The Murderous Duke's Domestic Affairs - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 25
His grip was not particularly strong, yet I found myself unable to resist. Half-dragged along by him, I arrived at a place so quiet it was almost eerily silent. Having just come from the bustling gathering, the stillness felt strangely disconcerting.
I glanced around. Bookshelves lined with volumes stretched in neat rows before me.
A library? I never knew such a place existed here. I’d always assumed this estate was built solely for social gatherings.
Only after settling me by the sunlit window did Aster Veil Lilywood release my hand. Then he offered me a gentle smile meant to reassure me. Yet his furrowed brow betrayed lingering anger, and something that looked almost like sorrow.
“I’m sorry for pulling you away. I know this gathering is important…”
I shook my head. Of course, he was right—a debut into society was indeed important. Though the gathering was meant to end before one came of age, the connections forged here would influence one’s future. But still.
I bit my lip.
I was sick of it. Sick of Delania Siaz’s inescapable shadow, sick of people swayed by her words. I had tried not to hope, especially after my previous experience. Yet I had genuinely believed I might make good friends here—friends like those from my fiefdom, with whom I no longer spoke freely due to our differing stations.
My expectations were thoroughly dashed. Since my uncle and his family had left with their house, Delania Siaz was no longer a nobleman’s daughter. She had no place being here.
Yet somehow, she stood beside the Marquis’s daughter. The moment I saw her, I knew exactly how this gathering would end.
I wanted to flee. But I couldn’t. The gatherings led by children could not be interrupted by adults until the closing bell rang. That meant I couldn’t leave for home until it sounded. Those were the rules.
I couldn’t show weakness. Those who harbored ill will toward me wanted to see me falter. Even as a child, I understood that much.
Yet tears welled up in my eyes. I had wanted to do well. I couldn’t face my parents, who had looked forward to this day as much as I had. How could I explain myself? That Delania Siaz had ruined everything? If I said such things, Father would sigh, saying I hadn’t changed at all from when I used to torment Delania Siaz as a child.
I couldn’t lift my head. I knew better than anyone that most of what Delania Siaz said was lies. But there was one thing that was true—that I did nothing right.
Even now, a tear fell as I lowered my gaze. I needed the sunlight to dry it, to look up at the sky. But once that first tear fell, the rest came pouring out.
I held my breath. I wasn’t alone here. I didn’t want the person who had kindly helped me escape to hear me sobbing. Gripping the plain hem of my skirt tightly, I swallowed my tears.
Then something fell softly onto my head.
“Stay here until the bell rings.”
Startled at first, I quickly understood what had happened. Aster Veil Lilywood had draped his dress uniform jacket over my head. His voice was gentle. The white jacket covering my white dress completely hid my raven-black hair—the hair I’d always been mocked for. It was as if my wish to disappear from this place had come true.
“I’ll read. Don’t worry about it.”
His soft voice seemed to comfort me. True to his word, Aster quietly opened a book. I didn’t need to worry. It was all right to cry. I drew in the breath I’d been holding. And with it came a flood of tears.
* * *
I exhaled softly. That day, the moment the closing bell rang, we both slipped away from the gathering. No lengthy farewells were needed. Only Aster’s bright, radiant smile remained with me. I tried to return the jacket he’d lent me, but he shook his head. His gaze lingered on the grape juice stain on it as he said it was so my family wouldn’t be alarmed.
The boy smiled beautifully at me one last time. I have never forgotten those sparkling green eyes. Though I never attended another social gathering—sick as I was of them—I found myself wanting to see Aster Veil Lilywood again.
Even without attending gatherings, I could learn of his news through the papers. The young Duke of the Ducal House, who had lost his parents in an “unfortunate accident,” naturally inherited his title and, by the Emperor’s command, traveled across battlefields.
No matter how dire the war situation, victory came whenever he arrived. There was nowhere that didn’t speak of his prowess as a commander.
I learned his nickname was “Murderer” at a family gathering. The “unfortunate accident,” they said, had actually occurred by his own hand. Tired of nagging and wanting the title of Duke before his name, he had killed his own parents—those who loved him—with his own hands.
I doubted my ears. It couldn’t be true. Someone who cared for others and knew how to smile warmly couldn’t harm his own family. Yet I continued to hear tales of the “young Duke, a murderer, who dominated the battlefield.”
I wanted to deny it. I wanted to speak up for him in his absence, to say that Aster Veil Lilywood was deeper and kinder than anyone, that he was no murderer.
