Chapter 7
“The Grand Madam forcibly arranged the marriage, saying that if the Duke had a wife who devotedly nursed and assisted him, he might regain consciousness…”
“Ha!”
Kylus let out a cold, scornful laugh, finding the situation absurd.
While it might sound like a decision made for his benefit, in reality, it was an attempt to attach her own subordinate to him.
Probably to completely end the life of her stepson who was lying as if dead.
After all, the Duchess could approach the Duke, her husband, without arousing suspicion at any time.
Moreover, since he was unconscious, he was essentially trapped under his wife’s control.
Lady Quillian was indeed a woman whose mind worked exceptionally well when it came to killing him.
“When did the marriage take place?”
“Not long ago. It’s only been two days since the Young Madam entered the Duke’s household.”
“Two days… Fortunately, I regained consciousness before it was too late.”
If more time had passed, he would have surely died at the hands of the Duchess.
The Duchess who had come in as Lady Quillian’s pawn.
After a moment of thought, Kylus called for the butler.
“Adolf.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Keep it a secret for now that I’ve regained consciousness.”
“Pardon?”
To the confused butler, Kylus calmly explained:
“The duchy is currently in Lady Quillian’s hands. Until I recover my retainers, it must not be revealed that I’ve awakened. Do you understand?”
Even if he revealed that he had woken up now, he was in a state where he had lost all his power.
First, he needed to recover his disbanded knights and his retainers.
“I understand.”
“And tell me everything you know about that woman, the one who became the Duchess.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Thus, Kylus heard from the butler about the woman who had become his wife.
He had hurriedly returned to his room as dawn was breaking.
“Ah, how frustrating.”
Kylus sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair.
Then he looked around his room, shrouded in darkness.
The gloomy atmosphere of the room, like a coffin for a dead person, filled him with anger as it resembled his current situation, trapped by Lady Quillian.
But now was the time to take a step back.
If he moved recklessly, he would end up being a mere puppet in the duchy that had fallen into Lady Quillian’s grasp.
“I need to find my people first.”
His aide Tessiri and the Black Lion Knights’ commander Davit.
He needed to secretly find these two and rebuild the knightly order.
After reclaiming what was his, he would draw his sword.
And this time, he would perfectly cut Lady Quillian’s lifeline.
Not just her, but he would cut down everyone associated with her.
No exceptions…
As Kylus was continuing this train of thought, he hesitated.
Because suddenly, the conversation he had with the butler came to mind.
‘The person who came in as the Duchess is Lady Alice Fordley, the eldest daughter of Count Fordley.’
‘Count Fordley… I’ve never heard of them. Are they not central nobility?’
‘They’re a count with only a title left, living in the rural west without any territory.’
‘A count in name only… Lady Quillian certainly found quite a character.’
Even Lady Quillian couldn’t have chosen a family of lower rank for the position of Duchess.
So she must have searched thoroughly among the nominal count families.
The Fordley family, not even known in political circles.
It must have been exactly to her liking.
The count’s family, too, couldn’t have refused the position of Duchess, even if the Duke was practically a living corpse.
Especially if they were in financial difficulties.
The butler’s subsequent words were not much different from his expectations.
‘The Fordley family needed money for the knighting ceremony of their eldest son, and the Grand Madam needed a bride who would follow her orders… So the deal was easily made. Moreover, rumor has it that the Young Madam was practically an abandoned child in the Fordley family.’
‘…I suppose that’s why she married a living corpse.’
Kylus had sneered at that moment, but for some reason, those words came back to him now.
And they bothered him.
“An abandoned child…”
It would be ridiculous for him to feel pity for her situation, even if he didn’t know her face.
After all, she was a woman who had become the Duchess in order to kill him.
So, half-hearted sympathy was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
Just as Kylus’s eyes were coldly sinking, the sound of footsteps was heard outside the door.
The sound was approaching this room.
Kylus lay down on the bed, holding his breath and closing his eyes, just as the door opened.
* * *
As Alice entered Kylus’s bedroom, she slightly furrowed her brow at the dark room, gloomy even in broad daylight.
When she had been here earlier, the curtains were open, but it seemed a servant had closed them again.
“No matter how much they dislike it, he’s still alive… It’s too mean to even deprive him of sunlight.”
It must have been on Lady Quillian’s orders that the curtains were drawn.
Whether she wanted him to sleep eternally in darkness, or was worried he might wake up if exposed to sunlight.
Alice went straight to the window and pulled back the blackout curtains.
Bright sunlight poured into the bedroom.
As the atmosphere of the room, which had been like a coffin for a dead person, changed to one full of life, a smile also appeared on Alice’s lips.
