The Murderous Duke's Domestic Affairs - Chapter 30

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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 30
I waited for the searing pain to strike, but nothing happened. Lauren cautiously opened one eye to assess the situation before her. Trace Siaz’s raised hand was being held back by someone. Without thinking, I turned to look behind me. Her violet eyes widened considerably.
“Who dares raise their voice to the Duchess of Lilywood?”
It was Aster Veil Lilywood who seized Trace Siaz’s arm just as it was about to strike Lauren’s cheek. He lowered his head to examine her expression, and his brow furrowed deeply. The hand gripping Trace Siaz’s arm tightened. Trace Siaz let out a pained groan.
Aster Veil Lilywood extended his free hand to pull Lauren into his embrace from behind. Unlike the grip on Trace Siaz’s arm, his touch was gentle. Lauren exhaled a sigh of relief. Standing between her and Trace Siaz, he was already a large man, but now he appeared positively towering—whether from the effects of alcohol or not.
“Ow! My wrist! Please release me! It’s going to break!”
The Duchess spoke informally to her nephew but used formal speech with Aster Veil Lilywood. The absurdity of it made Aster twist one corner of his mouth into a smile. Then he released the pressure from his grip. Trace Siaz collapsed, clutching his wrist and groaning.
With his hand now free, Aster Veil Lilywood turned Lauren around and drew her close, pressing her forehead against his chest. He had noticed her trembling and wavering. She seemed unable to bear the weight of everyone’s stares. Since he couldn’t whisk her away immediately, he decided instead to shield her from their gaze.
“What is the meaning of this, Duke! I will formally demand compensation for damages!”
Trace Siaz cried out. His voice echoed loudly through the now-silent ballroom. The string quartet’s performance had stopped.
Tsk. Aster Veil Lilywood clicked his tongue. Trace Siaz certainly knew how to make a scene.
“Do as you wish, Previous Marquis Siaz. But first, there’s something I need to clarify. I don’t understand why I need your permission to marry my own wife.”
It was strange. Aster Veil Lilywood’s quiet voice carried more clearly than Trace Siaz’s shouting. Nestled in Aster’s protective embrace, Lauren listened quietly to his cold tone. Though it held a chill, to her it was the warmest sound in the world.
“Of course you need it! How can anyone marry without the family head’s approval!”
“Unfortunately, the family head who granted me permission to marry is not you.”
This man is saying strange things, Lauren murmured to herself. She had fled after Emel Siaz’s death, once Trace Siaz had seized the marquis title. So Trace Siaz’s point about marrying without the family head’s approval was valid. But he was claiming that the family head who granted permission was not Trace Siaz.
“What do you mean by—”
“It’s settled. I’ve already met with Previous Marquis Emel Siaz and received his approval.”
If that were truly the case, there would be no problem. How wonderful that would be. Even knowing he was lying, Lauren’s heart began to race slightly.
Ah, she had forgotten that Aster Veil Lilywood had actually met her. She told herself not to hope, yet her heart kept pounding—surely it was just the alcohol.
The murmuring voices around her no longer reached her ears. Whether it was because the alcohol she could barely tolerate had reached its limit, or because her mind had finally found peace, her eyes kept closing.
Could she simply sleep now? With him present, neither Trace Siaz nor Abarid Bestes mattered anymore. Lauren could no longer resist the encroaching drowsiness.
* * *
The body of Lauren in my arms went limp. Perhaps the stress had been so severe she had fainted. Aster Veil Lilywood tightened the arm holding her. It would be best to return to the Duke’s Mansion quickly. Lauren needed rest.
The murmuring of the crowd about not receiving the “family head’s approval” shifted to nods of understanding at Aster Veil Lilywood’s explanation about receiving “Previous Marquis Emel Siaz’s approval.”
Aster Veil Lilywood suppressed the urge to laugh. A marriage where the family head’s approval took precedence over the bride’s own wishes. He understood perfectly well why Lauren had come to him with a proposal to marry.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
Aster Veil Lilywood’s poisonous green eyes looked down at Trace Siaz with a cold gleam. His face flushed, Trace Siaz swallowed his groan. Aster twisted his lips and exhaled a laugh. Then, with careful hands, he lifted Lauren into his arms. The hostile whispers had transformed into admiring gasps filled with goodwill.
‘This is ridiculous.’
The day’s business was finished once he met with the Emperor. No one would dare say anything to him now that he was leaving the ballroom. Aster Veil Lilywood abandoned the silent Trace Siaz and began to walk. His departure would surely provoke complaints from someone, but he didn’t care. What did a murderer care for others’ opinions?
Aster Veil Lilywood looked down at Lauren in his arms. The small woman lay with her eyes tightly closed, asleep. As he gazed at her, something unusual caught his eye. Her frown deepened naturally. The artifact hanging around her neck was emitting a faint light, blinking dimly.
