The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 88
“J-Just a moment! I’ll come down!”
Flustered, Grace uncharacteristically broke the silence first, while tapping on the window to make her intentions known. Benjamin seemed to understand, nodding in response.
Grace hurried down and ran to the garden. In her past state of health, such a sprint would have been unimaginable, but now she could run like this.
Despite having felt utterly drained from dispelling the mist, the exhaustion seemed like a lie now that she was about to meet Benjamin.
There was no fear, and nothing in the annex felt threatening anymore. If there was anyone left in this place that could harm Grace Felton, Benjamin Felton would be the only one.
“……Huff.”
“I would have waited, even if you took your time.”
The sunset bathed the world in a rosy glow.
Benjamin stood where he had been moments before. He was standing there with his back to the crimson light, watching her approach.
That must be why. Why does his face seem to be flushed so red, right?
And also why her own face felt like it was burning up, ripe and red as if it might burst.
“Your, Your Excellency. Were you, um, walking here?”
“Uh… yes, I just stepped out.”
Benjamin told a transparent lie, clearly aware that it was a lie anyone could see through.
“But I am glad to meet you like this. If My Lady is about to take a walk, may I accompany you?”
He carefully extended his hand towards her.
“May I have the honor of escorting you?”
Grace nodded and placed her hand gently atop his. The ring on her little finger sparkled in the waning sunlight. Benjamin’s hand, which had been holding hers softly, came to an abrupt halt.
“……”
“Your Excellency?”
Benjamin’s gaze was fixed on something below. Usually, when Grace called him, he would meet her eyes with a soft look, but today was different.
He was staring at the ring on Grace’s finger.
His pupils quivered, and his mouth opened slightly in an expression of disbelief.
“……It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that.”
He finally spoke. His voice was hoarse as if he had to scrape it from the depths of his throat.
“It’s something you bought, isn’t it? At the festival in the capital?”
“Yes, it was.”
Benjamin gently smoothened the shiny glass bead at the center of the ring. It was scratched and no longer shone as it once had.
His expression was complex, tinged with pain yet also with fondness, not solely the face of someone reliving a happy memory.
‘Why?’
When Grace first recovered this memory, she felt a sense of fulfillment. She had assumed Benjamin would also be pleased to see the ring. Because it was a symbol of their shared past.
‘Of course, I am but an outsider who has glimpsed into their memories.’
“Amidst the festival, with everyone so elated, I found myself caught up in the mood. The night lights twinkled beautifully. Even though I wasn’t there to enjoy myself.”
“……”
“So, when I saw this ring, it reminded me of you, and I couldn’t help but buy it.”
Benjamin’s gaze, which had been resting on the ring, now captured Grace. Where there had been an emptiness in his eyes while he looked at the ring, they now warmed to the gentle radiance of a kind soul.
“I thought it resembled something.”
“What’s that?”
“…The way your hair glows in the light.”
Grace’s hair, which some people likened to red, others to ginger, or the color of bricks, was actually orange.
It was that unruly, carrot-colored hair that no one had ever praised as beautiful or charming.
“But your hair is more beautiful.”
‘That’s not true…’
Grace thought the glass bead set in the ring was far more beautiful than her easily tousled hair.
She was, after all, someone whom beauty had always seemed to bypass.
Looking through her own memories, and even those she inherited from Grace, not once had she heard the word ‘beautiful’ used to describe her.
Meaning, that even from Benjamin, Grace had never heard the compliment.
‘Or maybe, I just don’t remember it.’
Didn’t the memory that she recalled after dispelling the mist also abruptly stop just as she tried to remember Benjamin’s words? That made some sense then.
Perhaps during the time Grace couldn’t remember, Benjamin might have occasionally told her she was beautiful.
‘Maybe in the original story, Grace continued her seclusion, and Benjamin’s affections began to wane towards another woman, but when I stepped in, things changed.’
Though details varied, the events from the original novel seemed bound to unfold, suggesting that the story couldn’t be completely disregarded.
