Chapter 7

Daniel was unsure if it had been done properly. He worried about being found out.  

“Is this really Alice’s blood…?”  

Duke Mistry, glaring ominously at the sheet, asked Daniel in a grim voice. Daniel’s heart sank, but he clenched his teeth and answered confidently.  

“Yes, Duke!”  

Even if the evidence was wrong, he had to insist it was correct. Otherwise, the marriage might be annulled.  

“You scoundrel! What have you done to my daughter?”  

The Duke, enraged, punched Daniel. Thud—!  

Daniel, hit unexpectedly by the Duke, fell to the floor and looked up, bewildered. The Duke had tears in his eyes and had lost his composure.  

“No, my dear, my daughter! Alice!”  

The Duke stormed out of the study. Holding his head, which throbbed from the blow, Daniel looked up at his father. Earl Lawrence, also appeared pale.  

“D-Daniel. Is the young lady, no, the bride alright? Why is there so much blood…?”  

“Ah…”  

Was there too much blood? 

Daniel looked blankly at his father.  

After Daniel took the evidence of the first night to the Earl’s study, Alice was shown to her room in the Earl’s mansion, where she would be staying. She was unpacking her belongings one by one. Although she shared the bedroom with Daniel, this room was hers alone, allowing her to decorate it according to her tastes.  

‘I’ll have to buy various things to make it pretty.’  

Humming, she was excited about decorating her room when suddenly, a loud shout came from outside, and her father, with bloodshot eyes, burst in.  

“Aaah! Alice!”  

“Father?”  

Alice, crouched down and opening a large suitcase, was startled to see her father like that.  

“Alice! Let’s go home! How dare they do that to you! I knew that rascal had no good intentions from the moment he laid eyes on you! Why did I ever allow this marriage?”  

“Father, calm down. What on earth happened?”  

As Alice looked at him with an innocent face, the clarity began to return to the Duke’s bloodshot eyes.  

“…Are you alright?”  

“What?”  

Alice tilted her head, closed the open suitcase, stood it upright in the corner, and approached the Duke. Watching her move around without any trouble, the Duke looked puzzled.  

There had been so much blood on the sheet from the first night, yet Alice didn’t seem to be in pain at all. His wife, Alexa, had struggled for a week after their first night and was bedridden for days after each encounter.  

“…Alice, are you alright?”  

“What do you mean? I don’t understand what you’re curious about, Father.”  

Alice looked up at him, puzzled. The Duke stared blankly at his youngest daughter’s usual innocent face for a moment before sighing deeply.  

“No, it’s fine if you’re alright. It seems there was a misunderstanding.”  

“Yes. Father, are you going back to the Duke’s estate now?”  

Alice smiled. Her words tugged at the Duke’s heartstrings, and he opened his arms to her, and Alice nestled into his embrace.  

“Yes, I must go. It’s hard to leave you behind…”  

“Hehe, I also feel sad thinking about parting with you, Father.”  

Hearing his daughter speak so cheerfully, the Duke gently pinched her cheek without hurting her.  

“You rascal, are you happy to be married? Who would believe you’re sad when you’re smiling like that?”  

Alice blushed and smiled. The Duke, looking tenderly at his daughter in his arms, said,  

“Live well.”  

“Yes.”  

“If anyone treats you poorly, tell me. If it becomes unbearable, you can always come home.”  

Looking at her father, Alice shook her head.  

“No, you should scold them if I return. I’m part of this family now.”  

“…I shouldn’t have let you marry. I should have kept you with me until I died.”  

Seeing tears well up in the Duke’s eyes, Alice was startled. What if he started crying like a fool again, as he had at the wedding? Remembering how her mother had grumbled about his loss of composure after the ceremony, Alice quickly comforted him.  

“I know you’ve endured a lot for me, Father. I’m always grateful.”  

After the Queen Consort died, the King had taken a fancy to Alice, who was pretty and from a good family. What stopped his desire was that Alice and Daniel were already engaged.  

The King, not wanting to alienate the Lawrence family, who had been loyal to the royal family and were involved in major port businesses, didn’t actively try to take Alice away.  

Instead, the King, in his spite, subtly harassed Duke Mistry and Earl Lawrence with various issues, and the Duke endured it quietly for his daughter’s sake.  

“Live well.”  

“Yes, Father.”  

The Duke hugged his youngest daughter tightly once more before turning to leave. At that moment, Daniel appeared at Alice’s door with one side of his face swollen. Alice was shocked to see him like that.  

“Daniel?! What happened to your face?”  

Seeing Alice rush to her husband in a panic, the Duke cleared his throat awkwardly. Daniel, noticing this, quickly made up an excuse to Alice.  

“Oh, I bumped into something on the way to the study. I must not have been fully awake.”  

“My goodness, you should be more careful. That must hurt a lot.”  

“It’s alright, it doesn’t hurt much. Duke, my father wants to declare the marriage officially recognized together.”  

“Understood.”  

The Duke returned to his stern expression and left Alice’s room. Then, turning back, he gazed at his daughter’s innocent face and said,  

“Alice, live well.”  

“Yes!”  

“If the groom bothers you, be sure to tell me.”  

The Duke’s eyes glinted sharply, but seeing him go to declare the marriage valid, Daniel, who had been anxious, felt a little more at ease. He had rushed over, fearing they might declare the evidence false and take Alice back to the Duke’s estate, but fortunately, the Duke didn’t seem to have such intentions.