I’m In Trouble Because My Husband Is So Cute - Chapter 13

The blue eyes gazed at the Duke.

Up until now, Zachary has endured a lot of violence because he thought that was the least atonement he could make for his father.

He knew the crime he had committed against the Duke, even if it wasn’t his intention. He knew the Duke must have been hurt. So, he persevered.

‘Iellie.’

Just as the only person in the world for Zachary was Iellie, the Duke had such a person as well. And, because of him, he lost such a person. He understood the Duke’s heart.

…Hate. He hated it, he wished he had died. If the position changes, if he loses Iellie… he would probably do that too.

The Duke’s eyes as he looked at Zachary flipped. He screamed.

“Do you know how and with what kind of heart I am enduring you?”

“Stop, stop!”

Iellie, unable to see it any longer, grabbed the Duke’s arm. Then, he stopped for a moment. With a creaking motion, he looked back at her.

‘What?’ That’s when she was very nervous.

“…Adel?”

The Duke muttered absentmindedly. As the watery, pale green eyes stared at the Duke, he swallowed his breath.

Eyes like soft buds. When it grows a little more and the light gets darker, the eyes will be like azures—Those eyes resembled ‘someone’ whom the Duke loved passionately, though who had never once won the love of the other.

“Duke, the reason the Heir Apparent did such a thing is to save me.”

Iellie, speaking in a calm voice, bows her head deeply. The end of her small voice slowly got wet.

“If you want to blame someone, blame me. I will take the punishment.”

“Len, why the hell are you talking like that!”

Zachary shook his head and hugged Iellie tightly. His heart ached and he couldn’t stand it.

‘Why are you apologizing for me, but you haven’t done anything wrong at all.’

Seeing so, Iellie patted the boy’s forearm.

“It’s okay…because I’m okay.”

Hearing that voice, Zachary stopped. A twinkle of light returned to the boy’s half-lost eyes. He bit his lip and hid her behind his back. Growling, the boy opened his mouth.

“No, Len.”

“Zachary.”

“It’s not your fault.”

He said firmly. Zachary, hugging her as if it were his only lifeline, continued his words. “So, there’s no need for you to be punished or apologize.”

The blue eyes of the boy who spoke like that were strong, without a single flutter.

A beautiful face just like his mother stared at the Duke. It’s like the dead woman comes back to life and blames him.

‘Adel.’

The Duke clenched his fists. His fingernails pierced the inside of his hand painfully, but he couldn’t even feel the pain.

‘…Your reflection, even until now?’

That’s why he couldn’t love Zachary anymore. That child resembles Adelaide, who rebuked him. Seeing him reminded him of losing her because of that child.

Although he knows she hasn’t loved him all her life. But, the boy’s presence always made him feel that she had left him forever.

“Zachary, let me go.”

“Len.”

“How many times do I have to say I’m okay?”

After comforting Zachary, she pushed him away. Eventually, the boy bit her lip and let her go.

Iellie stood in front of the Duke with her back straight. The Duke’s confused gaze was staring at her. She bit her lip tightly. In order for Zachary not to get hurt, she must somehow ask for forgiveness.

“Duke, please forgive me. We…”

“….”

“…Your Excellency?”

However, the Duke remains silent the whole time. In her puzzlement, she called him once more. Still, His eyes were staring intently at Iellie’s face.

But, it wasn’t her who he really had in his eyes. Memories in the distant past were rushing in an instant. The Duke’s breathing was disturbed.

’Theron’

Dark brown hair, eyes that gleamed gracefully like a fresh green light. A woman with a pristine beauty like a tree.

He coveted her, so he forced her to stick by his side.

Even though he knew she was slowly withering away, he turned a blind eye. Eventually, she lost her smile.

‘You know that, don’t you?’

A cold voice. A hateful gaze. She hates even staying close to him, so she turns away and rejects him.

’That I will never love you.’

As if she was tired of even staying on this earth, she left the world without hesitation.

“…Adelaide.”

The Duke murmured like a moan. Cold green eyes that had never smiled in front of him.

…Yet that child was different from her, who had eyes that looked just like her. She was trying to protect Zachary with all her might. That child that Adelaide and Theron himself had turned away from. The little monster that made them despair.

“Father.”

Then, Zachary quietly opened his mouth. However, in contrast to the still voice, there was a roar of fire inside his deep blue eyes.

The boy who staggered towards Iellie looked straight at the Duke.

“It’s all my fault, so please don’t treat Len badly.”

“Are you going against me now because of that bitch?”

The son’s beautiful face, resembling Adelaide, always gazed at the Duke with contempt. The Duke struggled to create a ferocious voice.

As the boy twisted the tip of his lips, he said bitterly.

“She’s not a bitch. Iellie is more important to me than mother.”

“How dare you talk about Adel with that mouth!”

Hearing her name, The Duke shouted once more. Either way, Zachary just put Iellie within his sight. He wouldn’t let a single tip of her hair get hurt—he could do anything for her.

“Father is a wise man.”

