This Life, I Will Save The Duke (20 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 17

It was merely out of curiosity. After all, her appearance had nothing to do with marriage.

“……Yes?”

However……

Seeing her face instantly turn pale, her eyes trembling, her shoulders shaking faintly, and her hands clenched so tightly that the veins stood out, Kaius tilted his head in confusion.

It was a look he had often seen before—mostly from subordinates on the battlefield who had made mistakes and feared him, or when spies infiltrating the ducal manor had been exposed.

Kaius let out a deep sigh—“Ha”—took another sip of wine, and quietly fixed his gaze on her. He hadn’t even asked a specific question yet, yet she was already this flustered, which made him genuinely curious about what answer she might give. Would she claim, like King Leon, that she had simply changed?

“The color in your old portrait was different. I’m curious why that is.”

Ariel had clearly prepared an answer for such a scenario. But because the earlier mention of marriage had briefly eased her nerves, his question left her mind suddenly blank. Cold sweat kept breaking out, and in her distress, she unknowingly swallowed hard.

What was the answer she’d prepared again?

“You disliked it—my silver hair and golden eyes—so I changed them.”

No. That wasn’t the right answer. Ariel shook her head slightly, squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again, finally recalling the response she’d rehearsed. Her rapidly rising and falling chest gradually calmed.

“It’s… I’m not exactly sure why it happened myself. But I suspect it began changing little by little while I was tending the flower Ludvian gave me—so it’s probably because of that flower.”

Kaius watched her speak lightly and nodded, seemingly satisfied.

“So it’s not an ordinary flower, then.”

Ariel stared blankly at him, and only when his gaze finally left her did she feel a wave of relief. As a servant approached from afar to refill his empty wineglass, Ariel reached for the fruit-laden plate.

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