The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 57.2
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“Shall I bring some water?”
“No, it’s okay…”
Her goal for this expedition was to divert attention away from Tom Birkin’s trial and to alleviate some of the criticism directed at Duchess Felton.
But with her condition like this, she felt like she was adding fuel to the fire rather than extinguishing it.
‘Aren’t I going to get a bad reputation like this?’
Even in the original work, she was like a walnut in the hands of a nutcracker doll that would be cracked for just breathing. But this time it was like the walnut itself rolled toward the nutcracker doll asking to be cracked.
Grace wondered if she was too fixated on the original work. But in a situation where she couldn’t even predict what would happen next, she couldn’t help but rely on the only compass she had.
‘The only problem with the compass is that it’s pointing toward my death.’
Perhaps that’s why she couldn’t let go of it. As long as she didn’t die, she could make use of some information and gain some benefit without disturbing the flow of events.
She couldn’t be certain that the changes she had made after changing the original work would be good for her.
‘Surviving is really hard.’
To be precise, it was just hard to live… since she wasn’t even eating well.
Grace recalled the diet she had been following recently to manage her body.
Thanks to that, she was gradually becoming lighter, to the point where she might not be considered overweight compared to her former self.
‘But to others, I probably still look like I’m fat.’
Especially when standing next to Aria, Aria might look like a twig in comparison to her. Grace quickly snapped out of her thoughts.
‘I promised myself not to think like this.’
Why do these thoughts keep coming back? She felt like she was being brainwashed by someone.
Maybe it’s due to motion sickness. Because whenever I feel well, I don’t think like that.
Slowly, she got up and sat down. Across from her, Benjamin was looking at her anxiously.
Benjamin was sitting on the side which was facing the driver’s seat.
If someone sat facing the opposite direction of the carriage’s movement, they would be less likely to experience motion sickness. So usually, the person with lower status would take that seat. But Benjamin had chosen that seat from the very beginning.
Like it was a given.
“….”
Grace realized that he had been secretly considering her well-being.
She knew that he would do the same for others as well.
But she couldn’t help but feel fluttery.
Perhaps the reason why she occasionally had self-deprecating thoughts was that the person she admired was much greater and more beautiful than herself.
‘But that’s not anyone’s fault.’
In the original work she knew, he was a man who had a crush on Aria.
But when she came to this world and faced him, he was a kind man who put Grace first.
“…It seems like I’m starting to feel better.”
“….! That’s a relief.”
And a foolish person who couldn’t even notice that another person had possessed his wife.
It made Grace feel miserable in a strange way.
If he realizes all of this and tries to find the original Duchess Felton instead of Grace, would her heart feel at ease if Benjamin’s love was actually directed towards Duchess Felton instead of Aria?
She asked her own heart.
Judging by how uncomfortable and suffocating her heart felt, the answer was already decided.
She was also a foolish person.
⋆★⋆
After that, Grace, who had recovered, alternated between riding horse and carriage to travel. She wanted to ride a horse throughout the expedition, but her body didn’t allow it.
Still, riding horses seemed to have helped, as they arrived earlier than expected.
“This is…”
“It’s terrible.”
As they approached Count Ardel’s territory, the aftermath of contamination or we can say a barren environment came into view.
Everyone was silent at the horrific sight, but, the situation of the outermost area of the estate was even worse.
Grace who was still on her horse looked at the horrific scene.
All the trees were dying, and only dead weeds were visible in the once-farmed land.
Everyone seemed to be waiting for the day they would die and stayed inside with their doors tightly shut.
Benjamin was the first to get off his horse with a determined look.
“We need to distribute relief supplies first.”
“Ah.”
Grace finally snapped out of it and fumbled to get off her horse. Benjamin approached her quite naturally and helped her down.
Grace spoke hesitantly, “Th- that would be good. Some people need to take out the relief supplies and organize them by items, while others who aren’t organizing can help to identify the number of recipients…”
“I can help with the head counts.”
“Huh?”
Benjamin looked around, and in the distance, a person was seen running towards them in a hurry.
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