If You Wish For A Married Couple’s Duties - Chapter 83

“Fortunately, I’ve found a clue to secure concrete evidence. This time, I decided to compromise with that.”

“A clue?”

“Yes.”

As the duke faced her in the dark, his face was still beautiful, but he seemed like a monster hiding in the shadows, and looked threatening.

“Nate doesn’t get along with the current emperor. Ever since I became the duke, his relationship with most of the central aristocracy was broken off. But he suddenly went on nonsensically about a connection he had in the Imperial capital.”

Although his uncle was a great man that specialised in lying, he wasn’t someone thoughtless enough to threaten another with a weapon that he doesn’t possess.

“In that case, who do you think was the person from the Imperial capital that helped Nate set up this?”

Dooha frowned.

Who was the one that collaborated with Nate to harm the duke? More than that, Dooha couldn’t understand the intentions of the person that purposefully joined hands with someone that didn’t get along with the emperor and the central aristocracy.

“That’s right. Someone that harbours ill intentions towards me, and the fact that a wizard that’s as strong as an imperial wizard was attached, the person is wealthy and powerful.”

Leonhart raised an eyebrow like he found it ludicrous.

“Doesn’t that ring any bells? It’s someone that even you know.”

“Someone that I know?”

“After all, you’ve met him before.”

She’d only ever met a member of the imperial family.

Justin von Bentrum, the Fourth Prince. That a**hole Prince.

Dooha’s expression crumpled, like she had chewed rotten meat.

“I found out afterwards that on the day I kicked him out, he’d met with Nate separately.”

Don’t tell me, they formed an alliance to overthrow the Duke of Esbaden ever since then?

One was a strong candidate to succeed the throne, and the other was an influential figure from the Esbaden family.

Doesn’t that mean that the Duke of Esbaden is a nerve-wracking opponent?

Just as Dooha’s frown gradually began to deepen.

“Don’t worry too much. No matter what, it will be resolved.”

Leonhart smoothed out the creases on her forehead with his thumb.

“That’s why, relax your frown. You’ll age quickly.”

“If you have the time to worry about my forehead, how about doing something about your own?”

“I’ll worry about your forehead, so you’ll be in charge of worrying about mine. Isn’t it a lucrative deal?”

A lucrative deal, why did this sound so familiar?

Dooha raised an eyebrow as she recalled her first meeting with him.

“…Are you making fun of me?”

“What’s wrong, don’t you like making deals? Wasn’t it?”

‘Seriously, this person.’

Dooha stared at him quietly, to which he smiled and got up.

“Anyways, I’ll be quite busy tomorrow, so let’s go to bed now.”

Leonhart hung the completed tapestry back onto the wall and turned around.

Dooha, who was organising her position, turned her head towards the gaze that she could feel at her crown.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“So…”

What else was he going to talk about, dawdling like that?

Dooha tilted her as she looked at the hesitating Duke.

“…Well, do you have anything planned after tomorrow’s official schedule?”

“No, other than the celebratory banquet in the morning, nothing in particular.”

If she had to make a schedule, she was going to allow her exhausted body to rest after going through so much up until yesterday.

She’d planned to return back to the bedroom and sleep as much as she wanted after the banquet.

“Then, come with me to a certain place at night.”

“To where?”

“I’m thinking of going to the night market.”

Leonhart folded his arms and replied while avoiding her gaze.

“It’s your first carnival, so you should also experience something fun. Well, if you don’t want to…”

“That’s great!”

Leonhart’s eyes widened slightly at Dooha’s loud answer.

“Layla happened to mention that the night market was quite fun. But I heard that there’ll be a huge crowd, and noble ladies don’t usually go out, so I didn’t anticipate this, but wait, that means I’ll have to disguise myself first, right?”

She grabbed her rich silver coloured hair and agonised over it.

“Disguise magic, no, should I dye my hair this time? It should be fine as long as my face is covered with a hood…”

She was already filled with anticipation and making plans, and looked just like a child that’s going out of the castle for the first time.

He’d thought so from the very beginning, but she was a strange woman.

A woman that had strong might and a resolute will, and yet parts of her was strangely artless.

Leonhart couldn’t help but laugh at his wife, who was still thinking about what to wear tomorrow night.

Yes, although she was still as strange as their first meeting, he liked that.

No, scratch that.

It went beyond his own comprehension

* * *

Halton’s Carnival was a grand festival with heaping piles of alcohol and meat to indulge in for three days.

On the first day of the festival, the carnival begins with a ceremony for abundance, by cutting off the neck of a bull and spraying its blood on cultivated land.

All the residents of the territory attend a banquet held in the castle in the morning, and return with alcohol and meat after paying their respects to the ducal couple.

During this period, they were to fill the table with alcohol and meat they’ve received from the castle and have fun and drink until late in the night.

At the night market that’s held at the dead of night, merchants from other regions would often sell strange and luxurious items, while wandering musicians, dancers, and clowns invigorated the festive mood.

“The young miss over there! Take a look at the accessories before leaving! I think it’ll suit you quite well!”

