< —="" damian="" —=""> (16)

Hugo's expression was full of obvious complaints but Lucia simply took his hands off her waist and stood up. She knew what he wanted but she was exhausted all day due to a number of reasons and had no confidence in handling him right now.

"Vivian."

"My head feels a little heavy so I want to take a walk."

Hugo tries a few more times but was turned down so he eventually headed to his office with unwilling steps. He hadn't found work enjoyable before but today, he really did not want to work.

He didn't comfort her in hopes of being rewarded but still it wasn't right to repay one for one's services in this way. He continued grumbling till he reached his office.

Later that night, Lucia said to the man who came into her bedroom after she finished bathing.

"Go to your bedroom and sleep."

"Today again? Why!" (Hugo)

Lucia stared at her complaining husband.

"I have no energy so I won't be able to handle you today. Hence, I don't think it'll be quite enjoyable."

I have no energy. It won't be enjoyable. Two times, she mercilessly and consecutively struck him down.

"…Alright. Fine. Today again, I'll sleep next to you, won't do anything."

He muttered gloomily. Those d.a.m.ned n.o.blewives. They definitely won't be getting off easy. He ground his teeth in anger.

"Really?"

"I kept my promise yesterday, didn't I?."

All the more reason not to believe. Her gaze was telling him that she didn't believe him at all. Hugo abruptly took her into his arms and fell onto the bed with her in tow.

"Hugh!"

He hugged her tighter the more she flounced around.

"I'm sleeping like this. Enough, stay still. You'll get me excited if you keep moving." (Hugo)

"Where are you touching!" (Lucia)

After tossing around for a while with no result, Lucia finally went silent. She couldn't even fidget because he was hugging her very tightly from the back. His hands gallantly slid into her nightwear and squeezed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Even if she asked him to remove his hand, he would act like he didn't hear anything so she just gave up.

"Vivian."

It was especially nice to hear him calling her name right next to her ear. Lucia's lips curled slightly.

"Yes."

"Vivian."

"Yes."

Again, he said,

"Vivian."

And this time, Lucia said,

"Yes?"

And turned to look at him, her gaze asking why he was doing that.

"When I first called you by that name, you felt awkward, right?"

"Mm…Yes. I did."

"When I call you now, you're unaffected."

"Well, yes, I've been hearing it for a while so I've gotten used to it."

Now, Lucia did not hate the name 'Vivian' as before. The name of the Duke of Taran's wife was Vivian, not Lucia. She had found new happiness in her life as Vivian. The life of Vivian that was full of pain ended within her dream.

When he called her 'Vivian', it made her feel like she was his one and only 'Vivian' and her heart would throb. He was the only one that could call her Vivian. Whether that was now or in the future.

"…Is that so?" (Hugo)

Why didn't you tell me your childhood name? Hugo wanted to ask. However, he was afraid to hear the answer to that question. If she said something like 'I didn't want to.' Or 'Don't call me by that name.' his heart would sink.

'You don't hate me, do you?'

'Or it is that we're married so you simply tolerate being with me in bed?'

'Is there absolutely no leeway in your decision to never love me?'

All the things he wanted to ask suddenly rose up in his throat, hovering at the tip of his tongue. It was a very strange and unfamiliar experience of holding back the words he wanted to say in his heart. He was afraid to hear the answers that could come out from her mouth.

[I will never fall in love with you]

He felt like if he heard those words one more time, he would lose his mind. He dreaded the thought of not knowing what he would do to her if he lost his mind. If he were to hurt her in any way then he would really go crazy.

"Vivian."

He held her even tighter and buried his nose in her back. He loved her scent that always intoxicated him and drew himself closer to her skin.

"Yes…"

It was strange. Even though he was holding her, it felt like he had lost her forever. His chest was overwhelmed with pain causing him to knit his brows. It was as if something unknown had dug into his heart and trampled on it.

