Toxic Marriage - Chapter 4.2

Chapter 4.2

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For a bride who was going on a long journey, her luggage was simple.

One thing worth noting was that everything was prepared in Niflheim, so she was advised not to bring anything with her. Though this also felt more like coercion than anything.

Freya was tired of asking questions to a man she had never met, so she decided to follow their instructions as much as possible.

“sob… Stay healthy, Young Lady.”

“I know you will be busy for a while, but please come visit us often.”

“If you don’t like the groom, you must come back!”

The servants who followed Freya saw her off, wiping their tears with a handkerchief.

Likewise, as Freya said goodbye to each one of them, a carriage approached quickly from a distance.

Seeing the person who was getting out of the familiar carriage, Freya realized that Risyr was not wrong.

“Freya.”

It was Tyrann. The rude person who had not come to see her as if he had disappeared.

“Teacher…”

The face she saw for the first time in a long time was haggard. She could not hide her surprise when she saw this appearance for the first time.

“I disappointed you, Teacher…”

Freya’s hand, stretched out to Tyrann’s deep eyes, was caught mid-air. Tyrann gripped Freya’s hand and slowly lowered it. Like a person who was enduring something, his grip was strong.

Nevertheless, a soft smile that did not suit that lean face was drawn.

“No, you’ve never disappointed me.”

“…”

“It’s just… the fact that I have to send you to such an unscrupulous man is disappointing.”

Freya didn’t want to cry on her way out, but her eyes grew hot as she looked at Tyrann, who hadn’t abandoned her and finally appeared.

But they didn’t have much time to say goodbye.

“I apologize, but if we leave any later than this, we might have to spend the night in the carriage.”

Hearing Risyr’s cautious reminder, Tyrann let go of Freya’s hand.

“Go. Go, Freya.”

Tyrann waved his hand, never losing sight of her for a moment.

Freya turned around, her gaze not leaving his.

“… I’ll be going, Teacher.”

Freya climbed into the carriage and opened the window to look at the people who were seeing her off.

“Freya!”

Just then, Tyrann called out loudly.

She pushed her head out of the window, her hair like silver threads fluttering in the wind.

“I-I’ll bring you back from that devastated land one day!”

“…”

“I promise!”

Tyrann’s voice quickly dispersed and disappeared in the distance.

His last words, ‘I promise,’ lingered in her ears like the warmth of a fading summer day.

Freya closed the window only when the people who had come to see her off became as small as dots.

Tyrann’s desperate face, which she had seen for the first time, remained in her mind for a long time.

“The Teacher must be very sad to let me go,” Freya muttered to Risyr, who was sitting across from her.

“I guess it’s because Cardinal Heirn has raised Lady Freya like a younger sister.”

Yes, that was true. That attitude was more unconditional than it needed to be. Her heart, which felt frustrated because of Tyrann, now felt like it was going to suffocate.

Freya closed her eyes as if to erase her gloomy feelings.

‘We’ll arrive in Niflheim in a week.’

And then, she would finally be able to see the man who would become her husband. The man who had appeared before her wearing a mask in her dreams.

Was her heart beating out of excitement or fear?

Unable to give an answer, Freya realized that she was getting closer to Niflheim by the time it got cold enough to make her miss the boring summers of the empire.