Duke, This Will Sting for a Moment (30 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 11
“Has it always been like this?”
Frost set down his teacup after taking a sip and scrutinized Yuriella from head to toe across the tea table he’d arranged for her in the Duke’s glass greenhouse.
She didn’t appear bruised or broken anywhere, yet the thought that hidden wounds might lie beneath her dress sent a burning heat rising in his gut. Frost squeezed his eyes shut tightly, then slowly opened them again.
His vivid blue eyes shimmered like gems, brimming with the bright light filtering through the greenhouse’s glass walls.
“So that’s why you said you preferred kind-hearted men—because of your brother.”
He should’ve crushed that brother’s skull. He’d break both his legs too, so he’d never kick his little sister again.
Still, seeing Dolman Grande answered one lingering question. Lady Yuriella’s preference for small, unassuming men was undoubtedly shaped by that reckless older brother of hers.
“No. Not just because of my brother. After experiencing it myself, I realized they’re all the same—every last one. A kind-hearted man is a unicorn.”
Yuriella replied indifferently, dipping her finger into the chocolate cake and licking it sweetly.
Caught off guard by her answer, Frost’s eyes flickered faintly. A crease even appeared between his brows, which had just relaxed moments before.
“What?”
“A unicorn. Everyone’s heard rumors, but no one’s ever actually seen one. Meeting such a man is just wishful thinking—I don’t expect it.”
“No, not that.”
“Yes?”
All of them are the same—those men. Who exactly is “this one,” who is “that one,” and who made her think they’re all alike?
Frost silently swallowed the question that had almost burst from his throat, washing it down quietly with his tea.
“What else, then, Your Grace?”
Yuriella asked, flicking her pink tongue to lick the chocolate off her upper lip. Her round eyes, filled with crimson irises, softened into a gentle curve—clearly pleased by the sweet chocolate.
Suddenly parched, Frost reached for the glass filled with ice.
Tired of waiting for the Grand Duke’s reply, Yuriella scooped up a generous bite of cake dripping with strawberry syrup with her finger, then sucked the cream off her finger noisily.
“…Do you really have to eat like that?”
Unable to tear his eyes away from her lips, Frost finally handed her the silver fork neatly placed beside her plate.
“It’s unhygienic. And unpleasant to watch.”
“Oh. Sorry. It’s just a habit.”
Seeing Frost’s grimace, Yuriella’s mind briefly overlapped his image with that of her former aide from her past life. She gave a faint smile and stabbed the cake with the fork, popping the entire piece into her mouth.
Back then, that aide had eventually given up offering expensive silver forks—because they usually ended up embedded in the eyes or vital spots of savages instead of being used for dessert, no matter how hard the cook had prepared it.
Yuriella chewed with cheeks puffed like a squirrel’s and offered an apologetic smile.
“But strangely, I find it much sweeter and more delicious when I eat with my fingers rather than a fork. Don’t you feel the same, Your Grace?”
“Solace Moretti.”
“…!”
At the sudden mention of her own name, Yuriella froze mid-breath and stared at Frost.
“Even Sir Moretti, before His Imperial Majesty himself, once scooped dessert cake with his bare hands—just like you do now. The Emperor laughed foolishly, like a spoiled oyster, at the sight of his ill-mannered subordinate.”
It wasn’t the cake that was sweet.
Recalling the private tea time he’d witnessed from afar—between the Emperor and the Imperial Knights’ Captain—before the savage campaign, Frost made a face as if he’d just chewed a hundred unripe persimmons.
Yuriella, too, set down her fork with a grimace. The cake in her mouth suddenly turned bitter; she barely managed to swallow it with tea, rinsing her mouth repeatedly with water, but still felt no relief. What needed cleansing wasn’t her mouth—but her heart.
“What brings you here? Is there something left unsaid?”
Frost stared intently at her crimson eyes, now slowly revealed as her long, thick lashes lifted.
Her eyes had been clear and childlike while sweetly eating cake, yet now they turned coldly aloof again. She was utterly impossible to read.
Was she the only one impossible to read?
‘Why did I even come here…?’
He’d pondered this the whole way to the Duke’s estate, yet still couldn’t find a clear reason. He simply couldn’t bear the suffocating feeling inside any longer.
“Withdraw your refusal of the betrothal gift.”
Frost hastily invented a reason for his visit.
“Didn’t you say you’d leave the Duke’s household after divorcing me? Then you’ll need a place to live and money to hire servants. I happen to have a suitable mansion. And I’ll also give you my ruby mine as alimony.”
