The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 73.1
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“Well…we could, you know, just share the bed.”
“…!”
Grace struggled to find her words, pushing past the awkward lump in her throat.
Benjamin looked as if he couldn’t quite process what he’d just heard.
“…Pardon?”
“I mean… we could just draw a line or something! And sleep on either side!”
It was almost comical.
Grace couldn’t remember the exact details, but they had been married for two years. Granted, they hadn’t shared a bed yet, and they were even in the midst of divorce proceedings. But still, they were a married couple.
Yet, the mere idea of sharing a bed made their voices rise in pitch, their faces turning crimson.
Their hearts pounding loudly.
“W-well, that’s… true but…”
“R-right?!”
Benjamin, with his ears flushed red, brushed the back of his neck with his hand. Swallowing hard, he asked in a hushed voice.
“Wha-what if I have any sleeping habits? Would that be okay?!”
“Like… what kind?”
“…”
Benjamin clamped his mouth shut at Grace’s question. His face turned even redder, looking like he might burst at any second.
“No! I don’t have any sleeping habits!”
“…Your Excellency?”
As Benjamin suddenly raised his voice and jumped to his feet, Grace flinched in surprise.
“It doesn’t matter even if I do! Anyway!”
“O-okay…”
With his face flushed like a young boy caught harboring a secret crush, Benjamin turned his head away. Probably realizing his face was getting hot, he tried to cool himself with the back of his hand.
“Anyway, could you perhaps show me around the mansion?”
“That might be a good idea. Yes, let’s.”
Given their recent awkward exchange, Grace felt the room’s atmosphere had grown strangely stifling. They both needed a change of scenery.
If anyone found out that the couple had made such a fuss about simply sharing a bed, they would undoubtedly become the laughingstock.
‘Thank goodness it’s just the two of us here.’
None of the servants or knights were anywhere near their room. Grace heaved a relieved sigh.
‘What a ridiculous situation is this really…’
Grace began to tour the interior of the mansion with Benjamin.
While she worried if she could properly guide him around, memories flooded back with every step she took.
‘It’s exactly as I remember.’
Even though she was merely peeking into someone else’s memories, it felt like discovering a hidden treasure. At one point, Grace suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“Why have you stopped?”
“See this? There’s a notch here.”
“Indeed. Surprising they didn’t fix this imperfection…”
Benjamin stopped mid-sentence, but the implication was clear. Grace shook her head, correcting him.
“It’s a record of our heights. My brother’s, my sister’s, and mine.”
“You and your siblings? Can you differentiate them?”
“Of course. My sister’s is on the left, my brother’s on the right, and I made a notch right in the middle. Look here.”
Grace pointed to the highest notch in the center, which was positioned lower than her current height.
“It’s shorter than you are now.”
“Ah, I got scolded for it back then. They said I was defacing the mansion.”
“I had thought My Lady too would have never got into trouble as a child. That’s surprising.”
“I assume Your Excellency was never scolded?”
“How did you know?”
Grace’s eyes widened in mock surprise before she burst into laughter.
“You just told me.”
“When did I say that?”
“You said ‘too,’ implying that since you weren’t scolded, neither was I, right?”
Benjamin realized his choice of words and nodded in acknowledgment.
“It was reckless of me.”
“Why even say that? It’s just as I expected. You seem to have always been this way.”
“In fact, I could’ve been quite the rebellious young man. Twisted, bad, and viewing the world through skewed lenses.”
“Oh, come on…”
Grace looked at Benjamin with a ‘you expect me to believe that?’ expression.
“What’s that look for?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.”
Benjamin, sensing Grace’s disbelief, cast her a slightly disgruntled glance before changing the subject.
“By the way, why isn’t that greenhouse outside being maintained?”
“We don’t have enough staff to look after it.”
“Don’t you have a gardener?”
The Linden estate’s garden, though not expansive, was meticulously maintained, hinting at the presence of a skilled gardener.
Grace shrugged her shoulders.
“We only have one, so he isn’t enough to manage that as well. In the past, I used to take care of it myself sometimes. Want to check it out?”
“Yes!”
Benjamin eagerly nodded, as if he had been waiting for her invitation.
‘He was really curious, huh.’
She couldn’t fathom why he was so interested, but his eyes sparkled unusually bright.
“D-Don’t get your hopes up too much.”
“Okay!”
“I’m serious.”
“I get it!”
“If you’re disappointed, don’t blame me, okay?”
“I won’t be disappointed. Promise.”
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