‘Oh…!’

Yuriella, who was being dragged away in surprise, suddenly found herself nestled in Frost’s arms as he sat up.

Oops! Oh no.

“I’m sorry…!”

Yuriella quickly apologized and slowly pulled her body away from the contact.

However, due to her captured wrist, she couldn’t move further and ended up in an awkward position with only her hips pulled back.

“Um, excuse me. If you could let go of this…”

Frost was the one who pulled, but Yuriella was the one who apologized. Twice. And she even tried to avoid him.

Frost raised one eyebrow with a twitch. It was irritating.

As Yuriella attempted to escape once more, Frost yanked the wrist he was holding. This time, a bit more forcefully.

“Oh!”

Yuriella’s round forehead bumped into Frost’s broad chest.

To make matters worse, she somehow ended up sitting on the Grand Duke’s lap.

Yuriella froze, her body stiffening. Her summer dress was too thin.

Every time the Grand Duke breathed, his pectorals, rectus abdominis, external obliques, and thigh muscles… The sculpted, firm muscle fibers boasted an overwhelming presence.

When she was Solas, even with bone-breaking efforts, she couldn’t have obtained such a powerful physique!

It was insane musculature that made her completely forget about Shavell’s sturdy arms and legs.

Normally, she would have just been endlessly envious.

But sitting on the Grand Duke’s lap and feeling it all, Yuriella felt awkward and embarrassed, her earlobes burning hot.

It was suffocating.

‘A barrier! I need a barrier…!’

Yuriella wriggled and squirmed to create a small gap, and then inserted her small hands in between, buttoning up the Grand Duke’s partially undone shirt to build a barrier.

If she had known what effect this action would have on Frost, she would never have done it.

Even if he had become terminally ill due to the devil’s poison, Frost was still the continent’s greatest knight, and a healthy young man who had become the master of the North at an early age with his full abilities.

Frost let out a sigh and promptly picked up Yuriella, placing her down on a chair next to the bed.

He had pulled her because she kept trying to run away.

That was dangerous.

He had almost crossed the line.

Frost closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to recall the number and names of the horses in the stable. He even tried to remember the different mane and eye colors of each foal, but it was of no use.

Even though she had only been in his arms for a moment, Yuriella’s soft touch wouldn’t fade away. It felt as if it was vividly engraved on every part that had been in contact, like a hot brand.

Eventually, Frost started looking for other thoughts to calm his heat. He didn’t need to think long.

The ‘finely chiseled muscles!’ that had just been grating on his nerves.

It must have been a fairly good choice, as the heat that had been burning in his body suddenly dropped.

The well-toned muscles of Shavell, no, His Highness Lewis Della Ponti, that Yuriella had admired were his handiwork.

The three years of time flashed by like a kaleidoscope – the times he had caught Lewis, who was always eager to escape during physical training hours, and thrown him onto the dirt floor of his private training ground. The time and effort he had poured into creating quality muscles and strength.

To think that he used those pretty muscles to mercilessly throw his wife around in the mud, and even left a deep impression.

“Were Shavell’s muscles that impressive?”

Yuriella’s eyes widened at the sudden change of topic, but soon she smiled brightly.

“Yes! He had really wonderful muscles. I was smitten, you know.”

A healthy mind dwells in a healthy body. Having such a physique is proof of someone who puts in blood, sweat, and tears. Shavell must undoubtedly be a woman worthy of the Grand Duke’s love.

“Wonderful? That?”

“You should consider taking Shavell as your companion after divorcing me, Frost. It takes extraordinary willpower and perseverance to train the body so solidly.”

Blue flames flickered in Frost’s eyes. The heat in his body had cooled, but now heat erupted in his head like a volcano.

“Your eyes must be crooked.”

Words emerging from a twisted mindset couldn’t be pleasant.

“Pardon?”

“Let me give you some advice. You need to improve your eyesight. Shavell’s muscles are below average and weak, and there’s unnecessary fat covering between the skin and muscle layers. That’s why he couldn’t handle a frail woman like you and made a disgraceful scene in the mud.”

