If You Wish For A Married Couple’s Duties

CH 50

Default Dyslexic Roboto Lora

Episode 49.
A Slight Disconnection (2)

“What do you mean an outside man, isn’t it a little inexcusable?”

It sounded as though she was having an inappropriate relationship with Daniel.

Dooha frowned at Leonhart’s words and asked back.

“Daniel is your cousin.
In that case, we have a relationship that’s like relatives.
Just because I had a conversation with a relative…”

“That’s what you think.”

Leonhart retorted coldly and continued.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t realised the fact that you have to be cautious with each and every action you take here, wife.”

“I think I’ve been sufficiently cautious.”

“Were you sufficiently cautious when you chatted with my cousin in front of everyone while you’re naked?”

“That’s…”

She had to take off her outer garments to escape from the water.
It was an inevitable matter for her to live.

But why?

When the duke asked back, Dooha was unable to say anything.

Leonhart looked at Dooha, who was staring blankly at him, for a moment, before rising from his seat.

“I’ll be taking this with me.”

He picked up the medicine bottle that’s on the table when he walked past Dooha.

The ‘Devil’s Nap’ in the duke’s hands had a strange light.

“I’m saying this out of concern.”

Leonhart advised Dooha, who was seated in her chair and looking up at him, in a cold tone.

“Don’t worry about this drug from now onwards.
I’ll take care of it.”

His words sounded like he was telling her not to care about his affairs.

As if the two of them weren’t a married couple, but two completely unrelated people.

“I hope that you won’t forget about your position as the Duchess.”

The duke left the dining hall, leaving behind that last sentence.

Dooha didn’t budge from her chair until his figure had completely vanished.

She had a blank face, like she had just been stabbed in the back all of a sudden.

* * *

“Erm, Madam.”

Layla, who was fiddling with the curtains beside the window for no reason, read her master’s mood and managed to open her mouth with difficulty.

“Why are you so angry?”

Her owner, Dooha, was seated at her desk and smoothly scribbling the Imperial language on all sorts of documents.

Those hand movements were as rough as a knight’s sword flying about an enemy camp.

“What are you talking about, Layla?”

Dooha smiled like nothing had happened.

“I’m not angry at all.”

“There’s a hole in the paper, Madam.”

“…Oh, my.”

Layla sighed as she took a new sheet of paper from the drawer.

“Did something happen between you and the Duke?”

Dooha was startled by her comment and tried to give her a smile.

“Why do you think so?”

“Well, you were in a good mood until you had dinner with the Duke.”

“I was?”

“Yeah.
Without commenting about how hard it is to get a glimpse of your husband’s face, you’d even donned on accessories before leaving.”

As if Layla’s words had hit the nail on the head, Dooha frowned.

She then sighed and leaned back.

“Layla, there’s something I’m curious about.”

“What is it, Madam?”

“In the Empire, would a wife be suspected of cheating just by having a conversation with her husband’s relatives?”

“Mmm, no.”

“Right?”

“However, Madam’s appearance then was truly shameful.
Even if I have two mouths, there’s nothing I can say for you.”

“That was an inevitable occurrence! And it’s not like I was alone with Daniel! You were there, Sylvia was also there!”

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

She had obviously denied it, but without listening to her words, he made his own conclusions as he pleased and left.

Meanwhile, as Layla watched Dooha, who was huffing angrily, she opened her mouth cautiously.

“Madam, may I express my opinion?”

“Go ahead.”

“From the looks of it, the Duke…”

Layla continued with a rather grim look.

“Seems to be jealous.”

“What, jealous?”

At the unexpected answer, Dooha’s features slackened.

“Yes.
Since he kept commenting when it was just a relative, his sensitive reaction seems to imply that he doesn’t want to show such an appearance of the Madam’s to other men, so what else could it be if it isn’t jealousy?”

“Isn’t that too much of a leap forward, Layla.”

“How so?”

“Isn’t jealousy an emotion that would only arise when you like someone?”

“That’s right.”

Dooha raised her eyebrows like it was absurd and waved her hand.

“Of course not.
There’s no way that the Duke likes me.”

“…what?”

Are you really unaware, or are you pretending to be unaware?

Layla looked at her overly slow-witted owner with a ridiculous look.

What kind of man in this world would give a woman he doesn’t like the repositorium and take care of her overnight personally?

“How, no, why do you think so, Madam?”

“Well, the Duke has never said that he likes me before.”

“What?”

“Ah, I believe I’ve mentioned this before.”

Dooha tossed back her hair like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Well, in a marriage for an alliance, what’s there that’s more important than trust?”

Irritation was still present in her furrowed brows.

