Grand Duke, Please Stop Obsessing Over Your Wife! - Chapter 4

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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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4.

“How was it? There was a princess there just as I said, right?”

The Duke nodded at Isaiah’s words.

“Yes.”

“How did you find her?”

“How, you ask.”

“Since you’re living in the human world anyway, marriage wouldn’t be so bad, would it? Did you like the princess?”

“Well… It’s hard to say. She fainted the moment she saw me.”

As soon as he heard that answer, Isaiah burst into laughter.

“Stop laughing. More importantly, Isaiah. There was another human there besides the royalty.”

Isaiah, who had been listening to the Duke’s description of her appearance, answered.

“That would be Annelize Solarichen. Do you remember Annelarion, my lord? He had a younger sister. She’s his descendant.”

Annelize Solarichen.

‘Long blonde hair and light purple eyes. Quite a beauty. It was amusing how she always wore a tired expression that didn’t match her beautiful appearance.’

If she smiled brightly just once with that face, men would compete to give her their liver and gallbladder.

Though it seemed she hadn’t met anyone worthy of that yet.

What a remarkable coincidence that his lord encountered her today.

Perhaps it wasn’t coincidence but fate.

Isaiah searched his memory and offered a brief impression.

“She was a pretty young lady.”

“Pretty? Do humans think that kind of appearance is pretty?”

The immediate retort was sharp.

This unnecessarily pointed response was completely different from his lord’s usual attitude toward humans.

Someone who had never shown any interest in human beauty…

Since when did he care about such things?

Isaiah noticed this and suppressed his laughter.

“She is pretty. She probably received many courtships from men her age. She even had a nickname. The Lily of the Empire, I believe.”

“Hah.”

The Duke, who had been silently recalling the woman he’d just seen, spoke in a bored tone.

“Human taste is incomprehensible.”

“Is that so? Then nothing particularly caught your eye, I suppose.”

At Isaiah’s words, he fell into thought.

“There was something that bothered me the entire time I was there.”

“What was it?”

The Duke’s gaze naturally moved to the hand that had grabbed Annelize’s wrist.

He spread his fingers as if measuring size and narrowed his eyes.

“Her wrist was small and slender.”

Isaiah’s pupils dilated briefly.

Leaning his shoulder against the carriage and crossing his arms, he played along with his lord’s words.

“Ah. I see.”

His voice couldn’t hide his interest.

“So that small, slender wrist dared to disturb my lord’s heart…”

At the meaningful tone, the Duke narrowed his eyes.

“You’re enjoying this far too much. I’m worried you might act rashly.”

“But in all the hundreds of years I’ve served you, nothing has been this entertaining.”

Before he could continue, a low voice sharply cut through the air.

“Isaiah.”

“Understood, my lord. Shall we return now?”

Any more teasing and he wouldn’t even be able to collect his bones.

Isaiah, who held multiple positions as coachman, guard knight, and right-hand man, was being worked to the bone with great acclaim today as well.

Since it was entertaining, he had no particular complaints.

Nodding, he obediently climbed onto the driver’s seat and took the reins.

How many minutes had passed?

As the carriage moved, the Duke, who had been quietly maintaining his silence, opened his mouth.

“Her skin was excessively pale. She happened to be wearing white clothes, making it impossible to distinguish which parts were clothing and which were skin.”

Even as the long sentences poured out, the Duke’s eyes remained as calm as usual.

Isaiah always found those empty eyes that concealed his lord’s true feelings amusing.

Not interested, my foot. His mouth was itching so much he couldn’t stand it.

‘Ahem.’

Isaiah gritted his teeth and suppressed his laughter.

“And that blonde hair. How it sparkled in the sunlight.”

With an attitude of complete disinterest, his lord began talking about his first impression of Annelize Solarichen.

Isaiah tactfully drove the horses until the story ended.

“It was the first time I’d seen such irritating blonde hair. And why is she so small? When I looked down, I could see the top of her head…”

His lord’s words continued without showing any sign of ending.