Had he ever felt this sick before? He couldn't remember. When he was young and dragged away as a mercenary slave, there were many times he had come close to death but rather than feeling sick, he had felt relief at being alive.

He held onto her as she fell asleep, breathing peacefully but he was unable to fall asleep for a long time.

The next day, Hugo gathered his va.s.sals and informed them that Damian was now formally entered as his legal son.

"I have already announced that Damian will be my successor. Even if all of you show that you don't accept my decision, it would be better to throw that att.i.tude away since you won't be changing my decision anyways."

It was the first time for the Duke to officially mention the young Lord ever since he announced that he would make Damian his successor, so his va.s.sals looked very tense.

"The formally registered Young Lord is now my legal son. If you have a complaint, come and find me. I'm always ready to talk."

The word 'talking' from the Duke's mouth was more frightening than being threatened to be killed. Hugo threw a doc.u.ment in front of his va.s.sals.

Lucia had repeatedly asked him to not interfere but he didn't want to just sit back and watch so he order Jerome to bring him a list of the garden party attendees.

Jerome had brought up the madam with a very awkward expression but once Hugo clicked his tongue, Jerome promptly brought the list. Hugo had only picked out the names of people among his va.s.sals.

"It will be beneficial to those whose names are on this list to put more effort into supervising their household."

From Hugo's standpoint, this much couldn't even count as light reprimanding. He felt satisfied with himself for fairly complying with his wife's request to not interfere.

When the Duke left the scene, the ghastly pale va.s.sals ran towards the list. To the va.s.sals, 'Anyone whose name is on this list can think of themselves as dead' was what they heard.

They would definitely go home and interrogate their wives to get to the bottom of this. Through word of mouth, it would soon spread among the n.o.bles that the n.o.ble wives who attended the garden party at the time were taught a severe lesson by their husbands.

It was only a matter of time before rumors spread that if one touches the d.u.c.h.ess, the fire-breathing dragon behind her, the Taran Duke would come forward.

A week had pa.s.sed since the garden party and Roam was calm as usual. Lucia did not go out riding and was in the castle all week but this wasn't the first time she had stayed in the castle for a long time.

From the day after the garden party, Lucia acted as though nothing had happened and soon enough, the people around her forgot about the incident.

Damian sat reading a book in his room then turned his head to the feeling of something on his feet. Damian smiled as he watched Asha who had probably b.u.mped into his leg as she was playing with her tail. These days, the baby fox was fastidiously following Damian around and was with him almost all day.

As the week pa.s.sed, Damian thought about a lot of things. Rather than hurting him, the incident at the garden party had shocked the boy.

He had never felt so weak before. In that moment, his first thought was, 'If only my father was here.' In conclusion, compared to his father, his existence was comparable to dust.

Of all times, on that day, his father had gone out. Damian did not know yet that even if the Duke was in Roam at that time, it would have been hard for him to interfere in a women-only social event. However the boy realized that the absence of his father could occur at any time, and it would be up to him to protect his mother.

Damian knew very well that he was young. In the Academy, Damian was the youngest of his peers. Everywhere he looked, it was filled with people older than him.

No matter the will of the boy, nothing could be done about the flow of time but it was possible to increase his strength by having the will to do so.

Using the reason that Damian was young and his ident.i.ty was unclear, there were many petty-minded and insignificant people who treated him as a joke and tried to provoke him. Such sloppy and foolish people were not even worth his time so Damian ignored them but ignoring made them fussier.

It was Damian's outstanding performance that made them not want to mess with him anyhow.

Ability is power.

This was the most useful realization Damian had come to at the Academy. Damian took Asha in his arms and stood up. He handed the fox over to a servant and asked for the fox to be taken back to its house then asked for Jerome to be told that he wanted to meet his father.

Translator's Corner:

*Young Lord/Little lord is a t.i.tle and my only alternative was prince which is a no go. I am using the literal translation but does anyone have better ideas?