“Thank you for saying that, that gave me a bit of courage.”
“….Saying what?”
When Arthur asked back wondering, Grace replied without hesitation.
“From now on, I will honestly tell you everything about the fantasy I have seen or the scary things I have experienced.”
“…….!”
“At least… I wanted to share everything I’d go through or have gone through with you by my side, Arthur.”
“….Grace.”
“So I’m sorry, but please bear this fear with me. I want you to think about why this is happening to me and how we can get out of this together…… Can I?”
Looking at him with a trembling gaze, Grace said so. Then Arthur, who was looking at her with persistent eyes, hugged her, instead of answering.
Then he replied in an emotional voice.
“Of course. Feel free to tell me. I’ll take care of everything and bear it. And I will also tell you everything without hiding if you ask me anything.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
“I’m grateful for everything…. You don’t have to go through it, but you don’t know how much I love, appreciate and feel sorry for you for being around someone like me.”
“…Arthur.”
“I can’t believe that someone like me is receiving the heart of a noble person like you.”
Arthur stared at Grace with passionate, verbal eyes. At that moment, Grace felt as if her soul was being sucked into the strange blue and red odd eyes. She was staring at Arthur’s face, who was getting closer to her with a dazed look.
Du-Duke! Duke!
Someone rushed up the stairs calling for Arthur.
Right at that moment, Grace came to her senses and quickly fell out of Arthur’s arms. Arthur glared displeasedly at him as he heard his voice.
There stood Sir Oliver, holding a letter in one hand, and Sally, standing beside him, looked timidly at them.
Sir Oliver smiled awkwardly and looked at two of them in the strange atmosphere and asked.
“Did I interrupt your cozy time, by any chance?”
“……I’m sure I told you not to let anyone in here.”
Instead of answering Sir Oliver’s question, Arthur asked Sally, who stood next to him. Then Sally tightened her back deeply and replied with a voice full of embarrassment.
“I’m sorry, Duke. Sir Oliver brought a letter for the Duchess and asked to meet you…”
“What?”
“What? To me?”
Grace, who was awkwardly looking down next to Arthur, at Sally’s reply, suddenly looked up. Usually, the letters she received came in through Sally’s side, but she wondered who on earth sent them to Arthur’s side.*
[*T/N: I am kinda confused about this, so this part might not be fully correct.]
Grace looked back at Arthur with a strange gaze, and Arthur tilted his head and asked.
“Who sent the letter, Sir Oliver?”
“……That’s, the Duke of Alberton.”
“What? Your father*?”
[*T/N: Arthur asked Grace]
Grace’s expression was distorted by Sir Oliver’s answer.
What is the reason for sending a letter after almost a month since she married Arthur?
And she was even more reluctant, perhaps after Sally told her that the background or cause of the “curse” might be involved with the Duke of Alberton, her father.
“…Thank you for delivering it.”
“No, Duchess.”
Grace received Sir Oliver’s letter and looked at the table. The letter, stamped with an owl seal symbolizing the Alberton family, showed no particular peculiarity on its appearance.
Grace looked around the letter between her fingers and asked Lord Oliver.
“…I don’t think there’s anything special about it, but why did you try to convey it in such a hurry?”
“Please look inside the letter, next to the owl seal, Duchess.”
To that question, Sir Oliver pointed to one side of the letter and answered. Grace looked at the letter as Lord Oliver told her to; the name of the sender was not written and only an owl seal and a faint golden butterfly seal were engraved next to it.
Grace said with a slight frown.
“It’s a ‘golden butterfly’. What is wrong with this?”
“Duchess, do you know what ‘Golden Butterfly’ means?”
“….Ah, no. I’m sorry. I don’t know.”
When asked by Sir Oliver, Grace replied with a slight blush of embarrassment. Then Arthur, who was watching from the side, gave Sir Oliver a glance and said affectionately to Grace.
“Come to think of it, my wife recently said she went to the Imperial Palace for the first time at a wedding party the other day.”
“Yes, that’s right. I’ve never been invited to a party outside the Alberton mansion before, and so I’ve never attended any.”
“Then you may not know anything about this pattern. You don’t have to be so shy.”
“…Is that so?”
Grace replied to Arthur’s consolation, slightly pouting her lower lip. Arthur smiled softly and swept her downy hair slightly above her forehead because it looked just like Leon.
“Madam, the seal engraved with ‘golden’ has been used only by ‘the Lady of the Palace’ since ancient times.”
“Oh, my. Really?”
