The Elven Duke Reluctantly Marries The Cursed Lady - Chapter 23
The next morning— Violette was already seated when he arrived at the dining area using Transfer Magic. She approached Hydrangea and gave her morning greetings as if challenging him.
“Good morning, dear husband…”
She even raised one eyebrow and stressed the way she addressed him as her “dear husband” for emphasis. It was as if she were implying that although she was unhappy about their union, she had no choice but to do it because she was bound by the contract.
“Good morning, my dear wife.”
When he replied, Violette’s other eyebrow twitched. He noticed her shaking and her fingers twitching and almost laughed.
She seemed to be very unhappy to be Hydrangea’s wife.
Hydrangea continued to speak, trying to elicit a further reaction.
“I think your beauty shines even today.”
“D-dear, surely you don’t think that, do you?”
“Why would you think so?”
“Don’t you enjoy seeing me angry?”
“You think I enjoy seeing you angry? You’re awfully full of yourself.”
“Wh-what did you say~~!?”
As Violette pointed out, Hydrangea did enjoy seeing her angry expressions.
Don’t make fun of women. Verbena often told him this as he grew up. You shouldn’t say such things.
He knew, but he couldn’t help himself.
And thanks to that, Verbena who was standing just behind Violette was also glaring at him.
“Do keep in mind that if you do this to other women aside from me, they certainly would not appreciate it either.”
In other words, Violette hates it as well. I guess I should reflect on this point.
“Alright. I’m sorry.”
“Eh?”
“What? Didn’t I apologize?”
“No, it’s just, I never thought you would be that honest.”
“I may look like this, but I am a proper adult. I am able to discern that much.”
“C-could it be that you are actually more than a hundred years old?”
It was well known that Elves are a long-lived race. However, due to their long entanglement with humans, the lifespan of the elves from the Laudense Ducal House have considerably shortened.
She’s looking at me with a pure gaze similar to a child wanting to hear a fairytale. I guess I should tell her that I am only 26.
“The First had lived to several hundred years, but the lifespans of the succeeding generations gradually became shorter.”
Hydrangea’s father, who died of illness, only lived half a century.
He recalled the words of his father on his sickbed that it might be a curse for breaking the elven rule that they were forbidden to leave the forest.
That couldn’t be the case, surely.
After breakfast, Hydrangea handed Violette the key to the reading room where the magic books were kept.
“Read all the magic books you want. Although you will find that most of them are in ancient language and have yet to be translated to modern language.”
“Are you sure?”
“I just told you to do as you please.”
“Thank you!”
Violette wrapped her hands around the hand that Hydrangea held out and grasped the key. At that moment, her body transformed into that of a cat’s.
She spun around and landed on the floor, then took the fallen key into her mouth and bounced around in excitement.
“I see you’re in a better mood.”
“Dear.”
Verbena leaned in and whispered in a low voice,
“Please refrain from making fun of Madam until you’ve known her better.”
“Very well, I shall keep that in mind.”
“Thank you.”
Violette already seems to have converted Verbena to her side.
While thinking that he shouldn’t let his guard down, Hydrangea went to work using Transfer Magic.
◇◇◇
That morning, Hydrangea was accompanied by high-ranking officials for an inspection of the magic division.
The Minister, who was accompanied by around 20 aides, was personally being given a tour around the division by Hydrangea.
“Although I know that the Magic Division has been doing a lot of work behind the scenes, I’ve yet to hear about even one of your accomplishments. For all the money that’s being spent on this division, I wonder what’s really going on inside.”
They went around each department while listening to the Minister tell them in a roundabout way that they were budget thieves. The Minister stroked his trimmed beard and rubbed his swollen belly as he seemed to enjoy the inspection while he moved his mouth more than his feet.
“I wonder if the activities of the Magic Division require so little experience that someone as young as you could serve as its commander.”
Hydrangea did not say anything and kept smiling. Beside him, Quince let out a quiet scream but he did not care.
In addition to the usual route which comprised the offices, the training rooms, and the magic tool storage rooms, Hydrangea decided to take them to a special room today.