Meaning, that Benjamin could still be the same person from the original, capable of harboring and expressing the feelings and actions he had towards Aria in the novel.
‘That’s just the first hypothesis.’
And then, Grace formed another hypothesis.
In the novel, Aria Miller, the female lead, was surrounded by people who only had her best interests at heart, and her knights were many. Observing as a resident of this world, what Grace realized was that the narrative could deceive readers quite easily.
‘If Aria believes it, then the narrative can dress it up as truth in the novel.’
As Grace mulled over the novel’s content, she noted that Aria, the protagonist, barely had any noble friends in the story, and the closest thing to a noble friend was Benjamin Felton. This point caught Grace’s attention.
‘I don’t think Benjamin would have pressured her into that.’
While it might be possible with others in Grace’s circle, Aria wasn’t someone Benjamin could manipulate at will. Sure, some noble families might hesitate, but that’s about it. And since Aria was the sole Saintess and a symbol of the temple; any protest from the temple could make the Felton duchy’s reputation crumble instantly.
It was impossible to predict what Benjamin might lose in such a scenario.
Therefore, there was only one plausible suspect Grace could guess.
‘The temple.’
The temple dares to make the Saintess a symbol, even managing her place of residence. They could subtly influence the people around her. It was a relief they couldn’t act overtly due to the Saintess’s emotions.
‘If that’s the case, then Benjamin must have approached Aria with some purpose. The temple couldn’t openly challenge a noble of Benjamin’s stature, so they might’ve tolerated it to an extent.’
The outcome was a situation that was similar to ‘The Saint’s Wish.’
In truth, Benjamin wanted something through Aria, and the temple was reluctant to have Aria become friendly with the nobility.
‘So what did Benjamin want to gain?’
Her gaze drifted towards the annex. It was emanating that unpleasant, dark mist.
‘My, Grace’s, recovery?’
Since Benjamin had expressed a desire to introduce Aria, the Saintess, to Grace, this line of reasoning made sense. However, since it was Benjamin who had ordered all the annex’s furniture, it was difficult to assert this as the definitive answer.
Grace harbored a point of confusion she couldn’t understand. Why then, did Benjamin Felton, out of the blue, turn black and become the final villain?
‘And on top of that, he spouted some bizarre lines to Aria at the end.’
It wasn’t as if the author had sacrificed a directionless sub-male lead just to exit the stage. In fact, when she thought about the words Benjamin said to Aria, ‘Hypothesis 1’ seemed more plausible.
‘If I dispel all this mist and piece together the memories, maybe I’ll understand.’
Perhaps there was another reason Grace hadn’t yet considered.
If she rashly prodded the man who escorted her so gently at her side, he would likely clam up instead of spilling anything.
Benjamin Felton was that kind of man.
‘In the novel, he was nothing but kind to Aria until he became the hidden villain.’
The Benjamin that Grace was getting to know seemed to really possess traits not unlike those you’d expect from a ‘villain.’ As she watched me as he escorted her and strolled along slowly, he just offered her his usual smile.
‘Ah, maybe he really was the true villain after all.’
She should have faith in her husband, but the more Grace learned about him, the more she tilted toward the suspicion that given his nature, ‘he quite possibly could be…’ even though she did love him.
‘Of course, I don’t think he’s going to kill me anymore.’
Apart from that, she couldn’t fathom what he might be thinking. To Grace, Benjamin Felton seemed genuinely kind and easy to understand, yet she had never seen his true intentions.
‘Of course, I have my secrets too.’
Benjamin was always someone who left doubts behind his actions. He had never interfered with Grace’s doings, yet he was also the one who, if he wished, could anticipate and thwart all her moves with the power he possessed.
Looking up at the darkening sky, Benjamin turned as he felt a persistent gaze upon him.
“Your Excellency, there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
“Anything, please tell me.”
“Is there, by any chance, a royal ball scheduled to take place at the palace soon?”
