Trying to act rational in front of someone you like was ultimately pointless.
The Duke finally responded as if he had heard the answer he wanted to hear.
“I like you too, Teacher.”
Carol quickly removed her hands from her face.
“…But I heard you’re getting married?”
“Ah, so you’ve heard that rumor.”
The Duke nodded as if Carol’s attitude finally made sense to him.
The Duke didn’t deny it. Carol felt drained after getting worked up over his single statement.
“…No matter how much I like you, I have no intention of committing adultery.”
“Adultery?”
“You’re marrying the person who broke your curse, aren’t you?”
The Duke finally realized why Carol was so sensitive about the marriage talk.
‘She’s not just thinking of it as a baseless rumor.’
The Duke realized that Carol had internally identified who she thought had broken the curse.
“It’s just a baseless rumor.”
“Then does that mean you’re not involved with the person who broke the curse?”
“I’d like to have a special relationship, but I’m afraid of coming on too strong and making a bad impression.”
“…..”
Carol was too agitated to continue speaking.
“So I’m planning to try my best.”
“…Then go to that person…!”
“But you’re the one who broke my curse, Teacher. Why do you keep telling me to go somewhere else?”
“…What?”
Carol’s eyes widened in shock at the sudden mention of herself.
“I see you had no idea.”
The Duke had vaguely suspected this, but confirming it directly melted away the anxiety that had been knotted in his heart.
“I broke it? Your curse, Duke?”
Carol cupped her cheeks with a dumbfounded expression. The Duke grasped one of Carol’s hands resting on his knee.
Carol looked at the Duke. His sincere emotions were visible in his honest eyes.
“I also apologize about the rumor.”
“…The marriage rumor, did you spread it, Duke?”
“I just wanted to confirm if you still felt the same way about me after not seeing each other for several years.”
“…”
“I didn’t expect you’d come all the way to the Duke’s townhouse because of that rumor though.” There was a hint of laughter in the Duke’s voice.
Carol organized her thoughts once again. The Duke said he wanted to have a special relationship with the person who broke the curse. And the one who broke it was herself.
“I wanted to confess properly, but my feelings for you were so great that I ended up doing something cowardly.”
“…Why didn’t you come to me right away? What if my feelings had changed?”
“I didn’t want to appear as a pathetic nobleman who only claims rights without fulfilling duties. I needed preparation.”
“…”
“And if your feelings aren’t the same as before, I’ll make an effort. You can do as you please. I’ll love you in my own way as well.”
“…What do you mean by doing as you please?”
“Well. Are you curious, Miss Langer?”
The Duke naturally called her by her real name. Her shoulders stiffened at the sudden use of her name.
“Aren’t you going to ask?”
She realized he must have known she had hidden her identity since she came here.
“We have plenty of time.”
“…..”
“So I’d like to set everything else aside and just talk about you and me.”
The Duke, who said they could postpone discussing faults and blame for later, seemed earnest.
“I can’t prioritize you over my work.”
“But I find a teaching teacher admirable.”
“Admirable?”
It was the first time she’d heard such a thing.
As Carol chuckled, the Duke pulled her hand and kissed the back of it.
“It’s not something that requires my permission anyway. Do whatever you want. I’ll take on the role of chasing after you.”
It was an un-noble-like answer. Even Benjamin’s father, who didn’t have a noble title, had boldly said that women should quit working after marriage.
“Are you really okay with that?”
“The one who likes more is supposed to lower themselves.”
It wasn’t just empty words. It was the first time emotions had felt so direct and tangible.
“…You must really like me a lot.”
The Duke smiled playfully and wrinkled his nose.
“Of course. So I hope you’ll set aside other concerns and look only at me when making your choice.”
There was no way Carol could refuse the Duke’s words.
“…Alright.”
The Duke smiled brightly at Carol’s words. Her heart sank at the sight of his radiant smile that showed his teeth, as if he was truly happy.
“It’s nice talking in the carriage, but would you grant me a little more time?”
“It’s almost dinner time.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a loud sound came from between the two of them.
Grumble.
It was a sound from Carol’s stomach. The Duke tried to hold back his laughter as he spoke.
“I’ve made a reservation at a nice restaurant. Let’s continue our conversation there.”
“I need to go back early because I didn’t tell my siblings.”
“There’s still some time before dinner, so I’ll let you go before then.”
Grumble.
“Alright. Then let’s go.”
“…Please don’t have a conversation with the sounds from my stomach.”
