You Said I Was a Persecuted, Terminally Ill Grand Duchess? - Chapter 29

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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 29

 

“Your Grace!”

 

The one waiting for Jenos in front of the cottage was, perhaps unsurprisingly, head butler Cal.

 

In truth, he too hadn’t been certain that Jenos would be here.

 

Cal, who had been half-doubting, couldn’t help but brighten when he saw Jenos emerging from the gate.

 

He was a seasoned butler who rarely showed his emotions, but he cared enough for his lord to welcome such an unfamiliar change.

 

“Your Grace! Did you… sleep?”

 

Jenos nodded with a still dazed expression.

 

He had slept so deeply.

 

One side of his hair was sticking up, forming a small cowlick.

 

Even this filled Cal with overwhelming emotion.

 

“We searched the entire Duke’s Castle but couldn’t find you, so I came all the way here.”

 

Cal, trying to compose his moved expression, handed Jenos the cloak and shoes he had been neatly holding in both hands.

 

And while Jenos put on his shoes, he discreetly helped arrange his appearance.

 

Under the butler’s skilled touch, his fine dark hair became smooth and settled once again.

 

Jenos, lost in other thoughts, roughly arranged his attire and began walking with heavy steps.

 

Thanks to the perceptive Cal, at least he wouldn’t lose face in front of the servants…

 

It was probably the time when all the servants would be actively working.

 

There was no way no one had witnessed the Duke emerging from the cottage area.

 

With the strange factions that had formed among the servants over Katarina and Rene.

 

This move by Jenos would surely make the Duke’s Castle noisy once again.

 

“I’m truly relieved that you don’t appear to be injured. It’s my negligence for not preventing this despite knowing your madness had deepened.”

 

“How could an old man like you stop a Sword Master?”

 

“Haha. That’s true. But you don’t have much aggression, do you? Unlike the previous Duke, that’s quite fortunate.”

 

The butler chuckled at Jenos’s grumpy words and replied.

 

Cal’s somewhat excited reaction was also quite natural.

 

After contact with the dragon, when Jenos’s madness had improved, Cal had been the most delighted.

 

‘When the madness worsened again, Cal was also the one most heartbroken as if all efforts had been in vain.’

 

Jenos opened his reluctant mouth.

 

Having slept so deeply, his mind was clearer than ever before.

 

“Did I take the medicine you gave me yesterday?”

 

“No, Your Grace… I did offer herbal tea that’s good for sleep, but that was all. Do you… not remember?”

 

“Right. I don’t remember falling asleep or coming to the cottage at all.”

 

Cal’s expression gradually became serious as he listened quietly.

 

He had already seen his lord suffer from false hope several times.

 

But that didn’t mean he could just sit still out of fear.

 

No matter what medicines were brewed and drunk, what incense was burned, what treatments were received, the madness showed no improvement.

 

Hadn’t they already lost Jenos’s father, the previous Duke, to this illness once before?

 

His condition had been more severe than Jenos’s.

 

A person who was normally gentle would become truly violent like a madman once he fell asleep.

 

Thus, the name given to this symptom was ‘madness.’

 

The madness eventually consumed the previous Duke, and his end was a miserable death.

 

Jenos’s frail mother fell ill from the shock and passed away not long after.

 

The young boy who lost his parents in an instant soon became Duke, and didn’t even realize his neck was breaking from bearing that heavy crown.

 

Cal had always found this heartbreaking.

 

Jenos was not the type to share his burdens with others.

 

Rather, he burrowed inward, inward… endlessly digging into himself and consuming himself from within.

 

Cal sometimes felt as if it was all his fault.

 

Diana, the previous Duchess who was currently away, probably felt the same way.

 

Those past days had been like an unbreakable nightmare.

 

They had finally discovered a clue that seemed impossible to grasp.

 

Cal, who had been lost in brief reminiscence, collected his thoughts again.

 

In any case, it was clearly good news.

 

“Might the Duchess know something?”

 

“Well…”

 

Even as he answered, there was no certainty in Jenos’s tone.

 

But he also didn’t want to disappoint the butler who was so delighted.

 

After hesitating a bit, Jenos finally voiced the conclusion he had been mulling over.