“No, I don’t need—”
“Then tell me what you do need.”
Yuriella let out a shallow sigh. She did need something.
Meeting Cassandra Cabeza, whom the Grand Duke had imprisoned in a dungeon.
As the Empire’s foremost dark sorceress, she might know how the Holy Sword Flama became a cursed blade—and perhaps even how to restore it to its original state, if luck permitted.
But without being able to explain her reason, making such a request was impossible. She’d have to find her own way to solve this problem.
“I don’t need the mansion or the ruby mine. They’d only be troublesome and a burden. Truly, I need nothing at all.”
One of Frost’s eyebrows twitched fiercely upward. Why did every word from this woman twist his mood so badly?
“I don’t want to see the woman who was once my wife living wretchedly.”
“Oh—but didn’t we agree on annulment, not divorce? And you won’t have to see me at all. Once I’ve finished everything I must do, I plan to leave the Empire far behind.”
Hah. She disliked everything? The position of Duchess, alimony—even the sight of him?
The Grand Duke’s expression darkened severely as he loosened his cravat and unbuttoned his collar.
“Do you find our marriage so humiliating that you wish to erase it entirely? On what grounds do you already decide you can’t stand the sight of me—without ever having truly lived with me to see what kind of man I am?”
“What? No, why are you suddenly saying that—”
Seeing Yuriella’s flustered stammer, Frost abruptly pushed back his chair and stood.
“I’m not a kind-hearted man, so I can’t possibly understand what exactly displeases you, my lady. Perhaps it’s because I’m a warrior whose senses are still steeped in the blood of savages and monsters—not rabbits or deer—and thus I lack the finesse to soothe your grievances ‘kindly.’”
“What? What do you mean by that—”
“It’s not just the blood of savages and monsters clinging to me. My own kin—though I loathe calling them that—also left their mark. The blood of the Emperor’s punitive troops, who trampled my North, is deeply soaked into my sword and my body.”
At the mention of the punitive army, Yuriella’s expression hardened sorrowfully.
She couldn’t help but recall it—her own subordinates, cut down by Frost’s blade…
The futile sacrifices made in good faith, believing a true rebellion had erupted in the North for the Empire’s sake. Their tragic deaths. The scarlet blood spilled far from home, heartbreakingly vivid…
Until the moment they marched past the treacherous northern borders, cutting down monsters, Solace and her men had burned with fervent purpose—to suppress the rebellion threatening the Empire’s peace.
But the thousands of hooves had crushed not rebels, but the innocent people of the North, and the “rebel leader” whose head the Emperor had ordered them to sever—Grand Duke Frost Eelheim—was in truth the North’s beloved guardian.
They’d only realized it was all the Emperor’s fabrication the moment the Holy Sword Flama transformed into a cursed blade spewing black venom.
Or… had she truly been unaware? Hadn’t she simply closed her eyes and turned away, pretending ignorance…?
The foolish knight, tamed by the Emperor’s sweet lies, had longed to believe in her beautiful sovereign—with golden hair fluttering brilliantly—until her very last breath.
The result… was horrific.
Innocent northerners perished, and loyal subordinates—who valued their commander’s orders above the imperial decree—either lost their lives or became fugitives, scattered far and wide.
And Grand Duke Frost Eelheim…
The noble warrior, wielder of the Holy Sword Ielo, guardian of the Empire—was now poisoned by an unpredictable venom that could claim his life at any moment. All because of me. Because of my foolishness…
“…Why are you crying?”
At Frost’s words, Yuriella wiped her cheek. Her face was already soaked with tears that had silently spilled.
“Oh…”
Frost handed her his handkerchief, then clenched and unclenched his fists anxiously, utterly at a loss.
“…I didn’t know you hated the smell of blood so much.”
He frowned, sniffing each hand alternately, then tilted his head in confusion.
“Are your senses unusually sharp? Can you really smell blood on me?”
“…Yes?”
“I’m not a bloodthirsty madman. Whenever I’ve drawn my sword to kill someone, it was always to save others—to protect their homes.”
Frost didn’t understand why he was offering such an awkward explanation, yet he couldn’t just walk past Yuriella while she was crying.
“I can’t promise I’ll never carry the scent of blood again.”
To protect the North, his people, and to wrest the Empire from the tyrant’s grip, he would inevitably take countless lives and stain his hands with their blood.
