What’s Wrong with You, Duke?!

Chapter 7

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The first time Dreux was free from the magic for a moment was after they had consummated their marriage for the first time. The duke was considerate of the fact that she couldn’t get used to his castle very easily, and they consummated the marriage a week after their wedding. He soothed her as she was in pain from their coupling and he held her several times after that, but his physical needs were yet to be satisfied.

Unlike his warm body, his heart felt full, like he had the world. He was basking in happiness as everything looked radiant. Even the time it took to blink felt like a waste as he gazed at her. The moonlight streamed in through the windows, making her slim, bare shoulder glow. She fell asleep after trying her best to take on all of his passion. He looked at her sleeping face and felt sorry for her, even though he found her adorable. He thought he was going crazy because he was just so happy simply looking at her.

Noël was a blessing upon his boring and dreary world.

“Ru...?” She blinked sleepily, almost as if she felt his gaze burning into her. He had soothed her as she trembled anxiously before they consummated the marriage and told her that “Ru” was his nickname when he was a child. Dreux thought her to be so lovely whenever his nickname fell from her lips. He reached out and lightly brushed a hand over her head.

She rubbed up against his hand like a puppy and whispered, “You’re my husband now, right?”

Her eyes reflected only him, her warm body pressed against his, and her voice was full of love. She had poured all her effort into the month-long wedding preparations, but she’d always kept him at arm’s length. Dreux not only ruined her land and her family, but he also kept her in his castle and made her his bride. Even if he was a good catch, it was only natural that she couldn’t open up to him easily.

And yet, Noël spoke honestly and said, “It’s true I’m still afraid of you, my lord, but when I see you every day, I feel happy. My heart races when you look at me and smile. I was truly happy when you asked me to call you Ru. I must like you, too.”

He gazed into her sparkling, green eyes. The moment he heard her confession, his heart pounded so hard that he wondered if it was audible. And unbelievably enough, he came to his senses right at that moment.

It was the worst feeling—falling to the deepest depths of love and waking up from it was indescribably horrible. His head felt like it would shatter, as if he was suffering from a hangover, his chest throbbed, and his stomach turned.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” she asked, sitting up as he scrabbled at his chest and bent over.

Dreux didn’t know what was wrong with him, but there was one thing that was clear: This woman was by his side. The memories and emotions he had about her whipped through his mind before disappearing without a trace. It was completely out of the blue.

“What the hell?” Dreux swore unintentionally.

He had slept with and married the woman he was supposed to kill. He would be more understanding of the situation if this were a marriage of convenience, but after having the love he felt for her disappear like dust in the wind, he was left with nothing but a horrible emptiness.

It was like the fear he would feel if the ground under his feet disappeared and he was yanked into endless darkness—similar to the overwhelming loss he felt when his parents died. He felt like he’d been stripped of all his clothes and thrown out into a barren, windy field.

“Ru! Ru, are you all right? S-Shall I call for a physician?”

The woman held onto his arm with her small hand, and he acted reflexively by trying to grab the neck of the person who couldn’t—who shouldn’t—be by his side and twist it. She looked terrified but didn’t resist at all. It seemed she had no idea what he was trying to do to her.

His heart pounded loudly and felt unfamiliar—almost as if it belonged to someone else. He still squeezed his hand instinctively to get rid of the dangerous woman beside him. He tried to, but the emotion in her green eyes was not fear. Instead, he saw worry and the realization was enough to make the strength leave his hand.

Noël shimmered as if she were bathed in light. She once again looked how she looked every day when he saw her. Dreux thought he would go crazy from how fast he fell in love with her.

So is this magic? He wondered if was losing his mind. Magic? How could something like that exist? But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t deny it. Because he distinctly remembered the white light drawing a circle on the ground, right at the moment he had tried to kill Noël. And there was no other way to explain the way he suddenly fell in love with a woman he’d met for the first time.

He had researched Noël Montbelliard beforehand, and there was nothing strange about her. Perhaps the only unique thing about her was how lowly and wretched her life was. Born as the illegitimate daughter of a noble family, she was ignored and abused, living a life that was no different from that of a maid. That was the sum of her entire life before she met him. The fact that her mother was a nomad had caught his eye, but digging deeper had told him that she was born to just another one of the count’s concubines.

There were no signs of extravagance or history of embezzlement in Noël’s life to indicate that she might be playing tricks and going after the Duke of Faucigny’s family, and nothing of the sort happened while she lived quietly in the castle. The only thing she asked for up until now was the greenhouse. He went through her books just in case, but they were all trashy romance novels.

“My skylark, hold me in your feathers.” A line caught his eye as he skimmed through the book, and he shuddered in humiliation. He knew he had called Noël “skylark” when he was under her spell. Realizing where that name came from, he was embarrassed enough to want to pull his own tongue out. Even if there was a blade at his throat, he would never say something like that with his sanity intact.

There was nothing different. The only thing that changed was him, when it came to this woman. But everything was changing. Dreux glared at the soundly sleeping woman with murderous intent.

Wouldn’t it be better to get rid of her as fast as possible while I still have my wits about me? He could easily kill a tiny woman like her right this very moment. But he’d already experienced the inability to kill her multiple times. The moment he truly meant to kill her, he went insane.

If he thought about it, Dreux was starting to think that this woman was interesting. She slept defenselessly next to a man who wanted to kill her, an impossible feat for someone with nerves of steel. Despite being powerful, Dreux wasn’t confident that he could even do it.

Even though she knew he couldn’t kill her, she was still so terrified during his attempt in the greenhouse. She had even asked him to blind her first. It didn’t matter if Dreux killed indiscriminately, uncaring if they were a man or a woman, he wasn’t that cruel. He killed women cleanly, with one blow.

