Grand Duke, Please Stop Obsessing Over Your Wife! - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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11.

‘He was born with divine power.’

Too many unnatural events had occurred in succession for it to be mere delusion.

‘Now I understand why the Duke’s family was isolated in the North. If this fact had been discovered, the Temple wouldn’t have left them alone. Especially with such powerful divine abilities.’

It seemed like power that only a true god should be able to wield.

Divine power. A mysterious force that some called magic or supernatural abilities.

Originally, divine power was a force that only gods could use, but very rarely, humans born with divine power would appear.

The Temple was extremely wary of such people. The moment they were discovered, they were branded as heretics and purged.

Claiming they were thieves who dared steal the divine power of the great God Ainan.

Annelize knew this better than anyone.

She was in the same situation, after all.

‘I heard that divine powers varied in type and magnitude, but I didn’t know they could be this strong. It’s completely different from mine.’

Showing such power in front of Annelize could be a kind of warning.

‘A silent threat that if I told anyone, he could easily eliminate someone like me…’

A chill ran down her spine.

“What are you thinking about with that little head of yours. Hurry up and tell me your request.”

The Duke, having no idea what Annelize was thinking, urged her to speak.

“Ah, yes.”

Annelize snapped back to attention.

“Before that, just in case, please don’t laugh at me. I’m being completely serious about this.”

Naturally, Annelize’s request was not going to be honored.

Unaware of this fact, Annelize took a deep breath before speaking.

After preparing herself mentally, she opened her mouth with the most serious expression anyone could have.

“This marriage is purely a transaction. I’d prefer if personal feelings didn’t get involved. Please marry me on the condition that you won’t love me.”

The Duke’s expression became strange after hearing Annelize’s words.

“You’re saying I must absolutely never love you?”

“Yes.”

“Love?”

“Yes.”

“Me loving you?”

“That’s right.”

“Ha!”

The Duke let out a hollow laugh as if he couldn’t believe it.

His lips curved sharply upward on one side, fully revealing his incredulity.

‘I even asked him not to laugh. Wow. He’s openly showing how ridiculous he finds this.’

Her ears burned hot with shame.

‘I know. I know how narcissistic this must sound.’

She couldn’t tell him about what happened before her regression, and it was frustrating.

‘Even if the possibility is slim, it’s still better to establish this clearly.’

Annelize swallowed her tearful past and retorted.

“How confident you look. So you agree then?”

“Fine. I swear on my name that I will absolutely never love you.”

Annelize ignored his mockery.

“Then the contract is established. You’ll become my legally wedded spouse.”

“Right.”

She heard the Duke’s confirmation.

Finally. Annelize could finally feel at ease.

This actually worked. Of course, she had expected it would likely succeed, but the Duke was an easier opponent than she thought.

Since the Duke had nothing to lose, she thought he would demand other conditions besides the holy relic.

‘Is it really okay to accept marriage so simply? When he doesn’t even like me. Does he even know what kind of person I am?’

Of course, if it was the Duke, he would have already finished investigating Solariccen County and its daughter.

‘Still, those scheming capital nobles would have tried desperately to squeeze out more from this marriage. Despite his appearance, he’s quite naive. How refreshing.’

In that case, I should accommodate the Duke as much as I can. Annelize opened her mouth.

“Then only the wedding vows remain. How should we stay in contact? When are you planning to go down to the North—”

The Duke interrupted her words.

“Wait. Isn’t something missing? Is this the end?”

“What more do you need?”

I knew it. It seemed too easy.

‘What is he planning to demand?’

Annelize waited tensely for the Duke’s next words.

“We need to swear an oath as proof of our contract.”

Phew. I thought it was something else. She felt relieved at his answer.

“Ah. An oath. Of course we should. How do we do it?”

As if he had been waiting, the Duke traced Annelize’s chin.

He lightly pressed down on her lips with his thumb as if stamping them.

“It’s a contract made with words. Shouldn’t the oath also be made with our mouths?”

Huh? Annelize was flustered by the sensation on her lips.

“An oath with a kiss?”

It was the first time she’d heard of such a method of swearing an oath.

Was this perhaps a custom only practiced in the North?

