If I Disobey the Duke

Unknown Story (6)

The clearing sunlight lingered among the buds that had faded. A spring breeze entered Lily’s head and lifted her mood.

“It’s like I’m floating in the air.” Lily laughed bashfully.

His breathing stopped for a moment.

She didn’t notice that the tip of his ear turned red again and then returned to its original color. “I’m glad the weather is nice.”

In fact, rather than the warm weather, the problem was that she was walking alongside him. There were no servants or escort knights, just the two of them. It was a garden that could not be entered without Vlad’s order, so it was a safe and secret place.

Throughout her walk, Lily was like a cheerful girl.

She said that she hated rainy nights, that her favorite flower was not lilies, but marigolds, and that when she was young, she hated eating meals without washing her hands.

She even said that she liked maids now because she had not had female friends in her life. She realized that she had been talking to herself for quite some time.

When Lily stopped abruptly, she also stood tall in her place.

Until this morning she thought she wanted to know about him…

Her silence fell as she closed her mouth.

He looked at her complexion as if worried about his suddenly depressed wife. “You’ve been walking too long. It would be nice to go back now.” He was ready to go back to the bedroom.

“This is fine. So far… I don’t feel weak.”

It was clear that he thought she was a doll made of paper. Actually, she didn’t understand.

He was the man who conquered four kingdoms. A man with an order of knights who visited the plateau called Living Hell every year. To him, she must have looked like someone who would easily crumble.

“Vlad.”

He stared at her face to face. He had his back to a branch that had not yet bloomed.

A lonely wind blew. Facing the calm gray eyes, a soft tension came over her like a dry wind.

To have the courage to talk to her husband. It was really funny.

“I’m curious.”

It seemed like she had said too much. Lily hesitated and blushed.

I think I should add something…

His eyes narrowed slightly as he also picked his words. He thought deeply. “Is there anything you need to know?” He was surprised that she was curious about him.

The whole world knew about his life. How was he born, where he grew up, and what he did for a living.

Even if one grabbed and asked anyone on the street, it would be enough to talk about it for an hour. He was the protagonist of brutal gossips.

“I want to hear from you. Not other people…”

Come to think of it, even the day she saw his face for the first time, she had no reaction whatsoever.

After searching through her head, her focus was slightly blurred.

In the end, to tell his story…

“…”

Dark clouds formed in his eyes. He took a deep breath to see if his pulse surged.

Lily’s heart sank as she witnessed his sinking mood. She quickly grabbed his arm. “Oh, no. It’s okay if you don’t answer… I won’t force you.”

She remembered what had happened in prison. His hand was covering her ear. The sensation passed through his hand. She didn’t get used to it no matter how many times she thought about it. Only shame and wretchedness piled up one after another.

He didn’t want to shatter his hard work that he had been desperately trying to hide his entire life.

“We’ll talk later, someday. If you can’t do it.”

“…”

His clouded eyes fluttered as if they had lost their way. The wandering gaze moved away from her face, and looked into the air somewhere.

It seemed that he didn’t have the confidence to face each other. Turning his head, Vlad slowly opened his mouth.”As you know, the previous emperor raped people of all ranks, from barbarians to nobles. Many women died in the process. There are definitely illegitimate children of the emperor throughout the country.”

He seemed to not know where he was looking. Remorse and hatred alternately colored his gray eyes.

“There is a very small palace in the western corner of the Imperial Palace. An old palace without a name. It’s probably unused now.”

“…”

“Usually, it was called a livestock house, and some said it was a miscellaneous palace.”

His eyes were out of focus. He was looking at the memory of his past, not the landscape in front of him.

“A rooster roamed. There were even soldiers who anchored cows or horses to the ground. Once their work was done, the beasts would eat them.”

His eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Monsters have very different intelligences. My mother was one. She howled and looked for me.”

As the story got longer, his voice only became calmer. He lowered her eyes as if hesitating to say something, and looked back at her late.

“Every time she bit me. She was disgusted by me.”

Lily took a deep breath. Still, she was short of breath. Tears fell from her eyes.

“Some days it hurt so much that I could do nothing.” Again, he smiled bitterly. “If no one knows about it, that’s enough.”