“Duke, please eat.”

“Huh? Yes.”

Only then did the Duke relax his expression and pick up his fork and knife.

After that, the Duke seemed somewhere distant, and the conversation did not flow smoothly.

Nelia chose to eat quietly instead.

The dining room was filled with silence, a bit awkward, but it allowed her to savor the food more, and that was good in its own way.

After finishing her meal, Nelia wiped her mouth with a satisfied expression.

She glanced at the Duke’s plate, but there was little change from before. He hadn’t eaten properly, perhaps he didn’t have an appetite.

He seemed fine when the appetizer came out, but the sensitive topic must have affected him. Feeling somewhat responsible, Nelia asked.

“Are you upset about the spouse talk, Duke?”

The Duke gave a weak smile and shook his head.

“No, it’s just…”

Just?

But then the Duke shut his mouth.

“Never mind.”

The Duke stood up from his seat.

“If we’re done eating, shall we go to the room?”

Nelia was curious about what he was going to say, but he seemed reluctant, so she replied cautiously.

“Yes, sounds good.”

During the trip to the fourth floor, the Duke was silent.

He would usually ask about the meal, which dish she found the most delicious, such trivial questions. It seemed the earlier conversation had spoiled his appetite.

‘Why ask such a question in the first place.’

‘How about if the condition is the same as me?’

Asking about oneself brings about uncomfortable situations. It’s strange to lie, but also strange to be too honest.

And thinking about the earlier conversation, she believed she had responded appropriately.

‘I would hate a husband who turns into a snake, it’s creepy!’ She hadn’t said anything like that, had she?

Lost in her thoughts, before she knew it, they were in front of her room. Duke Hart kindly opened the door for her.

“This is your first night in this mansion, I hope you have a comfortable night.”
“Also, Your Grace, please forget the earlier thoughts and have a good sleep.”

The Duke grinned.

“I understand.”

However, the laughter still seemed void of strength.

Duke Hart entered the room and collapsed onto the bed. The burdened weight made the bed lightly quiver.

“Huuh.”

The Duke squeezed his eyes shut.

‘I didn’t intend to talk.’

He had said too much to Nelia.

This was a first.

It wasn’t that he didn’t talk with other people, but the contents were usually formal. But when he was with Nelia, he felt like a child. Unnecessarily, he would babble things he shouldn’t talk about.

Especially not about family affairs.

Fortunately, Nelia’s reaction was flat.

Nelia would be surprised and flustered like a small animal at trivial things, but surprisingly, she wouldn’t be greatly disturbed at larger matters.

That was a fun aspect of Nelia.

Because of such characteristics, when he was with Nelia, he fell into the illusion that maybe serious matters weren’t much of a big deal.

Even the curse of his family.

She saw him turn into a snake, but she accepted the situation calmly. To a surprising degree.

‘So, I can’t let go of hope.’

‘I believe……there will be people who will understand me, even as a man who turns into a snake. There are all kinds of people in the world, aren’t there?’

‘Uh…as long as I’m not always in the form of a snake……I think it’s okay.’

Such words could bewitch a person.

However, the warmth that had enveloped Duke Hart’s eyes soon gave way to a cold gleam.

Nelia said she was okay with a husband who turned into a snake, but ultimately, he realized that he did not meet Nelia’s conditions for a spouse.

‘I just like kind people.’

‘Don’t harm others, don’t act wickedly.’

He was not the ‘kind person’ that Nelia had described.

On the surface, others might see him as such, but behind the scenes, he was preparing a ruthless revenge.

‘Because he killed my father.’

That incident happened when he was 12 years old.

Despite his young age, he remembered those horrific days when his mother cried day and night.

When his father was alive, he was close friends with the emperor.

The emperor was clumsy, a common man who was easily used by people. He was not an exceptional individual for his position.

Then the emperor met his father, his servant. The emperor, with the help of his father, solidified his footing.

As his servant, sometimes as a friend, his father served the emperor honestly and wisely. The emperor, of course, gave his heart to such a father. They became as close as brothers.

Of course, the father was wise and benevolent, not only to the emperor but also a great pillar to his family.

One day, the person who gently comforted his flustered feelings when he turned into a snake was also his father.

‘Father… Do I have to live like this forever…?’

‘Sillian, as you know, our family is cursed due to past wrongs. But don’t live chasing after misfortune.’

The warmth he felt when his father caressed his head with his big hand was still vivid.

‘When you feel unhappy, focus on your precious things. Then the world will not always feel dark.’

However, the emperor mercilessly took away his precious thing, and the world darkened.

Duke Hart clenched his fist as he recalled that day’s event.

On the day of the lunar eclipse, his father turned into a snake due to the Duke family’s curse. Unfortunately, that day, his father came across the emperor, who failed to recognize him.
My father fervently claimed himself to be Benian Hart, but his pleas fell on the deaf ears of the startled Emperor.

Eventually, my father became a cold corpse in the hands of the friend to whom he had dedicated his life.

‘He couldn’t even meet his death as a human.’

What returned to the family was a rigid silver snake.

Many things fell apart after my father passed away.

Nothing stirred my feelings. Neither sadness nor joy.

I just tried to be kind to people as per the guidelines of the old family.

Then suddenly, I thought.

‘If this is how it is, is there a reason to live?’

After feeling the dying flame of his heart, the young Duke Hart had to find a reason to live.

And he found a reason to live without much difficulty.

The purpose of living this pointless life was anger.

To take revenge on the Emperor who had made him like this, who had killed his father.

He endured each day with this single determination.

From the day he harbored that young venom, his anger had been the support that had sustained him throughout his life…….

Then one day, he met Nelia.

It was like a stone flying over a calm water surface.