Was the North such a love-filled place?

“Is this how oaths are made in the North? It doesn’t seem like we necessarily have to do it this way.”

The Duke raised an eyebrow as if incredulous.

“If you don’t mind the contract not being kept.”

“That’s not it, but…”

When Annelize hesitated, the Duke smirked with a contemptuous expression.

“You want to get married but you’re flustered by something like this. Ah. Can you not kiss perhaps? Are you not confident?”

Annelize bristled at the sarcasm.

“As if. It’s just a kiss, what’s the big deal?”

As the Duke said, they would soon be spouses.

It wasn’t anything else, and kissing was something done at wedding ceremonies too.

It was just physical contact between bodies. What other meaning could there be?

Fine, I’ll just do it.

She approached the Duke and lifted her head.

However, perhaps because the Duke was so tall, no matter how much she craned her neck, she could only see his broad chest, not even his collarbone.

She couldn’t expect any consideration like him bending down for her.

As if he was deliberately pretending not to notice.

‘So that’s how you want to play it.’

Feeling defiant, Annelize stood on her tiptoes with all her might.

Supporting herself on the tips of her shoes, she stretched her legs as much as possible.

Her nose barely reached the Duke’s collarbone. Even standing as pointed as possible, below his chin was the limit.

The Duke watched her tearful efforts with apparent interest.

Those golden eyes looking down at her felt irritatingly smug.

Annelize’s face burned hot from continued failure.

She thought she wasn’t particularly short.

But she was no match for competing with this giant man.

“Hey. I’m asking because I’m curious.”

The Duke’s voice came from above. His tone sounded genuinely curious.

“Do you perhaps not know where the lips are?”

Annelize silently glared at the Duke’s Adam’s apple.

“….”

In the end, she swallowed her pride.

She asked the Duke for help in a crawling voice.

“Don’t just stand there watching, please help me.”

“How troublesome.”

With a sigh-laden remark, thick and firm arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her up.

He easily lifted Annelize’s body as if picking up a light object.

The Duke’s chest and her waist pressed tightly together.

‘He lifted me with one hand.’

This was the first time she had been so close to a man for so long. She could feel his warm body temperature through her dress.

Of course, the Crown Prince was an exception. She had never once felt him as a man.

“There. Is that good? Try it now.”

Annelize’s body stiffened with confusion and tension.

She barely managed to catch her breath and rolled her wandering eyes around before fixing them on the Duke’s face.

Annelize could now look down at him.

‘Looking at his face makes my mind even more blank.’

“Are you done admiring my face? I’d like you to finish what you need to do now.”

“Ah, I understand.”

The hand that grasped his chin trembled. Did she have to kiss him while looking into those eyes?

She couldn’t even tell how her hands were moving. She couldn’t manage her expression.

How was kissing supposed to work again.

‘Think simply. Lips just need to touch lips.’

Annelize pressed her lips down firmly like stamping a seal.

The Duke’s skin was warmer than hers.

She could feel his smoothly extended nose bridge. Would kissing a statue feel like this?

Her misaligned nose bumped into his nose.

When Annelize froze in panic at the unexpected situation, he tilted his head slightly.

The two lips that had been precariously positioned, almost touching but not quite, pressed firmly together.

Annelize squeezed her eyes shut.

Not knowing when she should breathe, she kept holding her breath.

Her chest was heaving up and down chaotically.

‘How many minutes have passed? How long do we have to stay like this.’

The moment she slyly opened her closed eyes, golden pupils filled her vision completely.

“Mmph―!”

This man. He only pretended to close his eyes at first and kept them open the whole time!

He didn’t even blink once.

Under his gaze that was meticulously observing each and every one of her reactions, Annelize closed her eyes first.

When she felt she couldn’t endure it any longer, their lips separated.

“….”

Annelize stood still and caught her breath.

A sense of defeat washed over her for some unknown reason.

‘I reacted like a shy girl experiencing her first kiss.’

She had been overwhelmed by the atmosphere.

A refreshing touch brushed across her lips and fell away.

As if they had never kissed, the Duke alone was perfectly fine.

He whispered in Annelize’s ear.

“You really are bad at it.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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