You Said I Was a Persecuted, Terminally Ill Grand Duchess? - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 23

 

‘Who exactly is that man? And what is that power of his….’

 

Jenos recalled the bright yellow pupils that had instantly narrowed vertically.

 

In some ways it was a bizarre scene, but truthfully he hadn’t felt fear.

 

A sensation slightly different from fear, one of being overwhelmed.

 

Something close to submission, as if entrusting everything to him was only natural….

 

It was all the more dangerous because it didn’t feel dangerous.

 

Jenos was someone with strong wariness.

 

His life’s trajectory had always been accompanied by things like suspicion and wariness.

 

‘Rene Blanche said no, but judging by that reaction, it’s definitely a lie. However, it doesn’t seem to be an affectionate relationship like Katarina Hugo suggested….’

 

Everything was completely unpredictable.

 

Jenos retraced his memories once more.

 

The day of the festival really felt like he had been bewitched by something.

 

Meeting that strange man, getting swept up in the atmosphere and pretending to be a loving newlywed couple, and really launching lanterns together quite harmoniously….

 

In fact, even after returning to the Duke’s Castle, Jenos was dazed for quite a while.

 

He felt somewhat intoxicated.

 

Though he couldn’t tell by what.

 

That day he slept soundly for the first time in ages.

 

[Ah. This should bring peace for a while. Though it’s temporary.]

 

For Jenos, who could count on his fingers the nights he’d slept well, this was truly remarkable.

 

For several days after the festival, everything was surprisingly peaceful.

 

He thought he was finally escaping from this damned madness.

 

“Where… is this?”

 

Sure enough, when those few dreamlike peaceful days ended, the madness worsened even more.

 

The next day, thinking he had slept well and woken up, Jenos’s heart sank when he opened his eyes in the thicket.

 

His sleepwalking had previously been limited to wandering within the Duke’s Castle.

 

His bare feet were covered in scratches from small branches, showing how long he had wandered outside.

 

[I’ll come find you soon. Hold on until then.]

 

The man who had given him pathetic hope only to snatch it away completely.

 

There was one thing he could guess about that man’s identity.

 

‘But… nothing is certain yet. Everything.’

 

The man he encountered at the festival had disappeared with cryptic words.

 

Though he said he would come, Jenos grew impatient as his madness deepened like a backlash.

 

In the end, the one holding the clue was….

 

‘Rene Blanche.’

 

That woman again.

 

With an unpleasant feeling, Jenos immediately went to find Rene.

 

But an unexpected answer came back.

 

“Your Grace, I apologize. Madam has caught a severe cold. Her fever is too high.”

 

The maid he had assigned to her reluctantly turned Jenos away outside the cottage, looking troubled.

 

In Jenos’s mind was a vivid image of the woman shivering from cold by the riverside on the evening of the festival.

 

Despite him taking off his coat and wrapping it around her then, she had still caught a cold.

 

Due to their considerable height difference, the cloak’s hem had dragged on the ground and gotten messy….

 

‘Is her body that weak?’

 

He also recalled Rene’s appearance when he saw her in the end room of the west tower.

 

Was all that bouncing around every morning claiming to build stamina because of this?

 

Seeing where she lived with his own eyes gave him a strange feeling.

 

The old cottage looked aged and cramped.

 

To think she was satisfied with such quarters and grinned foolishly saying it was good.

 

“….”

 

How stupidly it seemed to him.

 

He even disliked that composure of hers.

 

Yet somehow, he found himself thinking of offering her a room in the main residence.

 

Was this guilt? Or perhaps pity?

 

But feeling pity for a woman from House of Blanche would be quite ridiculous.

 

Above all, when he made this suggestion, Rene would….

 

‘I don’t want to? Why should I?’

 

…It was obvious she would refuse outright like that.

 

After clashing with her, he had gotten somewhat of a sense of what kind of person she was.

 

But that didn’t mean it made sense to flip his evaluation of Rene Blanche like turning over his palm.

 

Like walking through fog where he couldn’t see an inch ahead, Jenos’s chest felt suffocatingly heavy.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

Knock knock.

 

“Your Grace, it’s Cal.”

 

“Yes. Come in.”

 

The old butler Cal entered the study after giving a textbook greeting and said:

 

“Her Grace the Grand Duchess appears to have visited the main library. She seems to think she came without anyone knowing…. I’ve instructed the servants to pretend not to know and avoid going near the library.”

