The Grand Duke Who Wants Me Dead Is Surprisingly Kind - Chapter 3

Chapter 2.1

“Drink while you listen. These are the divorce papers. It would be best if you signed them.”

The man’s words from the dream echoed in Anais’s ears. There he stood—her future husband, the man who would one day kill her—mere steps away. Like death itself came to greet her, he stood there with dark hair and dressed in a black uniform, his eyes blood-red.

“….”

Anais instinctively flinched and took a step back. But the man began to stride toward her, as though he wouldn’t allow her to retreat.

Step by step.

The closer he got, the harder it was for her to breathe.

‘Don’t come. Don’t come near me.’

Anais, pale with terror at death’s relentless advance, clenched her fingers into fists out of habit.

‘I want to run away.’

Just as she felt ready to abandon everything and flee, the man’s red eyes clearly reflected in her violet gaze, now clouded with fear. She froze, staring at him in silence.

‘He… looks so sad. Why…?’

In those red eyes, deep like embers that had refused to burn out for so long, there was an inexplicable sorrow.

“….”

A summer breeze swept from his direction, tousling Anais’s neatly arranged silver hair. The man, whose cold demeanor felt like he was living in the dead of winter, closed the distance with each stride, carried by the sweltering wind.

When only a single step remained between them, he quietly studied her for a moment, then smiled and spoke.

“I missed you, Lady Anais.”

“….!”

He lowered his gaze, smiling with overwhelming joy as if he were truly grateful to finally meet her. Anais stared at him blankly, unable to understand.

He then lowered his head and introduced himself.

“It’s an honor to meet you for the first time… I’m Diego Lisandro.”

Only after hearing his introduction did she recall the red eyes, a hallmark of the imperial family. But it was his jet-black hair, a shade never seen among royals, that confirmed his identity: the tragic second prince, the disgraced son of the late empress, cast out of the imperial line.

The Grand Duke who now ruled the territory perched on the border between the kingdom and the monster-infested forest.

“….!”

Finally recognizing him, Anais widened her eyes and bowed her head.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I’m Anais Orelcian.”

The fact that he, who had been forbidden from entering high society, appeared here meant that the emperor himself had granted permission.

Then, perhaps…

As her eyes wavered and her face began to pale, the Grand Duke finally spoke.

“Would you mind sparing a moment of your time?”

“…Of course. Your Highness.”

With a forced smile, she had no choice but to place her hand on his extended arm.

Just then, Ethel’s voice suddenly cut through the air.

“I’ll be waiting, Anais.”

Though his words were directed at her, his gaze remained fixed on the Grand Duke. It was a blatantly rude look, but the Duke simply nodded and replied,

“Then, if you’ll excuse us.”

Ethel, visibly irritated by the Grand Duke’s calm and curt manner, glared at him and muttered a low warning.

“…I trust you won’t monopolize my partner.”

“….”

In response to the provocation, the Grand Duke looked down at him indifferently. When his cold, red eyes turned toward Ethel, the atmosphere around them instantly froze.

But the moment of tension was brief.

“Ha.”

The weight of the tension Ethel had created shattered completely with the Grand Duke’s hollow chuckle.

“Well, that would be for Lady Anais to decide.”

The Grand Duke’s face, now devoid of any smile, was as cold as midwinter. Though his demeanor wasn’t directed at her, Anais couldn’t help but feel a chill creep down the back of her neck.

Turning his back to Ethel, he spoke again.

“Shall we go, then?”

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

The Grand Duke guided Anais to a table far from the curious eyes of the crowd, which had grown relatively quiet. After a brief pause, he lowered his voice and began speaking.

“To tell you the truth, I have come to deliver an imperial decree.”

“…Ah.”

She was now certain that her intuition had been right. If there were any reason that the man who led the Grand Duchy and she, the daughter of Count Orelcian, would be entangled…

“His Majesty wishes for you and me to be married.”

He then handed her a letter bearing the imperial seal. Fighting the tremble in her hands, Anais slowly opened the letter, and her face drained of color as she read:

[ Nectar Orelcian, by imperial decree, you are hereby ordered to promptly arrange the marriage of Anais Orelcian to Grand Duke Diego Lisandro. ]

As always, just as the future she had foreseen, marriage to him was something she could never have avoided. After taking a moment to compose herself, Anais lifted her gaze and looked into the Grand Duke’s crimson eyes.

“…Is it because I carry royal blood?”

“That is His Majesty’s intention.”