Nothing could stop nor slow down time, and Cordelia knew that very well.
As soon as seconds turn into minutes, minutes would become hours, and hours turn into days, and days would become weeks, becoming months.
And for Cordelia, who lived the through the same routine everyday, time quickly passed in a whim before she could realize.
It had already been one year and four months since she was wedded to Leon. Yet unfortunately, not much had developed.
"My lady, what do you think of this dress?" The handmaiden, who was in an evidently cheerful mood, showed her multiple lavish dresses.
"You have to hurry up and choose my lady, you will have to wear one of the dresses as soon as we finish drying your hair." Her other handmaiden cheered, continuing to dry the ends of her hair with a towel.
"Choose one for me Lilibeth." Cordelia murmured, looking uninterested, all the while staring outside the large window.
"But my lady..? You will be having a meal together with the master later, you must choose!"
She let out a small sigh as she turned her head to take a brief glance at her persistent handmaiden. "Alright then, I choose the simplest dress among the three." She said, not even bothering to look at the dresses.
After all, though Cordelia was occupied watching the gardeners tending the garden, she was beyond bored of her daily routine.
'Wake up, work, eat, and sleep.' She thought, letting out another sigh.
'It was always like that.'
'Although we shared a night once every week throughout the course of our marriage, he still showed me not even an ounce of interest.' She pursed her lips upward as her forehead knitted into a small frown.
'I sometimes could not help but wonder if he's into men.'
"Madam, we know what you're thinking of again."
'What kind of woman would not get bored from a husband like that?'
"Do you really think that Leon is not into men?"
Her handmaiden gasped. "Madam, what if the master hears you..!"
Cordelia's face remained stoic and blank, but her curious thoughts remained. 'But really... I can't even remember a conversation that lasted more than five minutes with him.'
'But I doubt that he's gay. Considering the woman he has been keeping around, he's definitely into women.'
"Oh, my lady, please choose your dress."
"The simplest one." Cordelia pointed.
"B-But you must be more glamorous..!"
"There's no need to dress extravagantly." Said Cordelia, flailing her hand.
"Madam, you must! This time, I'm sure the master will surely talk to you!"
A soft laugh left Cordelia's mouth. The corners of her lips rose into a small smile as she turned her head toward the young handmaiden, Lilibeth.
"Although I do wish looking glamorous would help earn his favor, I still think that it would be of no use."
"My lady...." Her handmaidens looked at her with pity.
"Oh dear, please don't look at me like that. With his paramour present, I don't think he'll even have a time to take a glimpse of me." She said nonchalantly as she turned her attention back to the garden below her window. Though it was faint, disappointment laced her eyes.
By now, Cordelia had already thrown away every bit of her expectations for her marriage. Her dream as a child to have a happy and loving family vanished to the very back of her mind.
'It already seems impossible.' She thought. Her husband barely talked to her he always seemed distant and cold.
"Please understand the master, madam. Though he is rarely home because of his work in the royal palace, he still does bring back presents for you from time to time."
Cordelia's eyes quickly moved back to the handmaiden. Her dull expression became eased upon remembering the least of her husband's efforts.
She smiled at her handmaidens who always cheered her on. "Thank you for reminding me." Said Cordelia.
'She is right. At least he's not forgetting that he has a wife.' She thought.
"....."
Her lips pursed. 'Though I'm grateful that my family gets to keep the Count title he bought, I still cannot help but feel dissatisfied.'
"How can I not be? After our first night, he never talked to me and began to ignore me." She muttered quietly beneath her breath, annoyed.
'He only ever talks to me whenever we share a night-' Cordelia paused.
Her dazed eyes was suddenly focused on the familiar figure walking in the middle of the garden. The muscular physique and soft brown locks of the man she saw from her window was certainly of her husband's.
"Isn't that the master, madam? Look!" Her handmaiden pointed.
"I can see him very clearly." Said Cordelia.
'I really admired that face. However, with his cold and distant personality....'
"It's such a shame." She murmured in a low voice, low enough that even her handmaidens couldn't hear.
She sighed. 'But even so, he is true to his words. Apart from his face and body, I admire only that part of him.'
Through the course of the year that she lived in his castle, she was fine being often ignored by him. Cordelia couldn't be more grateful and contented with her current place, for he had already given her family a proper noble title of a Count as he had promised in the contract.
'Know your place and your debt.' Was the phrases she always repeated in her mind.
As she stared at her husband from her window in a daze, she suddenly stiffened when he raised his head and met her eyes. Standing in the middle of the garden, where he caught her staring.
"Madam..! The master looked over here!"
"Madam, you must stand near the window and wave!"
Thump
Thump
Though her heart was beating in frenzy, she felt nothing. She didn't look away, but continued to looked into his eyes.
But only after a few minutes Leon turned around and began to walk away, completely breaking their eye contact.
'Such a beautiful man is my husband, but at the same time, a stranger.' She thought to herself, dwelling as she watched him walk away.
Cordelia was not dwelling over their loveless marriage, for she did not love Leon.
She was dwelling because her marriage was not caring and loving as she always dreamed of as a child.
•
"My lady, you look stunning!"
"Our madam is a great beauty!"
Her handmaidens squealed as she stood in front of the large mirror. Lilibeth and Virana looked proud of their work. And surely, they weren't lying.
Her ebony hair was elegantly styled, and her neck was decorated with simple yet glistening pearls.
