My Husband Has Changed (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 8

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Valentin was being held firmly by the shoulders by the knights. It looked as though six sturdy men had barely managed to subdue him. The traces of the intense struggle from moments ago were evident everywhere.

His hands and feet were covered in blood, his clothes were torn to shreds, and his nape was pinned down by crossed spear shafts.

Every part of his body showed wounds cut by glass shards. Perhaps to prevent self-harm, a soft cloth was stuffed between Valentin’s lips.

At that horrific sight, the color drained from Adel’s cheeks in an instant. Even a beast would not be treated like this.

“What on earth is this… What disrespect has been committed against His Highness.”

The Knight Commander, Günter, lifted his blood-soattered face. He was still holding Valentin’s right shoulder.

“I apologize. It may look brutal to Your Highness the Grand Duchess, but this was the best measure for the Grand Duke’s safety.”

“…What do you mean.”

Günter hesitated slightly.

“He was… self-harming…”

Self-harming. Adel was shocked and could not continue speaking for a while. She barely regained her composure.

“Even so. Treating the master of Ansgar like a beast.”

“I apologize.”

“Someone please bring a cloth soaked in water and some medicine. Sir Günter, you may dismiss the knights now. His Highness seems to have calmed down already.”

At Butler Hermann’s signal, one of the maids standing at the door quickly slipped through the crowd and withdrew. Günter still looked worried.

“However, Your Highness. Even six strong men can barely handle His Highness’s strength.”

“I am not worried. His Highness seems to recognize me.”

Knight Günter’s eyes clouded for a moment. Indeed, strangely enough, that was true…

“Please release His Highness.”

At Adel’s firm request, Günter nodded to his subordinates. The knights cautiously released their grip on the Grand Duke’s body.

As soon as the spear shafts pinning his neck were removed, Valentin shook them off as if brushing away something annoying. The burly knights fell away like ripened grains of wheat. He spat out the piece of cloth that had been in his mouth.

And he stood up without anyone’s help. As if the frenzied appearance from moments ago had been completely fake, he was now quietly subdued.

“…”

Valentin’s persistent gaze landed on Adel’s face. He immediately walked toward her. The people in the room were holding their breath, alternating looks between them.

“Um, excuse me… Your Highness. I have prepared the wet cloth and m-medicine…”

The maid who had just returned cautiously intervened between them and placed the tray down. On the tray were a cloth soaked in water, medicine, and clean bandages. The maid flinched at the cold gaze Valentin sent her way.

Adel hurriedly took the tray from the maid’s hands.

“Thank you. Now, everyone please clear the room.”

“…But…”

The old butler frowned and interjected. Adel shook her head and said.

“His Highness has finally calmed down. Somehow… I will handle it.”

Hermann looked worriedly back and forth between his master and Adel, then gestured for the people to leave. Soon after, the sound of the door closing was heard behind them. Hermann had succeeded in ushering everyone out.

In the room lit by a few candles and the fireplace, only the two of them remained.

“…”

It was Adel who first broke the suffocating silence.

“Your Highness.”

As if reacting to her voice, Valentin’s ears twitched. A inexplicable ferocious light flickered in his eyes. His gleaming golden eyes stared at Adel as if to devour her.

In truth, it had been an unwavering gaze from the moment she entered the room. Whether it was filled with desire, anger, or some other desperation… It was not easy to distinguish.

“I will tend to your wounds.”

Adel carefully met Valentin’s gaze and pointed to the couch in front of the fireplace. For some reason, today he felt even more unfamiliar.

The moment she met his eyes head-on, Adel immediately realized why. The pupils catching the light… were different from usual. They were slit vertically like a reptile’s, not human.

‘What is this?’

In the moment she blinked in surprise, Valentin’s pupils had returned to a round human shape.

‘Was it an illusion? If it was real, what did I just see?’

The surroundings were too quiet. The cries of horses, chickens, and dogs that had been drying the blood had vanished as if washed away.

A shrill voice she had heard once before pierced the silence.

The Dragon of Bitzleben would be a cunning, vicious, and enchanting beast…

Adel barely swallowed the saliva pooled in her mouth. The fear transferred from Greta slowly raised its head like a snake. It hissed poison in her ears.

It freely manipulates shadows, slyly hides among people, mimics human behavior, and imitates language…

“Adel.”

Trending

Suddenly, chills ran down her nape. As Adel stepped back in hesitation, Valentin’s eyebrows twitched. At the same time, she saw brute strength enter his forearms.

He urgently closed the distance she had created.

Crack. The sound of glass shards scattered on the floor being crushed under bare feet echoed. Yet he did not even frown. As if he felt no pain. He grabbed Adel’s wrist.