 

“….”

 

Listening silently to those words, Jenos put down his pen and stood up.

 

As evidence of his deep contemplation, the document paper was soaked with ink stains from his pen tip instead of words.

 

“Shall I prepare tea?”

 

The perceptive Cal asked.

 

Though it wasn’t on today’s schedule, he seemed ready to prepare tea time for him and Rene.

 

But Jenos lightly shook his head.

 

“No. Instead, don’t let even an ant wander near the library until I come out.”

 

Jenos’s heavy boots moved with firm steps through the corridor.

 

His mind filled entirely with thoughts of one woman.

 

‘…What did she come here for.’

 

Despite muttering what sounded like criticism, when he came to his senses he was already in front of the library.

 

Jenos carefully grasped the bronze door handle and turned it.

 

They had recently done a thorough cleaning, and the door handle must have been oiled too, as the door opened smoothly without a sound.

 

And a figure came into his view.

 

“….”

 

A tomb of old books where even time seemed to have stopped.

 

In the center sat Rene Blanche, silent and still.

 

Whether she was deeply absorbed in the world of books, Rene seemed completely unaware of Jenos’s arrival.

 

Even now the pages were fluttering as they turned.

 

Sunlight filtering through the stained glass created colorful hues as it danced near her face.

 

The shimmering light flowed slowly, very slowly, along Rene’s silver hair.

 

Her silver hair, as if spun from moonlight, cascaded in waves down to her waist.

 

Finding the hair that spilled due to her bowed head bothersome, Rene casually tucked the fallen strands behind her ear.

 

Thanks to this, her face became even more clearly visible.

 

“…!”

 

Her claim of being sick seemed to be true.

 

She looked a bit thinner than a few days ago, but her beauty remained unchanged.

 

Long, thick eyelashes cast downward.

 

The bright red eyes within them shone brilliantly enough to captivate anyone’s gaze.

 

In Rembrandt’s noble society, there had long been a superstition that red-eyed bastards brought misfortune to their families.

 

Looking at Rene Blanche’s eyes, anyone could vaguely guess what that misfortune might be.

 

‘She… bewitches people.’

 

They were like pure rubies, or like fresh roses in full bloom.

 

Once you were captivated by her eyes, it wasn’t easy to look away.

 

Was that why the people of House of Blanche had kept Rene Blanche so carefully hidden?

 

But that wouldn’t have been reason enough to hate her.

 

For that, Rene was far too thin and small.

 

Her skin, pale beyond white, looked as smooth and cold as marble.

 

But Zenos had felt her warmth before.

 

That night. The small hand he had inadvertently grasped.

 

That hand, which was barely half the size of his own if he was being generous, was now busily turning pages.

 

Zenos, who had been recalling the warmth that was warmer than it looked, unconsciously shuddered.

 

Suddenly Rene’s head lifted.

 

Their eyes met.

 

“Ah.”

 

A small exclamation escaped from Rene’s lips.

 

Zenos silently gazed at Rene and thought.

 

‘What… are you exactly?’

 

What kind of being are you

 

to make me feel like this…?

 

* * *

 

‘What the hell?’

 

I had only lifted my head because my cheeks felt a bit tingly for some reason.

 

But there was the Grand Duke standing right there in front of the door.

 

It even seemed like our eyes had just met.

 

‘Damn it. Did I see wrong? Please tell me I saw wrong.’

 

I squinted my eyes and tried to focus properly.

 

But it was no use.

 

That face and that build belonged to only one person in this Duke’s Castle.

 

‘He’s probably going to give me hell again for using this without permission.’

 

From what I’d experienced so far, despite having such a broad chest, the Grand Duke had the personality of a petty, narrow-minded person.

 

If something didn’t suit his mood, he would definitely find fault with everything.

 

So it was best to avoid him whenever possible.

 

‘You don’t avoid shit because you’re scared of it. You avoid it because it’s disgusting. Ptui.’

 

After cursing him thoroughly in my mind, I quickly stood up from my seat.

 

It was to get the jump on him before the Grand Duke could say anything.

 

“S-sorry. I heard no one was using this place… But I should have asked for permission first. I’m sorry for using it without asking. I’ll leave now.”

 

I was trying to calm my frantically beating heart from anxiety when the Grand Duke stopped me with unexpected words.

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