“Yes. Among them, ‘Golden Butterfly’ means ‘the crown princess’ or ‘the nominee’.”
“…Ah…”
In response to Arthur’s answer, Grace nodded with a small exclamation as if she knew. Then, with a straight frown, she looked down at the letter in her hand. There was no one but Marianne, her sister, who could be the only one to send the letter and was also clearly aware that she was not familiar with this social culture. Grace sighed deeply and spoke to herself.
“….She has always been quite proud of herself for being a ‘person to be the Crown Princess’, but I can’t believe she’s showing off so openly like this…”
“….I’m sorry. It was my fault, Duchess.”
“Absolutely not. You explained that you had no choice but to deliver it as soon as possible because the imperial crest was engraved, wasn’t it? That’s all right.”
“That’s not all. The Alberton family sent the letter directly to the person concerned and asked me to deliver it.”*
[*T/N: I don’t understand this part very well, letters should be delivered to the person concerned isn’t it? What’s so different about it? Or am I missing something?ಠ_ಠ]
“What? Really?”
Grace opened her eyes wide and asked Sir Oliver. Then Sir Oliver nodded deeply with a troubled face.
“Yes. In addition, they said they must receive the answer today, and said they would wait for the Duchess to reply.”
“…They said to send them a reply today? Besides, it’s quite rude of you to go back before you get a reply.”
“What the hell is going on…? Ha*, we’d better check it out quickly.”
[*T/N: Sigh]
Arthur closed his mouth unpleasantly in response, and Grace sighed briefly and tried to rip the letter. Sir Oliver took out the paper cutting knife he had prepared and held it out to Grace.
“Thank you, Sir Oliver.”
“You’re welcome, Duchess.”
Grace took the knife and opened the letter by tearing off the wax seal. Then, a colorful parchment engraved with gold at the end of the corner was revealed. Grace murmured the content with her mouth, looking through the letter, which was burdensome even to grasp carelessly.
“Finally, Eugenius Clive, the first prince and crown prince of the Great Empire, and I will have a wedding a month later. Even if I don’t tell you like this, you’ll still know, but the reason why I’m sending you a letter before is because my father decided to hold a ‘party’ for me, who is going to become a ‘new bride.’ I don’t really want to, but if I don’t invite you, my sister, I won’t be able to save my face, so I sent you an invitation….Ah.”
Meanwhile, Grace soon grasped the contents of the letter and sighed. Standing next to her, Arthur, who was reading the letter with Grace, twisted his mouth, and asked Sir Oliver as he looked back.
“I think His Majesty previously said that it would be six months later at the earliest for the Crown Prince and their younger child Marianne to hold a wedding. Am I mistaken?
“That’s how I knew it, too. Until now, His Majesty insisted on ‘marrying after completing the Academy’.”
“Well, from the beginning, the Crown Prince was not very interested in their younger child Marianne. When I saw him at a party recently, he went beyond that level and looked harsh. His Majesty must be in a hurry.”
“I’m sure the Duke of Alberton also agreed with His Majesty that marriage can no longer be delayed. They would have thought that there would be nothing good coming out from delaying the marriage like this.”
“…I guess so.”
Arthur looked down at Lord Oliver’s reasoning. While the conversation was going back and forth between the two, Grace listened to the conversation between them and focused solely on the wording of the letter.
Wedding shower for the new bride, inviting her to the Alberton mansion. In other words, it meant that she had an excuse to visit the Alberton mansion again.
If it was just a few days ago, she would have thought about how to refuse this letter the moment she had received it, but after the talk she had with Sally, it was different.
Maybe she could look at the ‘curse’ and the notes that her father recorded whenever the ‘curse’ occurred.
According to the conversation that she had with Sally a while ago, the study, which was always locked up by her father, Duke Alberton, must have all the hidden records.
‘I’m going to secretly go into the room while the party is in full swing and check the ‘hidden secret’.’
When she heard Sally’s story, she thought that this party might be an opportunity given by God to find out the secrets that her father, Duke Alberton, had hidden from everyone.
‘If I can find a clue to break the curse there… Oh, but what if I get caught doing so, what would I do then?’
Grace felt her hands shaking with faint anticipation and meaningless anxiety.
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
T/N: I am SO SORRY to everyone for such a late update but I am kinda busy with my studies and school projects, also there is a big exam coming up so I will probably update 1 or 2 more chapters and will go on a looooong hiatus for like 3 to 4 months ig. I need to prepare for the exam. If any other translator picks up for that time then you will be getting updates otherwise no updates.(´；ω；｀)