The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke

I’ll go to the festival today and buy something to give as a gift. Even if it’s Benjamin’s money, he won’t mind because of the festive atmosphere.’

“Madam, what would you like to wear!” 

Sally and the other maids giggled as they showed Grace some dresses.

Among the dresses that Grace usually chose, a beautiful dress that didn’t suit her was stuck in the gap of the closet.

“I’ll choose the third one.”

Grace chose a dark purple dress with a calm face.

Everyone was briefly disappointed, but quickly suppressed their expressions and put away the other dresses.

“It was a good idea to prepare a white mask. If the mask is too dark, Madam will have trouble breathing for sure.”

Sally chattered away as she lightly dressed up Grace.

“Oh my.”

Sally blinked as she adjusted Grace’s clothes.

“What’s wrong?!”

“Madam, there’s some extra room in the dress.”

Sally pinched the loose fabric and showed it to Grace. There wasn’t a lot of extra fabric but there was some around the arms and waist.

“Should I have it fixed?!”

“Yes, but just for today, it’s better to wear it as it is. There’s not enough time to fix it right now.”

Grace looked at herself in the mirror, straightening her back, and nodded.

The clock reflected in the mirror that it was almost time to leave.

As Grace left the annex, Benjamin was already waiting for her. While Grace was wearing a cloak, Benjamin was dressed quite lightly. 

But he was wearing a hat with a very wide brim.

“My Lady, you are here”

“Am I late?!”

“No, I came out first. My Lady is never late.”

“Hmm.”

Grace was definitely not feeling as emotional as she used to when memories of her past came to mind. It was really ironic.

‘If it was in the past, I would have been excited about that comment.’

Grace judged that she could be even more composed because she knew that in the original, Benjamin and Aria would have met at the mask festival, and the cloak she was wearing would have been a gift from Benjamin to Aria.

And that’s how it is.

The more she knew, the more she felt loving him was a loss.

‘Dying from being swayed by emotions is not worth it.’

Grace stood next to Benjamin.

“Your Highness, when we leave by carriage, do we walk out through the back door that the servants use?”

“Yes, and it’s better to use different titles outside.”

“For example?”

Grace blinked and looked at Benjamin.

Benjamin hesitated as he looked at Grace’s turquoise eyes, then raised his hand and carefully adjusted her white mask.

“….Um, appropriately, Dea…”

“Yes?”

“Nothing.”

Benjamin lowered the brim of his hat.

“You can just call me Be-Benny.”

“….”

Grace looked at Benjamin strangely…

‘What a strange person.’

She could just call him “dear” if she wanted to. It was natural. Even if they didn’t love each other, they were still a married couple.

Grace had never called him by such a nickname before. She searched her fuzzy memories, but she was sure she had never done so.

‘Dear?’

Grace tried pronouncing it silently in her mind. She felt a shiver run down her spine. If there were a physical form to the feeling in her heart, it would be covered in goosebumps.

“Okay, Benny.”

So Grace decided to just call him Benny.

“Then what will you call me? Just My Lady?”

Benjamin nodded his head while still firmly holding onto his hat. He gestured for Grace to head towards the back door first.

Only after Grace took the first step did Benjamin follow her.

Even though he wore a brimmed hat, the servants could see his face turn bright red despite his mask on.

The servants who witnessed the scene let out a deep sigh.

“Isn’t this My Lady’s first time attending a festival on the island?”

“Is it? Has it been over a year since we got married?”

“…indeed.”

Benjamin nodded his head at Grace’s response.

“I’m more of an indoor person.”

Grace gave a brief answer.

“Come to think of it, you’ve almost always been on the island. Why…”

Anyway, Benjamin’s main job as a Duke was to subdue monsters in the north, and Grace had no interest in socializing on the island.

But Grace closed her mouth when she was about to ask why Benjamin mainly stayed on the island.

‘Probably because of Aria.’