Grand Duke, Please Stop Obsessing Over Your Wife! - Chapter 22

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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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22.

The hands gripping his shirt were filled with desperation.

“Annelize?”

Even at the Duke’s words, Annelize didn’t open her eyes.

He thought she had woken up, but she hadn’t. Come to think of it, humans could talk in their sleep.

Small hands pulled him down, forcing him to lie on the bed.

“Why don’t you let go of this. I have things to do.”

The Duke very carefully grasped Annelize’s wrist.

He tried to remove it, but it had the opposite effect. The grip on his shirt tightened even more.

When the Duke tried to leave, Annelize frowned. Her lips moved as she mumbled.

“You promised…”

“Ha. When did I ever.”

The Duke let out a hollow laugh at what might have been sleep talk.

He felt trembling below his collarbone. The hand clutching his shirt was shaking violently.

What terrible sleeping habits.

He couldn’t just remove it and leave like this.

If that fragile-looking hand got hurt by mistake, it would be troublesome.

The Duke sighed and relaxed his body.

“I won’t go. I’ll stay here.”

“Yeah. Stay here with me.”

Hearing the Duke’s words, she seemed satisfied and burrowed into his embrace.

She was truly irritating in many ways.

He had no choice but to wait helplessly for the person in his arms to wake up.

The body he held was frail and warmer than usual.

Every time he heard her soft breathing, something tingled below his solar plexus.

‘That feeling again.’

The Duke closed his eyes with an annoyed expression, following her lead.

He would get used to it soon. It would become nothing to him.

It had to.

* * *

How long had she slept? Annelize barely managed to regain consciousness.

The first sensation she felt was touch.

Something soft, firm, and large was wrapped around her body.

She was being held in the Duke’s arms.

But why was this man so naturally holding her in his embrace?

‘It’s cozy, but is there really a need to sleep together? We’re not even really married.’

She’d have to talk to him when the Duke woke up.

Annelize, who had been squirming to escape his embrace, suddenly stopped.

She had realized the source of the unease she’d been feeling.

‘I can’t feel a heartbeat.’

As a test, she slowly placed her hand on the Duke’s chest.

The skin beneath his shirt was still.

‘Come to think of it, I can’t hear breathing either.’

The throbbing pulse and inhaling and exhaling that you’d normally feel when someone breathes – none of that was there.

‘Did he receive some kind of special training?’

She was thinking it was strange and was about to put her hand under his nose.

“What are you doing. That tickles.”

Annelize was startled and sat up abruptly.

“I was rude in my sleep. How long have you been awake?”

The Duke lay on his side, propping his chin with one arm as he looked at her. Golden eyes gleamed from behind the sunglasses perched on his nose.

“Ever since you started squirming around.”

So he’d been watching from the beginning.

He was so still that she thought he was deeply asleep.

“Did I wake you because I was uncomfortable?”

“No. I just wasn’t sleeping.”

While Annelize hesitated, the Duke rubbed his stiff neck with his hand and grumbled.

“You slept for a whole day. I was curious when you’d finally wake up.”

As his arm lifted, firm chest muscles were revealed through his white dress shirt.

‘Why are his shirt buttons open down to below his solar plexus?’

You could even see his smooth abs.

Annelize unconsciously swallowed. It was an overly stimulating sight for morning.

Was the Duke the type to sleep undressed? If so, they definitely couldn’t share a bed.

“More importantly, Your Highness. Were you by my side the whole time?”

“Yeah.”

“Ah…”

She chose her words carefully.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I mentioned it beforehand. We’re using separate rooms, right? Since we’re not a real couple, there’s no need to share a bed.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I mean we don’t have to spend the night intimately embracing like this time.”

After finishing her words, Annelize watched the Duke’s reaction.

The Duke’s eyebrow was raised at an angle. Was he incredulous?

“How ridiculous.”

She was right. The Duke was incredulous.

“You told me not to leave.”

“What? When did I!”

Annelize was shocked. She was incredulous too.

“You grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.”

The Duke pointed with his long finger to the chest area of his dress shirt.

To the wrinkled marks in the shape of hands.

‘Since those can’t be the Duke’s handprints, the culprit behind those marks is…’

“I must not have been in my right mind from exhaustion. I’m sorry. I’ll be careful from now on.”

Apologies are better the sooner they come.

She’d had many nightmares since childhood, but nothing like this had happened before. Why did she really do that?

“If you’re that anxious, I’ll give you separate rooms as you want. Don’t worry. Even if you cling to me, I’ll never love you.”

The Duke flicked Annelize’s left ring finger with his index finger. He looked somewhat spiteful.

Annelize couldn’t back down either.

“That’s perfect. I’ll never fall in love with Your Highness either.”

The separate rooms suggestion was purely for the quality of sleep.

‘I originally can’t sleep when there’s someone next to me.’

Especially if that person was a half-naked handsome man.

He snorted and left the room.

‘Something’s annoying.’

She was about to punch the innocent bed with her fist.

“My lady! I’ll help you prepare for the morning!”

A maid entered with a cheerful voice.

“Hello, my lady! Nice to meet you! I’m Ellie, and I’ll be serving you from now on!”

A young girl with flowing white curly hair bowed at the waist.

Seeing the cute pair of puppy ears on top of Ellie’s head, Annelize rubbed her eyes.

‘Am I still not fully awake?’

She changed clothes in a daze while being attended to by Ellie.

When he opened his eyes again, the puppy ears were gone.

“What’s wrong, my lady? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“No. I’m just a little tired.”

‘The white and fluffy hair does resemble a Pomeranian.’

She must have mistaken the curly hair tied in twin tails for puppy ears.

* * *

The Undergrounds of the Duke’s Castle.

Unlike the surface, this was a place where lava flowed in all directions under a sky tinged with dark red light.

Screams of sinners could be heard from all around, and nearby, his vassals were bickering.

“Pamine. When you meet the Duchess, hide your ears and tail properly.”

“Stop bothering me and get lost, Isaiah!”

“Just wait until you get caught wagging your tail around carelessly. No walks for a week.”

“Humans can’t even notice anyway. Why do I have to hide it for no reason!”

“Because the Duchess isn’t an ordinary human. She can even see our lord’s true face.”

“Really?”

It was another boring time, no different from usual.

The Duke let Isaiah and Pamine’s conversation go in one ear and out the other as he looked down at the sacred object placed on the floor.

He had already tried various methods, but couldn’t open the box.

The Sacred Object of Aldeon remained perfectly intact without a single scratch.

He had obtained it because it was said to be necessary for finding his lost heart.

It wasn’t that he desperately wanted to find his heart.

He just couldn’t let it fall into someone else’s hands.

‘Should I just throw it away?’

The Duke clicked his tongue while thinking of Annelize from this morning.

‘To think she’s so wary, afraid that I might fall in love with her.’

What was she so worried about? Of course, she was irritating at every moment. She sparkled so much that he felt like he’d lose his mind if he let his guard down.

The emotion he felt toward Annelize was absolutely not love.

Because he knew what love was like.

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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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