The Murderous Duke's Domestic Affairs - Chapter 80

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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 80
Marie stood before the vanity, wrestling with some internal conflict. In her trembling hands lay a matchstick, and upon the vanity rested a candle of peculiar hue. One need not possess great insight to discern the candle’s purpose from the way she hesitated to ignite it.
It seemed that today, something I desperately wished to avoid would indeed come to pass. Very well—I had to escape this situation by any means necessary. I wiped away my tears and drew a deep, steadying breath.
Then, in a small voice, I called out Marie’s name. Though my voice emerged hoarse and fractured, the elderly woman’s slight frame stiffened, her shoulders trembling.
She slowly lowered the matchstick and turned to face me. Her blue eyes wavered uncertainly. Was it guilt that dwelt within them? It seemed that those who served Abarid Bestes possessed surprisingly tender hearts. That must be why she had continued to attend to me faithfully, even as her hair was shorn, her lips split, and bruises bloomed across her skin from his beatings.
“Marie.”
I called her name again, this time with greater urgency, but Marie could not meet my gaze. Her trembling blue eyes, uncertain of what I might say, turned downward, then closed beneath her lids.
“I have a request.”
Though tears continued to flow from my violet eyes, my voice remained resolute. There was no tremor in the words I spoke to the motionless Marie—a plea for her to bring me a blade.
It was Marie who trembled instead. She shook her head violently. From the throat of a woman who had never uttered a sound save for the humming lullabies she once sang to me came an inarticulate cry. It was a sound that pained the ears—a desperate, vehement refusal.
I have no wish to become the Crown Prince’s concubine.
Someone once said that if one lives, good fortune must surely come. Yet with this collar fastened about my neck, I could not imagine such fortune ever finding me. Better to die by my own hand before Abarid Bestes could break me. Truthfully, I was even curious to see what expression would cross his face before my corpse. Though, of course, the dead cannot witness such things.
Our marriage had been one of necessity, so it would not wound Aster Veil Lilywood deeply. Or rather, I hoped it would not. I disliked how utterly unmoved he seemed, but if this were merely a matter he could dismiss with a single furrowed brow and move past—
Marie fled the room as though pursued. Her hurried footsteps betrayed her urgency. She was surely going to inform Abarid Bestes. Then I must act before he arrives.
Once my resolve solidified, helplessness scattered like a coward into the shadows. I clenched my hands upon my knees with all my remaining strength. Drawing a deep breath, I rose from the bed. Despite my firm determination, my legs trembled beneath me. It was not fear—merely the consequence of prolonged confinement to this bed.
There are methods of meeting death beyond the blade alone. I walked toward the window. The locked casement leading to the terrace was vast, spanning an entire wall. My eyes fixed upon the curtains that hung from its apex to its floor. With unsteady steps, I forced myself forward until my hand grasped them firmly.
With hollow eyes, I drew back the curtain. Though it seemed firmly fixed and reluctant to yield, it mattered little. Perhaps that was preferable. As I thought of this as my final moment, I suddenly wished to see the world beyond. I drew a deep breath and opened the curtain fully. The quiet Winter Garden that should have greeted my sight was, strangely, in turmoil.
Turmoil outside? The consciousness that had been consumed by the thought that if I could not escape, I must end myself with my own hands suddenly snapped back into focus.
I wiped my tears away with my palm and peered outside. Knights clad in armor moved about the grounds. Never before had I seen knights in this quiet estate. As my eyes narrowed to focus, I caught sight of the emblems embroidered upon their armor and their short cloaks of deep green.
A lily emblem, brilliant and gleaming even from a distance—unmistakable. It was Lilywood.
* * *
Aster Veil Lilywood gazed upon the sprawling mansion with anxious eyes. This place he had come to was one of Abarid Bestes’s safe houses. Every location he had investigated thus far had proven a dead end, yet this one stirred a measure of certainty within him.
The Crown Prince, as he understood him, was a man of insatiable desire. He would never leave something he wished to possess unattended. He would keep it close, under constant surveillance, to satisfy his hunger for control. Yet Abarid had not absented himself from the Imperial Palace for any extended period.
When Aster Veil Lilywood had sought out the Emperor, fortune had favored him. The Crown Prince happened to be absent at that moment—and he had departed alone, leaving even his adjutant and attendants behind in the palace.
The Emperor had summoned the Crown Prince’s adjutant and provided the list of safe houses. The adjutant had been uneasy, but he could not defy the Emperor’s command. Had Abarid been present in the Imperial Palace, that list would never have fallen into Aster’s hands.
Thanks to this fortune, Aster Veil Lilywood had been able to search every location that matched his criteria. His ability to establish those criteria without hesitation stemmed from a certain conviction born of his understanding of Abarid’s temperament.
A conviction that if he had taken Lauren, it would not be far from the Imperial Palace. In truth, it was only logical. The position of Crown Prince was demanding—requiring his attendance at multiple conferences each day.
