The Search for the Duchess’s Husband - Chapter 86

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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 86

Frigia’s eyes were rimmed with red.
“I wish the two of you would stop being so close to the Duchess of Edenberg.”
Her voice was desperate.
A heavy silence settled over the spacious Reception Room.
Marigold was the first to break the quiet.
“That’s difficult, Your Highness.”
“…!”
“I care for Artia. I won’t hide that affection because of your feelings.”
Dahlia, seated beside her, nodded in agreement.
“I share that sentiment.”
They wanted to belong equally to both Artia and Frigia, without favoring one over the other.
Yet Frigia felt as though they had abandoned her and chosen Artia instead.
A single tear gathered in her emerald eyes and fell.
“I thought we were friends, but we weren’t….”
Frigia, having spoken words as sharp as daggers, turned away.
Follow me and tell me I misspoke.
Tell me that what truly matters is me.
But contrary to Frigia’s desperate wish, Marigold and Dahlia remained motionless. Coldly so.

After Frigia left, Marigold exhaled a weary sigh.
“I knew she’d be angry, but her eyes held more hurt than I expected. It pains me.”
“Then go after her now and apologize.”
Marigold shook her head.
“If I were going to do that, I wouldn’t have said anything in the first place. I care for the Princess. But that affection and my feelings for Artia are separate things. Frigia needs to understand that.”
Dahlia wore an exasperated expression.
“You sound like a philanderer going on about loving two women at once.”
Marigold made no effort to refute her friend’s words.
It was true that she had a nature to keep all beautiful women she favored close at hand.

* * *

Five years ago, when Frigia married Count Elysium and came to the Empire, she knew not a single soul.
At her first social gathering, her face taut with anxiety, a woman approached her without hesitation.
It was Marigold.
Unlike the other noblewomen who regarded the foreign Frigia with suspicion, Marigold’s eyes gleamed with genuine affection.
“My goodness, how beautiful you are! You’re like the princess I’ve imagined since childhood come to life!”
It was somewhat embarrassing praise, yet it felt sincere. Frigia smiled shyly.
Seeing this, Marigold burst forth with an exuberant exclamation: “Oh my, you’re even more beautiful when you smile!”
After that, Marigold became Frigia’s closest friend. And her friend Dahlia as well.
‘With the other noblewomen, our relations were merely formal, but with these two—I genuinely cherished them.’
Which made the wound all the deeper.
In the darkened chamber, its lamps unlit, Frigia buried her face in her pillow and wept. How much time had passed this way?
The sound of the door opening pierced the silence.
It was Count Elysium.
“The maids are worried. They say you returned with tears glistening on your face and have not left your chamber since….”
He approached Frigia and wrapped his arms around her delicate shoulders.
“You mustn’t show such a face to the servants, Frigia.”
“…!”
In that instant, Frigia’s weeping ceased.
Elysium caressed her stiffened shoulders and continued.
“You must always present yourself as a flawless princess, at all times and in all places.”
Elysium’s tone was infinitely tender and courteous. Yet his silver-gray eyes gleamed with the savage ferocity of a predator before its prey.
Frigia, her face drained of color, barely managed to open her mouth.
“I-I’m sorry. I just… something so upsetting happened….”
“What happened? Is it because of Mrs. Gorgeous and Mrs. Greg?”
How could he possibly know that?!
Frigia’s eyes widened. Elysium chuckled softly.
“Of course I know. It concerns my beloved wife, after all….”
“….”
“Those women have been getting close to the Countess of Edenberg recently, haven’t they?”
It mattered not whom they befriended. And yet….
“I’ve heard whispers that you’ve grown distant from them because of this.”
One possessed nothing but money and an empty head; the other was rigid and unfeeling as stone.
In Elysium’s eyes, they were utterly contemptible, yet they wielded considerable influence in High Society.
“If you continue to distance yourself from those women, your reputation will suffer. Then becoming this year’s Ethereal will become difficult. That would be most inconvenient.”
Elysium caressed Frigia’s slender, pale neck and whispered.
“My wife must be the very best, after all.”
The tears that had gathered at Frigia’s eyes had already dried. Her beautiful face held but one emotion: absolute terror.
Fear so profound that her voice scarcely came.
Yet if she remained silent, she would be punished again.
Frigia gathered her strength desperately and forced her lips to part.
“I-I’ll do my best.”
Count Elysium gazed at Frigia for a long moment before pressing his lips to hers.
“I look forward to it.”
“….”
After Count Elysium left the room, Frigia simply collapsed onto the floor. Her entire body trembled without cessation, like a lamb that had barely survived being caught by a wolf.
Frigia murmured to herself.
“R-right. This isn’t the time to pout like a child.”
I had to become Ethereal no matter what.
Just as my husband desired.

* * *

Artia stood in the bookstore, exhaling warm breath as she selected her books.
‘So many interesting novels have come out lately.’
After cycling through RedLip’s latest work in the study, then switching back to her previous works, then returning to the new release, she had finally made time to visit the bookstore again.
“Oh! Volume 2 of “The Knight Who Loves Teddy Bears” is out!”
The moment Artia’s eyes sparkled and she reached for the book, a wrinkled hand hovered nearby.
“Oh no….”
The middle-aged woman who had missed the book let out a soft groan. She wore a round hat decorated with flowers and a dress with a colorful pattern.
‘What an adorably fashionable person.’
Captivated by the bright fashion rarely seen at that age, Artia realized a moment later
that the woman was gazing at the book in her hands with longing eyes.
“Were you trying to get this book?”
“Yes, I was. The Shop Owner said there was only one copy left on display, but I arrived too late.”
The woman smiled despite her obvious disappointment.
Artia glanced between the book and the woman before extending it toward her.
“Please take it.”
The woman was startled.
“Are you sure?”
Volume 1 had ended with the stern knight being caught admitting his love for teddy bears to the princess he secretly adored. Artia was desperately curious about what happened next in Volume 2.
But she found it impossible to ignore eyes filled with such tender longing.
“I can read it later. Those who love the work more should read it first.”
Artia smiled with the camaraderie of someone who shared the same passion.
“You’re kind, aren’t you….”
The woman, cradling the book like treasure, gazed at Artia with eyes brimming with gratitude.

My eyes widened as I emerged from the bookstore laden with purchases. Standing before the shop was the Woman in Flower-Decorated Hat I had glimpsed earlier.
A gentleman approached her as she waited outside the bookstore—a young man with an impeccably refined appearance.
As he drew near, the woman smiled with girlish delight and naturally linked her arm through his.
I recognized their connection at a glance.
‘A mother and son.’
Though their demeanor differed, their faces bore a striking resemblance.
Just before the Woman in Flower-Decorated Hat ascended into the carriage, our eyes met. She waved the “Knight Who Loves Teddy Bears” and beamed at me.
‘Thank you, miss.’
I answered her charming greeting with a warm smile of my own.
It was a brief encounter, yet a pleasant one.
And that fateful meeting would unfold in a direction I could never have anticipated.

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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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