Chapter 15. Spear and Shield (2)
My last words seemed to provoke the Grand Duke. His cold expression hardened even more, and the corner of his lips twisted slightly.
“Is that why the Marquis sent you here?”
His low voice carried a chilling weight.
“To eliminate the reason for divorce?”
“No, that’s not it.”
I looked at him with amused eyes and clapped my hands together.
“Oh! I meant my father didn’t send me here. But yes, I did come to remove any excuse for divorce.”
The Grand Duke clenched his jaw tightly.
“You enjoy speaking in circles, don’t you? Is that a common trait of people from the capital? Or is it just your specialty?”
I tilted my head.
“I’m just saying things as they are. By now, my father must be furious. I left home without his permission, after all.”
The Grand Duke looked at me, silently urging me to continue.
“I want a divorce too.”
His perfectly shaped eyebrows shot up.
“Then why—”
“But not right now.”
His eyes seemed to ask, Aren’t we aiming for the same goal? but I shook my head.
“I need time. I want to divorce you in a year. So, I can’t be sent away just yet.”
“And why should I consider your situation?”
“Because you don’t have a choice.”
I shrugged.
“You have no way to get rid of me.”
“What do you mean?”
“A gentleman like you wouldn’t tie me up and throw me out of the castle. So, how exactly do you plan to send me away?”
“You must not have heard the rumors about me.”
His voice turned rigid.
“I am far from a gentleman.”
“Are you going to starve me or threaten me with a sword?”
His frown deepened, as if my words were beneath him.
“If it’s neither of those two, I’m not really afraid.”
“By the time you wake up, you might already be in a carriage heading for the capital.”
That wasn’t an unexpected response.
I smoothly answered him.
“If you do that, I’ll simply tell everyone in the capital that we spent the wedding night together.”
The Grand Duke’s neck flushed red.
“What…?”
“Of course, I don’t think you’d do something like that, but…”
“Do you have no shame at all?”
Hearing such an unprecedented threat, he clenched his fist tightly.
“I’m just desperate.”
I kept my expression light and cheerful.
“I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t make me say such embarrassing things.”
The Grand Duke, looking utterly dumbfounded, pressed his lips together tightly. He seemed completely taken aback by my nonchalant attitude.
After gulping down his tea, he finally spoke.
“Why a year?”
“Are you seriously considering it?”
“I at least need to know the reason.”
“To be honest, the one-year period is partly for your sake.”
“What do you mean?”
“You need to marry Princess Pellianess, don’t you?”
“…”
“The mourning period for the late queen still has about a year left, right?”
His eyes flashed sharply.
When my father proposed our marriage, the Grand Duke’s engagement with the princess was already in progress. Both sides had wanted the wedding to happen quickly.
However, some nobles in the Kingdom of Rondoris strongly opposed holding a wedding before the queen’s three-year mourning period was over. The weak Rondoris king had no choice but to comply.
The engagement was broken, and the Grand Duke lost his perfect excuse to reject my father’s proposal.
But the Grand Duke and the princess’s marriage wasn’t completely canceled—just postponed.
Once he divorces me, he will undoubtedly try to marry the princess again to escape the Empire’s influence.
The curse wouldn’t be a problem. Princess Pellianess was too frail to live in the cold climate of Blenheim anyway. They had already agreed that she would remain in her kingdom after marriage.
It was a purely political union.
But no matter what, he had to wait at least a year. That was exactly what I was counting on.
“The Marquis’s intelligence network is quite impressive.”
The Grand Duke scoffed.
Since this was a royal marriage matter, all negotiations had been kept highly confidential.
Rumors about the engagement existed, but only a few high-ranking officials knew about the mourning period dispute.
“This has nothing to do with my father.”
I smiled.
“Take it as a compliment to my intelligence.”
“So, you’re saying you figured all this out on your own?”
The Grand Duke narrowed his eyes, trying to gauge the truth. But that wasn’t important right now, nor was it something I could explain to him.
After all, I couldn’t exactly say I knew everything from reading the original story.
I decisively changed the subject.
“Let me stay here for just one year. After that, I’ll annul the marriage.”
However, the Grand Duke furrowed his brow in thought before shaking his head.
“No.”
I was caught off guard by his unexpected firmness. What? Had he not been listening to anything I’d just said?
“Why not?”
“…”
“It’s not forever. Not even ten years. Just one year!”
“The length of time isn’t the issue.”
“Then what is? Is it the cost of my meals? Is the Grand Duchy so poor that you can’t afford to feed me?”
“…I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Then what’s the problem? Do you just not want me around? I can stay out of your way.”
Frustration bubbled inside me at his stubbornness.
“This castle is so huge, I barely even saw you in the past week! I wouldn’t even notice You were here.”
The Grand Duke let out a quiet sigh and averted his gaze.
“Are you saying your father had nothing to do with your coming to Blenheim?”
“…Do you need me to explain everything again?”
He hesitated before wetting his lips and finally speaking.
“It seems no amount of persuasion will change your mind, so I will be honest. Only a handful of people know this secret. But since I trust your sense of honor, I believe you will keep it.”
As I met the Grand Duke’s serious gaze, I straightened my posture.
“Please, go ahead.”
“Are you aware that the previous Grand Duke of Blenheim made a contract with a dragon?”
“Of course. Every citizen of the empire knows that story.”
“When my father passed away, I inherited that contract.”
“I know that too.”
“In truth, there is a curse attached to that contract. Any woman who comes into physical contact with me experiences unbearable pain. In severe cases, it could even lead to death.”
“…….”
“It may sound unbelievable, but it’s the truth. Yesterday, you could have died.”
The Grand Duke spoke with chilling calmness.
“You never know when it could happen again if you stay by my side. That’s why I’m asking you to leave—for your own safety.”
‘He’s telling me all of this?’
I didn’t know how to react to such an unexpected confession.
If this information got out, his reputation as the empire’s hero could be shattered in an instant, and he would be seen as a cursed man instead. He was sharing such a dangerous weakness with me—to his political opponent’s daughter, no less.
‘What if I used this to blackmail him?’
Of course, he didn’t seem like the type of man to be easily threatened.
And yet, he conveniently left out the most important part—the fact that I could nullify his curse. If he mentioned that, I could actually negotiate with him properly.
‘Why is he trying to get rid of someone as valuable as me? He should be offering me gold and jewels to stay!’
I was frustrated, but I couldn’t just come out and say it.
I hesitated, searching for the right words.
Seeing my silence, the Grand Duke must have taken it as fear or resignation. He softened his expression slightly and continued.
“If returning to the capital is difficult for you, I can arrange another place for you to stay. I have several villas near the capital that would be comfortable enough for a year.”
He was trying to end the conversation and stand up when I quickly spoke.
“But I’m completely fine.”
The Grand Duke’s voice was flat.
“Even if you don’t believe me—”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you.”
I met his gaze calmly.
“I didn’t feel any pain at all. Doesn’t that mean the curse doesn’t affect me?”
At my words, the Grand Duke looked away.
“That was… just luck.”
“But when you kissed the back of my hand, nothing happened. In fact, it only felt… pleasant.”
“P-Pleasant…? How can you say such things so casually…?”
He bit his lower lip in frustration.
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