I’m in the Arms of the Cursed Grand Duke - Chapter 68

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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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Chapter 68

It had been barely a day since Liriart came to the Northern Region.

She had now spent one night here.

Yet during that short time, how many times had she heard the name Clemente?

It was the same when dining with Rossia and the Dowager Duchess.

Of course, she was the one who brought up the topic first.

“That maid named Clemente, you know her too, don’t you, Dowager Duchess?”

“Yes, she’s such a good child.”

“They say she’s His Highness’s personal maid, but it seems like most of the servants call for that maid whenever they get the chance. Is that right?”

She was curious why that maid, who didn’t seem particularly capable, received such favor.

The Dowager Duchess simply smiled kindly and answered.

“That’s Clemente’s role. You said you’d be staying for about a month, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“That time will be enough for you to understand. How frozen the Northern Region becomes without Clemente.”

She made some incomprehensible remark about how the dining hall being warm now was also thanks to Clemente’s consideration.

‘She’s just a maid. And a vulgar one at that, with no trace of refinement.’

Since the Dowager Duchess and Rossia seemed pleased with the current situation, she had nothing more to say about it.

“Excuse me, my lady?”

The maid who had been waiting in front interrupted Liriart’s reminiscence and brought her back to reality.

“Oh, yes. That’s fine. More importantly, when will I be able to see His Highness?”

“I’ll ask for you! Then I’ll come to escort you to dinner later this evening!”

The maid left. Liriart draped a blanket over her shoulders, got up, and looked out the window.

“Still, I can’t just stay here like this.”

She should go out for now. If she moved around, wouldn’t the cold be somewhat more bearable?

Liriart boldly dropped the blanket and went outside her room.

Since walking helped organize her complicated thoughts, she wandered around looking for places where there wouldn’t be many people. She also sought out snowy areas because she enjoyed the feeling of stepping on snow.

But then a problem arose.

Not knowing how slippery the snow that had been stepped on and compressed until it became smooth could be, she stepped down forcefully and ended up rolling on the ground.

And an even bigger problem was.

Of all times, she locked eyes with Clemente while in that state.

“…”

Forget the dignity of a marquis’s daughter—she just wanted to cry.

**

Clemente’s daily routine was similar.

Usually she stayed close to Zephyrus, but when he was working, there was no need for Clemente to be there anyway.

Then she would wander around the manor looking for places where people didn’t frequent much and snow had accumulated.

Just by her stepping on it, the snow would melt, so the manor’s servants didn’t have to put much effort into clearing snow. Instead, they could use that labor elsewhere, so the manor had become much cleaner and more organized since Clemente’s arrival.

That was why Clemente had gone to the back of the manor.

It was then that she saw Liriart rolling in the distance.

When their eyes met, Clemente saw that Liriart’s upright and firm expression was on the verge of crumbling.

‘…It seems like it’s because of me.’

Scratching her cheek, Clemente noticed the snow stuck in Liriart’s hair.

It was just like when playing with children.

She couldn’t approach children when they were playing with snow, but after they finished playing, she would warm their cold bodies.

Of course, she couldn’t do that with Liriart, so…

Roll!

Clemente lay down spread-eagle and rolled around.

Then she gradually rolled her body toward Liriart.

“What, what are you doing! Get up!”

Liriart shouted. Even her voice was aristocratic.

But Clemente didn’t stop rolling. She maintained a distance where the snow around Liriart wouldn’t melt.

Clemente was covered in dirt and dust as she smiled.

“My lady. Isn’t this fun?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Look at the sky. It’s clearly dark and black, yet it’s dropping white things.”

“What’s so… fun about that?”

Liriart frowned as she looked up at the sky. Large snowflakes fell down onto her body. She had never lain down like this to watch countless snowflakes falling…

‘There’s no way I would have.’

Liriart’s frown relaxed. She had heard it was quite troublesome in the Northern Region. But looking at it like this made her feel at peace.

Even at home, she had devoted herself to studying and building supporting nobles while avoiding her father, the Demeter Marquis’s, gaze.

