I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 21

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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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#Episode 21

Finally, an environment was created where I could have a calm conversation with the Duke.

I decided to ask about the part that had been bothering me the most first.

“I know this question might be rude, but do you perhaps find it difficult to deal with women?”

Actually, I wanted to ask if he was a perverted deviant who got excited just from seeing indoor dress, but if he actually answered yes, it would be a disaster, so I chose a somewhat roundabout question.

Fortunately, the Duke answered in a somewhat embarrassed voice.

“Well, that’s not it.”

An ordinary lady would change the conversation topic at this point.

But I wasn’t a lady, and I still held a slight grudge against the Duke who had pointed out my stomach growling a few days ago without letting it slide.

It was also a bit amusing that the Duke, who had been acting dignified all along, crumbled at just one negligee.

I rested my chin on my hand meaningfully.

“Anyway, what just happened was really unexpected. I thought Your Grace would have rich experience with the opposite sex like other nobles.”

“…What?”

“Why do you have that expression? Is there some problem?”

The Duke’s expression, which had barely returned to normal, hardened again.

It was as if he had heard some absurd nonsense.

“I am pure in both body and mind.”

“It seems that way.”

“No touch from any member of the opposite sex has ever reached me.”

The Duke’s expression as he emphasized this again looked strangely resolute, which made me feel somewhat uncomfortable instead. Why does he keep emphasizing his purity?

In the end, I decided not to point it out further and let it pass.

The Edwin of the past was also almost obsessively clean when it came to relationships with women.

‘He’s not a perverted deviant, just someone with ordinary gynophobia, I guess.’

A rational conclusion was reached.

“Oh, come to think of it, I haven’t offered you anything to drink.”

“I’ll prepare it, so please stay seated.”

The Duke stood up without giving me a chance to move.

His small, casual kindness that had once been natural now felt strangely unfamiliar.

Anyway, there was no loss for me if the Duke worked, so while I waited comfortably, he mixed some herbs and spices with the wine that was placed in one corner of the bedroom and put it on the brazier.

Soon, the sweet aroma of wine began to spread.

“You look experienced at this.”

“During military camps, there are often cases where I can’t bring servants along, so I naturally learned to do these miscellaneous tasks.”

“It would be even better if the taste was guaranteed too.”

“According to my subordinates’ reviews, it’s supposedly quite decent.”

The fact that the speakers of ‘decent’ were his subordinates significantly lowered the reliability of the evaluation.

While I was wondering if it would be okay to drink that, the Duke brought the warmed wine transferred to a decorative silver cup.

“There’s nothing better for relaxing the body.”

“Ah, thank you…”

As I looked down at the steaming silver cup with subtle eyes, the Duke naturally continued speaking.

“I heard you’ve been busy preparing to receive guests.”

“There are many places to look after, but I only have one body, so what can I do?”

“Then how about bringing in new people? Actually, there are several talented individuals who could assist with your official duties. They’re all exceptionally capable.”

So this was the main point after all.

It was a proposal that I both wanted and didn’t want.

It was true that I desperately needed someone to help since my body was being torn apart right now.

But I didn’t want to bring someone the Duke recommended as my closest aide. Where in the world would there be a fool who trusts and keeps a spy by their side?

‘Well, there might be some, but that’s not me.’

Now I understood the Duke’s kindness.

Finding my cat, willingly responding to what was a somewhat impulsive invitation, and even sitting face to face in a reasonably good atmosphere for conversation.

It was unnatural for the Duke, who disliked me, to show kindness just because I had helped with domestic affairs a few times.

But the conversation just now made everything understandable. It seems he was trying to appease me to plant someone.

Understanding the Duke’s true intentions made me feel much more at ease.

“I’ll gratefully accept Your Grace’s goodwill alone.”

“That’s unfortunate. If you change your mind, please let me know anytime.”

“I will.”

I unconsciously sipped the wine. It tasted better than expected, so I swallowed a few more sips.

As the warm wine went down my throat in the chilly weather, I felt my body relax slightly.

“Mm, it’s better than I thought.”

This body seemed to be much weaker to alcohol than I thought.

I had only drunk one cup, but intoxication gradually rose and my cheeks flushed red.

The Duke, who had been silently watching me like that, soon slowly stood up from his seat.

“It’s late at night. I should be going now.”

“…Ah, that’s right.”

Thanks to that, my hazy mind returned a little.

