The Only Way to Break the Curse is Through Contact with You - Chapter 43
“I’ve finished loading your luggage, you may climb into the carriage now…”
Caught up in the mesmerizing golden glow, I belatedly came to my senses at Milto’s voice, quickly stepped back, and turned my head. Milto shouted out excitedly, then trailed off after looking at Diart’s reaction. It was a look of regret.
“Ahem, let’s just leave now.”
As if he were running away, Milto ran towards the front of the carriage and held out his hand. I was about to put my hand on it, but Diart intervened.
“Hand.”
I looked up at Diart, who was blocking Milto. I felt uneasy because I thought that there was no reason for him to have escorted me to the imperial banquet, and he had shown no common courtesy before.
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
I replied belatedly to his gaze and took his hand. I felt warmth beyond the soft leather. As I felt before, despite his cold expression and personality, he had a warm body temperature.
Diart held my hand tightly and escorted me onto the carriage. After Milto closed the door, silence filled the carriage. As always, when I was with Diart these days, the air was so suffocating that it felt like I couldn’t breathe.
Ignoring the gaze that I could feel in front of me, I opened the window and looked outside. A little later, Diart sighed heavily.
“We’re going to start construction next month.”
“What kind of construction?”
At the sudden remark, I turned my head and saw Diart staring at me intently.
“I told you before. I asked for permission to lay tracks for the benefit of the people in the territory.”
“Ah.”
I let out a sigh without realizing it. I didn’t know that things would progress so quickly. Although I thought that Diart’s business skills were good and that it was a promising proposal, I thought that it would take some time to implement for various reasons.
“Did His Majesty approve it?”
There is no way he could easily give up the privileges of the imperial family. I thought they would play tug-of-war for quite some time, at least for the sake of his pride.
“Well.”
Diart replied briefly. His expression showed that it was nothing special as if he could imagine the situation at that time. I imagined the Emperor, who reminded me of a friendly neighborhood uncle, having to reluctantly agree with Diart, even though he couldn’t easily give up his privileges as a member of the imperial family.
“When the tracks are laid, we plan to limit the sales rights of mutroi grass as you suggested.”
“That’s good news. The lives of the people in the territory will be much better.”
The Emperor’s unfortunate circumstances are pitiful, but regardless, it was a pleasant sound to hear.
“I didn’t expect you to pay such close attention to my words.”
Normally, he would have ignored my words completely. In the original work, he disliked Roeni to the point where he wouldn’t even exchange a single word with her.
Of course, as a businessman, he must have proceeded with it because he judged it to be profitable. But still, the fact that he didn’t ignore my words and listened earnestly was not unpleasant.
Before I knew it, we had passed through the forest, and the view of the capital appeared outside the window.
“You look happy.”
Diart’s words made me turn my head away from looking out the window. It seems that I was unknowingly humming a tune.
“Are you so happy to come out to the capital?”
“Yes, I am. Just seeing something lively like this makes me feel refreshed.”
“I see.”
Diart replied briefly and stared at me intently. I pretended not to notice and bit the insides of my lip. There was one good thing about coming to the capital so quickly through the portal. The time I had to endure this awkward silence was relatively short.
I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with Diart, who was staring at me with such a look that I couldn’t quite figure out what he was thinking.
‘Thanks to you, I got sick two days ago.’
Ignoring him would have been enough, but I couldn’t do that. It was a problem that I couldn’t easily deal with him, maybe because he was such a remarkable man who always caught people’s attention, and his personality seemed to match my preferences perfectly. Just earlier, I was momentarily captivated by him.
There were also downsides to gaining Diart’s attention. If there had been hostility and disdain in his eyes when he looked at me like before, it would have been easy to deal with him. But what was clearly contained in his gaze now was an emotion closer to liking.
I briefly lowered my head, recalling the moment when I couldn’t take my eyes off his deep golden eyes as he looked down at me. Just because he opened up to me a little doesn’t mean I should jump to conclusions. If I let my guard down, I might end up following the same dead-end route as the original Roeni.
‘I should grab Lily and dig into her when we get to the townhouse.’
What on earth happened while I was unconscious that made things so different and confusing? I narrowed my eyes, recalling the day I turned pale and faltered, seeing Diart approaching with a stern face.
“Duke, was there anything eventful at the imperial banquet?”
I decided to test Diart first.
“Are you asking about something other than you collapsing?”
“Was there anyone who caught your eye…”
“Let me see.”
“Was there any lady who caught your attention?”
Like Adelia, for example. Someone like Adelia.
“What do you mean?”
Diart raised his eyebrows. It wasn’t an appropriate question for a wife to ask her husband, especially considering their impending divorce. But because the original work kept changing, I couldn’t help but feel anxious.
“It doesn’t mean anything. If you have someone like that, you don’t have to worry about it. Just do as you please. After all, we’re heading towards a divorce.”
I said this in the hopes that I wouldn’t become an obstacle to their meeting. Of course, Diart wasn’t the type to pay attention to me, and in the original work, he met Adelia while still with Roeni.
“Divorce, divorce. You open your mouth and you talk about divorce.”
Diart had an unpleasant expression. Why was a man who wanted the divorce more than me acting like this? The image of him eagerly grabbing the divorce papers from me still lingered in my mind.
“It seems like there was someone who really bothered you.”
“Me?”
I shake my head at Diart’s unexpected words. The only people I met at the reception were the Emperor, Leticia, the unfortunate trio of noble ladies, and Adelia. If Adelia was the one I was bothered about, I could understand, but… Ah, Crown Prince Jarvis was there too.
Suddenly, the image of Diart and Jarvis facing each other at the reception came to mind. It was clear from the atmosphere that it was Jarvis Diart was referring to, I felt like I should pretend not to know.
“Do you plan to live in the capital after the divorce?”
Remaining ignorant, I raised my head when I heard Diart’s voice. His expression was as impassive as his tone.
“Well… that would probably be for the best.”
Actually, I’m thinking of going to a foreign country that has nothing to do with the original work, but there was no need to go into detail. For now, it wasn’t a lie to say that I planned to find a house in the capital and gradually proceed with the relocation.
“What will you do while you’re there?”
“I’m not sure.”
I hesitated as I thought about my post-divorce life and then answered.
“I’ll travel, take some time off, and if I meet a good person, maybe even start dating.”
“… Dating?”
I couldn’t say that I would be meeting men in order to break the curse, so I turned my words around. But looking at his expression, Diart didn’t seem to be pleased.
After briefly turning his head and remaining silent, Diart’s gaze soon returned to me.
“Do you want to meet men.”
“If there is a good person, that’s what I want to do. I’ve never had a proper relationship because I’ve been following the Duke since I was young.”
“You make it sound like you regret it.”
“I regret it. Looking back now, I wonder why I did that. We only hurt each other with unnecessary jealousy and stubbornness for many years. We should broaden our horizons now. Duke, you should also take a good look around you. There may be someone nearby who is perfect for you.”
“It seems like you’re desperate to pass me off to someone else.”
“I’m not passing you off. Why are you saying that? I’m just saying that I hope the Duke finds a good match and be happy.”
Diart turned his head as if he had been caught in his thoughts and quickly made an excuse. I wonder if I’m seeing things when I see his sharp jawline strained with tension.
He didn’t turn his head until they arrived at the townhouse, with a stern expression on his face.
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Thanks for the update 🇧🇷 😸 🥰