Chapter 4 (Part 11)
Returning to the ducal residence late at night, Jeremy’s legs wobbled as if they might give out. He had drunk a little more than usual today, thanks to Georges’ persistence.
‘Your Grace! Don’t you trust me? Even if I’m drunk, I’m the Empire’s top swordsman who can protect you with my bare hands! If you stacked the monsters I’ve slain like a tower, they’d be taller than the Alps!’
In the end, Georges had been the first to pass out from drinking. Even as he was carried on Thomas’s back, he kept shouting loudly.
‘I’m the best in the Empire!’
When the Duke entered the front hall, the waiting butler quickly took his cloak. After handing over his gloves and hat, Jeremy finally spoke.
“Where is the Duchess…?”
“Madame is in the study.”
‘She must really like the study.’
He had seen her there before. Sitting on a small cushioned chair with the large window behind her, she had been deeply engrossed in a book.
‘Even while I was watching her.’
“Shall I escort you to your bedroom, Your Grace?”
“No, go about your duties.”
After taking a shower and donning a robe, Jeremy quietly walked down the hallway. His shadow stretched long across the red carpet under the ceiling mural of Goddess Diana.
Entering the study, Jeremy saw Therese sitting at the desk, writing something. Her lips pressed tightly together, and her face looked serious.
‘She doesn’t even notice me.’
From the beginning, Therese had been consistent, and for some reason, that consistency annoyed him.
Brushing his still-damp bangs to the side, Jeremy took another step forward.
“…Ah!”
Only then did Therese notice him. She stopped what she was doing and looked flustered.
“What are you doing?”
At such a late hour, alone.
So suspiciously.
At his question, Therese’s blue eyes wavered intensely.
“N-nothing.”
She hurried to close the book she had been writing in, but the Duke stepped forward, stopping her and snatching it away.
“What were you doing that you had to be so secretive?”
The Duke’s lips twisted cruelly as he growled harshly.
Today, he might finally confirm that she was a spy.
‘Judging by how much she confuses me, it might really be true.’
The usually clear-headed Duke Richard seemed to have become increasingly muddled these days.
‘If I look at this, everything will become clear.’
Surely, it would contain secret messages she was sending to someone. Jeremy roughly opened it and glared fiercely at its contents.
“…….”
But the contents completely defied his expectations.
It was filled with longing for her late mother, worries about her ill father, and thoughts about Jeremy Richard.
“This, this is…….”
Therese’s face twisted as she looked up at the Duke reading it.
“Please, give it back.”
But the Duke still couldn’t fully let go of his suspicions. What if it was written in a code only she could understand?
‘If I read a bit more, a pattern will surely emerge.’
He was quite skilled at deciphering codes as a hobby.
But no matter how much he read, this was clearly a journal written in letter format.
“It’s just personal.”
Therese jumped up and down in an attempt to get the journal back from him. But no matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t retrieve it from the much taller Duke.
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
As he flipped further ahead, Therese, now pale as a sheet, pounded on his chest fiercely.
“Please don’t read that part!”
Ignoring her protests, Jeremy opened to a date a few months before their marriage.
‘Duke Richard probably doesn’t even remember me, but he once saved me when I was a child.’
And then, a long and detailed account of how much Therese admired him followed.
Reading it made Jeremy’s face grow hot.
“……Hmm.”
There were no hidden details about the Richard family’s forces or maps.
The journal was filled entirely with Therese’s confessions of admiration toward him.
No matter how many pages he turned, the same kind of content continued, making Jeremy feel increasingly awkward.
“Please, give it back.”
“……Hmm.”
Faced with his obvious mistake, Jeremy didn’t know what to say.
‘She’s definitely hiding something from me…….’
But he was now certain it wasn’t to kill him or harm his family.
‘Strangely, that’s just how it feels.’
Moreover, the journal’s contents felt unfamiliar yet oddly familiar.
