Grand Duke, Please Stop Obsessing Over Your Wife! - Chapter 35
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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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35.
This is all because of that old man.
[Such feelings are natural. Perhaps it wouldn’t be wrong to take a bite.]
‘He encouraged me as if it were natural. Me.’
Right after hearing such words, he saw Annelize’s dimples.
He ended up acting according to his loosened heart.
Only after doing it did the Duke belatedly realize he hadn’t controlled his strength.
The back of his neck grew cold.
‘I need to check Annelize’s condition immediately.’
The Duke grabbed her cheek with trembling hands and checked the area he had bitten.
“Are you okay? Are you conscious? Does it hurt? Tell me if you feel like you’re dying.”
Seeing the clear teeth marks remaining at the corner of her mouth, his whole body seemed to freeze.
He poured out words in his panic.
“Damn it. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I just—”
“Your Grace. I’m fine.”
Annelize’s voice was firm yet calm.
She patted the back of the Duke’s hand with her finger.
The Duke looked down with a dejected expression.
“There’s a mark left. Your cheek is red too. And you look dazed. Are you really okay?”
Annelize replied with a bright red face.
“I’m really fine! The redness is because it’s cold. Please, let’s go down now, Your Grace.”
‘Even her ears are flushed red. She must be really cold.’
The Duke reluctantly withdrew his hands.
“The wind has started blowing again. Let’s head back to the manor before it gets stronger.”
The journey back was quiet, with no one opening their mouth.
The Duke looked at Annelize with her head deeply bowed and tried desperately to suppress his emotions.
‘Damn it.’
It wasn’t working well.
In his mind, Annelize’s sparkling eyes from just now, her rounded cheeks, the dimples slightly carved at the corners of her mouth, and…
The soft sensation he felt when he bit her swept through him.
* * *
“Good heavens.”
As soon as Annelize arrived in her room, she threw off her cloak and checked the mirror.
Her cheek reflected in the mirror was flushed red.
She leaned her arms on the vanity and covered her face with both hands.
‘I knew from the beginning that he was an unpredictable person. I could even overlook him acting like a beast taking a bite.’
What was shocking was the reaction she herself had shown.
“I thought he was going to kiss me.”
Even while misunderstanding like that, she closed her eyes without even trying to avoid it.
Annelize clutched her head in shame.
‘I must be crazy. There’s no way the Duke would suddenly kiss me. Why on earth did I think that.’
She must have lost her mind from hearing compliments.
‘It’s not like it was the first or second time I’ve heard flowery praise, yet I stood there like an idiot, dazed and blushing!’
“Living with a strange person has made me strange too.”
Making such foolish assumptions.
Checking the pattern on her fourth finger without a single scratch made her feel even more ashamed.
Annelize came to her senses at the sound of knocking.
It was Isaiah.
“Excuse me for the late hour, my lady. I’ve come on my lord’s orders to check your condition.”
Perfect timing.
If she stayed alone, she’d keep thinking about that moment.
“Come in.”
Isaiah came in holding ointment in one hand.
After examining Annelize’s face from various angles, he raised his eyebrows.
“You’re fine except for a slight tear at the corner of your mouth. My lord came rushing like an anxious puppy, so I thought there had been some bloodshed.”
It was obvious without seeing.
‘The Duke’s expression after that incident was worth seeing. He really looked flustered.’
Annelize rolled her eyes.
“My cheek is fine. It doesn’t hurt that much either. I was just a bit startled.”
“I understand completely.”
Isaiah’s hand hovered very carefully near the mark.
“Since your skin is delicate, it will probably take a few days for the mark to fade. I’ll put a bandage on it.”
Isaiah’s hand moved past the dimple area toward the corner of her mouth.
His hand touched the slightly torn corner of her mouth.
She could feel trembling in the touch applying the ointment.
How unexpected. She didn’t know he was conscious of her in this way.
‘Still, since I’m his lord’s wife in name, I suppose he’s concerned.’
Out of curiosity, she stared intently at Isaiah and their eyes met. His eyes twitched.
He looked caught off guard, as if a part he wanted to hide had been exposed.
“It can’t be helped. I was the best alternative available. Your maid was off duty this evening.”
“I know. I was just curious because you’re acting unusually shy.”
Isaiah twisted his lips.
As always, words of uncertain truth followed.
“What hurtful words. I’m always conscious of you, my lady.”
The momentary hesitation disappeared in an instant.
‘He’s back to his usual self. How boring.’
Isaiah wiped his ointment-covered hands with a handkerchief and spoke.
“So what exactly happened?”
Since he seemed to want to change the subject, Annelize accommodated him.
“We went to see the aurora. His Grace said it resembled the color of my eyes.”
Annelize shrugged her shoulders.
Even thinking about it again, it was burdensome praise.
‘They both have a purplish tint, but there’s no way they could be on the same level as that beautiful curtain of the sky. Sir Isaiah would naturally scoff at it too.’
Isaiah didn’t scoff at her words. Rather, he nodded as if it were natural.
“That’s right. They’re literally the exact same color.”
Huh?
“Do you really think so?”
“Yes.”
Annelize couldn’t hide her confusion.
What’s wrong with both the Duke and Isaiah?
‘Or maybe the problem is me? Am I unable to see myself objectively?’
Annelize stared at herself in the mirror with a confused expression.
Honestly, it’s a face she sees every day, so she couldn’t tell.
“Am I that beautiful?”
As if asking what nonsense she was talking, Isaiah snorted.
“Don’t you know if you have eyes? You’re beautiful enough to captivate anyone.”
“Wow. That’s a big boost to my self-esteem. Thank you.”
Self-objectification is important after all.
Annelize humbly accepted the feedback and upgraded her self-assessment of her appearance.
“I should convey my thanks to His Grace again. I was too flustered earlier to say anything.”
Isaiah found her calm reaction amusing.
“You don’t seem very surprised, my lady. Even though your cheek was bitten.”
Annelize shrugged her shoulders.
“I already knew His Majesty wasn’t quite right in the head. Puppies and young children often do that sort of thing. My younger brother bit me when he was little too.”
“Haha!”
Annelize let him laugh.
“Besides, I don’t think His Grace the Duke bit me with any intention to hurt me. Malicious intent? That’s obviously not even an option.”
Annelize habitually checked the ring finger of her left hand.
‘It’s annoyingly intact.’
She wondered if the day would ever come when this mark would be damaged.
Their brief conversation ended. Isaiah stood up, saying he should go report to the Duke.
Before he opened the door handle, he turned back to look at Annelize.
“Did our lord happen to say anything else about the aurora?”
“No. He just said that and then suddenly bit me.”
“Ah. I see. Understood.”
Isaiah closed the door.
“Then please rest.”
* * *
Isaiah stood alone in the empty corridor, gazing out the window.
Thinking of Annelize, who couldn’t understand the connection between her eyes and the aurora, made him smile.
“Ha. Of course they’d be similar. Whose eyes do you think it was modeled after.”
The Duke was admirable for managing to remember.
He had thought everything had vanished without a trace along with his heart that day.
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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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