“But I can promise you this: before I ever take someone’s life, I’ll ponder it ten times—no, a hundred times. I’ll take every care to prevent needless sacrifice. And if it still can’t be helped, I’ll seek out those harmed by my actions and offer them compensation and comfort.”
Frost spoke slowly, deliberately, with utmost sincerity.
With every word he uttered, fresh, clear tears welled in Yuriella’s eyes, soaking her cheeks and streaming down.
‘Ah…!’
Yuriella—no, Solace Moretti—sighed deeply in her heart.
‘What on earth have you been looking at all this time… what have you been doing…!’
This was precisely the kind of ruler she’d once hoped Emperor Justin Della Ponti would become.
A ruler who believes that taking a life is only ever to save others and protect their homes.
A warrior who ponders ten—no, a hundred times—before ending someone’s life.
A kind guardian who prevents futile sacrifice through careful attention—and when unavoidable, seeks out the injured to offer recompense and solace.
Yuriella’s clear crimson eyes gazed straight up at the ruler of the North, who had just made this heartfelt vow.
Yes. It wasn’t too late—not yet.
Perhaps this new life she’d been given was meant precisely to right her wrongs and protect this dependable ruler.
Even if not, it didn’t matter. She had already chosen her sovereign.
Instead of kneeling knightly to swear fealty, Yuriella dashed forward and wrapped both arms tightly around Frost’s neck, hugging him fiercely.
As a noblewoman raised among dancers, this kind of oath suited her persona well enough.
“Your Grace!”
I, Solace Moretti, swear to take Grand Duke Frost Eelheim as my sovereign and pledge my undying loyalty. Your will shall guide every step I take.
“Let’s marry quickly!”
Though they might part someday, the desire to strive for him—even for one more day—bloomed fiercely in her heart. She wanted to treat his wounds up close as soon as possible.
“As soon as possible.”
Startled, Frost instinctively held Yuriella as she buried her tear-streaked face against his shoulder.
The fragrance of the violet tea he’d just drunk mingled with Yuriella’s sweet scent, tickling Frost’s nose.
He subtly tried to pull her away, suddenly worried his shoulder might carry an unpleasant smell.
But Yuriella clung even tighter, wrapping her slender arms firmly around his broad waist as if she’d never let go.
Though the Grand Duke had remained unmoved by the countless beauties of the imperial capital, Yuriella’s sudden embrace left him rigid, fists clenching and unclenching uselessly, even forgetting how to breathe.
“I’ll do my best, Your Highness.”
Unaware of how her oath affected him, and anxious at his silence, Yuriella pressed even closer, her arms tightening.
“As your healer, as your false Duchess—I’ll give my life for you. If this life isn’t enough, I’ll beg in my next one until I fulfill your wishes.”
Though his ears flushed like a fifteen-year-old boy at her embrace, Frost still bristled at the words “false Duchess.”
Unaware that this irritation was the first sign of his heart finally opening, he interpreted it in his own way.
‘They say those raised in hardship prefer familiar misery over unfamiliar fortune.’
Now he finally understood why she stubbornly refused the title of Duchess and its luxuries, choosing instead to run far away and live humbly.
Only now did the true reason for his visit to the Duke’s estate—something he’d failed to articulate earlier—become clear to Frost.
“I need to meet the Duke. And your stepbrother, along with the rest of your family.”
Thinking of confronting those responsible for making his future Duchess so accustomed to unhappiness, Frost felt his inexplicable queasiness and thirst ease slightly.
Male lead first thought she played hard to get, only to realize she
really disliked him
Short intro:
What she can’t stand the most is the streets full of effeminate men, especially that so-called top beauty whom she avoids at all costs.
Shen Yaoxing looks at Jiang Mingyue, who keeps approaching her with coy shyness.
Shen Yaoxing: Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up!
She fears nothing in heaven or earth, except for him getting close to her.
*
At first he thought she was just using the trick of feigning indifference to attract his attention. Later, he learned that she truly despised him.
This dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Mingyue, and he vowed to make her, like everyone else, fall at his feet in worship!
***
Synopsis:
Before transmigrating, Shen Yaoxing only wanted to find a reliable man to spend her life with. Who knew that after transmigrating, she would become a reliable woman herself…
A forced misandrist, highly skilled, and reliable female lead
vs.
An initially aloof and arrogant, later morbid, obsessed male lead
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
Hahahaha!!! She is so funny!!!!!! How she changed so much!
I love how she realized she loved him from the begining. But I die seeing him jealous of himself.
Awww