But I said nothing. It had been only a fleeting connection—who was I to speak his name? I didn’t even know how he had changed over the years.
Yet when the thought came to me that I had to flee, the first name that came to mind was Aster Veil Lilywood.
The nickname “Murderer” suited him not at all. I couldn’t believe that the boy who had smiled gently with sparkling eyes had become an entirely different person. What if my assumptions were wrong? Well, what did it matter if I died?
My parents, who had loved me, were already gone. Rather than live out the rest of my days as a bargaining chip in some old man’s remarriage, a life I never wanted, perhaps dying by Aster Veil Lilywood’s hand would be better. I had come seeking him with nothing left to lose.
And after more than a decade, the Aster Veil Lilywood I faced seemed to be an entirely different person.
Or so I thought. His languid movements made him seem like a beast ready to tear out a throat at any moment, and his green eyes, no longer bright, held the color of poisonous plants growing in shadow. His once lustrous, neatly kept blonde hair was grown long and left unkempt, and his gaze downward toward me held arrogance. The raw, unguarded emotion made it hard for me to breathe.
He seemed to have completely forgotten that we had ever met. I hadn’t expected a touching reunion, but I hadn’t imagined he would forget entirely.
Yet even that terrifying Aster Veil Lilywood was ultimately the same person from long ago. Beneath the surface, he remained kind and attentive.
Today was no exception. He knew I loved sweet things, knew that I ate poorly when nervous. The food he had specially instructed the kitchen to prepare was small enough to eat in one bite, yet rich with sweet jam and butter.
I found myself smiling slightly. He was still someone who knew how to consider others.
That Aster didn’t remember her came as a surprise, yet somehow Lauren found herself understanding even that. Perhaps his kindness was simply an everyday occurrence for him. It would have been nicer if he’d remembered, but it wasn’t something worth bringing up. After all, that day’s memory was still difficult for Lauren to unearth.
“Is something troubling you, madam?”
Anna, who had been adorning her hair with jewels and ribbons, asked. It seemed an unswallowed sigh had escaped her lips. Lauren simply smiled and said it was nothing.
“You did meet members of the Imperial Court at today’s ball, after all. It’s only natural to be concerned.”
Lise, who had been selecting a rouge color to apply to her lips, narrowed her eyes. Ah, Lauren realized anew. She had been so preoccupied with thoughts of Aster that she’d completely forgotten.
Aster’s marriage to Lauren had been to escape a marriage decree with the young Imperial Princess. The Emperor must surely be displeased by this fact. His eyes would be bloodshot, searching for any excuse to find fault. As that thought reached her, her shoulders suddenly grew heavy.
She wanted to flee, but she couldn’t allow herself to do so.
Lauren lifted her gaze to the mirror. A woman with black hair, dressed in dazzling finery, met her with a pallid face. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t anticipated there might be situations she disliked.
As she curved the corners of her lips upward, the woman in the mirror smiled back at her. It seemed she had grown quite accustomed to her position as the Duchess after all. Fortunately, the woman in the mirror appeared neither frightened nor rigid.
Someone knocked on the door. Unable to move while applying rouge to her lips, Lauren waited as Lise, brush in hand, glanced at her before answering the knock. A tall man with red hair was reflected in the mirror.
“His Grace wishes to see you. Would that be acceptable, madam?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Lauren waited for the brush in Lise’s hand to stop moving before rising from her seat. Then, she heard a voice that shouldn’t have been audible.
“You needn’t stand, Lauren.”
She had naturally expected to be summoned to his office, but she hadn’t anticipated Aster coming here. Lauren’s eyes widened. Aster, with one corner of his mouth twisted upward, was smiling at her. Her amethyst eyes examined him carefully.
The first thing that caught her eye was his hair. The golden locks he usually left loose were now neatly tied back with a broad deep green ribbon that matched the color of his eyes. That alone made him look vastly different from his usual self, but perhaps because he was attending the ball, he looked extraordinarily resplendent today.
The formal attire Lauren had requested from Jasmine Aloria fit his frame perfectly, tracing elegant lines. The jacket with gold embroidery at the collar, the vest woven with intricate brocade patterns, the black tie adorning the dress shirt’s neckline resembled Lauren’s hair, and the jewel at its center was a pale amethyst that sparkled like her eyes.
“Does it feel awkward? Does it look strange?”
Aster chuckled softly and asked Lauren. She could only shake her head, unable to speak.

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