I Accidentally Tamed the Duke

Chapter 3

“Yurania, why are you interested in the lake?”

Hearing Casius’ slightly sharper tone, Yurania quickly stretched her arms forward and fumbled over his hand. Then, flipping his hand palm side up once more, she steadily wrote,

—I had the snow swept away in advance because I heard you were coming home, Your Grace—so that you could rest. I’m sure you must be tired from the journey.

Yurania looked up at Casius after getting her message across. She knew that he relieved his fatigue in the lake whenever he returned to the castle from his travels.

“I’m asking how you know about the lake.”

—Because you occasionally visited the lake.

The Lake of Clarity was also called the Pallack Herb Lake. The pallack herb was poisonous when consumed but could also purify water and calm bloodthirst and rage. A madness took over Casius whenever he wielded his sword, so he frequently visited the lake to pacify his violent bloodlust. Casius didn’t know that Yurania knew all this, though.

“I asked how you knew.”

—Your mother told me about it.

“How unnecessary,” Casius said indifferently.

However, Yurania knew he was bothered because it was strictly confidential. She didn’t become disheartened when he apathetically pulled his arm back from her grasp. Instead, she took his hand once more and wrote again,

—Can you take me to the lake with you today?

“I am curious how frivolous you plan to get.” After a moment, he added, “I’m telling you to stop if you’re trying to test me.”

Yurania forced a small smile. This was the most considerable courage she could muster.

“Then we shall leave now. However, you can’t come back once you leave—not even if you regret it.”

Yurania readily nodded and smiled.

“Bring me the duchess’s coat.”

Lina brought out a thick coat at Casius’ command, but because Yurania didn’t own any outdoor shoes, she left the house wearing a pair of fur boots too big for her feet. Though the air outside the castle was chilly, it wasn’t unbearable. The winter in the south was warmer than in the north, where Yurania had grown up. Candy-sized snowflakes floated down under the bright moonlight. If Zyle hadn’t cleared the path to the lake in advance, the snow would have piled up on their calves.

Casius stared impassively at the neatly swept path, then asked Yurania, “And what will you do now? I would prefer to carry you there.”

The unexpected offer caught her off guard.

“But it seems that might make you go into a fit.”

Right now, only Casius was here to support her because they’d left the house without any servants.

“Can you even walk properly?”

Casius was right. Even standing for an extended period was too taxing for Yurania.

“Your shoes don’t look comfortable either.”

The fur boots that came off with every step she took were proof that she had never been outside until now. That made Yurania feel a little embarrassed.

Casius interpreted her silence as a refusal and breathed out a cold sigh.

“Then let’s go.”

In her previous life, Yurania had hidden behind Lina every time she heard Casius’ voice. She’d never had a real conversation with him, fearing that he might figure out her false illness if she did. It was also because she found it very difficult to face him, knowing how pathetic and insignificant she was. However, things were different now. She had to have a decent conversation with Casius to ease his guilt and successfully get a divorce.

Yurania wriggled her fingers and then stretched her arms upward, deliberately shifting slightly to the side so he didn’t find out about her gradually recovering vision.

“What is this?”

She waved her arms a little more and stood on her tiptoes at the rigid question as if she were telling him to hold her.

“Are you asking me to carry you?”

“Yes,” Yurania silently mouthed. She then blushed, feeling a little embarrassed.

Casius stared hard at her, as if intently contemplating something. However, Yurania’s sight was still too blurry for her to make out his expression.

“You’ve made a logical decision. We’re heading straight to the lake now, then.”

Yurania’s small frame instantly floated up into the air. Casius, nearly two meters tall, placed a supporting hand behind her thighs.

“Hold on,” Casius said in his monotonous voice.

He then began to walk. The floating, fluffy snowflakes tickled against Yurania’s glowing cheeks. She was honestly a little excited to be out for the first time in a long while. She snuck a hand out to touch the snowflakes like an eager child and lurched a little. Yurania clutched onto Casius’ shoulders in surprise while he simultaneously pulled her closer to him and steadied her balance. Then, he steadily continued to walk forward.

Despite how light Yurania was, carrying a person with one arm would surely be tiring. What do people do in situations like this? Yurania thought hard and remembered something she’d seen when she was very young. This is what they usually do to relieve each other’s fatigue. Yurania made her hands into fists and bounced them against Casius’ shoulders as he walked silently.

“What are you doing?”

Yurania flinched at Casius’ sharp tone. Under the bright moonlight, his glowing dark violet eyes pierced her like a sharp spear. She stared at him in a daze with her imperfect vision without even realizing what she was doing.

“You almost look like you can see me.”

Feeling caught, Yurania slipped her gaze to the side. It was still too risky to tell him she was regaining her sight, so she avoided Casius’ gaze and continued bopping her fists against his shoulder.

She didn’t know how long he’d walked that way when he put her back on the ground. She’d expected him to throw her down roughly but was surprised when she barely felt her feet touch the earth.

“So, why did you follow me all the way out here?”

