Mariel’s POV

“You’ve grown up, Mariel.”

As soon as I saw the face of my older sister that I have longed for the past three years, I was able to tell how much my sister, who was about to get married, suffered. And yet she was so resolute and unyielding for my sake.

That made my heart ache.

I hoped that if I could not regain our family’s legacy back, at least my sister could live a happy life with a good man.

I prayed with all my heart that she would be able to meet a gentle, caring, and above all, a man who would love my sister more than anything else in the world.

But that dream was shattered.

On the day of Asella’s wedding, I went around and greeted the guests with a happy smile and displayed a joyful look on my face, but that was the extent I could go.

Once the ceremony began, I didn’t even dare to look at her. The thought of my sister walking towards the hellfire on her own made my throat tighten.

Grand Duke Calix Benvito.

The man who had bought my sister by throwing a lump of delicious-looking meat at Philip.

I hated him with my entire guts! I felt sorry for my sister, who was forced to live in an unhappy loveless marriage. I couldn’t forgive Philip, the Grand Duke, or even myself. If I could, I would have ruined the wedding myself.

‘Now, with Goddess’s blessing, I pronounce you both married.’

After keeping my head down throughout the wedding ceremony, I finally decided to lift up my head.

Asella looked stiff with tension; I could tell that she was extremely nervous, and next to her was the man who just became her husband, looking down at her.

Pitch-black hair, bright bloody red eyes; that was Calix Benvito.

He was an incredibly intimidating man to look at, but that wasn’t the reason that made me shiver.

Golden… hue? I could not believe my eyes.

But then again, I rubbed my eyes repeatedly, yet it didn’t change, not a single bit…  There was, around the Grand Duke’s body, a faint golden hue drifting in the air as he looked down at my sister.

‘Impossible…’

Gold; a color that meant love.

When Sister saw me arriving at the mansion and came running to find me, this was the exact same color that floated through the air around her.

‘Perhaps I’m seeing things wrong?’

My mind-reading skills were yet to be perfected. After all, this was an extraordinary power to have and it was only a temporary one.

All I could see was the color of the emotions that a person felt toward others; and even that was only limited to a few emotions, such as love, hatred, and fear.

‘No, I couldn’t have been mistaken.’

It was very faint, but the hue that flowed from the Grand Duke was indeed golden. It was my favorite color and it was impossible to mistake it for anything else.

‘But Sister is…’

Yet, the emotion that flowed from Sister, who was next to the Grand Duke, was nothing but fear; a deep red hue that cannot be mistaken for anything else.

It was a level of fear that was bordering on horrified.

Not even a day passed before I was convinced that my guess was indeed accurate. That was when we were attacked by demonic beasts while traveling to the Grand Duchy.

I saw how the Grand Duke walked into the barracks, holding Asella, whose arms were wrapped in bandages, tightly against his chest; an even denser golden hue was emitting from him. In contrast, Asella’s deep red hue got somewhat lighter.

‘Perhaps it was….’ 

Recalling that after this incident, perhaps it was then that I began to have something to look forward to.

During the week-long journey to the Grand Duchy, I must admit that my nerves were all over the place back then.

I would be looking outside the carriage with sparkling eyes throughout the trip and every time we stopped for a break, my gaze would fall instantly on Calix Benvito with both curiosity and anticipation.

Indeed, there were always people around the Grand Duke. There was a man called Ryzen and at least some other knights as well.

Despite this, it was hard for me to notice any hues floating around him. He was, as I observed, a man of few emotions.

Yet, every now and then, there would be a pale golden hue shimmering all around him.

‘He’s looking at my sister again.’ 

At those moments, the Grand Duke’s gaze was definitely following my sister around.

While Sister stayed in the carriage most of the ride, she would occasionally step outside for a short time to get a breath of fresh air or to stretch her legs. At each of these times, I could see Calix Benvito following her around with his eyes without making her notice, accompanied by a faint golden hue.

I almost didn’t catch it at first as it was too faint to be noticed unless I look at it carefully, it would be blurred and indistinguishable among emotion hues I could see emanating from other people.

To me, it seemed as if this was a feeling that perhaps not even the Grand Duke himself knew he had.

I was a bit concerned since my sister still seemed to be scared of His Excellency, the Grand Duke but whether Sister liked the Grand Duke or not was something we could think about later.

In any case, it was clear that Calix Benvito had positive feelings for her. Needless to say, this was undoubtedly an advantage for Asella and I plan to fully take advantage of the situation for Sister’s sake.

I enjoyed working on this chapter