Yuriella’s full eyebrows raised slightly, and fire sparked in her red eyes.

“I’m sorry. I apologize for being just a frail woman who can only make disgraceful scenes with Your Grace’s lover.”

Frost instantly regretted his reaction to Yuriella’s response. Should he have used ‘delicate’ instead of ‘frail’?

Even if he had used ‘delicate’ instead of ‘frail’, Yuriella would still have been upset.

Even in the body of the useless young lady, her heart was still that of a knight.

She might have lost her precious Flamma, and might not be able to find the new holy sword Aerie’s body. But still.

Still, her heart was neither frail nor delicate as a knight.

Moreover, being called ‘disgraceful’ caused the sorrow and inferiority complex she had been suppressing to explode. Originally, the fire ignited by inferiority complex tends to burn more fiercely.

“Not only are your eyes crooked, but your mind is twisted as well.”

Frost fanned those flames.

In fact, it was Frost whose mind was twisted. He had been upset by Yuriella’s casual talk about divorce, suggesting he take Shavell as his future companion.

But Yuriella, unaware of what was happening in his heart, took his statement as a serious provocation.

“Twisted? Me?”

“Yes. You.”

“Then shall I say something more twisted? Stick to one form of speech, either formal or informal. It’s very unpleasant for this frail woman to hear you switching back and forth as you please. This too is quite disgraceful, isn’t it?”

For twenty years of her life. The latter ten years were spent clashing swords with rough men on battlefields. But the first ten years were spent as Solas, growing up among street women and rough market aunties who were seasoned in verbal fights.

Naturally, in their first marital quarrel, Frost was at an overwhelming disadvantage.

But like most husbands, Frost too recklessly stepped onto the battlefield with his wife, unaware that it was a path to his own demise.

“Let me advise you. When having a conversation, don’t nitpick words and derail the argument. It only prevents the dialogue from progressing and causes unnecessary emotional drain.”

“Shall I give you some advice too? Don’t judge arbitrarily with your arrogant standards. Do you find the sweat and effort Shavell, a woman, put in to achieve such impressive muscles laughable? What good are muscles if they’re just full of arrogance and self-righteousness?”

“What…? Arrogant… self-righteous…? Me?”

“Yes! You always think you’re right, you’re strong, you’re the best, don’t you, our Grand Duke!”

“Frost.”

Even in the midst of their marital quarrel, Frost didn’t forget to correct the wrong form of address, but.

“I don’t think we’re close enough to allow each other to use our names. I’ll just call you Grand Duke.”

“Yuriella.”

“Don’t call my name either. Just say ‘frail disgraceful young lady’ comfortably. Anyway, our marriage will be annulled, and once the contract ends, we won’t have any reason to call each other’s names!”

Frost was dumbfounded, his mouth agape at Yuriella’s flood of attacks.

Yuriella knew she should stop here, but she couldn’t.

She had never engaged in such a reckless, childish verbal fight with anyone before.

It was puzzling why a mere word became a thorn piercing her heart.

She had endured much more sorrowful and terrible things without a word.

“I… I’m not looking down… It’s because Shavell is weak… No, I mean, even if given a sword, he couldn’t catch even a mouse, let alone an assassin…”

Frost, pushed onto the defensive, stammered as he broke out in a cold sweat.

“Don’t worry. I know well, the Emperor and his faction don’t want Shavell to die. They say they’d rather bring him health tonics to live long and healthy since he’s the mistress dulling the Grand Duke’s edge!”

“How do you know what even the top information guild couldn’t find out? Did the Emperor whisper it while dancing?”

Yuriella flinched for a moment. It wasn’t while dancing, but it was indeed what the Emperor had told her.

But with the quick wit of a knight, Yuriella easily countered the attack of her jealous lord.

“Even a seven-year-old could figure it out! If an assassin were to target someone, it would be me! I’m the daughter of Baron Grande, the second-in-command of the North, and the bridge formed by a political marriage with the Grand Duke of Ielheim! How much would they want to kill me.”

Frost’s expression hardened.