'How pretty they've made me.' She thought.
'However... I'm dressed up like I'm going to a banquet...' She turned around, ready to thank them, but before Cordelia could utter a single word, a sudden knock came from outside her door.
"I'll get it, madam." Her handmaiden, Lilibeth, quickly rushed to the door. She soon came back with a face full of delight.
"What was it?" Asked the other handmaiden.
"It was the butler." Lilibeth answered cheerfully, turning her head to Cordelia.
"He said that the master wants to see the madam in his office!" The young maiden looked overjoyed delivering the news of her master seeking his wife.
'How odd.' But Cordelia on the other looked at the door strangely.
Somehow, a strange feeling washed over her upon hearing the news. "Now?" She asked.
"Yes madam. Now!"
Knock
Knock
She knocked lightly at the large wooden door, standing outside of her husband's office. And not even a second had passed when she her a faint muffled voice from inside.
"Bring her in." He said.
Clack
The large door immediately opened. Greeting her was the butler, who looked at her with a sincere yet glum smile.
"Good morning, madam." He greeted.
"Good morning." Smiled Cordelia.
"Please come in, madam. The master has been waiting for you." Said the butler, opening the door to make way for her.
Before Cordelia could realize, she was already taking steps, going inside her husband's office. And in an instant, she was met with the bright rays of sunshine coming from the large windows in the room.
In the center of the room sat a man with a breathtaking appearance. He was amidst reading a stack of documents, all piled on his table.
He stared blankly at the document in his hand as he adjusted his glasses to the bridge of his sharp nose.
Clack
Though it was faint, as soon as Cordelia's shoes made a sound as she stood in front of her husband, his eyes quickly left the document. He was now looking at her.
"You called for me?" She asked politely, meeting his cold green eyes.
"I did." He said to her, seconds before turning to the butler.
"You may leave." Said Leon.
"Understood, master." As soon as the butler closed the door, it was only Cordelia and Leon left in the quiet room.
The awkward tension was rather suffocating. Despite that, his piercing eyes remained on her.
Cordelia, on the other hand, couldn't help but succumb to the sight of his disheveled appearance. Even with his hair down, he still looked very handsome.
"Do you know why I called you?" Came his cold voice.
Cordelia paused upon hearing his question. Her brows lightly rose, turning into a confused frown. "....I do not." She said.
"Surely you remember what you did?" The coldness in his voice pierced her ears.
His presence was very intimidating to Cordelia, who seldom met her husband. And hearing his words that implied she did something he possibly disliked made her feel more timid.
Mustering the courage to speak, she parted her lips and asked. "Did I do something?"
His cold gaze turned into a glare as soon as she let go of those words. "Vivian told me what happened three days ago."
"Ah," She stiffened, realizing what he was saying. "You meant that incident... If that's what you meant, then please allow me to explain-"
"Allow you to explain that you laid your hand on Vivian for no reason?"
Cordelia sighed. She knew he would take the woman's side. He always does.
"There was no such thing." She said.
"The witnesses said that you slapped Vivian."
"I did. But it was with a reason." Uttered Cordelia.
"For what reason?" Asked Leon, who's glare worsened.
'How funny it is.' She thought.
'We rarely spoke and I dearly wished that you would talk to me more.'
'But now that we're speaking with each other, I'd rather seal my mouth shut than say another word.'
"She insulted me, my lord."
"Just for a word and you hurt others?"
Cordelia couldn't stop from feeling agitated upon her husbands words.
'Just for a word?' She looked at him with eyes that displayed a glare.
'Does he even know what she said?' She thought, irked of his accusation.
"Vivian told me everything. I didn't expect you to be such a person. I didn't that expect the lady of the house Lenister would be such a woman who raises her hand on others without a reason." Said Leon.
"I wonder how far her everything went. Are you even sure she told you all that happened? Because as far as I know, I never did anything to her. She was the one who was-"
"Don't be pretentious." His voice loudly echoed. "She informed me of how you've been harassing her."
Cordelia immediately frowned, greatly bewildered. Because if anything, it was the other way around. Vivian was always the one harassing her.
Cordelia wanted to scoff in disbelief. 'No wonder I felt a wrench in my gut when I was informed that he was calling for me.'
"Did the servants tell you that?" She asked.
"Vivian told me everything herself."
Standing timidly before him, Cordelia sighed in defeat, already used to it. 'He always takes that woman's side...'
"My lord, before you accuse me of such things, please consider asking the servants around. Yes, I do admit that I slapped her, but it was because she insulted me. I only hope that you manage your lover properly-"
"Cordelia," His voice loudly boomed. "Know your place." He said.
"....."
"She called my family scoundrels and lowly commoners with nothing but gambled wealth. Tell me, what did my family do to her, for her to insult them? I do know my place as your wife, but what about your lover?"
Leon sighed, in disbelief of what he was hearing. "If you're bothered that I have a lover, then why don't you find your own."
At that moment, Cordelia couldn't help but scoff in disbelief. 'Is he serious?' She thought.
"Are you joking?"
"I am not."
"Ha... Perhaps you are right." She said, trying her best to refrain herself.
"You do not expect anything from me because you don't know me. I am not forcing you to believe me, my lord. You can believe lady Vivian all you want, but I am not a person who will simply stand by and let people insult my family."
Cordelia turned around and quickly left the room, loudly shutting the door behind her.
'Fine, I'll find my own lover.'