“I’m in love with you. I want to take responsibility for all the mistakes I’ve made until now and live for you for the rest of my life.”
I was about to snap and lose my temper.
I should have shot back, asking what kind of nonsense that was.
But for some reason,
when a person gets really angry, does it somehow leave them speechless?
“Eh?”
I let out a silly sound and flinched, trembling.
My face turned beet red in an instant.
Even though I thought he was just trying to confuse me and enjoy my reaction, the serious expression on the duke’s face made that thought disappear.
I wondered if three seconds of silence had passed.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was just giving him more room, so I snapped back to my senses and pushed the duke away.
“T-That sounds like a proposal, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. According to human customs, it would be appropriate to call it a proposal. Moreover, I wish to take Miss Julia as my legal wife, not a concubine. If Miss Julia does not wish for it, I will refrain from taking any concubines in the future.”
“It’s not about concubines or legal wives…! I-I don’t want to! Are you out of your mind? I can never be your wife!”
“Hahaha. I knew that it would be impossible for the time being. Still, it felt unbearably frustrating to keep it to myself. Even knowing I might fail, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to say it out loud at least once. Doing so increases the probability of you coming to see me as a romantic interest in the future.”
“W-Who would ever think of a filthy man like you as a romantic interest…?”
I was dumbfounded.
He was speaking as if taking me as a legal wife was a huge favor.
Looking closely, he was just a slightly different version of the portly uncles who frequent the taverns every night.
In fact, those uncles were much better by comparison.
At least they wouldn’t do things like this…
“Mom! I’ve brought your clothes!”
“Then I will take my leave here. You must still be confused, so take a good rest.”
With a thud, the door opened, and the duke straightened up from leaning toward me.
He accepted the clothes from Tia, who was unable to see ahead due to the heap of garments she was holding, put them on the bed, and then wore a faint smile.
It seemed like a satisfied smile.
I felt goosebumps all over.
“What’s up? Where is Duke Uncle going?”
“Your mother needs to change her clothes.”
“Ah…!”
“If anything happens, call me, Miss Julia. I won’t go anywhere.”
“······!”
The moment the duke spoke in a mocking tone, my face flared up again.
In that moment of dizziness, I remembered grabbing the duke, asking where he was going.
Not only that, I even remember the words “I finally caught you”…
Just thinking about it makes me want to die from embarrassment.
As the door slammed shut and the duke disappeared from sight, I couldn’t help but scream.
“Aaaaah!”
“Mom? What’s wrong? Does your head still hurt?”
“Aaaaaah… my head is killing me, really…”
“Whaat?!”
I felt like my head was going to explode.
I hugged Tia tightly and rubbed my cheek against hers.
Every time I did, Tia let out a cute “Muuuuu” sound.
After a while, my embarrassment faded a bit.
“Muhehe. Did you feel better after crying?”
“Ah…”
She noticed the tear stains on my face.
I hadn’t planned to cry, but the sadness welled up, and I found myself grabbing the duke by the collar and sobbing.
Fortunately, I managed to say everything I wanted to, even in such an emotional state.
‘Huh? Wait a minute.’
I suddenly became serious as I reflected on what I had just said.
My original intention was to say something like, “Don’t lurk around like a perverted stalker, if you’re going to protect me, then do it boldly like a man, not sneakily.”
But recalling the words I had actually spoken…
‘If you’re a man… you should take responsibility…’
‘Someone like me would just make you bored and toss me aside anyway.’
‘Until then… please let me depend on you…’
Madness.
Putting it all together, it sounded like the lines of a bothersome, dependent woman.
“Aaaaaah!!!”
“Mom?! What now?!”
“I want to hide in a mouse hole…”
I felt like dying.
I wanted to die from embarrassment.
I buried my face deep in the pillow and kicked my legs furiously.
“Ugh. I don’t know. Let’s just get dressed.”
Feeling a bit empty in my body, I wanted to wear clothes.
I picked up the clothes Tia had brought with both hands.