Assassinating the Grand Duchess. It was a plausible argument.

“Right now, there’s probably at least one assassin lurking around the Grand Duke’s residence targeting me! And there must be several spies inside the house who would open the door for that assassin!”

Frost decided to thoroughly clean out the rats in the Grand Duke’s residence this time.

‘Dare to inflict even a small wound on the Grand Duchess. I’ll make them regret being alive.’

Frost’s face was filled with a thick killing intent as he recalled the faces of potential spies planted by the Emperor and his political opponents.

“Rest assured. I guarantee your safety−”

“No need. You just take good care of your beloved Shavell! There might not be assassins targeting his life, but he could fall down while walking due to his weak muscles.”

Yuriella jumped up, grabbed her silver needle set, and stormed out of the bedchamber.

Bang!

After slamming the door shut with force, Yuriella sighed and rolled her eyes.

What did I just do?

Thump, thump. The sound of the Grand Duke’s footsteps approaching the door could be heard.

A faint sigh and the sound of grabbing the doorknob. Another sigh. Then the sound of pacing.

A faint smile appeared on Yuriella’s lips.

‘He must be flustered, thinking I’m angry now. He’s worried.’

The Grand Duke’s warm concern was evident in his anxious footsteps.

The restless, noisy heart melted away cleanly like snow under bright sunlight, leaving only a warm glow in her chest.

It was then that Yuriella realized.

Why she had childishly snapped at the Grand Duke and gotten worked up.

Why she had made unreasonable arguments and sulked like a child. Why she had thrown tantrums at the Grand Duke that she had never done before.

‘Ah…!’

Yuriella let out a low exclamation in her heart.

Her heart had opened… The Grand Duke had flowed in through the open gap. Shamelessly.

Perhaps this gap wasn’t created after entering Yuriella’s body.

It was the question that Emperor Justin had persistently asked her.

The charge that wasn’t written in the imperial newspaper that reported the execution of the traitor Solas Moretti.

Perhaps the reason for execution that should have been placed before the numerous charges listed there.

She had answered no.

Even now, it shouldn’t be.

Yuriella tightly closed the gap in her heart that had opened without her knowing.

To prevent her heart from leaking out.

To prevent his heart from coming in.

Bitter and spicy, perhaps even hurting the Grand Duke’s heart.

‘Would he lose affection for me then? What are you worried about? That would be fortunate.’

Yuriella swallowed the sigh that was about to escape unconsciously. And she thought that perhaps she should continue this childish marital quarrel for a while.

Cassandra, who had been waiting for Yuriella at the end of the corridor, clapped her hands.

“Well done, Your Grace. A marital quarrel isn’t like cutting water with a knife. It’s a bloody war. Since the Grand Duke is an unreliable person, if it seems hopeless…”

The black magician, who had concealed her true appearance with the archmage’s illusion magic, giggled close to Yuriella’s ear.

“Just say the word anytime. Turning him into a pig is no big deal.”

“You, do you miss the dungeon?”

“Your Grace! I was only trying to−”

“Shut up. Call Aerie. Let’s clean up.”

Yuriella’s footsteps headed towards the grand banquet hall. They had to clean up the traces of black magic before the servants returned.

*

The main gate of the Grand Duke’s residence opened, and there was a bustle of returning servants who had been away for a while.

The beautiful Shavell, the Grand Duke’s mistress, also alighted from a splendid carriage with the support of the head maid. The butler, carrying a yellow parrot’s cage, also got off the carriage.

Sir Aaron, who had been watching from a distance on the roadside, turned his horse towards the Emperor’s carriage.

“Your Majesty. Shall I send word that we’re visiting the Grand Duke’s residence?”

Justin, with his arm resting on the carriage window sill, had been staring endlessly at the Grand Duke’s residence before shaking his head.

“Let’s go.”

“Pardon?”

“She’s awake, so it’s fine.”

“…? But you’ve been waiting all this time. And we’ve come all the way here…”

As Aaron looked at him quizzically, Justin laughed pleasantly.

“I will not go. I will make her come to me. On her own feet. Prettily.”