It was as if he had read it before.
‘This shouldn’t be possible…….’
As Jeremy let out a sigh, Therese stretched her arm out.
“I told you to give it back!”
When her hand touched the journal, Jeremy, caught off guard, lost his balance. As he staggered forward, he leaned over, trapping Therese between the desk and himself.
“……Hah.”
Therese, now practically lying on the desk, tried to straighten herself up. But with the Duke blocking her, she couldn’t move at all.
“I seem to have misunderstood. I apologize.”
Surprised by his apology, she could only gape at him. She hadn’t expected someone as arrogant as him to apologize so quickly.
But hearing his apology in this position made her feel uncomfortable, so much so that she couldn’t even process his words.
It felt as if she were in his arms, and her heart was pounding hard because of it.
“Please step aside. Someone might see us.”
When Therese pushed firmly against his chest, Jeremy leaned in even closer. Now, only a hand’s width separated them.
Jeremy, who had been staring at her intently, asked,
“Why should we care about others’ gazes?”
“……?”
Therese’s blue eyes filled with something close to shock.
Just a moment ago, he had been interrogating her like a criminal, and now, what was he doing?
Moreover, this journal was something she never wanted him to see.
‘The letters he held before my death…….’
Someone must have torn out parts of her journal and sent them as letters. But since she had jumped off the tower immediately after, she hadn’t been able to find out who it was.
Then, the Duke asked,
“Have you liked me all this time?”
This time, it didn’t seem like he was asking for an answer. His confident tone and self-assured expression made that clear.
Even if it were true, Therese had no intention of answering.
“It’s personal, so I won’t answer.”
As she avoided his question, the Duke kept lowering his head. When their breaths mingled, Therese turned her face sharply to the side.
‘Do I like him?’
The feeling of loving someone doesn’t change easily.
Jeremy Richard had been her hero since childhood, her first love, and her only love until the moment she died.
Even if that foolish love had hurt her to the point of death.
When Therese didn’t answer, he quickly responded.
“Good.”
“……What do you mean?”
The Duke still didn’t let go of Therese. As they remained pressed closely together, he whispered, sending chills down her arms.
At that moment, through the thin robe she wore, she could feel the Duke’s hard muscles between her legs. His skin was burning hot.
Just like that unforgettable night.
“Do as you please. I’ll do as I wish, too.”
Because of their proximity, Therese could faintly smell alcohol on Jeremy’s breath.
‘Oakwood? It smells a bit like chocolate…….’
She had always thought alcohol smelled unpleasant, but the Duke’s scent was different.
Her eyelashes trembled violently with a mix of excitement and fear.
“Did you drink, Your Grace?”
“Do you know that we’re married?”
The Duke’s answer to her question was completely unrelated.
“…….”
When Jeremy uttered the word “married,” his eyes curved slightly, and watching him, Therese’s expression hardened.
She was reminded every day that she was the Duchess of Richard.
‘A Duchess without dignity like you—how can that be acceptable? You belong to the Richard family now, so you must always strive not to disgrace the Duke.’
Therese had done everything Maria Richard had told her to do. When Maria said she looked fat, she ate only one meal a day. When Maria said she lacked grace, she stayed locked in her room during banquets.
But no matter how hard she tried, she could never become the daughter-in-law Maria approved of.
‘Duchess of Richard.’
Gradually, that name became not a source of pride but a mockery to Therese.
As bitter memories surfaced and she lowered her head, the Duke leaned in even closer.
“Are you avoiding me again?”
“I-I’ve never done that.”
Her voice trembled as she spoke.
‘Why is my heart racing like this?’
Therese, who had never feared assassins or perverts, was now utterly confused.
‘This never happened in the past, so why now?’
Then, a question arose in her mind.
‘Could it be that the Duke has also returned to the past?’
Thinking about it that way, she could somewhat understand why the Duke was acting strangely.