What on earth had happened? When they left the terrace, the sunset-painted sky had given way to darkness. He hadn’t realized so much time had passed. If only he had hurried a little more, Lauren might not have encountered Trace Siaz. Perhaps she wouldn’t have lost consciousness like this.
Aster Veil Lilywood blamed himself. It was natural for House of Siaz to attend the Imperial Ball, which invited the Empire’s nobility. Just because Lauren’s father, Previous Marquis Siaz, hadn’t attended didn’t mean Trace Siaz wouldn’t. He had been too careless. He had known that Lauren didn’t care much for the people of House of Siaz, yet he had failed to account for this.
He couldn’t forgive his own stupidity. Aster Veil Lilywood forcibly suppressed his irritation at himself and walked toward where the carriage waited. The lightness of the small woman in his arms only fueled his frustration further. Suppressing the urge to spit out curses, he located the Ducal House’s carriage.
Perhaps because he always left the ballroom first, the carriage was waiting for him at the front. The Coachman’s eyes widened at the sight of Lauren in his arms. He immediately jumped down from the driver’s seat and hurriedly opened the carriage door.
“Let’s go home.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
With a brief command, Aster Veil Lilywood carefully settled Lauren onto the carriage seat. Then he climbed in himself and closed the door. Once seated beside Lauren, he unfolded a neatly folded blanket and draped it over her, then tapped the carriage roof. The horse whinnied and began to gallop.
Before they had traveled far, the carriage’s swaying caused Lauren to slump onto his shoulder. Aster Veil Lilywood caught her in alarm. He carefully examined her, wondering if she might wake, but Lauren showed no sign of opening her eyes.
A strong smell of alcohol, which hadn’t been noticeable before, now emanated from her. From her breath alone, he could tell it was potent liquor. She didn’t seem the type to drink willingly. Lauren had always been weak with alcohol.
Then who had offered her the drink? It didn’t seem like Trace Siaz. The Lauren he knew was a cautious person. She would never have drunk something so strong, especially not something Trace Siaz had offered. So who was it? Was the artifact’s luminescence connected to the alcohol she had consumed?
Once we returned, I would need to give her a sobering draught first thing. The servants remaining at the Duke’s Mansion were competent. Particularly, the one with medical credentials would be more than capable of preparing something effective. Having him conduct a proper examination would be wise as well.
“…Mmh.”
Lost in thought, a small whimper escaped from between Lauren’s lips. Aster Veil Lilywood, startled, examined Lauren as she leaned against his shoulder.
She had seemed fine moments ago, yet now she trembled uncontrollably, cold sweat beading on her skin. Aster Veil Lilywood carefully raised his hand and pressed it against her forehead. His expression darkened at the fever’s intensity—all the more concerning given his naturally elevated body temperature.
Aster Veil Lilywood gently drew her down to rest across his lap. To lower her fever, it would be best to remove the blanket and open the carriage window. But if her body temperature dropped too much, it could prove harmful instead. What should he do? He began to genuinely deliberate.
Severe stress. Strong alcohol. Could an artifact react to such things? Or was there something else that had posed a threat to her? To understand the situation, I would need to wake Lauren, but seeing her rigid form trembling so violently, I couldn’t bring myself to disturb her rest. Even a little sleep would do her good.
Instead, I stroked her hair. My touch was careful, devoid of any force. Her beautifully adorned locks and forehead were drenched in perspiration, so I withdrew a handkerchief and gently dabbed her brow dry. Perhaps my touch was not unwelcome, for Lauren’s whimpers gradually subsided.
“You’ll be alright, Lauren. Rest at home and you’ll feel better.”
Aster Veil Lilywood soothed her in a low voice. Seeing her suffer like this unsettled me. I had always believed myself indifferent to others, yet I couldn’t fathom why Lauren was the exception.
Was it because she was useful? Because she was essential to managing the Duke’s Mansion and the fiefdom? But Letti Torres and Calvin Stewart were equally important, weren’t they? Why only Lauren?
Aster Veil Lilywood drew a slow breath instead of sighing. I didn’t want her to hear my sigh. If anything, I should be the object of sighs. There was nothing I did properly, after all.
He raised his hand and rubbed his face. Why did she occupy his thoughts so? It seemed to be more than merely because her father had taken his side.
Ah, now that I thought of it, I owed her an apology for fabricating that story about her father on my own whim. For some reason, when Trace mentioned his permission, anger had flared within me, and I had spoken without thinking. Emel Siaz was precious to Lauren. I wondered if mentioning his name had caused her pain.
In such a short time, I had wronged her so much. Aster Veil Lilywood found himself biting his lip. Regardless of the Emperor’s summons, leaving her side for so long, laying hands on her Uncle, speaking Emel Siaz’s name so carelessly—all of it weighed on me.
If I apologized sincerely, would Lauren forgive me?
Even as I pondered a question without answer, I continued to stroke Lauren’s hair.

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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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