At her words, the man’s smirking face quickly hardened. He then released her and helped her to her seat.

“Don’t push it.”

“Crazy bastard, as if you don’t like it too.”

Ugh…… I really can’t get used to this….

Watching the man growling to himself again, Belita thought she had made the right decision to return now.

“Wife.”

“Yes, yes?”

“Please continue the conversation we were having earlier.”

“……What? What……”

“About when you were young.”

“Ah……”

Suddenly…?

“No, not that. Tell me why you became afraid of thunder. What exactly did you see that day?”

“……”

Though she didn’t understand why he was suddenly so curious about her past, Belita smiled bitterly at the unfamiliar sight of the two personalities. Why had the man who had either ignored her or intimidated her like cornering a mouse suddenly become so affectionate? She was curious about his change of heart.

Honestly, she had many questions herself. Why he had bought a wife, and why he had developed two personalities…. So she decided to ask. The question she couldn’t ask that day.

“I’m curious too.”

“About what?”

“Why your personality split, why you bought me with money instead of having a proper marriage……”

“……”

Unable to finish her words, Belita looked at him while fidgeting with her fingers. However, seeing him close his mouth, she felt she had asked an unnecessary question and quickly ended the conversation.

“If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. But then don’t be curious about my past either.”

“……”

Rian, who had been staring at her with an unreadable gaze, suddenly lifted the corner of his mouth. By now, she could tell who was who just by that expression.

“See? Didn’t I tell you Belita has become more bold? She was originally this kind of woman, but you neglected her and ruined her.”

“Nonsense. You acted like a madman and made my wife afraid of me.”

“Do you know how much I’ve served her with my body and mouth every night? That’s why Belita has brightened up. I did what an impotent bastard like you couldn’t—”

“You only have such thoughts in your head. You didn’t respect my wife.”

“Respect…? Is that how you lived as a couple worse than strangers with all that respect? The Grand Duchess who was disrespected by those count nobodies and couldn’t say a word, hiding behind me? Is that the respect you’re talking about?”

“At first! I didn’t know either.”

“Hmph, how could you know anything when you weren’t interested?”

At Rian’s suddenly fierce atmosphere, Belita put her hand to her forehead. Well, there was no need to stop them since they weren’t physically fighting, just arguing, but it was truly an incredible sight to behold.

“That’s…!”

“Stupid bastard. A man who can’t take care of his own wife claims to take care of the people of the Grand Duchy.”

“Watch your language.”

“Why don’t you just hide as usual and not come out? I’ll take care of everything. I’ll make sure your precious people of the Grand Duchy have enough to eat.”

“Is that why you’re leaving the people behind and going back now? Even though you know the river could overflow if it rains today?”

“My wife comes first. Look at Belita’s complexion. See how exhausted she looks. Why did you bring her out here in the first place? Tsk.”

Sigh……

“Excuse me……”

The one fortunate thing was that because both were upset, there were no bizarre facial expressions of smiling then getting angry. Belita looked at him with an equally sour expression. She couldn’t take sides, nor was it appropriate to intervene, and the more she thought about the situation, the more absurd it seemed.

“My head hurts. Can we just go quietly?”

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. We’ll call Font as soon as we get back.”

“No need. I’ll feel better after some rest.”

Thankfully, neither Crazy Rian nor he spoke anymore. Belita opened the window as she faced the man who was just staring at her with worried eyes.

Who was worrying about whom now? Suddenly, she felt relieved that His Grace wasn’t experiencing much confusion despite discovering another personality inside himself. If it had been her, she might have truly gone mad. Then, a thought occurred to her.

“Ah, your head…. Is your head okay?”

“It’s fine. I’m tougher than you think.”

“Still, I think you should be careful. In case it gets worse.”

“If you’re that worried, give me medicine. You know you’re my medicine.”

Belita leaned back, avoiding the man who leaned forward with his face peeking out, grinning lewdly. To avoid falling for Crazy Rian’s intentions of making the atmosphere strange at every opportunity, she turned her gaze back to the window. A slightly different worry than when they were going to the village settled in her heart.

Is it okay to leave this man as he is?

Belita’s face was filled with concern, now more worried about Rian than herself.