I carefully moved Nero, who was sleeping on my lap, and stood up to see the Duke off.

“Thank you for earlier. For finding Nero—”

Before I could finish speaking, the Duke quickly approached.

In the blink of an eye, I was pulled into his arms.

“Are you alright?”

“…”

“You almost fell.”

This subtle tension again.

Under the dim indoor lamp, his sharp and clear features cast deep shadows on his face.

Even if the Duke disliked me, the greatest duty of a noble was to make their house prosper, so it wouldn’t be strange to consummate our marriage like this.

The Edwin of my previous life hated even touching fingertips with Elisia, but this time it doesn’t seem to be to that extent…

‘No, no, I must really be drunk.’

Consummation, what nonsense.

It was the moment I tried to push the Duke away to escape from the ambiguous and suffocating atmosphere.

Far from being pushed away, the Duke, who stood firm like a rock, lifted me up without hesitation.

Then he walked with large strides toward the bed.

Flustered by the situation that was completely opposite to my expectations, I could only blink, when he carefully set me down on the soft mattress.

‘What is this atmosphere?!’

It feels like something’s about to happen.

It was the moment I unconsciously gripped the bed sheets tightly from tension.

The Duke, looking down at my pale fingertips, chuckled.

“You’re not my type, so please be at ease.”

“What?”

“I think I mentioned it during the day, but I prefer voluptuous women… Ugh!”

“That damn taste of yours! If you insult my aesthetics one more time, I won’t let it slide.”

Even though I kicked his thigh with all my strength, the Duke’s smile didn’t disappear.

There’s no way he’d be purely smiling in this situation, so that must definitely be mockery.

My eyes burned with resentment at being repeatedly humiliated, when the Duke added in a low voice.

“I’ll take all the nightmares away. So please have sweet dreams.”

The Duke, who had perfectly straightened his slightly disheveled appearance, left the bedroom without further delay.

He stopped Lady Olden from trying to enter and closed the door.

The bedroom fell into silence.

‘I’ll take all the nightmares away. So you just have sweet dreams.’

‘But then Edwin would have scary dreams….’

‘It’s okay. Nightmares could never dare to hurt me.’

When my parents suddenly passed away in an accident, I actually knew why Edwin had come all the way to our house by the distant outer castle walls on that rainy day.

He had come because he was worried about me.

He woke me from my daze, made food and forced me to eat it, cleaned up the house that had been ransacked and left in chaos by relatives, and let the rambunctious Nero loose to create a distraction.

That’s how he led me back out into the world.

Edwin in his younger days was such a kind person.

‘Then why did you leave me to die in terrible agony? Why didn’t you stop Elisia? Was the honor of being a great noble really more important than friendship?’

No matter how much I cry out and shout, I’ll never be able to hear that answer in my lifetime.

I felt like I was going to cry.

* * *

“Hah.”

Edwin’s expression was dark as he walked through the deserted corridor.

Slender fingers that gripped the sheet tightly from nervousness, transparent eyes that looked up at him anxiously, two cheeks flushed red from the effects of alcohol.

Another face overlapped with that image.

‘…That was dangerous.’

Edwin roughly rubbed his face with dry hands, shaking off the image that clung to his mind like an afterimage.

There would never be another mistake like today’s. That would mean destruction.

Even so, tonight seemed like it would be a particularly long night.

* * *

There’s an old saying that thoughts that arise at dawn become meaningless by the next morning.

Greeting the morning with cheerful birdsong, I recalled that saying with an embarrassed feeling.

Last night’s melancholy had completely disappeared, and refreshing sunlight welcomed me.

“Yawn, did you sleep well, Nero?”

“Chirp chirp―”

Still drowsy with sleep, I fumbled around my bedside with my eyes closed.

Nero liked to sleep curled up small like a conch shell.

Sometimes he would get between my legs or under my arms, but mostly he slept by my pillow.

But suddenly, a certain doubt arose.

‘Why am I hearing chirping sounds instead of meowing?’

…Hmm.

For a moment, my spine went cold.

What I saw when I bolted upright was Nero with his eyes sparkling innocently, and a small, precious morning bird caught in that fellow’s mouth.

What’s more, when our eyes met, Nero very proudly dropped it right in front of my face….

“Kyaaaah! No no, ack!!”

It was the moment when even the faint remnants of dawn sentimentality completely evaporated.

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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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