Chapter 32

“…What’s wrong?”

Arthur looked at Grace and asked her, holding her shaking hand carefully. Grace took her eyes off the letter and answered, staring at Arthur, who looked perturbedly at her.

“Yes? What?”

“Aren’t your hands shaking right now? Are you cold?”

“…Oh, no. It’s not cold. I’m fine. I just, I guess I did it without realizing.”

Grace smiled awkwardly and deliberately waved her hand gently holding the letter. Nevertheless, Arthur looked at her anxiously. He looked at her with a sad gaze and opened his mouth carefully.

“…Madam.”

“Yes?”

“Do you not want to go to that party by any chance? If that’s the case, Then I’ll make any reasonable excuse and refuse.”

“…What? No, I’m fine…”

“The Duke of Alberton omitted all the proper gifts, new matching wedding dresses, and the bridal shower too citing the excuse of ‘imminent date’ unlike what he is doing now, when you were preparing to marry me.*”

[*T/N: Arthur is saying that Duke Alberton didn’t make the wedding of Grace as big as Marianne’s wedding. At Grace’s wedding there were no proper gifts, no new matching wedding dresses and no bridal shower which would be there in Marianne’s wedding.]

“…Ah…”

“The feeling of discrimination and contempt not from anyone else but from the family, must have been an unimaginable pain. It breaks my heart to think of Ms. Marianne, who will meet and talk with those people again and will be sincerely blessed in front of you, unlike the time when you became my wife.”

“…Duke.”

“….I’m sorry. If you had married some other royal family or nobleman, not someone like me, you could have been treated better… I’m sorry to think that you were treated like that because you married me, and I feel sorry for not being able to understand your heart.”

Arthur said with a wry smile. Grace was moved by what he said. Until now, she had never felt sad about the cold treatment of her family. No, to be honest, she didn’t even think it was cold treatment. She considered such treatment normal for herself who was born without any magic abilities.

When Arthur said that he was heartbroken and she should have been treated more preciously, Grace was extremely grateful. She headed for him with a light smile that hid her feelings.

“You don’t have to say that. No matter who I would have married to, I wouldn’t have been treated the same way as my sister. I’m sure my father would always choose a person who was ‘lagging’* according to his standards and set him with me.”

[*T/N: She meant that her father would find someone who is lower than her father’s standards (Which can also mean that the person doesn’t necessarily have to be bad but doesn’t match her father’s standards which is too high. We saw Arthur wasn’t bad but was infamous because of the rumors about the curse.)]

“…Lady.”

“It’s okay, I’m used to that kind of situation. And I don’t envy her at all about what she’s going to receive.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m not jealous at all. Instead of receiving those things, I got Duke who cared so much about me as my husband. It’s not a shame when I think about it.”

“….Well, if you think so… I’m glad.”

Arthur turned his head slightly, and stammered. Grace laughed a little when she saw Arthur’s ears turning red.

She was happy that he, who was always blunt, was actually more affectionate and shy than anyone else, but sometimes she got a little angry.

People didn’t know anything for a long time and pointed fingers at him as the ‘cursed Monster Duke.’

After all, she has to remove the stigma that has been attached to this person. Even if it means she has to put herself in danger. Grace thought so and folded the letter nicely and held it out to Sir Oliver and said.

“Sir Oliver, I don’t have to write a reply to this letter, do I?”

“Of course. If you let me know what the lady wants to say, I will write back and deliver it.”

“All right, I am looking forward to hearing from you.”

“How should I write it?”

Grace replied to Sir Oliver’s question with a smile.

“Just write that I am willing to attend to bless my only sister, regardless of whether it’s long.”

“All right.”

“And Sally, please prepare a dress and pack my luggage for the day.”

“Yes, I see.”

Sir Oliver knelt on one knee, and Sally bowed slightly to show courtesy.

Grace briefly looked at Sally and Sir Oliver, who were moving in busy steps to do what was given to them. Again, there was a little heavy silence in the long hallway where only the two were left. Arthur looked at Grace and said in a worried voice.

“Do you really need to go?”

“Yes, I want to go.”

“It would have been nice if I could come with you, but the invitation only had the lady’s name…”

“The principle is that only women, except for the one who will be the groom, will attend the party to celebrate the new bride.”

Arthur, who clicked his tongue with a short swear word and Grace laughed and patted him affectionately. But Arthur still stared at Grace with an unhappy gaze. Grace began to understand Arthur’s feelings.

