TGDWDS 11

Chapter 11

“Let’s just focus on surviving without dying.”

The complicated thoughts in Anais’s head suddenly became clear.

Thanks to that, there was no hesitation in her steps.

She headed straight for the dining room. Just as the servant had said, the Grand Duke was there.

“Ah, Miss Anais.”

Looking startled, he hurriedly rose from his seat.

Creeeak.

The chair the Grand Duke had been sitting in scraped against the floor. The loud noise echoed through the quiet room, yet for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Silence descended once more.

But Anais continued moving regardless. Without stopping, she walked all the way to the table.

Unlike before, she neither avoided him nor shrank away from him. She was simply doing what she had to do.

The Grand Duke, on the other hand, merely stood there, dumbfounded. He stared blankly as Anais took her seat.

Tilting her head slightly, Anais asked casually,

“If you haven’t eaten yet, shall we eat together?”

“Ah. Yes, of course. I was waiting for you.”

Only then did the Grand Duke’s lips soften into a smile. He looked genuinely pleased by her suggestion.

He hurriedly instructed the servants to prepare the meal.

Those words. That expression. Those actions.

He looked so kind, as though he genuinely cared about her.

“……”

Anais’s violet eyes trembled ever so slightly.

But as if pulling herself together, she lowered her gaze before raising it again.

I mustn’t let myself be swayed.

Having reminded herself once more, Anais spoke in a clear voice.

“I think we should start finalizing the contract soon.”

“Ah.”

Just then, a servant came in to prepare the meal, interrupting their conversation with the Grand Duke’s brief exclamation.

His cutlery was placed beside a cup filled with pitch-black coffee.

A little while later, Anais got to the main point. Sitting up straight, she opened her mouth.

“Have you thought about what you want included in the contract?”

The Grand Duke relaxed his stiff, startled expression and answered,

“I’ll go along with Miss Anais’s wishes. There’s only one thing I’d like to request.”

His lips curved gently upward, as though telling her to speak comfortably. His forearms rested on the table, angled slightly toward Anais.

But they were seated at opposite ends of the wide table. The distance between them was not easily closed.

Anais remained sitting upright as she spoke firmly.

“There are three clauses I’d like to propose.”

Meeting the Grand Duke’s eyes, Anais made her wishes perfectly clear.

The Grand Duke nodded and hurriedly accepted the paper and pen handed to him. Then he focused on her words.

“First, the duration of the marriage contract shall be a maximum of three years. However, if the marriage must be maintained for a longer period by His Majesty’s order, the matter will be discussed separately.”

“……”

“Second, there will be absolutely no physical contact unless it is necessary to fulfill the duties of a married couple at an official occasion.”

The Grand Duke wrote down Anais’s demands exactly as she stated them. Anais waited until his red eyes lifted toward her.

“Third. If we divorce, we will part ways cleanly.”

Even after Anais finished speaking, the Grand Duke remained still. His hardened gaze eventually dropped to the paper.

Scratch. Scratch.

The sound of his pen writing down the clauses spread through the quiet dining room.

Although he was only writing a few short sentences, it took quite some time. Eventually, his hand stopped.

The Grand Duke looked strangely dazed. His red eyes, clouded with complicated emotions, returned to Anais.

His reaction was somewhat puzzling. He looked almost as though he had never considered divorce in the first place.

Anais’s brows drew together slightly. But without stopping, she continued.

“By ‘part ways cleanly,’ I mean…”

Anais paused for a moment.

She wanted to emphasize this part.

The Grand Duke’s red eyes, which had disappeared downward once again, returned to her.

He stopped writing and quietly looked at Anais. Unlike before, his expression seemed calm.

For some reason, Anais felt her heart sink at the sight.

She forced herself to ignore the feeling and spoke clearly, one word at a time.

“It means that we must not meet again or become involved with each other in any way. I want us to separate safely.”

“……”

“I think that’s all that needs to be observed. Do you agree to my conditions?”

Anais had said everything she needed to say.

Now it was the Grand Duke’s turn. Anais waited patiently, giving him time to think.

But the Grand Duke said nothing.

“……”

His eyes remained fixed on the paper where he had written down Anais’s words.

Only after a long while did an answer finally come in a hoarse voice.

“……I agree.”

Anais secretly let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness. He had accepted all the conditions she had proposed.

“Then those are the three clauses I wanted. What is the one thing you had in mind, Grand Duke?”

Anais, still sitting perfectly straight, looked at him.

Once again, he did not answer immediately. He simply stared quietly at Anais.