Among the locations on his search list, this mansion was the last remaining. Too distant for a carriage, yet close enough that a swift horse could make the journey to and from the Imperial Palace with barely a moment to spare—an estate that appeared, at first glance, abandoned.
Aster’s deep green eyes followed the knights as they searched the mansion. What would he do if Lauren was not here either?
With each passing moment, his sense of dread deepened. Abarid Bestes had proposed to Lauren that she become his concubine, and he would surely pursue her by any means. Aster had no confidence in his ability to merely watch, nor any intention of doing so. His clenched fists trembled with barely contained force.
It was something that must never come to pass. Yet even if, against all odds, it did occur, Aster could not imagine releasing Lauren’s hand. She had already become far too precious to him.
But what of Lauren herself? A considerable time had passed since we became bound together. In that time, I had come to know her as a woman possessed of both gentleness and kindness, yet also of remarkable sense of duty.
She need not have made a “murderer” like me into something human. Though I had requested it, she need not have taught Letti Torres and me how to conduct ourselves. She need not have learned to dance, nor set foot in Imperial Court gatherings. She need not have attended the Empress’s Winter Gathering, nor forced herself into social engagements.
Yet Lauren never relinquished her responsibility as the Duchess of Lilywood. She believed it was her duty to fulfill that role.
I harbored no resentment toward this. I myself would have been content to be swayed by her in any direction. Had she chosen to become Abarid’s concubine of her own will, my heart would have ached, but I would not have sought to bind her to my side. I could not shackle her with emotions I was not permitted to feel—love or jealousy.
But Lauren’s sense of duty would not allow her to become Abarid’s concubine. I was certain of it. She would refuse with every fiber of her being. Even at the cost of her own life.
The thought struck me like a thunderbolt, and my face drained of color. Why had I not considered this sooner? My entire body went rigid. I could not breathe. My mind roared with panic.
Why had I wasted time with such complacency? Without thinking, I began to move. What if it had already happened? The world suddenly spun.
She was the one who had awakened me from my ignorance. Though our marriage had been born of necessity, Lauren had always given me her sincerity. And so, without reason or warning, she had seeped into my heart. Even knowing that entanglement with me—a cursed twin who should have died from birth—would bring only misfortune.
It was an emotion I could never voice. It must never be revealed. And yet—
Not knowing where to go, Aster Veil Lilywood ran until his legs gave out and he collapsed. His mind felt numb, his breath ragged. Something surged up from within—was he about to cry?
But that boy from long ago had already exhausted all his tears. He couldn’t weep now. Aster gazed blankly up at the cold winter sky.
Lauren was the one who had given him everything he never dared to hope for. The warmth he’d once lost. He didn’t want to lose the hand that had held him through sleepless nights, the tender touch he’d barely reclaimed. Without Lauren, the Duke’s Mansion felt suffocatingly silent, as if the very air had been stolen. He couldn’t even remember how he’d survived in that place before.
“…Lauren.”
A parched voice escaped through trembling lips. His eyes lost their focus, their light dimming as they sank inward. His shoulders sagged, all strength draining away. Golden lashes quivered, then slowly his eyelids descended. His breathing, already shallow and labored, grew even more fragile.
Clang!
A sharp sound pierced through the muffled ringing in his ears, as if he were submerged underwater. He gasped sharply, suddenly alert. His green eyes regained their light and swept across his surroundings. Yet despite the urgency in his gaze, he rose slowly, unsteadily finding his feet toward the source of the sound.
Clang! Clang!
Was someone striking glass? The loud noise seemed to be calling to him. Where? Where was it? Aster’s pace quickened. This was different from before, when he’d run without knowing his destination. Now he had a clear purpose.
I’m coming, Lauren. I’m on my way. Just wait a little longer. Please, just a little longer.
He couldn’t believe that sound came from anyone but her. The words he couldn’t speak aloud burned in his heart. He desperately hoped his silent cry would reach her, so she wouldn’t be afraid. So she could find peace.
The clanging sound came from a high terrace, about three stories up. His heart pounded violently. She was there. Lauren was there. Aster’s green eyes gleamed with sudden brilliance.
“Lauren!”
The bitter winter wind swirled between the terrace where Lauren waited and the ground where he stood. Aster called out her name. His voice rode the wind, resonating through the space.
And in that same instant, the glass doors of the terrace shattered with a deafening crash. Beyond the terrace railing, a woman in a white nightgown appeared.
Black hair scattered by the wind. Ah, Lauren.
The mere sight of her eased the tension in his chest. His fierce, hardened gaze softened. A long breath dissolved into the winter air.
Lauren looked somehow thinner. Despite the distance between them, he could see her violet eyes trembling. She must have suffered greatly. She must have been anxious and frightened.
Rage toward Countess Enbail and Abarid Bestes, who had taken her, mingled with resentment toward himself for letting her slip away. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms, but the terrace was far too high.
Then, in that single moment, their eyes met.

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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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