Grand Duke, Please Stop Obsessing Over Your Wife! - Chapter 79

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

79.

For the Duke, that was truly a huge concession.

When it came to the definition of ‘cuteness,’ his opinion was very firm.

Not even a single piece of cuteness could be given to others.

And yet he had stepped back for Anna Rose’s sake.

“Kyaaaa! I don’t exactly understand what you’re saying, but I’m moved anyway! Brother-in-law!”

Anna Rose spread her arms wide like she did with her sister and rushed toward the Duke.

The Duke’s large hand caught Anna Rose’s face and stopped her.

“I haven’t acknowledged it yet. That’s the condition for this matter to end properly.”

Oh my, acting shy just like the married couple they are.

‘On Sister’s birthday, I should share a warm embrace with brother-in-law with Sister between us.’

Huh, wait a minute. What did the Duke just say?

“Crown Prince Iskassian said I was cute and adorable like a squirrel?”

“Yes.”

The Duke shook his head as if fed up.

“I’ll tell you what other things he said after everything is over.”

“Oh, really!”

The Duke was not easy to deal with.

In Anna Rose’s own way, the time spent building rapport with her brother-in-law had ended successfully.

What kind of gift would the Duke prepare?

Anna Rose was so excited about her sister’s birthday that she couldn’t fall asleep.

* * *

‘What Annelize Solariccen truly wants?’

I don’t know.

The Duke recalled the memories of gifts he had given Annelize one by one.

‘She didn’t like the moon much. She told me to put it back.’

If the moon wasn’t good, he thought about the sun, but this type of gift didn’t seem right.

‘She likes delicious food. What else is there.’

Ah. That’s right. She likes family.

‘Enough to propose a contract asking me to protect the Third Prince and her sister’s safety.’

As he thought about various things, he began to miss seeing Annelize’s face.

But Annelize was busy all day long.

Unlike at the Duke’s Castle, he couldn’t move freely at the Count’s manor, so the Duke frowned.

Physical contact was also forbidden while staying at Count Solariccen’s manor.

This was because Annelize had earnestly begged him to please restrain himself in front of her mother.

The Duke lay on the master bedroom bed, fiddling with the perfume bottle Annelize had given him.

She had given it to him when he said he liked her scent.

But no matter how much he smelled it, it was different from the fragrance he smelled directly from Annelize. Her body scent wasn’t mixed in, and there was no warmth.

‘I miss her.’

There was no way he could be satisfied with such a perfume bottle.

The Duke got up from his seat and wandered around the manor aimlessly.

There was a room with the door slightly ajar. Normally he would have passed by, but it strangely caught the Duke’s attention.

Without realizing it, he opened the door and went inside.

This was the room Annelize had used.

From birth until she went up to the capital, her traces remained intact.

A space containing Annelize’s life before she met him.

Being surrounded entirely by Annelize’s traces, the Duke’s sharp sensitivity that had been on edge softened.

He looked around and followed Annelize’s traces, losing track of time.

When the Duke saw a pair of small shoes that a young child might have worn, he gritted his teeth.

‘They’re tiny as beans.’

Annelize was still much smaller than the Duke even now, but this size was unbearably small.

How cute must young Annelize have been?

While he wanted to meet her, he also thought it was fortunate he hadn’t met Annelize back then.

If he had met her, he might have really destroyed an entire manor.

‘She would scold me if I destroyed it.’

Before receiving Annelize’s glare by half-destroying Solariccen Manor, the Duke turned his gaze away.

As he hurriedly turned to leave, the carpet got caught under the Duke’s shoe and slid away.

Something was placed under the carpet on the wooden floor.

He grabbed the corner of the paper with his hand and pulled it out.

A faded and crumpled piece of paper that had been neglected was pulled out.

Please let Mother and Father and Anna Rose stay healthy and happy for a long, long time.

“What is this.”

The handwriting pressed down character by character with a fountain pen was elegant, but the content showed it was written by a child.

While the Duke was examining the note with both hands.

Suddenly the door opened.

The maid entering the room was startled to see the Duke and bowed her waist.

“Oh my! Duke! I’m sorry. It’s a room that hasn’t been used for a long time, so I didn’t think to knock.”

The maid trembled, not knowing what kind of stern command the large and frightening Duke might give.

The Duke approached her and held out the note.

“Do you know about this paper?”

“Ah, this is…”

The maid who received the note from the Duke smiled as if lost in memories.

“It’s a birthday gift note.”

Such a thing exists?

Human culture was endless no matter how much he learned.

“The master used to tell the young ladies to write down the gifts they wanted to receive whenever their birthdays came around. Miss Annelize never failed to include this phrase at the end. She would say, ‘If the people I love are happy, then I’m happy too!'”

The maid wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.

“She was truly kind and thoughtful.”

The Duke examined the old note carefully.

So that’s how it was.

“Hey. Would Annelize still make the same wish?”

“Of course. Absolutely.”

“Hmm. I understand.”

The Duke replied calmly and then lay down on Annelize’s bed.

The maid held the feather duster with both hands and looked at the Duke restlessly.

“Don’t mind me and do your work. I just want to be here.”

“Um, excuse me. Would you like to see Miss Annelize’s portrait from when she was five years old?”

The maid who had been watching the Duke’s mood asked carefully.

While the Duke was still scary, she seemed happy to find someone to share memories of the young lady’s childhood with.

“The master specially commissioned it from a famous painter, and it captured the young lady’s sparkling eyes and round cheeks very well. Especially her shy smile was really cute-“

“Show me.”

The Duke suddenly sat up.

The maid led the Duke to the corridor where the Count family’s portraits were displayed.

The Duke pressed the maid to show him not only the portrait from when she was five, but also baby Annelize at 100 days old, ten-year-old Annelize sitting with a puppy, and all of Annelize’s portraits.

“Why wasn’t a portrait painted when she was eleven? I can’t see eleven-year-old Annelize Solariccen.”

“She went to the academy… I’m sorry! I should have risked my life to plead with the master that a portrait should be painted every year.”

The maid finally trembled when she received criticism from the Duke asking “Why didn’t you paint one portrait every day.”

It would be problematic if it was simple fault-finding, and even more frightening if he was being serious.

She recalled what Miss Annelize had said.

[The things Duke asks about or orders might seem a bit insane. Just do it for him. He’s a good person.]

“I’ll keep that in mind, Miss.” The maid actively cooperated with the Duke’s questions following Annelize’s words.

The Duke, who had been displaying superhuman self-control and breaking the maid’s feather duster in half instead of the manor, came to his senses.

‘Oh right. I was thinking about Annelize’s birthday present.’

The maid had long since fled under the excuse of having work to do.

He held the note while scanning Annelize’s portraits once again.

He observed her expressions as he looked at Annelize in various situations.

‘What the maid said about her cherishing family seems to be true.’

Annelize smiled particularly brightly in portraits where she was with her family.

‘Health and happiness.’

The Duke questioned himself.

He heard that her biological father was dead, so even he couldn’t violate causality to do anything more about that.

Anna Rose Solariccen was already sufficiently healthy and happy.

Then that left Count Solariccen as the last option.

‘The burn on his leg didn’t seem like a simple injury. I could sense the scent of a curse.’

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