Chapter 21: On My Mind (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 21: On My Mind (2)
The Grand Duke had a packed schedule for the afternoon, so I couldn't disturb him any longer.
While I have some free time, should I try writing a letter to Ferdin?
Even if Ferdin didn't exactly welcome my letters, I had received such an expensive gift; the least I could do was express my gratitude. Of course, I didn't expect a reply.
Come to think of it, the Marquis has been awfully quiet.
Whether he considered his illegitimate daughter’s flight a trivial matter or not, there hadn't been a single word from the Marquis’s estate. In any case, the wedding had taken place and his goals were achieved, so he likely didn't care where I was.
Since wondering wouldn't bring any answers, I decided to set my worries aside for now and asked Whitley for some high-quality stationery.
Soon, premium paper with gold-leafed borders and a matching seal arrived, along with a pen.
"……Whitley?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Is this... is this actual gold?"
"Yes. It is the finest stationery, the same kind used by His Grace."
I gave the gold leaf on the paper a light, experimental nibble. A clear tooth mark appeared on the border.
"……Please bring me some practice paper as well."
If I made even one mistake, I’d have to start over. At this rate, I might accidentally squander the price of a whole house today. The practice paper Whitley brought back was still excessively high-quality, but at least it wasn't inlaid with gold.
I composed myself and gripped the pen with a straight posture.
What on earth should I even write?
「Dear Brother Ferdin, how have you been?
I received the jewels safely. I am truly grateful, but if you were coming all the way here for the wedding, couldn't you have given them to me in person? I have a mountain of questions for you, so why did you just send a servant with a jewelry box and leave it at that...」
I shook my head and pulled out a fresh sheet.
「To the Young Lord Ferdin.
Thank you for turning a blind eye to my running away from home. By the way, how did you know I was escaping...」
As I struggled with the impossible letter, my brow furrowed of its own accord. There were so many things I wanted to ask, but our relationship wasn't exactly one where I could just ask them. It was frustrating.
Once I take out the questions I actually want to ask, I have nothing left to say.
Just then, the maid, Reta, entered carrying a tea tray. My blood sugar was already dropping, so the snacks were a very welcome sight.
"Oh my, how beautiful."
Small tarts piled high with layers of fruit were arranged on a three-tiered tray. The tarts were so packed that it was hard to tell if they were cakes filled with fruit or fruit held together by cake; they looked delicious.
"This is too much for me to eat alone. Let's eat together."
"Oh, no, Your Highness. How could I possibly..."
"You'd end up sharing the leftovers anyway. You can just eat here."
Despite my words, Reta remained standing at a distance until I personally picked up a tart and handed it to her. Only then did she bow deeply and accept it.
Is fruit this abundant in the North?
Perhaps the marriage had opened up trade routes from the interior, because despite the talk of a harsh winter, various types of fruit were being served at every meal and snack.
The tarts topped with fresh fruit tasted wonderful.
After eating one of each—orange, apple, and strawberry—my stalled brain finally began to function again.
"Alright. I'll write the greeting first, then organize the points I want to make."
After wrestling with the phrasing for a long time, I finally finished the draft and completed the task of transferring it onto the precious gold-leafed paper.
As I watched Reta tidy up the dozens of ruined sheets of paper, I folded the letter neatly and sealed it.
*
Late that night.
As had become my habit, I knocked on the Grand Duke's door.
"Grand Duke, I'm here!"
When the door opened, I tried to step inside with practiced ease. However, instead of letting me in, the Grand Duke stepped out and closed the door behind him.
In the dark hallway, his glowing gaze felt colder than expected, making me flinch. He braced one solid arm against the doorframe and spoke.
"There is something I failed to mention earlier today."
"What is it?"
"I would prefer if you did not visit me at night from now on."
His voice was suddenly so businesslike that my spirit dampened.
"You understand, don't you? It is not ideal for us to be drifting in and out of each other's rooms at such late hours."
"What does it matter? We're a married couple."
"……And we will be divorced in a year."
The Grand Duke cut me off firmly, as if refusing to let me brush it off with a joke.
"I told you. There is no need to pretend to be a couple."
The veins on the back of the hand gripping the door stood out.
"Grand Duke, are you perhaps angry with me?"
"If I did something wrong……."
As I trailed off, the Grand Duke’s expression softened slightly.
"You have done nothing wrong."
"Then why……."
"I know you are showing me friendliness out of goodwill, but I would appreciate it if you didn't disrupt my life so much."