One hour, two hours, three hours, four hours passed like that.

A total of five hours had elapsed.

They had circled the same streets so many times he’d lost count.

Isaiah was starting to want to go home.

Unaware of such feelings, his lord’s voice continued to pound into his ears.

Even Isaiah, who had been silently driving with a smile, had no choice but to speak up.

“My lord. In case you’re unaware, it’s been exactly five hours since you started talking about that young lady.”

Honey-like flowing blonde hair.

Long eyelashes and large light purple eyes.

A long, slender neck like a swan’s.

Just from his lord’s description, Isaiah could now vividly picture Annelize in her dress from head to toe.

Which meant the description had been annoyingly specific.

The Duke played innocent as if he had no idea when he’d done such a thing.

“It’s because this is the first time I’ve met such an irritating human.”

In the same tone as always, five hours of embarrassing behavior was summarized in one sentence.

“Yes, yes. I’m sure that’s it.”

Isaiah nodded and played along with his lord’s words.

‘That’s how everyone starts.’

The carriage finally arrived at its original destination an hour later.

Duke Aperhis’s temporary residence was a quiet manor located on a mountain near the capital.

Isaiah stopped the carriage in front of the manor’s main gate and opened the door.

The Duke stepped down from the carriage and stood on the ground.

Golden eyes turned toward Isaiah.

He swept back the black hair hanging over his forehead with his hand and asked.

“Isaiah. Do you know when Porlnensha Hildegard’s banquet is?”

He never expected to hear such a question from none other than his lord.

Isaiah didn’t bother hiding his surprise.

“The Emperor’s banquet is in a week. Are you thinking of attending? How unusual. Didn’t you hate places with many humans, saying they made you feel sick?”

A brief silence fell between them.

The Duke stared into space as if recalling someone.

He furrowed his thick eyebrows and replied.

“It’s not unbearable.”

There was definitely something.

To voluntarily attend a banquet he’d always detested.

‘Annelize Solarichen must have given him some kind of hint.’

I might drop by when I’m bored and make my presence known.

“Where shall I tell them to meet?”

Isaiah smiled brightly while waiting for his master’s answer.

* * *

‘This can’t be a dream.’

To think I arranged to meet the Duke at the Emperor’s Birthday Banquet Hall.

Annelize stood in the empty corridor and looked down at her wrist.

There was a faint mark from where the Duke had grabbed her.

‘His hands are as big as his build.’

Rubbing her wrist with her thumb, Annelize recalled the recent memory.

‘By the way, I’ve never seen such an unusual person before.’

He couldn’t take his eyes off my wrist. Then he advised me to do some photosynthesis.

Being treated like a stone rolling around in the street was refreshing too.

‘His eyes were truly emotionless.’

Every time Annelize recalled the Duke’s eyes, warmth spread through her heart.

A life without emotional labor, clean relationships without any messiness… she naturally pictured the gray future she would share with him.

‘Aldeon’s sacred relic should still be in the warehouse at Solarichen Estate, right? I should write a letter to Mother.’

She was walking down the corridor to return to the manor.

As she entered the area near the Crown Prince’s Palace, a subtle rose fragrance tickled Annelize’s nose.

Before she knew it, rose petals were fluttering at her feet.

Roses suddenly appearing in a corridor that had been empty.

She had an ominous feeling about this.

‘No way.’

She was afraid to check what lay beyond the corridor.

Looking down the corridor with clouded eyes, she saw rose petals scattered everywhere, and there was a person.

The man lying there shamelessly in broad daylight with people walking around was someone Annelize knew well.

“Hah…”

Annelize squeezed her eyes shut.

Didn’t the Princess faint? Shouldn’t you be nursing her until she wakes up?

Why is this person here.

‘Should I turn back now?’

She was conflicted.

“My beloved Annelize.”

It was pointless deliberation.

Crown Prince Robert had already spotted Annelize.

He began rolling toward her from the other end of the corridor.

With a rose stem clenched between his teeth.

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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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