This woman looked like she couldn’t hurt a fly, but she was brave and cruel. And damn it... They had incredible sexual chemistry. After they’d slept together, his body was still burning hot. The sweetness he’d felt in the body of the woman he loved was now just a memory, but even in his current state of mental clarity, he could still feel the physical sensations from their shared pleasure.

Dreux stared at the woman with narrowed eyes. He then pulled the blanket up and covered her body completely. He got up from the bed. There were several reasons why he thought he would lose it if he stayed in it watching her.

But even before he stepped out onto the floor, he heard her voice. “Ru? Where are you going?”

He turned around reflexively, and his eyes met her sleepy green ones directly. Like magic, she started to glow blindingly, and the world around her started to shimmer.

“Are you awake, my skylark? Are you thirsty? Would you like some water?” Dreux had to listen to himself speak in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Frozen Snow Melts

Noël’s eyes opened at dawn. They had separate bedchambers, but often fell asleep together, so she looked for the duke. It seemed like he had already gotten up and left, so she pressed her face against the pillow and took a deep breath before rolling around a little. When she couldn’t fall asleep again, she decided to let her maid sleep and go out for a morning walk.

The castle in the morning was very peaceful. She walked here and there through the dew-covered paths and ran into the duke, who was training alone on the training grounds.

Who’s his lucky wife? He’s such a hard-working man. Shouldn’t he have at least one fault if he’s that handsome?

Noël stared at his sweaty, broad shoulders and muscles through his open shirt, just as he caught her.

“My skylark!” As soon as he saw her, the duke ran over with a bright grin on his face.

Noël flinched and stepped back because he ran over with his sword in his hand, but he stopped a few steps away from her and clicked his tongue softly.

“Oh dear, are you scared?” He threw the sword away, onto the ground, and walked around the balustrade toward her, beaming.

She forgot her surprise at how happy he seemed to be at seeing her, even though he saw her plenty last night, and smiled back. “Am I bothering you?” she asked.

“How could that be possible when such a cute little skylark has chosen to fly to my side?”

She had gotten there on her own, and it was a chance encounter. Noël had gotten used to the lovey-dovey pet name he had for her, and now didn’t even feel embarrassed.

He held both her hands and couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. She looked at him and considered learning basic self-defense with a sword, a precaution for when the magic runs out and the duke stops liking her.

Not being able to say what she wanted to say properly was a regret of hers, because she was so scared every time the duke tried to kill her whenever the magic was undone. Even if she did die, everything would feel less unfair if she could say what she needed to.

And who knows? Maybe I can just wish that the duke will believe me and not hate me.

When she cautiously broached the subject, the duke approved it without hesitation. And he even said he himself would teach her. She flinched at the sight of him carrying a sword, so he switched it out for a wooden one and started to teach her stances—it was a mess.

She had simple hopes—to stall the duke enough to say a few words when he came after her or at least stop being scared whenever he pointed a sword at her. Even those were too grand to want.

She trembled when she was just doing the basic stances. When she started to raise the thin, light beginner’s sword, her arms and legs hurt, and she started to lose her breath. The duke spoke sweetly to her but was still ruthless with her training.

“That’s a beautiful stance, too. But I’d hit your wrist before I hit your sword, as it’s more exposed. Lift it up more. Higher. Higher.”

It didn’t take long for Noël to start panting hard, and eventually, she put the sword down.

“I think I should stop. I must not have any talent,” she said.

“We’ll stop if you’re tired. I must have pushed you too much,” sighed Dreux.

“No, I’m just so bad.”

The duke had nothing but praise when it came to her, but in this situation, all he could do was put on an awkward expression—he couldn’t refute that.

When she flopped down to the ground, he quickly took off his jacket and put it on the ground for her to sit on. He took a knee in front of her and looked her in the eye. He gazed at her and mumbled, “I can’t think straight with you panting like that. It’s like your breath is touching me all over my body.”

His hand lingered on her cheek, after wiping away the sweat on her brow. Noël leaned into his hand and cheekily said, “Ru… we shouldn’t, last night too much.”

“Just keep your eyes closed and I’ll take care of the rest.”

The duke’s other hand fumbled at her waist. Noël giggled as she picked up the thin sword from beside her and pretended to threaten him.

“I have a sword in my hand, Ru. You have to be careful.”

“You think I can’t risk my life to have you?”

“There’s no reason to risk it. Just don’t steal mine away, then I’ll be nice.”

A laugh rumbled in the duke’s chest as he pulled her waist in.

“Why do you make such scary jokes? I want something else.”

“What do you want?”

“Your heart. Your everything.”

Noël burst out into laughter and looked into his eyes. She said earnestly, “There’s nothing left now. I already gave you everything I have. Now all I have left is my life, which you saved, my lord.”

The duke suddenly paused in his caressing of her waist at her joking profession of love. Like a marionette with its strings cut, the duke was frozen in place, but he turned only his head to look at her. His eyes were icy cold.

Maybe it was her instincts that realized something was wrong, but a chill came over Noël’s body.

“R-Ru...?”

As soon as he heard her say his name, the duke instantly moved and tried to take the sword out of her hand. Noël shoved his hand away instinctively and leaped to her feet, backing away. The duke scowled and stood up with her. He glowered at the sword in her hand. Noël couldn’t think about swinging the sword and just put it in front of her to keep him at a distance.

“Don’t come any closer!” she exclaimed.

The duke stared at her with no emotion on his face at all. It was like he was wearing a mask. No, the face that was smiling at her just moments before now looked like a mask. The stony face, sans smile, and murderous eyes were bone-chillingly cold like always.

She cried out desperately, “Please, listen to me first, please!”

“Ha, there have been none who lived after pointing their sword at me.” The duke sneered, regardless of her words, and stepped toward her.

Noël was terrified and stumbled back as she kept her sword up.