TVDE CH 28

~Chapter 28~

A carefree wife who did not care about the hostess’s health Even taking advantage of the owner’s absence to attract her man. A woman that came running out of her bedroom and in an outfit she wouldn’t mind wearing against her fiancé, Nathan Leslie. She shows affection without heeding the gaze of her employer. She cannot bear to open her eyes to the shameless behavior of her wife who looks down on the dukedom…

This was what he saw between the long, skimmed texts. Nathan Leslie was the name mentioned in Richard’s report. When he asked Arthur Mogens, he was told that he was a healthy young man and that he seemed to have a close relationship with Anthea… Even before Arthur finished speaking, Richard was already riding the black horse. It was an instinctive reaction for him.

Basic escorts followed Richard, who left the elite knights behind him and ran forward. Richard was in such a hurry that he ran without hesitation through the midnight forest as if it were broad daylight. As he tightened his grip on the reins of his horse, he didn’t know exactly why he was in a hurry. The contents of the letter from the head maid, appeared in his mind again and again.

“As soon as the master left, her ex-fiancé came to visit us even though it was early in the morning. As soon as the master left the place, the new bride attracted a man from outside the house. It is impossible for someone with the last name of Gwyntede to do something so shameless.”

The more he thought about it, the stronger Richard’s body gained in driving the horse. Unlike usual, dozens of carriages were lined up at the Duke’s house, where they arrived at midday after riding all night. He hurriedly got out of the way when five or six warhorses rushed at him with fearsome force, but the appearance and shape of the carriage were different from those of the North, so he could tell that they had come from a different region. He only glanced at them, but Richard’s eyes were fixed on Anthea standing in front. Her platinum hair and rosy cheeks were even more dazzling under the midday sun.

Anthea’s wide, surprised eyes met Richard’s. Richard couldn’t understand how her body became tense again just by meeting her eyes, but the desire to approach her suddenly arose. He belatedly noticed the presence of Nathan, who jumped off his horse and hugged her as he walked straight to Anthea. Even though he knew from the beginning that they were two people, his recognition was delayed because he was focusing on Anthea. An ordinary body type with light brown hair and good-looking eyes. He was a typical literary young man.

When Nathan’s hand touched Anthea’s back and she moved, the discomfort that had been creeping up before she recognized it suddenly surged. On the way back to her mansion, she had read the letter from her maid Jang dozens of times, so it didn’t look good.

“I’ve been away for a few days, so I wonder if my new bride has attracted a man.”

As he continued to think about it, the words that came out of his mouth were similar. It wasn’t a mistake, so Richard waited to see how Nathan, who was less than a fistful of distance from tiny Anthea, would react. Richard had to make an excuse or look embarrassed so that he could react later. Just as a confronting demon could decide whether to swing its sword or stab it when it rushes at you.

Anthea, who was trembling slightly, actually began to tremble at Richard’s words. She was okay with whatever Richard said to her. It didn’t matter if she was insulted in front of the employees or called a light woman. She was the one who benefited from the scandal in the first place. But not in front of Nathan.

Above all, she could feel the strength going into Nathan’s body in real time. Her sharp jawline twitched nervously and her eyes were fixed on Richard.

‘Woah, no. It’s like a Maltese attacking a Doberman.’

Of course, when she looked at Richard, she thought of Husky. Would the current momentum be Rottweiler? For a moment, Anthea felt like her mind was going crazy, but she quickly came to her senses when Nathan tried to hide himself behind her. She stepped in front of Nathan before she could vent her anger to protect Anthea.

“Duke, you are mistaken.”
“You are mistaken.”
“Yes. Whether the duke is away or not, your brother will have come. What’s the problem with that?”

At Anthea’s behavior of raising her eyes as if she was being wronged by her confident attitude, Richard brought out another word of hers that had been floating around in her head.

“I heard they arrived as if they had been waiting for me as soon as I left.”
“It took a month for me to come to the Duke’s house by carriage. The date my brother left with all those carriages was twenty days ago. Are you saying that you knew the date the duke would go to war and set it right before you even came to the ducal house? By what means?”

That’s what she heard and saw. Because she was only focusing on what was written in her maid Jang’s letter, she overlooked the obvious. Nevertheless, Nathan’s intimate attitude toward Ann Shea was bothersome, so Richard pulled out her words that were floating around in his head.

