Chapter 68: Night Scars
Klaus stood up, causing Sophia to startle and tremble.
He held back a sigh.
It was always like this.
Whenever he tried to touch her, she would move away. When he tried to talk, she would avoid him. Even when he tried to make eye contact, she would look away.
Did people think the elderly wouldn’t get hurt?
No, perhaps they deliberately kept their distance to avoid hurting each other──
Klaus clenched his back teeth. Either way, since she wouldn’t express her true feelings, everything was just speculation.
“Do you need something?”
However, without showing any signs of his inner conflict, Klaus acted maturely as he had done with his relatives’ children in the past.
Even if the old fool shouted or lamented, nothing would change anyway.
And then…
Sofia timidly handed him a handkerchief.
Klaus looked at the linen handkerchief and was amazed.
The initial “k” was embroidered in gray silk thread.
“Sofia, what is this?”
She peered into Klaus’s blue eyes and answered.
“It’s the initial of your name, Klaus.”
Klaus couldn’t believe his eyes.
Somehow, the surroundings seemed to blur.
“Where did you. . .”
“I sewed it. So, there’s no need for you to go to Melissa’s anymore, right?”
Klaus looked into his wife’s eyes.
His wife’s eyes were waiting for his response.
“Yeah… that’s right.”
“If it’s not too painful, please use it. Well then.”
Just as Sophia was about to leave the room, Klaus grabbed her arm.
In that instant, Klaus suddenly felt embarrassed by his impulsive action.
“…Ojii-sama?”
In response to her puzzled expression, Klaus trembled and spoke with quivering lips.
“Thank you. I’ll cherish it.”
Sophia widened her eyes and then left the room with a straight posture, as if she had seen something unpleasant.
Left behind, Klaus gently traced his finger over the embroidered part.
The firm and soft feel of the silk.
As soon as he felt it, Klaus was reminded of that night, and his mind started to boil.
That night when he had deeply hurt her.
“…Sophia.”
In the empty space where no one was present, Klaus called out.
That was the best he could do at the moment.
Sophia lay sprawled on the bed.
That was the best she could do.
But Klaus didn’t do more than express his gratitude to Sophia. He didn’t embrace her or kiss her.
(Ojii-sama still thinks of me as some relative’s daughter or something.)
With eyes that had lost their light, Sophia gazed absentmindedly out the window.
(Because Ojii-sama no longer desires me since that night.)
Sophia knew her own beauty.
However, due to being the fourth daughter, being seen as eccentric by those around her, and the coincidental timing of Klaus losing his wife, she ended up marrying a husband much older than her.
Honestly, Sofia didn’t think poorly of Klaus.
She was well aware of his former handsome appearance, and despite his old age, he was a much more considerate and pleasant man compared to other noble gentlemen.
However…
On their wedding night, for the first time――
(Ojii-sama’s body is useless…)
Unable to connect with her husband, Sofia’s pride was torn to shreds.
(I have to endure this body until he dies…)
She had married him, thinking that even with an elderly husband, having children would distract her, but even that possibility was closed off.
Klaus must have married her, a young woman, to somehow solve the issue of not having children.
His incompetence was enough to break Sofia’s heart.
She couldn’t even cry anymore.
And as if to atone for his sins, her husband would come and pretend to ask for her consent. Continuously raising the white flag.
(Nothing goes well…)
Sofia gritted her teeth, remembering how noble wives despised their husbands’ desires. She felt jealous of being loved to the extent of being desired physically.
Surely, they would eventually conceive.
If that happened, she might go mad with jealousy and die.
And as a young wife, it might be something no one knew, but being excluded by her husband was the saddest thing as a wife.
Her innermost feelings that she couldn’t share with anyone. Sofia could only futilely stroke her chest that was being torn apart night after night.
・・・
『”𝙰𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜.𝚌𝚘𝚖” – 𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘v𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚒v𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚘v𝚎, 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚍v𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛e, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚐𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚘v𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 “𝚍𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚙𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜” 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚒v𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘 “𝚊𝚍v𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜”.』
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