The Search for the Duchess’s Husband - Chapter 47

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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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In Search of the Duke’s Husband – Episode 47

Helen caressed Artia’s pale cheek with tender affection.
“How could you be so beautiful? You will surely become the most radiant and blissful bride in all the world. Mother will make certain of it.”
‘A bride?!’
Artia’s eyes widened in shock as she glanced toward Humphrey standing beside her.
Humphrey’s expression mirrored hers exactly as he turned to look at John.
John regarded Helen with a grave countenance—the penetrating gaze of a physician carefully assessing a patient’s condition.
Helen gripped Artia’s hand firmly, speaking without pause.
“I can hardly wait to see how exquisite the wedding dress Madame Diola will create shall be.”
“Mother will prepare facial treatments for you every day. Let us nurture your skin diligently until the wedding.”
“Our daughter has such a graceful figure that there is no need to restrict her meals severely. You need only consume a little less dessert.”
Artia concealed her bewilderment and responded warmly to Helen’s enthusiasm.
Helen spent the day radiating vitality, as though her twenty years of confinement to bed had been nothing but a fabrication.
“The lady is currently sustained by willpower alone. Her body remains in a weakened state. Should she exert herself too greatly, she may collapse and be unable to endure.”
Upon hearing John’s words, Humphrey spoke to Helen.
“Helen, it has grown late. You must rest now.”
Yet Helen shook her head vehemently.
“No. I had a terrible nightmare that Julie disappeared. I cannot bear to have such a dream again.”
Helen whimpered like a child, her skeletal hand—nothing but bone—clutching Artia’s hand with desperate strength.
As though she would never let go.
Just as Humphrey was about to speak to Helen, Artia interjected.
“Julie is not going anywhere. She will remain at Mother’s side always.”
“Truly?”
“Yes, so please rest now. Then tomorrow we can continue preparing for the wedding.”
Sitting beside the bed, Artia gazed at Helen with gentle, reassuring eyes.
Helen’s eyelids gradually closed. Even as sleep claimed her, her hand—which had clung so desperately—was gently held by Artia.
A silent promise that all would be well.
Soon Helen drifted into peaceful slumber.

* * *

Humphrey emerged from the room with a startled expression.
“She received Helen quite warmly.”
I laughed.
“As I mentioned, I’ve been caring for Mother for a long time.”
Humphrey studied me with a complicated expression.
It was John who broke the silence.
“From my observations, it appears Madam believes the present time is twenty years ago—around the time of Miss Juliet’s wedding.”
“…!”
Humphrey and I widened our eyes simultaneously.
Humphrey furrowed his brow as he spoke.
“But Helen showed no particular reaction upon seeing me. If her memories had truly reverted to twenty years ago, shouldn’t she have been startled by my aged appearance?”
“As I mentioned, Madam is currently in a state of delirium. She cannot properly distinguish between reality and the past, the genuine and the false. She perceives only what she wishes to see.”
“….”
Observing Humphrey at a loss for words, John’s expression grew somber.
“The memories of that early summer, twenty years past, remain vivid still.”
Juliet, now twenty years old, stood on the eve of her wedding.
Helen’s joy at her daughter becoming a bride far outweighed the sorrow of losing the child she had cradled in her arms.
Even as Helen moved about ceaselessly preparing for her daughter’s wedding, she never lost her smile.
Yet the tender mother’s heart proved powerless against fate—Juliet died.
The night before the wedding.
“…!”
I knew of Juliet’s death, but I had not known it occurred the night before the wedding. I covered my mouth in shock.
John continued.
“Madam collapsed from the shock and has never recovered in body or spirit since. The wedding ceremony she could never hold became her deepest regret. Even now, lost in delirium, she remains bound to that wedding.”
“Then what should we do?”
“In my judgment, it would be best to fulfill Madam’s wish as it stands.”
“What?!”
“I do not mean to hold an actual wedding. Rather, to stage a scene—like a scene from an opera. The human heart finds peace only when it unravels the knots that bind it so tightly. Surely this would bring Madam great solace. Even if it is false.”
Humphrey pressed his lips together uncertainly, then looked toward me.
“Could you arrange a false wedding for her?”
Though Humphrey’s eyes held the gravity of an unreasonable request, the matter itself was hardly serious to me.
After all, this would not be my first wedding.
More importantly, I had agreed to receive two billion gold from Uncle—a substantial sum.
For such a sum, I could do far more.
“Yes, I will.”
The moment I nodded readily, Humphrey’s anxious eyes filled with emotion.
“Thank you.”
In the elderly man’s white-haired figure bowing his head, I felt the sincerity of his gratitude.
I answered his bow with a faint smile and spoke.
“In exchange, I have one request.”
From the moment Helen mistook Artia for Juliet, the advantage lay with Artia.
Humphrey nodded, prepared to offer ten times the original sum if needed to sweeten the deal.
“Name your terms.”
“I must return to the Convent with the money within a month. I hope everything will be resolved by then.”
John offered his counsel.
“The lady shows interest only in Miss Juliet; her judgment on other matters remains unclear. The same applies to dates. She would believe it if the wedding were tomorrow, though she might be flustered by the lack of preparations.”
Humphrey pondered for a moment before speaking.
“Then we shall prepare as quickly as possible and hold the wedding ceremony.”
He continued, addressing Artia.
“Twenty years ago, Juliet departed the Edenberg Mansion with her groom immediately after the ceremony. Follow that same account—leave here right after your wedding.”
It was a sound plan.
If executed properly, I could slip away from the Edenberg Mansion naturally without shocking Helen.
And so Artia became Juliet, preparing for a false wedding ceremony.

* * *

“Julie.”
Helen beamed, extending her arms.
Artia nestled into Helen’s embrace like a child, her face flushing.
‘She does this every day, and I’m embarrassed every time.’
While mother and daughter exchanged greetings, the Maids moved with practiced efficiency, arranging food upon the outdoor tables.
Seeing the lavish spread as if a grand celebration had been arranged, Helen spoke.
“Maintaining your figure to become a beautiful bride is certainly important, but health is paramount. This food is made from precious ingredients—eat well.”
Helen cut the meat into small pieces and offered it to Artia.
Artia regarded the meat with uncertainty before opening her mouth with an “ah” and accepting it.
The honey-glazed chicken was sweet and tender.
“You eat so well, my daughter.”
Helen’s expression glowed as though she herself had eaten.
At such moments, Artia’s thoughts turned to her mother, Sylvia.
Her mother, who lay perpetually in bed, had once gazed at her young daughter with precisely such eyes.
‘I merely accepted food like a baby bird, yet it feels as though I’ve accomplished something magnificent in this world.’
Though burdened by Helen’s gaze, Artia ate every morsel offered to her.
After the meal, Artia in turn prepared Helen’s medicine.
The medicine John had concocted from rare medicinal herbs was a murky color with a pungent odor. Its taste was nothing short of dreadful.
Yet Helen accepted it without hesitation and drank it down completely.
As Helen finished the medicine, Artia applauded with a “wonderful!”
“You’re amazing, Mother.”
Helen laughed, finding Artia’s gesture endearing.
“Mother will recover quickly and give our daughter a proper wedding ceremony.”
Watching Helen, Humphrey’s eyes grew red at the corners.
My wife, who had lain in that dim room day after day, refusing everything and yearning only for death—I could scarcely believe the sight before me now.
There she stood beneath the brilliant sunlight, partaking of food and medicine, her face radiant with laughter—a reality that seemed impossible to comprehend.
It felt like nothing more than a dream.

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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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