CH 98

“To find Sigrit’s heart……?”

“Yes. When I organized the investigation on the heart until late hours, the scope of our circumstances narrowed down little by little.”

No wonder…… that the light in the duke’s study seemed to be on until late at night, he must have been looking into Sigrit’s heart.

“I think we should look for relics related to Sigrit. Apparently, Sigrit’s subordinate was asleep in there.”

His guess was quite close.

The duke was a smart man and had a strange ability, so if he kept up his pace, he might be able to meet Zenuit someday.

‘Of course, it’s difficult to do it now……’

Zenuit has already found her first.

“I promise to you, Nelia. I will make sure to find Sigrit’s heart within a year.”

Nelia was worried about something as she listened to the duke.

“However, Your Grace’s true appearance may not be human being……”

The reason why the duke tried to find Sigrit’s heart was to solve the curse of turning into a snake.

However, as shown in the picture in the book from the basement, if the heads of the Hart Family were originally snakes and had changed into humans temporarily……

“It doesn’t matter whether I was originally a snake or a human who turned into a snake. If I find his heart, I will make a wish to be a whole human being.”

In the end, his wish didn’t change.

The reason he tried to lift up the curse in the first place was because he wanted to be a whole human being.

“……I also want to stay by Nelia’s side as a whole human being.”

The duke closed his eyes and whispered quietly, before opening his eyes slowly again.

“So, Nelia.”

“Pardon? Yes.”

Nelia, whose mind was still wondering about the duke’s wish, awakened by the duke’s call of her name.

“I hope you don’t lie to me, Nelia.”

“……”

“Of course you must have had a reason to lie to me, but if you are in danger like what happened with Carlos last time…… I don’t think I can forgive myself next time.”

Nelia was touched for a moment, but she soon came back to her senses.

If it were something else, she would have told everything to the duke, but not Zenuit.

Hiding his existence was for the sake of the duke.

“……”

Nelia’s reluctant eyes moved slowly as if they were scanning the air.

She couldn’t tell the duke about Zenuit, but she could only tell him this much.

“In fact, I’m not hiding it from Your Grace, but there’s something I can’t tell, Your Grace.”

“What can’t you say to me?”

“Yes. But it’s not something dangerous, so I hope Your Grace will trust me and wait.”

The duke simply stared at Nelia without answering.

“……Your Grace?”

Then, as if his mind was wandering somewhere, his eyes were directed to another place, but soon he nodded as if he accepted her words.

“All right.”

He lightly kissed the back of her hand.

“I’ll trust you.”

Phew, that’s a relief.

Nelia regretted that she should have told the duke about Zenuit earlier.

The duke she knew was not the type of person to push someone to tell the truth they’ve been hiding right away.

The duke sat down on the bed and stared at Nelia.

“But, Nelia.”

“Yes?”

“Will you accept if I propose to you?”

Nelia’s lips twitched at the sudden talk about the marriage proposal.

“Why……? If I say I won’t accept it, won’t you do it?”

The duke laid down on the bed and tugged at Nelia’s wrist when she was about to get up. Due to that, they were lying down face to face on the bed.

The duke spoke up while their forehead was close enough to touch each other.

“Of course not.”

“……Then?”

“I will continue to propose until you accept it.”

The duke said so and raised the corners of his mouth.

Nelia looked at him blankly for a second because his languid smile was so charismatic.

At the same time, her heart began to pound.

“What if I say I like another guy?”

“I have to get rid of him.”

“……How do you get rid of him?”

“It’s a secret.”

The duke still had the same gorgeous smile, but unlike before, his eyes were glinting quite sharply.

“Even if Nelia doesn’t like me, I don’t have any other choice. So, I’ll try to make you like me until I die.”

The duke stroked Nelia’s cheek.

“However…… Don’t assume that you like another man. It hurts a lot just even if you’re just saying it.”

His eyes were subdued, like a low voice whispering softly.

In fact, even after asking this question, Nelia was not content at all.

She just asked because she was curious how Duke Hart, who was blinded by his interest in her, would act in such a situation, but it would have been heartbreaking to him.

Nelia covered the duke’s hand with her own when he was caressing her cheek.

“……I will never like anyone other than you, Your Grace.”

The duke’s mouth curved up in a gentle manner.

“Do you know it sounds like you really like me, Nelia?”

The duke’s tender voice rang in Nelia’s ear.

‘As if I really like him……?’

The monotonous tone in his words was stuck in Nelia’s mind, and she became momentarily dazed.

However, her confused heart and thoughts gradually popped up to the surface after a while, as if the messy space inside her cleared up instantly.

‘Oh……’

Why did she find out about it now?

She has been liking the duke.

She realized only recently that she was too conscious of the duke, that she treated his feelings like her own, and that was also the reason she was worried about his mother, and became anxious to solve the curse because she liked him.

The duke, unaware of Nelia’s innermost thought, gently kissed her eyelids.

“Thank you for coming here with me.”

“……”

“For me, the duchy castle was the place I wanted to avoid. I’m glad I came here with you, Nelia.”

When she realized it, his murmuring voice as his lips lingered on her eyelids sounded overly affectionate.

“Nelia, you are also my savior. You saved me over and over again.”

The duke’s lips brushed the tip of his nose lightly and went down. To her lips.

It didn’t take long for the kiss to deepen. Normally, she would have pushed the duke when he was touching her in the strange place, but her burning head felt dizzy, making it difficult for her to think properly.

Nelia wrapped her arms around the duke’s neck. The duke’s kiss became wilder in response to her gesture.

