Chapter 10.1

It has been a month since she came to the Grand Duke’s castle. The season was now winter, and blizzards and bitter cold continued grimly every day.

The wedding was omitted, but the day after the first night, Anne finished her autograph on the papers Ashton presented to her, and she became Grand Duchess.

The Grand Duke visited her every night. Resistance was useless in front of him, but even if it was in vain, Anne struggled to push the Grand Duke who rushed at her every time. However, as it continued repeatedly, she later simply dropped and received the Grand Duke with her legs spread apart.

This is . . . Marriage . . . ?

The night was very painful even though she had come without any expectations in the first place. She had been mingling with him for over a month, but his thing was still too much for her— she couldn’t even breathe properly.

Moreover, as their relationship progressed, she was also changing strangely. She moaned like the prostitute that her brother Robert had mocked, and even though she said she didn’t like it, she tasted climax at the end.

So she didn’t like it. The fact that a noble’s sex would be so filthy and promiscuous.

I hope I will have a child soon . . .

Anne thought as her face lit up with annoyance. Having a child would put an end to this formal relationship. Even if he was attracted to a new woman’s body since he was in his early stages, the moment she conceives a child, his attention would fade and he will seek only the mistress’ room.

The Grand Duke should quickly lose interest in her. It was Anne’s wish every day.

She sighed deeply at the troublesome thoughts, and looked blankly at the burning fireplace. Every time the firewood burned, the flames rose and danced. The end of the flames twinkled and then withered like a withering flower, just like her who was in trouble, she stared blankly.

Tak!

The sound of the glass table against the bottom of the teacup caught her.

When she turned her head, she saw Marie sitting opposite her. Today she had finely braided brown hair that created an impression that was milder than usual, but she couldn’t erase the sad expression she had originally. She was a woman with an atmosphere that suited this gloomy place well.

“Are you bored?”

Marie, who was slowly pouring the freshly brewed tea from the kettle, asked. It seems that she considered the Grand Duchess’ sigh as boredom.

Marie had made an appointment in advance, and in the afternoon like this, she came to visit Anne. Her troubled appearance on the first face, as if what kind of wind was blowing, disappeared, and it was like a person who had decided to be close to her. But Marie was not good at hiding her expressions, so it was easy to read that she was overdoing it.

“A little.”

Anne, who reached out for the cup with hot steam, answered briefly.

A few days ago, Marie asked her to be comfortable with her, since she is one year younger than the nineteen year old Anne. Because of their ambiguous relationship, Anne still tried to be formal with her, but she had no choice but to accept her earnest request. At first she was reluctant to do so, but she became quite used to it.

“If the weather is nice, we can go outside.”

“Does it always snow here?”

Anne asked, turning her head to her window. A blizzard raged like a storm today, and the snow covered the entire castle like a blanket. She woke up early today as always because of the sound of the wind blowing through the cracks in the castle windows and the rattling sound of the windows.

For nearly a month already, Anne had not been able to get a proper night’s sleep.

The nightly visits from the Grand Duke who held her until dawn and released his lust, often kept her awake, and in the morning a noise like someone knocking on the window with a fist cut off her sleep. Startled, her eyes opened. She did not have time to properly relieve her fatigue, and it was difficult to get used to the unfamiliar place.

“It’s always like this here. You say the weather is very warm in the capital?”

“It’s rare to see snow.”

It did snow in the capital, but since it is in the southern part of the country, it is rare to see a decent amount of snow. As for Anne, when she was young, all she had seen was see white snow that flew like dust a few times.

“By the way, why did you go to the capital last time?”

Anne asked indifferently, fiddling with the teacup. She had deliberately not brought up what Marie had been up to in the capital, and Marie had brought the topic first.

“Huh . . .”

Marie dragged her words by fiddling with the tips of her hair, which was as limp as a horsetail. She looked visibly perplexed as she suddenly didn’t know Anne was going to bring up the capital story. Come to think of it, her brother had met her in a salon, where sons and daughters of the nobles usually come and go.

But no matter how carefully she looked at her, Marie didn’t seem like the kind of person who would enter a place like that, even until she died. To seduce a man with that simple and innocent expression and went with him to a room in the salon, and then he was caught by the knights of the Grand Duchy . . .