“However, I’d only talked to his cousin for a while, and he spoke to me like all his trust in me was broken.
It’s pissing me off.”

That shouldn’t be the place she should get pissed off about.

Layla stared at her master’s face and sighed inwardly.

In fact, Dooha was originally obtuse in this aspect.

No, it’s more like she pretended to be unaware.

When it comes to romance, she was frustratingly slow at understanding both her own feelings and the other’s feelings.

Perhaps it’s because she had only ever seen all the men in Bashal as her rivals.

“And, he even took away the medicine bottle that I’d worked hard to find.”

“In that case, wouldn’t the Duke take care of it?”

“He’ll handle it.
But……”

When Dooha recalled the duke’s overly composed reaction when she mentioned about the drug, her eyes narrowed.

His expression was as though he knew something about it, but he also wanted to feign ignorance.

Dooha’s brows furrowed even deeper when she recalled that Count Blair was a close confidant of Sir Nate’s.

Layla carefully opened her mouth when she saw her master’s increasing worry.

“Madam, the weather is quite cool, so would you like to take a walk?”

“A walk?”

“Yes, summer will soon be upon us.
The Empire’s summers are sweltering, so I think it’ll be good to appreciate the outside scenery before it gets hotter.”

At her words, Dooha stared out of the window and rose up from her seat.

There was no reason for her to reject a suggestion made by a faithful handmaiden that understood her feelings.

“Yes, that’s a good idea.”

She felt like she had to get some fresh air to change her mood, which was ruined by the duke.

She’d finished her work for the morning at once, so she could afford to take a short break.

“Then let’s go to the annex.”

“The annex? Are you going to see the previous Duchess?”

“Yes.
It’s been a while since I’d last seen Margaret, and I think it’s time for me to keep my promise.”

Dooha reached under the bed and brought out a small bundle.

When the bundle was undone, a toy bow and arrow that seems to have been recently made appeared.

It was a toy bow and arrow that Dooha had made for Margaret previously.

* * *

“Wow, you hit it!”

“Oh my, Madam! You’re amazing!”

Joyful voices of women resounded from within the ducal family’s annex, which had always been quiet.

“Dooha, did you see that? I hit the target!”

“I saw it.
Margaret, you have a talent for archery.”

“Really?”

“Yes.
I’ve never seen anyone so good at archery when it’s their first time learning it, even in Bashal.”

Margaret blushed embarrassedly at Dooha’s compliment.

After suffering from a serious illness, she looked much better.

Physicians that entered and exited the annex constantly sang praises that her recovery was all thanks to the precious medicinal herbs that Dooha brought back.

“I want to play some more! Arrows!”

Dooha looked at Margaret’s excited appearance with pride, and soon turned her head.

She was also holding a bow in her hand, but it was a real bow, unlike what she had given Margaret.

Without hesitation, Dooha nocked an arrow on the bowstring and let it fly immediately after drawing it back.

As if the arrow was being sucked into the center of the target, it flew and was lodged in.

“You hit the target again!”

Margaret’s mouth was agape when she saw Dooha, who had been consecutively hitting the bull’s eye for the last ten arrows for a while now.

“Wow, Dooha is really good at archery.”

“I’m flattered.
Anyone can do this much in Bashal.”

Layla, who’d heard Dooha’s modest response without her knowledge, argued with her hands akimbo.

“Who’s as capable as our Madam? Even if you’re modest, there should be a limit!”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen anyone that shoots an arrow as coolly as Dooha does.”

At Layla’s embarrassing comments, Margaret even clapped her hands enthusiastically.

Although they were unable to meet a few times, the two of them hit it off unexpectedly well.

It seems that the parenting skills that Layla, who was used to taking care of young children, had honed seemed to shine in front of Margaret, who’d become younger mentally.

After the two enjoyed archery happily, they sat under the parasol shaded the tea table that was prepared by the annex’s handmaidens.

Margaret, who sat in front of the table and picked up a small snack, held it out to the cat that came up to her lap before she knew it.

Dooha looked at the cat with a slightly startled gaze.

She didn’t hear anything, so when did that cat show up?

“Erm, Lady Margaret.
Is it really alright to give snacks to a cat?”

On the other hand, Layla saw her trying to feed the cat some snacks and spoke up concernedly.

“Well, Muffin is special, so it’s alright.”

As if in concert with her words, the cat, Muffin, swallowed the snack in her hand.

However, for some reason, its appearance while eating was so elegant that it looked like a person, and not a cat.

Just as Dooha and Layla watched the cat monopolise the previous duchess’ love.

Instead of drinking tea, Margaret spoke to Dooha.

“Dooha, did something happen?”