And it was when the duke’s hand went down to the buttons of his shirt……

Blam!

“Oh, I’m hungry.”

Nelia hastily pushed the duke away at the sound of the door opening along with Zenuit’s voice.

Then, Nelia leaped out of bed.

“Ze-Zenu, did you enjoy the tour around the duchy’s castle?”

“Yes, when the h*ll are we going to have dinner…… Huh? You were with His Grace?”

“……We were talking about something for a while.”

Nelia glanced at the duke.

The duke narrowed his eyebrows as if he had no intention of hiding his displeasure whilst slowly getting up from the bed.

“Your Grace, are you sick?”

He answered whilst walking past Zenuit, who asked with an innocent face.

“If this happens a few times, I might get tired of it.”

The duke looked back with his hands on the doorknob.

“I’ll go back to my room. Nelia.”

“Yes……”

As the duke closed the door, Nelia had to relieve the heat engulfing her face.

Fortunately, Zenuit flopped down on the bed as if he wasn’t interested in Nelia’s face.

“Did you look around the castle well?”

“Yes, it was nothing.”

“Yes……”

Nelia, who was nodding, suddenly recalled that she had something to ask him.

“Zenuit!”

Nelia sat on the bed quickly, and the mattress swayed. Due to that, Zenuit, whose eyes were closed, opened them.

“Why are you calling my name loudly when I’m right beside you?”

“The book I read in the basement.”

Zenuit replied in an indifferent voice.

“What about the book?”

“There was something like a dragon drawing there. Do you think you are a dragon, Zenuit?”

Zenuit turned his eyes away and looked at the ceiling somewhere.

‘I don’t know.”

Nelia frowned at his weak answer.

“What……? Zenuit, you’re a dragon yourself, but can’t you recognize the same dragon?”

Zenuit didn’t say anything.

Nelia gave up asking more questions when he was in this kind of mood, which seemed to have suddenly become quiet.

Sometimes he would shut up like a clam when he didn’t want to talk, regardless of the topic. At that time, no matter how many questions she asked, he didn’t answer any of them.

Nelia laid down beside Zenuit as if she had given up.

“If His Grace’s ancestor was really a dragon, why did he become such a trifling thing like a snake?”

“He must have been punished for committing a mistake.”

She didn’t expect any answer from Zenuit, but he spoke calmly as if he was telling the truth.

“No matter what the mistake was, it’s too much to make them suffer for such a long time.”

Nelia grumbled as she hugged the pillow.

At that moment, the maid knocked from the other side of the door to announce that the meal was ready. Nelia got out of bed first and prepared herself to go to the dining room.

On the other hand, Zenuit was still lying down on the bed with his eyes glued on the ceiling.

He murmured in a low voice.

“……It’s been a long time.”

***

When they went to the dining room, there was a feast served on the table.

Zenuit, whose mood seemed to be gloomy since a while ago, sat on the table with an excited glint in his eyes, which was enough to suspect he was having a double personality.

“There’s not many meals we can prepare, but please eat a lot.”

No way they said it was not much…… Nelia greeted the duchess, who was smiling, “Bon Appetit!” and held up her fork and knife.

Seeing the table served with many kinds of meals, Zenuit’s amazed voice resonated in the air.

“Wow, this bread is good!”

There was a brioche that was served as an appetizer and his eyes were wide open.

Upon eating something delicious, Zenuit usually talked about his past by saying something along the lines of, “When I was young, I didn’t even enjoy such a high-class dish.” because he just woke up after thousands of years, but his response was unique.

However, as soon as Nelia took a bite of the brioche, she understood why Zenuit was so excited.

‘It’s very delicious……!’

As Nelia blinked and stared at the soft brioche in front of her, the duchess explained with a big smile.

“The wheat produced in Hart Duchy is of good quality. The soil is soft and the weather is mild throughout the year, so not only the farming is good, but the seeds are also of excellent quality.”

Just as rice tastes good when it is produced well, good wheat also makes a great bread.

“Yes, it’s really delicious. I’ve never had such a delicious brioche before.”

The duchess continued with a contented expression after Nelia said so.

“Therefore, we hold a huge thanksgiving festival every year, and the day after tomorrow is the thanksgiving festival. There’s a big carnival in the evening, so I think it’d be nice to go together.”

Festival……!

Nelia has never been to a festival in her current life or even her previous life.

However, Nelia, who was intrigued, quickly realized why she came here. It was not the right time to watch the festival peacefully.

“There’s only a few days left until the day of the total lunar eclipse.”

So, while she was here, she had to know everything she could know.

Although the book in the basement couldn’t be read because of differences in languages, she decided to look for it because there might be another hidden room.

“That wouldn’t be bad either.”

Duke Hart unexpectedly agreed with the duchess. Nelia looked surprised, and smiled softly.

“The festival is held in the evening anyway. We’ve come all the way here, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Even so……”

“Wow, festival!”

It was Zenuit who cut off Nelia. Zenuit even jumped out of his chair.

“I love it, Your Grace! I really wanted to go to the festival!”

How the h*ll did a dragon know about a festival?…… He must have been reading a lot of books lately, so did he find it there?

The duke looked at Zenuit and closed his eyes whilst muttering in a friendly voice.

“Then let’s all go together.”

“Good.”

The duchess raised the corners of her mouth while looking at the excited Zenuit.

The atmosphere already seemed to be inclined about going to the festival already.

Nelia also gave up on the attempt to dissuade him. This was because Nelia was inwardly excited at the thought of going to the festival.

“Festival……!”

She felt like the tasty brioche became even more delicious.