“Uh.”

Adel let out a surprised groan. Contrary to expecting veins bulging and pain in her arm, Valentin’s grip was only slightly firm, not painful.

“Adelheid.”

It was perfectly aristocratic pronunciation. Elegant, noble, and sticky. How could he pronounce only her name near perfectly while unable to say a single other word.

‘Is he really mimicking someone?’

Adel reflexively checked Valentin’s shadow. They say ‘dragons’ have living, moving shadows unlike humans.

But Valentin’s shadow was ordinary. It did not seem to breathe, nor move differently from its owner—an utterly unremarkable shadow.

Only then did her heated mind cool as if doused with cold water. Adel felt relieved.

‘He cannot be anything but human. Look at that. He bleeds too. Greta was overreacting…’

“Adel.”

He grabbed Adel’s chin, which was looking at the floor, and lifted her head. The moment his hand approached, Adel smelled blood. Come to think of it, his palms were also covered in blood.

‘Did he get like that from breaking the window?’

She was idly connecting such thoughts when.

“…”

Valentin was quietly gazing at her. Adel quickly noticed that he was rarely flustered.

“…”

He rubbed her cheek and chin hard with his thumb. As if wanting to wipe something away. Since it wasn’t coming off easily, he repeated it several times.

Adel looked at the half-broken mirror and only then realized her cheek was smeared messily with blood in the shape of Valentin’s handprint. The more he tried to wipe it, the dirtier it became.

Adel gently pushed his arm away and said.

“I-I will do this. Rubbing with your hand like that hurts.”

“…”

“If you do this, it will just smear more. With the wet cloth, it will come off quickly…”

Adel could not even finish her words. He gently lifted her chin and bent down. Adel blinked blankly at his approaching face. She did not understand the meaning. Why suddenly…

The moment his lips touched Adel’s chin was instantaneous. Her soft, sprout-like eyes widened. Then a red tongue flicked out and licked the bloodstain on her chin.

Good heavens.

Adel’s white cheeks turned red like a ripe tomato in an instant. At the eerily soft and moist sensation, Adel trembled.

“S-Stop…”

“Ah, pretty, uh… my… Adel.”

She felt him release a suppressed laugh over the touching skin. Adel pressed her hand firmly to her chest. Her heart was beating too fast.

[This is the timeline separator]

‘He’ looked at the pitiful woman in front of him.

White and clear cheeks, eyes resembling summer, hair drooping damply over fingers, and supple shoulders like willow branches. Just looking made black desire tighten in his stomach.

The entire northern land was excited to the point of toasting over the man’s survival. Yet on the woman’s face, Adelheid, a shadow of doubt was cast. It was very persistent and would not lift no matter what he did.

‘He’ was worried.

What was lacking? Did he seem too ignorant for a human? Or did he pretend to be too pitiful?

His tongue, not having fully swallowed his greed, licked his lips. ‘He’ narrowed his eyes in the gap where Adel could not see.

So, what exactly should he do.

To break down that guard like before?

[This is the timeline separator]

From chin to cheek, then along the chin again, kisses continued in dots. At first, there was the pretext of wiping blood, but later Valentin was engrossed in just nuzzling. He seemed to enjoy how Adel flinched each time his lips touched.

She, with a tearful face, desperately pushed away Valentin’s sturdy shoulders. Only then, as if satisfied, he straightened his crouched waist.

“F-First, treat the wounds.”

Adel, cheeks flushed, placed the tray the maid brought on her lap. She did not know if the man in front of her was really her husband or a beast wearing his shell, but at least he was a person bleeding.

If such wounds were left untreated, it would cause great trouble later. Adel gripped the cloth tightly and warned with a feigned worried expression.

“It will sting a little.”

Adel spread his large palm upward and gently wiped the wounds with a cloth soaked in alcohol.

“…”

ads

Each time the cloth brushed, his firm shoulders twitched. Not from pain, but as if the sensation was unfamiliar. His face peering at his own skin as if observing it was exactly like that.

Adel piled plenty of crushed hemostatic herbs on Valentin’s palm and wrapped the bandage tightly.

“Does it not hurt? If it’s too tight and uncomfortable…”

Valentin tilted his head. As if asking what the intention was. Or as if it was a question he could not understand at all.

Adel’s ears turned slightly red. She timidly changed the subject.

“It’s fortunate the other hand is fine, but since you stepped on glass earlier, I need to check your feet. If there are more injured spots, show me. Before calling the Healer, it’s better to stop the bleeding first…”

She could not even finish her words. Valentin crossed his arms and threw off the tunic whose front was messily torn.

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