Carol blushed as she clutched her stomach, and the Duke burst into laughter. Soon, Carol followed suit and laughed too.
The carriage rattled as it moved towards its destination.
“By the way, what were you planning to do if I refused?”
The carriage stopped. The door opened and the Duke got out, extending his hand. Carol took the Duke’s hand.
“I was thinking of clinging to the hem of your dress.”
“You’re joking!”
Carol laughed, thinking this was also a joke. The Duke kept it a secret that he was half serious.
So much had happened during their time apart. Contrary to Carol’s worries, the Duke remained unchanged. Their conversation continued uninterrupted until the end of the meal.
****
Carol returned home with her head bowed low. Her siblings, who had already returned, came out to greet her when they heard her coming in.
“Sister, you’re back?”
“Sister, Teacher Bianca was smiling weirdly and said you’d be late. Where have you been?”
Carol maintained her silence despite their questions and entered the living room.
The two, noticing something different about Carol, followed closely behind her.
Worried about Carol, who still had her head bowed low, Kevin went to the kitchen to bring warm water, and Dylan seated her in the most comfortable chair.
“Sister, are you crying?”
Realizing she could no longer hide it once they noticed, Carol raised her head.
Her eyes were red and swollen as if she had been crying even before coming home.
The tears she had been holding back since entering the house came again. Carol’s chin trembled like a walnut as she tried to hold back her tears.
“Dylan, Kevin.”
Carol called their names in a solemn voice.
Carol recalled the conversation they had earlier.
The Duke said he had reclaimed the power that the Council of Elders had held for generations in just two years.
And he told her how much the North had changed with that reclaimed power, and how it would change in the future.
He said the biggest change was in the guard. The stagnant guard, which had no one managing it, was disbanded and a new guard was organized.
It was natural that the Council of Elders didn’t want to do anything that cost a lot of money, as they had been doing well until now.
[I’m so glad your curse was lifted, Duke.]
[Yes.]
[And there’s something new we’re doing as we reform the guard.]
[What is it?]
The Duke handed Carol the documents he had brought out of the carriage earlier.
Carol started to take out the documents without much thought, but then hesitated. As she read through them, her expression hardened.
[We recorded the appearances of casualties from natural disasters and made graves for all of them.]
Finding her parents’ bodies was something she had inwardly given up on.
She knew she wouldn’t be able to find their bodies, but there was nothing she could do.
In the original story, finding her parents’ bodies would have meant risking her own life. So Carol had vowed to survive and take care of her siblings.
When she thought she had gotten a little closer to the Duke, she considered carefully asking him.
But due to Winternox’s old curse, the power in Cardiff came from the Council of Elders, not the head of the family.
It wasn’t just one or two people who died in snowstorms every year, so she couldn’t ask to find only her parents.
And asking to properly bury all casualties from natural disasters would require major reforms.
The paper the Duke handed her contained a report stating that they had found the bodies of a couple presumed to be Carol’s parents and had buried them in a grave.
[About investigating you…]
[I would have done the same. I must have seemed very suspicious…]
It was something to be grateful for that he wasn’t blaming her. Even if she had entered the Duke’s mansion for his sake, the fact that she had deceived him remained unchanged. It didn’t seem like he was trying to blame her, but she wondered why he brought this up.
[Still, you might have felt bad, so I apologize.]
Even in this situation, the Duke apologized for potentially hurting her feelings. Carol spoke without taking her eyes off the documents.
[You’re not blaming me, and…you asked to show me these documents?]
Her whole body trembled like an aspen tree. Since documents given directly by the Duke couldn’t be fake, these documents had to be real. A moment later, the sense of reality hit her.
[Yes.]
[Then why are you apologizing?]
When he had done so much for her?
[Because it’s something I should have done.]
[Still… thank you. How can I ever repay this kindness…]
[Then I’d like you to repay me by not crying right now.]
The Duke gently said as he wiped Carol’s reddened eyes with his finger.
After reminiscing about their earlier conversation, Carol took out the documents the Duke had given her from her bag, placed them on the table, and hugged Kevin and Dylan.
“What’s this?”
Although the two didn’t understand what was happening, they hugged Carol back.
“Documents.”
“What kind of documents?”
Kevin picked up the documents from the table. But before he could check the contents, Carol spoke first.
“They might have found our parents’ bodies.”
At Carol’s emotional words, her siblings’ eyes quickly turned red as well.
Ugh my- I mean HER man so 🫢😩🤌🏻