Dark blue eyes are like pure blue glaciers. His son’s cold voice was just unfamiliar. The boy who had obeyed the Duke until now seemed to have died and was no longer present.

Zachary added his words in a cool voice.

“I trust you will help me avoid making irreversible mistakes.”

“You dare to threaten me?”

“No, for now, I’m begging you, though…”

He smiled. It was a mockery that resembles what the Duke had been doing. Looking at him obliquely, he continued his speech.

“…Depending on what father is doing, it could be a threat.”

“What?”

Surprised, the Duke stared back at Zachary with an astonishing face. Though the boy seemed unwilling to step back. He had to protect Iellie. Zachary knew for the first time that he, who has someone to protect, can be strong.

“It is true that I have the power that my father calls me a ‘monster’.”

“Zachary!”

“So, from now on, I intend to make the most of this power given to me.”

The dark blue eyes gleamed coldly. Zachary smiled obliquely and spat his words towards his father.

“By then, maybe I can carry out my will to father.”

A boy who has always endured the violence that the Duke used to instill on himself. Before he knew it, the boy was rejecting the criticism he had taken for granted.

He is expressing his opinion for the first time.

He claims that the absurd thing the Duke is asking for is ‘irrational.’ Zachary doesn’t give in, he asks questions. And, there’s probably going to be more.

“And, I will protect Iellie entirely of my own volition.”

…That’s probably because that child is around.

The Duke’s cold gaze turned to Iellie. The little girl standing in front of his son gazed straight at the Duke with her pale green eyes open.

A girl as delicate as an Asha flower… What was so special about that girl, that she saved the little monster that had been locked up in a small room until now?

“If it’s for her…I can do anything.”

The boy said that with a small smile—the smile was as clear and transparent as the sunlight on a summer day. There was not even a trace of the loneliness that had followed him since birth.

“Zachary…” Iellie called out her husband’s name in her mouth quietly.

“The power of winter that I manifested is entirely a matter of the bloodline I inherited.”

“….”

“This has absolutely nothing to do with her.”

Hearing that, the Duke looked at Zachary without saying a word.

The figure that had lost reason and ran wild had long since disappeared. Now, the Duke looked quietly sunk. Seeing his reaction, Zachary spoke calmly.

“I know, whom father lost because of me…”

At that, the Duke closed his lips tightly. Zachary suddenly grumbled into the distant past.

‘Adel,’ whom the Duke had lost.

A mother who had never loved her children, nor her husband. She was a mother whom he could ever love. His own sins…

“So, I will not neglect my duties in the future.”

Blood-dried cheeks, pale face. Still, the boy in front of him was very confident.

The Duke’s cold eyes scanned Zachary up and down. He didn’t avert his eyes, instead, he just smiled a little.

“In the past, I carried out my father’s orders because of that guilt. But…”

Calm voice. The boy was no longer nervous or withdrawn. He was just talking slowly. “The reason I do that duty is different now.”

“Yes, let’s see what the good reason is.”

The Duke asked in a sneering voice.

Zachary recalled the festival he had seen with Iellie.

“I went out today and saw a lot of people.”

The pure blue sky, the pale pink Asha flowers blooming in groups, and the warm air. Pretty cakes in the cafe and street food he tried for the first time. People were holding hands and smiling brightly. The skirts of the women swaying softly like petals, and the children were laughing out loud.

How about the colorful lanterns that flowed like starlight in the dark? And, she made all the scenery even more breathtaking—his only salvation.

“…They all looked happy.”

He will never forget all those sceneries.

It was Iellie who told him that the people were happy, that he is not a monster, and that someone needs him—all of that he has learned through her.

“I found out through Iellie, the reason that people can be happy is…”

He took a breath and cleared his throat.

In front of him, a father who he always feared and felt a deep sense of guilt to. The guilt still remained, but the fear was gone. Now, he’s not alone.

Zachary spoke clearly.

“…Is because I’m protecting this estate.”

He went into countless battles just out of guilt for his father. When he returned victoriously covered in blood, the gaze of those around him who pointed fingers to him as a monster. At that time, only pain and loneliness were his closest friends.

“But, from now on, I won’t live as a ‘monster’.”

Zachary raised his head straight up. The passive figure that had receded inside was completely gone.

“All I have is ‘power’ that can be put to good use.”

“….”

“So, I will decide the direction of my life.”

As the Duke stared at Zachary silently, the boy’s voice slowly began to heat up.

“The direction of my life is to be the next lord of the North and the Heir Apparent who has a duty to protect the people. And…”

He learned his responsibility through her. Now that he is not a monster, he didn’t want to force himself to protect the people out of guilt.

Zachary looked back at Iellie, who was gazing silently at him.

“I am a husband determined to protect his precious wife.”

‘Zachary…’ Iellie swallowed her breath and made eye contact with him. The dark blue eyes smiled softly.

“The battle I fight is no longer about paying for my father’s guilt.”

The Duke, who would normally stop his useless nonsense, was rarely listening to the boy.