"Do I make you that uncomfortable?"
"As I said, I am a man accustomed to being alone. I am a man who must live that way."
The Grand Duke’s tone was unfailingly polite. Faced with such a courteous rejection, I couldn't bring myself to voice any further complaints.
"……So I just shouldn't come at night, right?"
The Grand Duke let out a small sigh as he watched me, looking like a child who had just had one piece of candy snatched away and was trying to protect the rest.
"I am not saying everything else is permitted. At the very least, do not come at night."
"I understand."
Even though I looked completely dejected, the Grand Duke averted his eyes as if determined not to waver.
"Then, have a good night."
With that, he went back into his room.
I even brought fragrant oil to give him a hand massage today.
I looked down at the small bottle of oil clutched in my hand. I had spent quite some time picking out the scent.
Standing alone in the pitch-black hallway, I suddenly felt quite pitiful.
Taking comfort only in the sliver of light leaking through the Grand Duke's door—which hadn't been fully shut—I trudged back to my room.
*
Loik stood pressed against the back of the door until the Grand Duchess had descended to the second floor and the sound of her door closing reached him. Leaving his door slightly ajar so the hallway wouldn't be too dark for her return was all he could allow himself to do.
The Grand Duchess, who had arrived like a storm, had turned his daily life into a shambles in just a few days.
Every word and action of hers defied expectation.
Loik had no choice but to be dragged along, utterly helpless.
The real problem was that he didn't dislike her invading his personal space—shamelessly saying embarrassing things, offering to tie his cravat, or suggesting they go for walks.
I shouldn't have opened up about the curse.
Loik glanced again at the background check on Lady Annette he had received a few days ago.
On the surface, she was packaged as the Marquis's beloved daughter, but the rumors that she was an illegitimate child born to the Marchioness from an affair seemed quite credible.
Perel, who had brought the Lady back, had grumbled, asking if Loik was really going to be so cold to "our Grand Duchess" just because she wasn't the Marquis's biological daughter.
But whether she was the Marquis's real daughter or not didn't matter.
As long as she held a connection to the Marquis's house, the Marquis would find a way to use her.
The curse was Loik’s most fatal weakness. And the very last person who should ever discover this fact was the Marquis.
If the Marquis learned that women could die just by the Grand Duke’s touch, he would use every means possible to brand him an enemy of the Empire.
The Cursed Grand Duke.
Chaos would immediately sweep through Blenheim.
A cursed lord who could harm his own wife and daughter—countless residents of Blenheim would abandon their lands and flee.
The Marquis, having gained a righteous cause, would raise an army, and Loik would eventually surrender to prevent the stigma of treason from falling upon the Blenheim name.
And then what?
A hanging would be a happy ending. If he were unlucky, he might be imprisoned in the Magic Tower and exploited by the Marquis for the rest of his life.
Knowing all this, he had foolishly revealed his secret to the Lady.
Even the ever-composed Whitley had stammered when he learned the Grand Duchess had found out about the curse.
— "I-In that case, we must make every effort to ensure Her Highness the Consort grows attached to this place."
That is meaningless.
Because the Lady had said she would leave in a year.
Why did he do it? He couldn't understand why he became so defenseless in front of her.
It wasn't just Loik. Perel and the other knights also became incredibly soft in her presence, as if a part of their hearts had melted away.
Actually, he thought he knew the reason.
Because she's different.
Annette was so different from the people of the North, who were like cold ice walls.
Unlike the Northerners, who believed that smiling too freely would lead others to look down on them, she always wore a smile like sunshine on her face. No matter what she said, she whispered it gently with a curve in her eyes.
When the young Grand Duchess pleaded with her eyebrows tilted down so cutely, it was difficult to refuse her anything.
Spring had always come to Blenheim.
But this was the first time the Grand Duke's Castle had ever felt this bright.
Even while eating a simple piece of cake, her eyes would sparkle as she remarked on how delicious the strawberries were. She must have eaten much rarer and finer foods in the Capital. It was strange to see her so delighted and impressed by such small things.
Loik, who until now had eaten whatever was served without even noticing the taste, found himself looking over the food on the table anew.
So, she liked the fruit in Blenheim.
That wasn't so bad.
He hoped that later, when she thought back on Blenheim, she wouldn't remember it as a place where everything was the worst—cold and gloomy.
It would be a relief if she could keep even one good memory.
Even if it was just a strawberry in a piece of cake.