CH 38.1

After the banquet, the Grand Duke changed his attitude slightly. The love affairs were still ugly, but there was a slight softening in his tone and expression.

Such as the meal they were having right then. In the midst of a plethora of plentiful foods, the relentlessly handsome man was sitting loftily and moving his jawline vigorously. But for Anne, the place made her lose her appetite.

Why are you suddenly asking to dine together?

Since Anne came to the Duchy, she has never eaten alone with him, except for the day on the balcony where he made fun of her. Actually, that had to be excluded. What Anne put in her mouth that day wasn’t delicious steak, but the Grand Duke’s thick flesh with blue veins sprouting out.

As she suddenly recalled that day, her breath choked. The contempt of that day. The taste that stung in her mouth mercilessly. Even the wind that cut through her flesh. It was an experience she would never forget.

So, just sitting with him like this now made Anne anxious. He must be up to something.

Are you going to do it here? Did you develop a taste for holding me while eating?

As she struggled to suppress her anxiety, which kept resurfacing, she met the Grand Duke’s eyes that had raised his head. Anne noticed that a corner of his mouth was slightly raised and she turned her head, pretending not to see him.

What are you going to do?

He even occasionally curved his mouth slightly when their eyes met. This time, she thought again, what was he going to do? The bite-sized piece of sirloin, good enough to eat, fell on her white plate as she looked down.

Her head raised reflexively watching the Grand Duke as if he had done something by mistake.

“I hope we can eat together once a day like this from now on.”

“Everyday . . . together?”

It was so sudden that she replied unknowingly.

“The nobles asked if I was starving you because the Grand Duchess looked like she was about to collapse. Why do you keep getting thinner?”

Of course. It was to establish his own prestige. Anne, who thought so, put a fork into the meat he gave her, expressing her hatred for the Grand Duke who had satisfied his greed until dawn this morning. The meat, marinated in high-quality spices, turned tasteless as she recalled the day’s events.

“The seeds I ordered this morning have arrived. I’ve already told the gardeners, so I’m going to start working on it today. Let the lower ones do the planting, and after that, when the flowers bloom, water them slowly and take care of them.”

He spoke kindly, so she looked forward to something. She was excited inside that she had something to do, but she still had a hard time letting go of the tension, so Anne just replied affirmatively in a stiff voice.

Was he not interested in flowers?

Expecting a favorable response from her, Anne’s silence caused the Grand Duke’s eyebrows to turn crooked. Her lips, which were always closed, did not open unless there was something to be said.

She did the same when kissing. She stubbornly endured and forced herself to hold on, but in the end she showed a gap. Even that was very small, so in the end he had to push it with force, but she accepted it.

Haa . . . What an unknown woman.

The Grand Duke clicked his tongue inside. Despite trying to ignore it before, he was following Salton’s advice, knowingly and unknowingly. He only got reports of her, but he didn’t really know Anne. Her personality was also very different from what he knew. But he didn’t agree with everything Salton said. He’s just giving her some time to catch her breath while hiding his own desires.

She had to be harassed by his side for countless hours in the future. As Salton pointed out, if he pushed her like this, the woman might collapse and die and he would realize it too late. Up to that point, he hadn’t even thought of it. Considering Anne’s stubbornness, it wasn’t wrong. If she collapsed like this . . .

So the Grand Duke decided to revise his plan for a while. Because teasing was possible only if she was alive. Then he repeated to himself that this was never a withdrawal for her, nor was it born of affection.

Suddenly, her bare wrist caught his eye. Anne was more skinny than she had been before, before she arrived at the castle.

She got some cold air on the balcony and was very sick.

A light body that seemed to fly away if he tapped it with his finger. A weak woman in many ways. As if she was going to die while he was away.

Without knowing as he was driven by lust day and night, he thought he should tell the chef to prepare a nutritious meal for the time being.

On the other hand, when the Grand Duke stopped cutting and looked at her, Anne became more anxious. Did he really want to do it here? Like when he touched her in the office. She didn’t know if he was going to pretend to reassure her, then surprise her with a sudden change.