The Duke, Who Didn’t Even Call Me by My Name Until Yesterday, Has Suddenly Started Doting on Me? - Chapter 2

“Ah… Ah… Maria… ane… Is it really… you…?”

The Duke looked even more sad as he furrowed his brows and reached out to me, speaking in a strained voice.

He walked slowly towards me.

His face was distorted in pain, tears were dripping down his cheeks, and watching him cling to me made my heart ache.

I had never seen the Duke like this before.

He never showed any weakness to others. He thought everyone around him was an enemy – that’s what the Duke was like. And yet, he was crying so much in front of everyone… Was I dreaming?

Or did something so shocking happen that the Duke was crying?

Could it be that I was the cause of it…?

No, no. This was not the time to be daydreaming.

I closed my mouth, which had been hanging open, and tightened my expression.

Taking a deep breath, I straightened my back, walked up to the Duke, and bowed deeply.

“Yes. I am the real Mariane.”

I wondered if the Duke didn’t even know what I looked like?

It’s been a year since we started living together. But it’s entirely possible. He’s never even looked me in the eye until now. He might not have noticed if I had suddenly been replaced by someone else one day.

Anyway, it would be fine if I was just kicked out of the mansion, but what if I’d made a big mistake and was told to pay the price?

Father would surely not help me, and if that happened, he might ask me to make up for it even if it meant selling myself.

Imagining that, I clenched my trembling hands as hard as I could and quietly waited for the Duke to speak. For now, I would just prepare to apologize.

“Mariane… I love you.”

“Yes, I’m sorry… Huh?”

“Whaat?!”

The Duke spoke these unexpected words, and not only me, but the assembled servants all cried out in surprise.

Me? Did he just say he loved me…? Him? Me?

The Duke?

I was sure his fever hadn’t gone down yet.

It was so high that it made him go crazy.

I reached out my right hand to the Duke’s forehead to check his temperature. But before it could touch his forehead, the Duke grabbed my hand.

“?!”

“Oh! Mariane.”

The Duke rubbed his cheek against my palm.

I thought his tear-soaked cheek was cold for a moment, but I soon realized it was unusually hot.

“Duke. Umm… your fever is still quite high. I think it would be best if you went to your room and rested immediately.”

“Oh, that must be because I touched your hand and my body temperature rose with joy.”

‘…No, Duke? I’m sure you have a fever.’

As I stared at him with a puzzled expression, the Duke’s face twisted sadly, but he smiled with a gentle expression I had never seen before.

When he smiled at me like that, my heart skipped a beat so hard I thought it sounded like a heartbeat.

The Duke’s personality was feared, but his appearance was first class.

When I first saw him, I was speechless at his frightening beauty, and I was looking for an expression beyond “good looking.”

Was there any woman who didn’t blush when she was smiled at by such a Duke? No, I didn’t think there was.

The Duke knelt down, holding my right hand, and looked up at me.

“Mariane, will you please marry me again?”

The Duke said this with a very serious expression, as if he was waiting for my answer.

‘What should I do… I’m going crazy with the fever after all.’

“Um… the Duke and I are already married… If you want to get married again, we’ll have to get divorced first…”

“That won’t do!”

The Duke stood up with force as he shouted, and grabbed both of my shoulders.

“Eh?!”

“Ah… I’m sorry! I was so worried when I thought you were going to leave me… I’m so sorry.”

The Duke hurriedly let go of my hand, and this time he embraced me gently.

That Duke… apologized?

He never admits his mistakes. The Duke is famous for never apologizing to others, so had he just apologized?

And for some reason he’s hugging me now.

As the Duke touched my cheek, I could hear his heart beating incredibly fast from his chest.

It seemed that his fever was quite high after all.

“Your Majesty… you’ve just recovered from an illness, so I assume you’re not back to normal yet. For now, I suggest you rest a little longer first…”

When a male servant approached cautiously and called out to him, the Duke’s gaze instantly sharpened.

It was the same as the way he always looked at me. Eyes as cold as ice. But now those eyes were not directed at me, but at the servant who had spoken to him.

“Shut up. I’m talking to Mariane right now. Don’t interrupt.”

The servant’s face turned pale in fear at the horrifyingly irritated voice.

The Duke’s eyes became even sharper, and he continued speaking in a tone that seemed full of hatred.

“Oh, it’s you. You don’t need to come in from tomorrow onwards. Pack your things and leave this mansion right now.”

“Yes?”

The Duke suddenly said that he was dismissing the servants, and the other servants started to get upset.

The Duke didn’t seem to mind, and turned his gaze to the other servants.

“And you too. And all the maids over there. I’ll tell the ones who aren’t here later. I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully. Leave this mansion right now and don’t show yourselves in front of me or Mariane again.”

“What!?”

“What do you mean!?”

“What on earth have we done?”

The servants who were dismissed started to protest, but with a glance from the Duke, they went quiet.

“Don’t you understand? You’ve looked down on Mariane and treated her carelessly up until now, haven’t you? There’s no way I could ever forgive that.”

“Well… that’s what you did too, sir! You never cared a bit about your wife! And we’ve done the same to you… so why should we be treated like this!?”

When one of the maids raised her voice and pleaded, the Duke lowered his head slightly and bit his lip.

It was heartbreaking to see the Duke’s face showing such an expression, like he was regretting and suffering… it made my heart ache.

“That’s right. My sins can never be forgiven. No matter how I try to make amends to Mariane now, I’ll never be able to make amends.”

With that, the Duke gently let go of my embrace and faced me head on.

The anguished expression from earlier had disappeared, and he now looked at me with a determined, powerful gaze.

“Mariane, I am truly sorry for my foolish actions up until now. You don’t have to forgive me, but please forgive me for being by your side. I will do anything to make you happy. Mariane, you are my everything.”

The Duke, gazing straight at me, seemed to have become a completely different person.

Completely different from the icy eyes he had looked at me with until now, his hot red eyes were making my body heat up as well.

“I swear that no matter what happens in the future, I will love only you for the rest of my life. I will grant you any wish. Even if the world becomes my enemy, I will protect you until the end of my life, or even after it ends. So Mariane, I want you to live with me. I love you.”

Like a boy who had fallen in love for the first time, the Duke looked at me with a face like saying he couldn’t help but love me. But how should I take the Duke’s words?

After all, surely this situation, these words, were all because of the fever?

I shouldn’t get my hopes up.

Surely by tomorrow, the Duke will have forgotten everything and be his usual cold self. So I shouldn’t just take his words at face value.

It was I who would be hurt if I believed him…