“Don’t you want to see a boy who spews fire and a woman who can bend her entire body like an octopus? With five copper coins, you can watch this unique performance—!”

The village at the bottom of the Esbaden castle didn’t lose its light as it bustled at night.

Rather, Dooha was unable to shut her gaping mouth at the impressive sight, which was even more lively compared to the day.

“Are you waiting for a fly to enter?”

Dooha frowned at the playful voice and turned her head.

The duke, who was wearing the same hood as her, was looking at her.

“Even so, this would taste better than a fly.”

Leonhart suddenly placed something in her mouth.

When Dooha closed her mouth reflexively, her eyes widened.

The item he’d fed her had a crispy texture, and a sweet taste spread through her mouth as soon as she chewed on it.

“…What is this?”

“Oblaten. Do you like it?”

Oblaten was a common midnight snack in the Empire, and it’s made from flour mixed with sugar, eggs, or honey.

“Your mouth was open, so I thought you were hungry and bought it.”

“My mouth wasn’t open because I was hungry.”

Dooha chewed the snack that’s in her mouth.

“This is delicious though.”

“Let me know if you want more.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Then, is there anything that you’d like to do?”

“Something that I’d like to do?”

Dooha looked troubled as she looked at the businessmen that were soliciting customers everywhere.

There were a variety of options, which made it difficult for her to choose.

Of course, festivals also existed in Bashal, but they weren’t held on such a grand scale.

Therefore, it was her first time attending such a grand festival, and she was even more at a loss about what to do.

“There’s no helping it.”

Then, Leonhart grabbed her by the wrist.

Surprised, Dooha raised her head and was met with his confident smile.

“You need the assistance of a local in order to truly enjoy the festival.”

Leonhart held her wrist as he dived into the crowd.

Dooha also became more excited when she saw the duke’s unusual child-like delight.

As they weaved their way through the throng of people, it felt as though the both of them had become ordinary people.

They weren’t a duke and princess that became a married couple for the sake of an alliance between countries, but like a pair of young lovers that have just confirmed their feelings.

Their outing to the night market began just like that, and ended up being quite successful.

She sampled rare fruits hailing from foreign countries, the mead that’s drunk by the commoners, and various kinds of food made from all kinds of meat.

When her stomach became full, she listened to the wandering musicians on the streets or watched the dancers’ dance.

The clowns’ performances, which consisted of them showing off their talents, was also worth watching.

Of course, a very trivial incident occurred in the middle.

For example, Dooha, who was thrust into the clowns’ performance and managed to aim between the limbs of the person that was hanging from the spinning board with greater accuracy than the clown, or Dooha, who was enticed into participating the arm wrestling competition for prize money, ended up facing off Leonhart in the first round and was eliminated during the preliminaries.

“Wait a minute, you said that you weren’t interested! Why did you suddenly cut in? If it weren’t for you, I was confident that I would beat all of them!”

“Do you want me to watch as my wife holds hands with a stranger?”

“This is just a contest of strength, so what does that have to do with anything!”

Leonhart couldn’t understand his wife, who’d suddenly turned angry.

Claude had clearly said that women would become aflutter when they see a man flexing his strength, so why was she angry?

Leonhart quickly recalled another piece of advice from his lieutenant, who had never been in a proper relationship.

Didn’t he say that women liked it when a knight achieved victory for her sake and offered his trophies to her?

After painstaking effort, Leonhart proudly won the arm wrestling competition and handed her the pouch containing the prize money.

“In any case, didn’t you want to win the prize money? Take this.”

“You’re the one that won it! It’s not like I won it!”

“What’s mine is the same as yours, so it doesn’t matter, does it?”

“What…”

Just as Dooha was about to snap back with a flushed face.

“My Lord.”

A knight of the duchy, who’d been trailing behind them a fixed distance away since a while ago, hurried forward.

He whispered something in the duke’s ear.

“…This information should be accurate.”

“Yes, he’s the only one that seemed middle-aged and entered the castle tonight.”

Leonhart’s expression darkened instantly.

“What’s wrong?”

At Dooha’s question, Leonhart lowered his voice after scanning their surroundings for a moment.

“Do you remember the Devil’s Nap, wife?”

Dooha’s eyes widened.

Of course she remembered. How could she have forgotten?

She was almost killed by an aristocratic young lady that consumed that drug.

“Ever since you’d discovered that drug, I’ve been looking for the person that’s circulating the Devil’s Nap inside the territory.”

It started with Young Lady Pauline Blair of the Blair Barony.

Although she possessed Devil’s Nap, she was just one of the people that bought the drug.

Surprisingly, the second was Countess Jive.

After Count Jive’s death penalty was decided upon, a large amount of Devil’s Nap was discovered when the mansion was combed through.

She was found guilty on the day her husband was executed, and was currently imprisoned in a dungeon.

“But the Countess wasn’t a distributor either.”

The person that secretly brought the banned drug into the Esbaden Duchy had to be caught.

“According to the Countess’ confession, he’d promised to bring in an additional batch of Devil’s Nap during this carnival.”

* * *