Now that they had understood each other’s feelings and had a peaceful time of their own, it would not be convincing to go there at the invitation of the hostile Duke of Alberton away from him. But she still had to go. There can be a clue to completely remove the curse on Arthur and Leon and find complete tranquility.

Grace reached out affectionately and said, sweeping Arthur’s masked face.

“Actually, I don’t really want to go either.”

“Then why are you going?”

When Arthur asked back as if he was frustrated, Grace turned her eyes and checked the surroundings, and whispered quietly in his ear.

“I said I had a conversation with Sally about the fantasy I saw earlier, right?”

“Yes.”

“At that time, I heard my father’s story. I’ve heard that whenever something strange happened to the Felix family, my father led his students to the Felix mansion and investigated it.”

Arthur’s gaze sank coldly at the words. Then he spoke to Grace in a subdued voice.

“….Do you think the ‘curse’ involves the Duke of Alberton?”

“I don’t know yet. But I’m sure my father knows something. I heard that whenever something suspicious happened to the Duke’s parents and his* ex-wife and fiancés, or when a curse occurred, my father recorded something…It’s definitely in the Alberton mansion.”

“So you’re going to find them? You don’t even know where it is, do you?”

“No, I know. There’s one place I can guess.”

Looking down at Arthur with a stiff face, Grace answered with conviction. Arthur told Grace with a completely disconcerting look on his face.

“…How are you going to do that alone? It’s dangerous.”

“Well, it’s definitely dangerous if I get caught… but it’s still worth it.”

“If you have to do it, why don’t you ask Sally or others to do it? If you can’t trust them, I’ll….”

“The only people who know about that place are me and the people of the Alberton family. If I get caught making other people do it for no reason, only the Duke would be ridiculed… And decisively, I want to check with my own eyes the secrets my father is hiding.”

“….Lady.”

“Well, it’s just because it’s my own father who knows something. Actually, the possibility is fifty-fifty. So I’m worried. What if there’s nothing after searching hard? Oh, no. Is it better to have nothing?”

Grace shrugged her shoulders, looking at Arthur with a firm gaze. Arthur laughed at the appearance with a sound that seemed to be deflating. As if it can’t be helped now.

“….I see. How can I disobey my wife?”

“Thank you. And I’m sorry…Arthur.”

Grace said so and hugged Arthur’s waist tightly with her arms. In fact, to be honest, she was confused even after deciding to go. She wanted to know the truth hidden by her father, Duke Alberton, and she has been wanting to know it forever.

If it was true that Duke Alberton intervened in all of the ‘curses’, he would become a ‘horrible family member’ who injured Duke Arthur’s parents, ex-wife, and all of his fiancés.

‘…Even if it turns out to be true, will you like me as you do now?’

Grace swallowed the question inside and dug into Arthur’s arms, hugging him. Arthur smiled and said quietly feeling that she looked cute.

“That’s so mean. Do you call me by my name only at times like this?”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll continue calling you by your name.”

“Please do that. There are countless people who call me the Duke, but the only one who can call me by my name is my wife.”

“….Does that mean I’m special?”

When Grace smiled and asked, Arthur replied, staring at her with serious eyes.

“Of course. There’s no one special to me except for my wife and Leon.”

“…Arthur.”

“So don’t get hurt and come back safely and quickly.”

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

“Two days. In two days, I’ll pick you up at the Alberton mansion even if you stir it.”

“Oh my, are you going to pick me up? I like the idea.”

At Arthur’s threat, Grace giggled and rubbed her face against his shoulder. Then Grace sighed lazily and said, with Arthur’s big hand gently sweeping down her head and shoulders.

“I’ll be back safely…”

“Yes, I trust you.”

Is there another woman other than herself who has to be so determined to go home? Grace looked up at Arthur, still unsure.

‘….After I safely find the secret there and come back to this mansion. At that time…’

Will she have the courage to tell anyone about another secret she’s hiding? And when Arthur gets to know all those secrets, will he smile at her as he does now?

She really hoped so, Grace thought so and smiled brightly.

As if not wanting to worry about it anymore.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

T/N: I am still kinda busy with my school projects and studies (-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩___-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩). Next chapter will probably be the last chapter from me as I will be going on a long hiatus (kinda don’t wanna go on a hiatus).(╥﹏╥)