There was an inexplicable sadness in the Grand Duke’s red eyes.

For some reason, Anais felt a dull ache somewhere in her chest.

“……”

Her head tilted slightly at the unfamiliar emotion. Meanwhile, the Grand Duke spoke in a low voice.

“You only need to promise me one thing: that you won’t disappear without telling me.”

“……”

Anais was rendered speechless by his request.

In a way, it was only natural. If they were to fulfill their obligations under the contract, she shouldn’t simply disappear without saying anything.

And yet, the Grand Duke continued to look at her without withdrawing his gaze, as though he wanted to hear her give him a definite answer.

……Is that really all you want?

Anais wondered inwardly.

As if answering her unspoken question, the Grand Duke added,

“That is the only clause I want.”

Anais’s violet eyes trembled again. As though trying to hide it, she slowly blinked.

After quickly pulling herself together, Anais answered,

“I’ll do that. If I’m unable to tell you in person, I’ll at least leave a letter.”

Only then did the Grand Duke’s eyes curve gently as he smiled brightly.

His expression looked as though he was relieved.

“Good.”

The serious, almost solemn expression with which he had been looking at her softened in an instant.

At that moment, Anais thought,

There’s something I keep strangely missing…

Her lips pressed together tightly.

Whenever he smiled at her so kindly, whenever he looked at her with those sad eyes like before, she became confused despite staring at him blankly.

The Grand Duke, meanwhile, spoke happily.

“Let’s have the detailed contract drawn up by the end of today.”

His words brought Anais’s thoughts to a halt.

Her violet eyes returned their focus to reality.

In any case, what mattered now was the contract with him.

She was simply relieved that they had managed to reach an agreement without any trouble.

“Shall we eat together now?”

The Grand Duke smiled.

Anais nodded as she looked at him.

Still, my first start with the Grand Duke hasn’t been bad.

While the meal was being prepared, the complicated thoughts in Anais’s mind gradually settled.

Various dishes were placed on the table.

Feeling lighter, Anais picked up her utensils.

……Wow.

But she stopped in awe.

At the Viscount’s household, the food given to her had always been limited.

Simple meals such as soup, stew, bread, and salad.

And even those were often served cold or had become hard after sitting around for a day.

All of it had been at her father’s insistence.

He claimed she needed to control her diet in order to fit into dresses.

But the food before her now was far too varied and plentiful.

Staring at it in surprise, Anais widened her eyes slightly.

Am I really allowed to eat all of this?

She glanced at the Grand Duke.

Seeing her expression, he asked worriedly,

“If there’s anything you don’t like, tell me what you want. I’ll have it prepared.”

“Oh, no. This is more than enough.”

Flustered, Anais shook her head.

Judging by the Grand Duke’s reaction, he didn’t seem to place any restrictions on food.

Come to think of it, he had only asked for one condition in their contract.

Anais thought for a moment, then put a small portion of an unfamiliar dish onto her plate and tasted it.

“……!”

The aroma of garlic spread through the soft cream.

The rich, slightly sweet potato melted in her mouth.

The food was far more delicious than she had expected.

Anais’s eyes widened even more than before.

Watching her take several more bites of the same dish, the Grand Duke spoke.

“I’ll let the chef know in advance so that you can have gratin dauphinois in the Grand Duchy as well.”

“Ah.”

“And if there are any other dishes you enjoy, let the chef know. He’ll be quite pleased.”

The food itself didn’t really matter.

Anything would be better than what she had eaten at the Viscount’s household.

Still, Anais nodded and answered,

“I will. Thank you.”

Getting along well with the servants until she left the Grand Duchy was also one of her duties, after all.

The Grand Duke shrugged and replied,

“Don’t mention it. It’s my pleasure as well.”

He answered naturally, gave her a small smile, then cut into his meat and put it into his mouth.

“……”

Anais’s emotions began to flicker once again, like the flame of a fragile candle.

A warmth she had no immunity against.

The Grand Duke was the one giving it to her.

And yet, in the end, he was the Grand Duke who would kill her.

The man she didn’t want to grow closer to because of that.

Anais straightened the hand that had unconsciously begun to shrink back.

Then she picked up her cutlery as naturally as he had.

By pretending that nothing was wrong, she could finally make herself feel as though nothing was wrong.

Just then, the Grand Duke casually spoke to her.

“Since we’ll be married soon and have finalized the contract, I’d like to settle how we address each other.”

“How we… address each other?”

Anais looked at him with a startled expression.