And then, I was shocked and glared at Tia.
“Tia…!”
“Muu?”
But Tia just looked innocent and clueless as if she didn’t understand.
Is this, is this really okay?
As long as I don’t run into anyone on the way, it should be fine.
…
It was a gloomy day with rain drumming against the window.
The duke stood silently with his hands clasped behind his back, staring out the window.
Beyond it, I saw heretic examiners and priestesses rummaging through the collapsed debris.
There was no way they could find anything.
The duke had already erased all traces of Julia from the scene.
The duke pulled a key out of his pocket and laid it in the palm of his hand.
It was a key bearing the seal of the Makarov family.
“…”
He clenched his fist tightly and then relaxed it.
The key disappeared without a trace, leaving only a silver bead rolling gently across the table.
He had destroyed the source of the problem.
Now, the door to the basement would no longer open.
“It was a truly difficult fight…”
The duke smiled bitterly as he recalled the battle with Aerial.
Both physically and mentally, it had been exhausting.
He knew that his body would heal, but every time he tore Aerial apart, he felt a piece of his own heart being ripped as well.
However, that was nothing compared to what followed.
Aerial’s words right after she overpowered him were enough to shake the duke’s mind.
“Cough…”
Just recalling that moment made the duke feel a debilitating headache.
Aerial had mimicked Julia’s voice, saying she had become so miserable that she wanted to die because of him.
She asked him not to look for her because she would leave.
People like him were disgusting…
Or perhaps it didn’t matter because Julia herself could have said that.
Her state at the time was the result of a fusion between Aerial’s spirit and Julia’s psyche.
If Julia ever learned the truth, he feared she would utter the same words.
“Damn it.”
He couldn’t forget the image of Julia’s face filled with betrayal, her eyes growing colder.
Just the thought of her gazing at him with contempt as if he was worthless, seeming to consider it a waste of time to even express resentment, gnawed at his mind.
The corner of the table the duke held onto began to crumble, turning to powder and falling apart.
Making a resolution, the duke raised his head again.
“It is not impossible…”
Even though their relationship had started in a messed-up way, he had confirmed the possibility of improvement today.
By staying by Julia’s side and healing her wounds, perhaps one day she would open her heart to him.
Since both he and Julia were immortal beings, they had plenty of time.
However, if Julia were to learn everything, it would all be for nothing.
If she discovered that he was the same person as the monstrous black dragon, it would be the end.
“So I must keep it a secret forever. Forever.”
Thus, the duke decided to isolate Julia from the truth eternally.
Julia would never reach the truth.
He would make sure of it.
The duke repeated this resolution in his mind as he turned around.
With a firm resolve, his troubled mind seemed to calm considerably.
He sighed deeply and flung open the door.
“Why did you bring pajamas of all things from all those clothes? They’re completely see-through. And you didn’t even bring any underwear.”
“Muu. I thought I should bring whatever was visible…”
“Good grief. Still, if no one’s in the hallway, you should hurry past…”
Suddenly, the duke bumped into Julia, who had just changed out of her clothes from the office.
His gaze traveled down from Julia’s face to her neck and further down.
She was wearing a thin white nightgown that was so sheer that everything underneath was visible.
Julia stood frozen for a moment, as if she were trying to assess the situation.
Soon, her face began to turn increasingly red.
She then hurriedly sat down, covering herself with her arms.
“You… you saw…!”
“Damn it.”
If he just stood there, this would definitely turn into a troublesome situation.
Before Julia could yell anything, the duke slammed the door shut and returned to his room.
Just when he had steeled himself, his mind was instantly filled with turmoil.
The scene he had just witnessed lingered vividly in front of his eyes and wouldn’t disappear.
“I’ve already dealt with this five times today…”
It couldn’t be helped.
The duke shook his head and reached for the tissues on the table.
It seemed he would significantly increase the consumption of tissues during his stay at the villa.
As he pulled out more tissues, he thought he would need to ask for more supplies.
