.

"I heard that Nightroe won't let you out of the room. Why are you here?"

Someone's unfamiliar voice slipped through the rumble of the scattering wind. Svanna was slightly startled when she detected a man who looked to be dressed in formal attire already towering over her.

"Who are you?"

She knew there were several bodyguards in this place but wasn't so sure about the man who seemed to be smiling kindly. His stature was barely different from Nightroe's. It was just that... the obvious difference proved how her husband never smiled.

"Your brother-in-law."

Four years ago she knew Nightroe, but there was not the slightest hint of the man having a brother. Svanna was still trying to believe what she had just heard. It would probably take a while for her mouth to involuntarily ask the question, "What are you doing here?"

Being involved with Nightroe too often brought out many forms of anticipation in Svanna, so she could not really ask the question that she really wanted to express.

"I wonder what my sister-in-law looks like. It turns out you're very beautiful. Your eyes... I feel like I'm looking at the ocean without the usual sunlight. Such a clear green. But why did my brother treat you so badly?"

Such an unexpected question never entered the list at all. Nightroe was indeed too harsh, cruel, and almost devoid of feelings. However, to treat her badly... that man almost never showed in front of many people. Only when they were in the same room together. It felt like Svanna had not seen this strange brother since yesterday, nor during the wedding feast.

She immediately blinked uncomprehendingly and looked at the man before her—whatever his name was, they needed to get acquainted, though now a small matter sounded more urgent.

"What did you say?"

A little bit of denial would make the situation manageable. Svanna hoped she did not expose how the relationship with Nightroe was the most miserable prospect. This marriage was supposed to have a reciprocal effect. She had received information that her father's condition had gotten much better since the surgery, while Nightroe... that man would soon continue to lead the family.

"Last night I saw you sleeping on the floor."

That one statement was a kind of shocking confession. Svanna needed to blink repeatedly to understand everything that happened between them. She wondered how her brother-in-law could know something that should only be a secret with Nightroe.

"You must be confused. Last night, I intended to go to my brother before he went to do his routine activities as a gangster. Huh... pretending to act like a gangster."

The voice of the man before her was laced with an unhelpful sardonic chuckle, but it purely left something that felt odd in Svanna's mind. She tried to underline what was appropriate and felt worth talking about.

"What do you mean 'pretending to act like a gangster'?" she then asked with curiosity intact.

"Oh—you don't know?"

"Svanna!"

Suddenly Nightroe's heavy voice—with the call so loud—slipped through the serious conversation between them. Svanna, overcome with perfect spontaneity, immediately looked back. What a surprise to find something over Nightroe's shoulder clutched in unexpected fury. The man towered over her, full of a dangerous and tense aura.

Svanna understood that Nightroe was angry because she had disobeyed the order that had been given to her. Only feeling quite confused when the man's steps were hurried, then one unexpected action made her flinch. The painful grip of the man who was her husband even seemed to want to crush the nerves in her wrist.

Svanna tried to rebel. She did not want a drama-like scene in front of the man's younger brother. Damn it. Nightroe did not seem to care about the situation between them.

This big and tall man was being rude. Showing how a tremendous amount of wrath lurked inside the man, who was probably overwhelmed with the desire to eliminate her.

Svanna winced when, without a word, Nightroe suddenly dragged their bodies away from the backyard of the mansion, not even showing any interest in greeting his own brother.

No, he didn't.

Svanna should have been able to understand that there was a hostile atmosphere between Nightroe and the man... who was now still observing the situation when she looked back. Yes, there was something she did not know here. Where it sounded like a part that she would never be able to embrace too closely. Nightroe obviously wouldn't try to tell her anything.

"Nightroe, let me go."

Again. Still with the same rebellion. Svanna's steps dragged around the pebbles. Nightroe really did not have the sense to simply let her hold on for dear life, then deliberately let go only to witness firsthand how she fell against the sharp concrete steps.

"I hope you don't mistreat your wife, or I won't hesitate to take her away from you."

The voice there caught Svanna's attention, simply ignoring how she had just been injured. There were so many hidden hints. About a confession from the man who was still standing in the distance. Wasn't her brother-in-law indirectly admitting something? Perhaps the thought of Nightroe... with all the interest and the battle of instincts when her husband was so reluctant to move her to sleep all night on the sofa... was wrong. A man without such feelings would never be willing.

The corner of Svanna's lips twitched bitterly, thinking of the times when she had hoped too much. It was good not to make Nightroe wait when the man did not just walk away. The man did not leave her.

She quickly prepared herself to get up, but suddenly Nightroe's embrace was so warm that it was enough to give Svanna a natural reaction just to hold on to the man's neck.

Nightroe's eyes stared straight ahead as he continued his delayed steps. The cold demeanor to everything between them left much to fear. She swallowed roughly, slightly incredulous that Nightroe's wide strides had led them to the bedroom last night.

It felt like so many things made Svanna not really ready. She winced as he dropped her roughly onto the bed, then walked away. Leaving without a word being spoken, but also creating many question marks littered around the room.