It meant she couldn’t easily let her guard down.

Here too, she needed to gain the Dowager Duchess’s support. Ah.

There was so much to do. What was she doing here right now? Lying in a snowy field looking at the sky.

Still, it was strange that she didn’t feel like getting up.

She wondered if she was half out of her mind from the cold.

And that was probably because of this troublesome maid.

When she glanced sideways, she first saw abundant auburn hair. Soon, a pure face smiling while gazing at the sky came into view.

“Do you know?”

Oh, what a surprise. Liriart cleared her throat once and answered.

“When speaking, it’s proper etiquette to clearly state the subject, predicate, and object in one sentence.”

“Ah, do you know that I’ve never touched snow even once?”

“Should I know that?”

“That’s why I’m curious about your feelings right now, my lady. How does it feel to lie on snow?”

Clemente turned her head to the side to look at Liriart and grinned.

“Is it cold and cozy?”

Liriart stared blankly at that face. As if hypnotized, she found herself focusing on Clemente’s question.

Were coldness and coziness words that could coexist?

But.

‘Yes.’

It felt like the cold snow was embracing her body while the complicated, tangled emotions settled down calmly.

Curiosity crept into the gaps of those emotions.

“So why did you roll around? On that dirt ground, I mean.”

It had clearly been a pristine snowy field, but centered around where Clemente had rolled, the snow had melted and the ground had become muddy.

Clemente’s entire body was covered in mud.

If, as Rossia said, Clemente was so hot that even snow melted quickly—

Why on earth had that maid done that, knowing this?

“Because I wanted to.”

“Why did you want to?”

“Is a reason necessary?”

“Of course it is. Acting purely on instinct is no different from being a beast.”

“I think there’s nothing more exhausting than attaching reasons to every action.”

“Giving up on being human because it’s exhausting is a foolish thing to do.”

“Hmm. Yes. That could be true.”

“What do you mean it’s not—”

Liriart, who had been preparing a rebuttal, stopped and asked.

“Why are you agreeing?”

“Because everyone has different standards?”

Clemente opened her eyes wide as if asking why she would ask such a thing.

“I can do what I want to do, and you can act when you have reasons, my lady. There’s nothing difficult about it.”

“…That’s something only fools do.”

“Well then, I guess I’m stupid. Actually, I’ve never even thought of myself as smart.”

She giggles again, finding something amusing about it.

Liriart couldn’t understand this situation.

She thought they were in opposition, if not outright fighting.

And usually one side’s opinion had to win for that opposition to end.

Insisting that her thoughts were correct was the very purpose of such conversations.

Liriart had lived her life that way until now.

To break her father’s values that daughters should live comfortably by being pretty and graceful while supporting their husbands, she had to live holding onto the strings of tension.

With not much time left until adulthood, she had to be even more so.

At this time when she needed to wrap things up, she couldn’t waste time moving thoughtlessly.

‘But what kind of conversation is this?’

The opposition had clearly ended. But there was no winner. Clemente admitted to being stupid, but it didn’t feel like a victory.

‘What was my reason for having this conversation?’

To learn even a little about the person called Clemente.

And ultimately hoping that Clemente would admit to being an undignified, incompetent maid and withdraw on her own.

She had no intention of directly confronting her, but since the opportunity arose, saying a word or two wouldn’t be a problem.

And yet.

It seemed to have gone as she wanted, but it was different.

The loser should rightfully feel bad, but there wasn’t a trace of humiliation on Clemente’s face. Instead, she just looked at Liriart with sparkling eyes as if finding it interesting.

She hated it. She wanted to make those eyes hurt.

“So you’re admitting that you’re a stupid person who undignifiedly rolls around in mud?”

“A pitiful fool who has no choice but to roll in mud instead of snow.”

But it didn’t work at all. Seeing Clemente pretending to be sad was absurd.

“More importantly, miss. Aren’t you going to get up?”

More importantly? Of course, it wasn’t a conversation she had put tremendous effort into. But it also wasn’t a conversation to brush off so casually like this. Why was she okay with it?

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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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