Grand Duke, Please Stop Obsessing Over Your Wife! - Chapter 55

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

55.

The conversation ended like that.

The conversation from that night gradually became blurry in her mind.

She had more important things to worry about than the Duke’s trivial jokes.

For instance, how the Duke had changed.

‘He doesn’t seem particularly different though. Nothing’s changed from before the absorption. If anything, he’s been clinging to me more frequently.’

After the Frost Monster and the Duke became one body, Annelize carefully observed the Duke’s changes.

The result was simple. ‘Nothing abnormal.’

‘At this point, I’m curious about how the Duke feels about it too.’

After much deliberation, Annelize decided to reveal the truth about the Frost Monster’s identity to the Duke.

‘The Duke thinks my reactions are strange. And anyway, this is the Duke’s problem too.’

No answer would come from her worrying about it alone.

Annelize dragged the Duke who was coming out of the first floor corridor.

“Good morning, Your Grace.”

The Duke obediently followed behind her, humming a tune.

“Why are you suddenly so proactive today? How cute.”

After walking a few more steps, Annelize stopped behind a column.

“Being passive is cute too. Of course.”

“Your Grace. Please be quiet for a moment. I’m trying to have an important conversation.”

When he was sick, she had wished for him to get better quickly. But seeing him so carefree now made her somewhat irritated.

‘The Duke probably acts like this because he has no memory of the Frost Monster.’

“Alright.”

The Duke answered like that and silently mouthed ‘how cute’ without making a sound.

Annelize understood the Duke’s meaning but ignored it.

“Do you perhaps want to harm me?”

“No?”

“Do you have any intention of killing me, seriously injuring me, or putting me in a near-death state in the coming years?”

“Annelize, what on earth are you talking about? Why would I want to harm you?”

‘That’s exactly my point.’

Annelize narrowed her eyes and examined the Duke.

The Duke’s pupils looked at her without wavering.

‘He doesn’t seem to be lying…’

The Duke tilted his head and studied her expression.

“Is that the answer you wanted now?”

“…I understand, Your Grace. I’ll tell you why I said such things. First, please promise me. Promise you won’t avoid me or needlessly fall into guilt and self-torment.”

What kind of conversation required such precautions?

The Duke nodded, bewildered.

“Alright. I promise.”

“Good. So… Your Grace seemed unaware, and I was going to keep pretending not to know, but I think it would be better for our relationship to speak openly.”

Annelize confessed his identity to the Duke with a tense expression.

“Your Grace, the truth is, the Frost Monster was another incarnation of yourself.”

“What are you talking about, Annelize?”

The Duke looked genuinely puzzled.

Seeing that expression made Annelize’s heart feel frustrated.

“My incarnation was the Frost Monster? That can’t be right.”

“When I was isolated inside the barrier created by the Frost Monster, I saw it directly. When Your Grace fell asleep, that monster would appear, and when Your Grace woke up, the Frost Monster would disappear.”

“What…”

In fact, the Duke had always been curious too.

About some presence that existed in his unconscious while he slept.

‘It even tried to force me into sleep on the night of the lunar eclipse.’

That it was a monster.

The Duke pressed his hand to his forehead, shocked.

“I was the Frost Monster?”

That would also explain why he could enter the barrier created by the Frost Monster without any resistance.

And why he felt particularly tired inside the barrier created by the Frost Monster.

“But.”

The Duke frowned.

“But that monster hurt you.”

That vicious being that created a barrier to trap Annelize and left her in danger of drowning to steal her away from him.

‘That was me?’

“But I never once…”

The Duke shook his head with a confused expression.

“Sir Pamine said that the Frost Monster and Your Grace had separate personalities. So it was fine back then.”

Annelize continued awkwardly.

“When I defeated the Frost Monster, I saw the remaining fragments of the Frost Monster being absorbed into Your Grace. I tried to stop it, but there was nothing I could do.”

She spread her hands to both sides, then brought them together as if clapping.

“So to explain it simply, Your Grace and the Frost Monster have become one.”

“…I see.”

It was an incredibly hard story to believe. But Annelize didn’t seem to be lying.

Annelize emphasized.

“I’m absolutely not blaming Your Grace. What I mean is, considering the bad blood between the Frost Monster inside Your Grace and my ancestor Lord Anelarion, I’m worried about how the traces of that Frost Monster inside might affect Your Grace. That’s why I’ve been treating Your Grace awkwardly all this time.”

The Duke fell silent in shock.

Annelize waited tensely for his reaction.

Finally, the Duke nodded and agreed with Annelize’s opinion.

“That’s a reasonable concern.”

The Duke calmly acknowledged his own danger.

Annelize’s expression brightened slightly.

“So, if Your Grace feels like you’re being influenced in some way, or if you develop different feelings toward me somehow, please tell me. So I can prepare.”

“I understand… I’ll keep that in mind.”

So this was the reason Annelize Solariccen had been feeling anxious all this time.

The Duke felt dismayed.

‘That day the Frost Monster was absorbed into me.’

But whether before or now.

As far as the Duke could tell, he hadn’t changed at all.

He could even say he was consistent.

‘Annelize’s anxiety makes sense. Considering what the Frost Monster did.’

The comfort he had built with Annelize up until now had disappeared, but if he made an effort, perhaps someday Annelize might treat him comfortably again.

But what if.

‘What if Annelize never trusts me again?’

No. That won’t happen.

Just because a few scraps of the Frost Monster were added doesn’t mean the Duke would stop being himself.

“Annelize. You may suspect me as much as you want.”

The Duke continued.

“Until that suspicion and anxiety disappear, I will continue to prove myself to you.”

Annelize was rather flustered by the Duke’s appearance, burning with motivation in his resolute attitude.

‘No, I absolutely didn’t mean for you to run around trying to gain my approval.’

However, the Duke had already made a very firm resolution to himself.

“Your Grace?”

“No. I’ll handle it myself now. It couldn’t have been easy, but thank you for telling me.”

“No. You don’t need to gain my approval like that. Your Grace must be very confused too, so if you focus more on yourself- oh.”

Annelize stared blankly at the spot where the Duke had been just moments before.

“Where did he go?”

* * *

After the Duke disappeared, leaving behind that unsettling feeling.

Annelize woke up from her sleep in the middle of the night.

“A knocking sound?”

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