“Is it the behavior of a married woman to greet a man who is out of town dressed in a bedroom outfit?”
“Yes. I do it.”

Anthea was angry. Her true personality, which had been somewhat hidden from people other than Rosa, came out. She escaped safely on the first night, so she had nothing to fear for the time being. Rather, it would have been a better result if such immature remarks, unbecoming of a duchess, had been her fault.

“When someone greets me wearing what I want to wear, I run out barefoot to greet them. Brother Nathan is one of the people I am happy to meet.”

“Isn’t he your ex-fiancé?”

‘Aha. Slowly, the title “you” is starting to appear.’

“No. I’m not engaged. I think you weren’t investigating my background, but you ended up doing it.”
“A background investigation. It’s just one of the basic procedures.”
“Yes, yes. Duke, I know you like traditions and procedures. By the way, great traditions and rules.”

Anthea took another step toward Richard.

“If it’s something that could hurt my brother, I refuse.”
“Ha… How can you refuse? Didn’t you accept an unwanted marriage proposal?”
“Yes. Because there are people I want to protect enough to accept an unwanted marriage proposal.”

Richard’s eyes slightly wavered at Anthea’s statement, which openly revealed that she had not willingly agreed to this marriage. Although she sent her marriage proposal under pressure, she was embarrassed because she implicitly thought of it as an opportunity for Anthea, who was from a commoner background. Unlike Richard, Nathan, who was standing behind Anthea, could not hide her joy and rubbed her face with her hand as if she did not know what to do. Even though Anthea blocked her path, she only came up to Nathan’s chest. As she watched her clearly visible face getting redder and redder, she became more and more displeased.

“And now he’s here.”

Richard found her speechless. She was so appalled by her actions that she was now saying that she would protect another man in front of her husband that she even forgot about her anger.

“There’s nothing I can’t do to protect my family.”

Nathan’s presence, looking at Anthea with his affectionate eyes, was even more jarring. Just throwing the dagger from my waist would be enough to scare that literary young man. About ten other methods came to mind. But instead of taking out her dagger, Richard focused on the confusion she felt now. Anthea realized that her strong attitude towards Nathan did not fit with the content of Rosa Mile’s letter.

‘Where is the debauchery and shamelessness in that look?’

Rather, it was sad to see her stretching out her small body with all her might to protect her family. She even looked noble as she stood in front of Nathan, making direct eye contact with Richard as if she would never forgive him if he caused even the slightest harm. She was as slender and lovely as when I had run into her at the departure ceremony a few days before. Richard acknowledged her own mistakes. She was swayed by the one-sided letter from her maid.

She was small, adorable, and non-threatening, and Annthea was desperate to protect what she considered to be her family. With her dainty fists clenched, she stands in front of the bear-like men. Anthea, who noticed the island as her blue eyes, which were once cold, gradually warmed up, swallowed her sigh of relief. As expected, the duke was someone she could communicate with. As Richard’s silence became longer, Nathan, who was very wary, unlike Anthea, who was relieved, stepped in front of her.

“Anne, I think this is a problem the Duke and I need to resolve.”

Although they were sweet, Nathan’s words were as sharp and cool as her sword. Nathan was angry too. Even though she was angrier than she was with Rosa, she did not lose her kindness to Anthea.

“I don’t think the duke is jealous when he only sends me a marriage proposal, but I’m worried about whether I can communicate with someone who doesn’t have the slightest sense of common sense.”
“Brother, please don’t say things like that.”

The position of Anthea, the Duchess, and Nathan, who was only her Countess, was different. Anthea responding in her own way like an immature child and Nathan being sarcastic were two completely different things. If she were not careful, she could be held accountable for mocking a high-ranking nobleman. However, Nathan was ready to put his life on the line for Richard, who had made her situation so bad that Anthea stepped in to mediate it.

“Looking at Anne, I have no choice but to try my best.”
“Brother, please.”
“My Anne. I didn’t mean to let you go.”

Nathan’s gaze looking at Anthea was not only warm, but hot. Just as her mood seemed to lighten, Nathan shoved her in again. Nathan’s eyes, which were sweet to Anthea, were filled with deep resentment when they turned to Richard. Nathan’s eyes showed a completely different aspect from the trust she showed in Anne Shea. Her words may have been sincere, but her feelings for Nathan were closer to those written in Rosa’s letter.