Chapter 4

‘I knew running into him was possible…’

I had worried that if I faced the duke again all my old emotions would come flooding back.

That worry was absolute nonsense.

Instead of tears, all I felt was the overwhelming urge to grab that bastard by the crown of his head and rip his hair out.

The duke met my gaze and let out a mocking smile.

“This is surprising. I did not expect my lady to miss me this much.”

“Excuse me?”

“You were ignored on the wedding night, so you must have been desperate and came running to find me.”

Ah. So Elicia was snubbed again this time.

He probably had no intention of comforting anyone, but I quietly breathed a sigh of relief inside.

There was no universe in which I wanted to perform marital duties with someone who irritated me just by existing.

‘I am not the real one.’

The former Elicia had been fiercely obsessed with the man standing before me.

She pestered the emperor, her uncle, to force this marriage. Then she did every outrageous thing she could think of to win over this cold, emotionless man.

But I disliked the duke.

Because I knew who the real mastermind was. The one who delivered me to Elicia in my previous life and allowed her to torture and kill me.

There was no way I would cling to him like she did.

“If you have nothing further to say, I will take my leave.”

“Wait.”

“Yes.”

I stopped walking immediately. Not because of the duke, but because of the knights behind him glaring at me like they wanted to cut me down. If I moved even one more step, someone might actually draw a sword.

Even though I wore Elicia’s face, I was still just a former commoner with a weak heart. This kind of pressure was not my strong suit.

Yet everyone seemed to take my tense reaction as some kind of joke.

The knights glared even more fiercely.

‘Even so, is this how they treat the duchess? Too much, is it not?’

I grumbled internally, but before I could say anything, the duke stepped forward to calm his men.

“Let us get to the point. I heard from Berthold that you said you have no interest in Lombard’s internal affairs.”

“That remains true even now.”

“Then why did you break into the administrative building?”

His once relaxed voice dropped into a cold, threatening tone.

To be honest, I was a little startled. I could not read him at all.

‘Is he mocking me? I cannot tell. I thought I understood him well enough…’

I recalled my past life.

Back then, since my official parents often sent me on errands, I visited the castle office frequently. As a result, I often ran into Edwin when he was still a young master.

My personal assessment of him had been this:

‘Lombard’s future is doomed.’

Of course I never said it aloud. But that was the truth.

Edwin was too soft-hearted to rule the harsh northern land.

He was so gentle that even when I, a mere commoner’s child, pranked him, he never scolded me. He just laughed like a fool. He could not abandon a small stray kitten in the rain, loved flowers and art, and enjoyed philosophical discussions.

He despised hunting, a favorite noble pastime, calling it barbaric and cruel.

Though our interests aligned surprisingly well, Edwin was not suited to be a ruler. If anything he would have made a fine philosopher or artist.

I once wondered if he would toughen up as he grew, but even after inheriting the dukedom he did not change.

People with blind eyes claimed he was a demon from hell. But I knew better.

He was a well-meaning idiot with a decent face, nothing more.

“I am asking why you broke into the castle office.”

“…Ah.”

Snapped from my thoughts, I looked up at him.

His expression was the same as always, yet his eyes were cold, as if looking at an unwelcome intruder.

Because of that, the frustration I had been trying to swallow resurfaced.

All this fuss over a building filled with trash reports and incompetence. How ridiculous.

“And you, Your Grace, came storming in with armed knights because you thought there was something important hidden in such a garbage-filled office?”

“Garbage… well, I cannot deny that.”

“Your Grace!”

The knights gasped at his unexpectedly honest answer and glared at me as if I were an enemy spy.

Seeing their hostility only made my irritation worse. If I could not read the duke, I could at least scratch at the knights’ nerves.

No one understood how to annoy Northern men better than I did.

“You asked why I came to the office, correct?”

“Then you will answer?”

“If Your Grace insists. The reason I came here is…”

I lowered my voice and paused. His eyes narrowed slightly.

Even the knights, pretending not to listen, leaned in with pricked ears.

“I heard Lombard had many handsome officials.”

“…What?”

“Northern men are known for being handsome, but some say they are brighter and more beautiful than the sun god Leto himself. I thought I would pick one and make him my lover.”

As expected, the knights’ eyes widened in pure horror.

But the real problem was that the duke reacted as well.

The change was slight, but since I had known him for many years, even small shifts were obvious to me.

‘Right. He values his family’s honor.’

No matter how he had ignored Elicia on their wedding night, he would never tolerate the duchess spreading scandalous rumors right after entering his house.

Even the former Elicia had behaved somewhat properly during her first year of marriage to earn his favor.

Looking at his cold expression, I sneered inwardly.

‘How did the old me fall for someone so painfully aristocratic…’

Still, I could not let some random official get dragged into trouble because of my joke, so I decided to ease the tension.

“I have not chosen anyone yet, though.”

“Is that so?”

“But I will soon, so do not worry. Your Grace is not my type anyway.”

“…”

The room fell strangely silent.

Oblivious to that silence, I continued speaking to make my stance clear.

“And I suppose you are curious why I begged His Majesty to marry you? That is the look you are giving me.”

“Ha, yes. I am very curious.”

“This place is far from the capital. I thought if I lived here, no one would meddle in my business. So I pretended to be in love with Your Grace.”

“…”

“I have absolutely no interest in you, not even a little. So there is nothing to worry about.”

After drawing a line so clearly it might as well have been a stone wall, I finally noticed the knights glaring at me with mixed horror and suspicion, as if wondering whether they should eliminate me quietly.

‘W, what are they going to do? Scare me?’

I was not a pitiful commoner anymore. I was a princess. They would not throw me into an underground cell just because I annoyed them.

They would not… right?

“I meant it when I said I will not meddle in Lombard’s internal affairs. But Your Grace must do the same. Do not interfere with anything I do.”

I was still a weak-hearted civilian deep inside, so I offered a compromise to soothe the atmosphere.

“Is that the truth?”

“Who knows. We will see.”

The knights still looked suspicious, but slightly less murderous than before.

The duke, on the other hand, said nothing. He simply stared at me.

It was a gaze weighted with unspoken pressure, as if waiting for me to take it back.

‘I cannot read him at all.’

In time, he would understand.

I truly intended to do nothing. Just enjoy a quiet life of luxury.

“I look forward to our life together.”

“I as well, my lady.”

And that ended the conversation.

My scalp tingled. Even as I fled the office, I could feel his gaze lingering on my back.