* * *

After eating lunch hastily and returning to her room, Belita sighed, holding her throbbing head. Whether it was from the cold wind or from facing that woman, her stomach didn’t feel good, and her head had been hurting all day. She felt weak and limp, probably having caught a cold.

“Phew…… I wasn’t this frail before.”

Although she had gone out feeling good about having something she could do, she felt disappointed and regretful for returning without accomplishing anything again today. She felt like she was finally being recognized as the Grand Duchess, but now it felt like she was back to square one. Feeling dejected for various reasons, she lay down on the sofa and closed her eyes.

How much time had passed…? Belita’s eyes flew open at the presence she felt beside her.

“Huh?”

“Why are you sleeping here? Why not in bed?”

“Ah… Was I asleep?”

“Yes. You were sleeping soundly.”

“Sigh…. I didn’t lie down intending to sleep.”

Looking out the window, she saw it was already getting dark, and rain was starting to fall. At that moment, she remembered what Grand Duke Rian had said earlier.

“It’s raining?”

“Yes.”

“You clearly said earlier that the river might overflow……”

“It won’t overflow with just this much rain. So don’t worry and go back to sleep in bed.”

“But… where are you going…?”

Belita asked with wide eyes when she saw Rian dressed in outdoor clothes.

“Even if it doesn’t overflow, I need to go check the situation. The knights are still there too.”

“Ah…. So you do work after all.”

“What? Ha! What kind of provocation is this now? And here I was trying to put you to bed nicely.”

“Ah, no. That’s not what I meant!”

Belita hurriedly pushed away the man who was leaning in close and sat up abruptly. Lately, her inner thoughts had been escaping without any tact, causing her to bite her lip firmly.

“When you react like this, it makes me not want to go even more?”

“Go quickly. Be careful…… and come back safely……”

“Hmm. I don’t want to go.”

Belita’s mouth gaped open at the unfamiliar behavior of the man who was hugging her waist and nuzzling his face against her knee affectionately. Was this truly another aspect of Rian’s original self…? It seemed strangely fitting yet oddly mismatched at the same time.

“How’s your head?”

“It’s fine.”

“Then, just one suck on your br*ast.”

Slap!

“Ugh, isn’t that too harsh?”

The man grimaced, biting his lower lip that hadn’t been hit hard. At his growling posture that looked ready to pounce on her at any moment, Belita forced a smile and tried to appease him.

“Go quickly. Let’s talk when you come back. I’ll, I’ll wait for you.”

“Really now, just you wait. I won’t let you off easy when I come back.”

“……”

Her pink eyes wandered aimlessly through the air.

“I’ll be back. I’ll sleep in this room, so don’t be startled if you wake up.”

“……Alright.”

“Since you’re waiting anyway, I’d prefer if you waited n*ked.”

“……Let’s go now.”

“Heh. Fine.”

As he said he would return, cupping both her cheeks and gently kissing her lips, she truly felt like they were a married couple. This act of entwining tongues and mixing saliva didn’t feel like a lewd act, but rather like a genuine expression of affection for each other.

Belita blushed at the lustful gaze of the man who reluctantly pulled away after sucking and kissing her lips until the very end. Her heart pounded, and unfamiliar emotions surged like a tide.

“I should hurry back. I can’t hold back.”

“……You really need to be careful.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon. Drink this while I’m gone. It’s herbal tea.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The man kissed her forehead before leaving the room. For the first time, his absence felt regrettable and lonely. She quickly got up and approached the window, desperately looking at the sky in a different sense, praying for the rain to stop. And she stared out the window endlessly until the carriage carrying him disappeared.

She trudged back to the sofa and stared blankly at the herbal tea he had brought. Seeing that the steam had cooled, it seemed he had waited while she was sleeping. Whether it was consideration from the crazy one or the cold one, the thought suddenly made her smile. The conclusion was that this consideration didn’t match either of them.

Belita’s brow suddenly furrowed as she picked up the teacup and was about to take a sip. Suddenly her stomach churned, and something rose up.

“Urgh!”

Unable to hold back the nausea, Belita hurriedly covered her mouth and ran into the bathroom. Meanwhile, the rain began to fall more heavily. A long streak of light appeared and disappeared as if tearing through the sky.