Yurania held the towering hand before her eyes and wrote what she’d thought to say in advance.

—Because we never had our wedding night.

“Wedding night?”

—Yes. So help me restore my honor, even as late as it is now.

Though it was a spontaneous response, she meant it. Yurania temporarily needed the authority and privilege of a duchess. She couldn’t think of a more effective way to begin than spending time with her husband to let others see them reunited as a couple after a month apart. There was no place more clandestine than a forest where they could be alone. The maids would probably be gossiping busily about the duke and duchess by now.

“To restore your honor, you say. Excuse me if I find it amusing that you’re talking about honor.”

As the blind and mute duchess who had played a significant role in destroying Casius’ honor, Yurania was at a loss for words.

“Or do you suddenly have a reason to regain your honor?” he asked in a faintly sneering tone.

Yurania didn’t back down and wrote once more,

—Is it wrong for me to want that? I’m human, too.

Then she looked straight up at Casius. The winter breeze blew through her silver hair like a caress, making her locks sway like the ocean waves.

It was a long while before Casius spoke again.

“It’s not wrong for you to want it. But I do wonder how long you’ll be able to stay standing with that fragile body of yours.”

His voice sounded a little hoarse. What was wrong? Was it a symptom of his lunacy? Based on what she’d heard from the former Duchess Euclid, the madness Casius suffered from eroded reason and caused agonizing pain. She could faintly see blue veins bulging in and out of view around his neck. Was he all right? The faint expression she could make out on him appeared quite twisted.

She had to ask if he was okay. She fumbled to pull his big hand before her, then spread it flat.

—Are you suffering symptoms from your madness right now, by any chance?

“Yes. It’s dangerous. You should stand back,” Casius said and promptly walked away. He then flung his robe and then his top away.

Yurania had momentarily forgotten that Casius had come to the lake to soothe his madness. The sound of him taking off his clothes made her whip her head to the side. She was worried, but she wouldn’t shamelessly sneak a peek. Yurania licked her suddenly parched lips and deliberately focused on the scenery around her.

The Lake of Clarity was also called the Pallack Herb Lake, after the very same pallack herb that had stolen her sight and speech. She’d heard that the antidote, the yahn herb, grew wherever the pallack herb grew as well. She needed the yahn herb to fully recover her vision and voice. Yurania thought she might be able to find the yahn herb as well if she followed Casius to the lake, but she couldn’t see any white flowers nearby.

Splash! Yurania finally turned her eyes to the lake’s center only after hearing Casius diving into the water. His sensual back muscles glowed in the moonlight as he effortlessly glided through the currents.

I wonder if he doesn’t feel cold.

The splashes subsided, and a sudden silence filled the air.

Five minutes had passed, and Casius still hadn’t emerged from the water. Yurania started to feel anxious. She couldn’t feel his presence at all.

Casius? An eerie silence gripped her as if the deep water had engulfed him. Yurania reached out with her hands and groped in front of her, making the loudest noise she could.

“Urghh!”

Something was wrong. He should’ve come out by now.

“Ughh!”

She tried calling for him again, but all that came out was a rasping sound. What had happened? Didn’t going inside the lake cure him even if he was taken by the madness? Was he late? Had he reached the lake later than he needed to because she’d slowed him down? Had she caused him trouble again?

Her anxiety was reaching its peak at this point. She hadn’t apologized to Casius yet. He’d been forced into a marriage he didn’t want because of her. She couldn’t plague him with any more problems. Fear seized her as she imagined him sinking to the bottom of the lake.

“Urghh!”

There was still no answer from Casius. An alarm rang in her head that she had to act quickly and find him. Yurania bit down on her lip and fell to the ground to dig into the snow. She didn’t notice the prickling pain spreading from her fingertips. She found two pebbles in the snow and repeatedly cracked them against each other with trembling hands. Clack! Clack! Clack! She hoped that he might react to the sound.

No matter how experienced a diver he was, Casius could not hold his breath for more than five minutes. She kept imagining him at the bottom of the lake. What if he was in a dark and cold place like the tower that had led her to her death? What if he was paralyzed and stuck down there?

She couldn’t reason. Fear crushed her entire body, and a violent panic arrested her. She couldn’t breathe. She didn’t know whether worry, guilt, or fear was eating away at her.

No. Yurania flung the stones aside and ran. Splash! She didn’t think twice as she dove into the icy water.

She suddenly recalled a banquet she’d secretly snuck into with her childhood friend when she was ten years old. That was where she’d first seen Casius. The fifteen-year-old boy back then had tragically lost his father in war. The former Duke Euclid, appointed commander of the reinforcements sent to the Melun Kingdom, died in battle after making a significant contribution. The boy had remained composed despite how the glorious victory achieved through his father’s sacrifice must have tormented him. His impassive expression had remained in her heart until now because it had seemed like a mask suppressing his sadness.

Yurania swam into the depths of the lake, searching for him.

Casius! Please.

A black figure shot up from the water as blue as the deep ocean and pulled her up by the arm. Casius’ piercing violet eyes were gleaming wildly.