 

“…Perhaps the act of sleeping while holding someone might be a cure for the madness. Yes. Honestly, I really slept well, damn it.”

 

Jenos naturally recalled the image of Rene sleeping soundly in his arms.

 

The small woman with smooth, silky skin.

 

Rabbit-like front teeth visible between slightly parted, plump pink lips.

 

Her fine hair, like silver thread, was scattered here and there from tossing in sleep, resembling silver waves.

 

Rene had been clinging to Jenos close enough for him to feel the warm body temperature characteristic of sleeping people.

 

“…”

 

Jenos deliberately lifted his head to look at the sky.

 

The blazing midday sun seemed to be chiding Jenos.

 

‘Get a grip. It’s just a marriage in name only anyway. You didn’t expect her to fulfill the role of Duchess.’

 

But… the peaceful night he had found again was so desperately needed.

 

“Hah…”

 

His heart kept leaning to one side.

 

“Your Grace, shall I arrange the bedroom?”

 

Cal, who had keenly noticed his master’s dilemma, asked.

 

Jenos remained silent for a long while before finally nodding.

 

The tips of the large man’s ears were red as he walked ahead.

 

* * *

 

A while later.

 

‘…When did I fall asleep?’

 

No one had woken me, yet my eyes opened naturally.

 

A gentle breeze was blowing, and the sunlight warming me was cozy.

 

I could hear birds chirping in the distance.

 

But wait.

 

This strange morning peace. I’m totally late, aren’t I!

 

“Gasp!”

 

I bolted upright, then suddenly remembered and let my body slump.

 

‘Oh, right. I transmigrated.’

 

It seemed the instincts of a lackey… no, wait. A graduate student were still embedded deep within me.

 

The small fact that being late here wouldn’t matter suddenly made me incredibly happy!

 

Hehe, I flopped back down and scratched my belly.

 

Being a legitimate unemployed person—though it wasn’t illegal to begin with—really is great!

 

“Wow, I slept like a legend.”

 

I didn’t quite remember when I fell asleep, but it was certain I had slept in luxuriously late.

 

The scenery beyond the window showed the sun was already high in the sky.

 

I slept in this late?

 

Though I had been losing sleep for the past few days, I actually slept well anywhere as long as I had a place to rest my head, and being naturally a morning person, I usually woke up at dawn.

 

But to sleep in until this hour.

 

Well, this body is weak and there’s nothing particular to do, so isn’t it fine?

 

‘That thing last night must have been a dream.’

 

I looked at the empty space beside me and rolled over for no reason.

 

Right, there’s no way something like that could be real.

 

Though it was a very vivid dream.

 

‘Ugh, whatever. It’s not like anything actually happened.’

 

Just as I was lying there comfortably, a certain fact suddenly crossed my mind.

 

“Oh! Come to think of it, today’s the day I promised to plant vegetable seedlings with the kids!”

 

It’s okay to oversleep… no it’s not!

 

Damn! Now I’m in the professor position, and the person in charge is running late!

 

As a former graduate student who knew better than anyone how harshly we would criticize professors even for being just a little late, I immediately got up without delay.

 

I was still in my pajamas, but performance was what mattered for now.

 

When I hurriedly opened the door, I came face to face with Marigona who was hanging laundry.

 

It was an unexpectedly peaceful scene.

 

“My lady! Did you sleep well?”

 

Marigona even looked quite cheerful for some reason.

 

I said with a tearful expression.

 

“I overslept terribly, didn’t I? Sorry!”

 

“What does it matter? Hoho! On days like this, it’s natural to oversleep… Oh my!”

 

Then she covered her face and laughed as if she was being quite mischievous.

 

“Huh?”

 

What’s this? Why do I feel a chill when I see that smile?

 

Marigona, the only married woman among the Gana-da Maid Team, sometimes made spicy married woman jokes.

 

“Since you spent your first night that wasn’t lonely, how soundly you must have slept!”

 

Just like right now!

 

An ominous premonition suddenly gave me goosebumps.

 

“A night that wasn’t lonely…? Wh-what?! What are you talking about!”

 

“Hohoho. The rumor has already spread throughout the Duke’s Castle. Don’t play innocent.”

 

“So what rumor exactly?”

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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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