“…He looks even more handsome in the light.”
Approaching the bed, Alice gazed at Kylus’s quietly sleeping face.
Seen under the bright sunlight, his handsomeness seemed to shine even more.
I can’t tell if this halo is due to the sunlight or your handsomeness.
Alice, who had been staring blankly at his handsome face for a moment, suddenly came to her senses and let out a fake cough.
Then she softly greeted the sleeping man.
“Good afternoon, Kylus.”
Even though she knew he couldn’t hear.
At that moment, the door opened and Maris entered.
Earlier, Maris had told her to go to the bedroom first, saying she had something to bring.
Alice tilted her head, looking at the large silver basin and cloth Maris was bringing in.
Isn’t that for washing…?
“What… is this?”
Instead of answering Alice’s question, Maris placed the silver basin on the table.
The water in the basin rippled clearly, unlike Alice’s bewildered state of mind.
“What else could it be? It’s water and cloth to wash the Duke’s body.”
But why are you bringing that to me?
Surely not…?
Alice’s golden eyes trembled as she looked at the silver basin.
“…Are you telling me to wash the Duke’s body?”
“Yes, of course. From today, the Grand Madam has ordered that the Young Madam should take care of the Duke’s minor needs.”
Maris emphasized the words ‘needs’ and ‘Grand Madam’, stressing each syllable.
Then she smiled triumphantly, seeing Alice’s face turn to shock.
Maris was delighted, thinking Alice was shocked at being ordered to do work typically done by servants, but Alice wasn’t shocked by such a trivial matter.
What shocked her was the fact that she had to wash the naked body of a man who was a stranger to her.
Especially the fact that she had to directly wash Kylus’s sculpture-like body was shocking and strangely made her heart flutter.
Washing his body meant she had to undress him and wash his naked body.
Kylus’s completely naked body…
Below his firm upper body…
Alice shuddered, feeling like she had imagined something she shouldn’t have.
Oh, God. Why are you giving me such a trial…
Alice tightly closed her eyes and then opened them again.
But nothing had changed.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and attend to the Duke.”
Instead, Maris was handing a wet cloth to Alice, who had frozen stiff.
Alice wanted to throw the cloth away and run, saying she couldn’t do it.
But that would break Lady Quillian’s trust in her.
For now, she had to obediently do as she was told.
Let’s think of it as wiping a statue, not a person.
Yes, a statue.
Having steeled herself, Alice took the cloth and headed towards the bed. Maris followed behind her.
Maris naturally reached out her hand towards Kylus.
As naturally as flowing water, Maris’s hand moved towards Kylus’s nightclothes.
Just before Maris’s hand could touch him, Alice grabbed Maris’s hand and shouted as if she had gone mad.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Alice looked at Maris with eyes as if she were looking at a criminal.
Startled by Alice’s shocked gaze, Maris stammered:
“W-what do you mean, what am I doing? We need to undress him to wash his body, don’t we?!”
Maris raised her voice, feeling awkward.
Then she shook off Alice’s hand.
Alice must have grabbed quite hard, as Maris rubbed her wrist.
Seeing this, Alice came to her senses and realized she had overreacted, but she didn’t particularly regret it.
She still didn’t like Maris touching Kylus.
She didn’t understand why she disliked it, but she just didn’t like it.
Besides, Maris was completely Lady Quillian’s person. Kylus wouldn’t like Maris’s touch either.
It was quite an odd reason, but Alice roughly convinced herself and said to Maris:
“I’ll do it, so you can leave now.”
“You’re going to do it all alone?”
“Yes. Mother assigned this task to me. Since Mother assigned it, I don’t want help from anyone else. So, go wait outside.”
She gestured towards the door with her chin to Maris, who was looking at her with disbelief.
“…Finish quickly. It’s almost time for dinner.”
Maris left the room, stomping her feet as if to express her dissatisfaction.
Slam-
After the door closed roughly, Alice let out a sigh.
Then she looked down at the sleeping Kylus.
“I wonder if I could just lie and say I washed him later…”
But then there would be no one to wash Kylus’s body.
Since she had been told to take care of him from now on, she couldn’t just leave him unwashed.
If a bedridden body isn’t properly washed, the skin will deteriorate.
“Ah, this is driving me crazy.”
Even if she avoided it this time, it wasn’t something she could keep avoiding.
Alice messed up her hair frantically, then finally looked at Kylus with determined eyes.
“I can do this.”
Reassuring herself, she carefully untied the strings of Kylus’s top.
The silk-like clothes slid down to the side like a wave, and finally, his picture-perfect upper body was revealed.