The current Duke seemed similar to the cold man he used to be in the past, but he was also entirely different.
Her tightly clenched fists were damp with sweat from tension. Therese, who had braced herself firmly, straightened her back a little while keeping eye contact with him.
“……!”
The Duke’s broad shoulders flinched at Therese’s bold demeanor.
“Your Grace, perhaps…….”
But asking him that question was far from easy.
‘Your Grace, have you returned to the past?’
If she said that, she might end up being treated as a crazy person.
Lost in thought for a moment, Therese recalled the top of the tower in the Richard ducal residence, where the north wind howled. Her blue eyes darkened with gloom as unpleasant memories surfaced.
“Are you doing this because you feel guilty?”
She was asking if he pitied the foolish woman who had thrown herself away due to her husband’s indifference and coldness.
Was he being kind now because he regretted not understanding how much I had suffered?
Should I be grateful for that?
“…….”
As he gazed at the unreadable emotions in Therese’s blue eyes, he cupped her cheek with one hand. His palm, rough with small scars, gently grazed her jaw and cheek.
“I’ve never been in love before, and I don’t know much about women, so I often make mistakes with you.”
“…….”
There wasn’t a trace of falsehood on the Duke’s face as he stammered.
‘I must have been mistaken.’
If the Duke had truly returned to the past, he wouldn’t have reacted like this to her question.
“Have I unknowingly done something to hurt you?”
“……Hmm.”
Therese swallowed hard at the Duke’s answer, which was closer to the truth.
Although he had done those things, it wasn’t this version of him who had done them.
Between their still-pressed bodies, the sticky summer air lingered. Her heartbeat was so loud that it was impossible to hide.
“May I kiss you?”
“……What?”
Therese almost screamed at the sudden request for a kiss.
It was so far removed from anything she expected to come out of the Duke’s mouth that she couldn’t believe it.
Clutching the front of her robe with both hands, she shook her flushed face vigorously.
“I wasn’t asking for your permission.”
“Th-then why did you ask?”
“Well.”
Jeremy’s teasing tone was accompanied by a faint blush around his eyes.
Ever since he read the contents of her journal earlier, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
No, to be honest, it had started even before that.
“Didn’t we agree to do as we please with each other?”
“…….”
Therese remained silent, trying her hardest not to react.
In truth, her body, pressed against his, felt as if it were engulfed in flames.
Beneath her chemise, her n*pples had hardened with excitement, to the point of aching. When Jeremy Richard’s firm chest subtly pressed against her sensitive peaks, a strange sensation rippled through her body.
‘I can’t hold back any longer.’
She knew in her head that she needed to push Jeremy away, but her body didn’t agree.
All she wanted was to be held in his strong arms and cry out in pleasure all night long.
‘I know it’s madness…….’
The heat pooling in her lower body made her silk panties damp and sticky.
‘He must not find out.’
Therese had to escape the suffocating seduction of the Duke immediately.
Growing increasingly anxious, she swallowed hard as Jeremy brushed his fingers over her lip, where a small crack had formed.
“That must hurt.”
“Don’t touch it. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
As Therese tried to turn her head away, his lips brushed against her cheek. The warmth of his lips, carrying a faint fragrance, caused her face to flush red.
If his lips had moved just a little further, they would have met hers.
Startled, Therese quickly covered her lips with her hand, but he merely smiled faintly.
Then, his lips lightly touched the back of her hand.
As he pulled away, the Duke asked,
“Did you really think I would kiss you?”
“…….”
Therese couldn’t lift her head, embarrassed by how foolish she had been to fall for such a ridiculous tease.
“Please refrain from such jokes in the future.”
After stomping on the Duke’s foot, Therese snatched up her journal and turned away from him.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Tillda
I can’t get over their first night. And here we have the victim who is all blushes at mere drunk seduction. And the abuser who reads personal journal and has r*pe history asking if perhaps he did sth wrong 🤡 😡