Duke's wife

Chapter 27

"Madam! Are you awake?"

"La-La-Lady!"

Grace slowly regained her consciousness and faintly heard Arthur and Sally's worrisome voices. Grace blinked and suddenly clasped her head. It seemed that her eyes were not adjusted to the surroundings so her vision was still blurry. After blinking a few times, the surrounding landscape finally became clear. The first thing she saw was the familiar scenery of her bedroom and the appearance of Arthur and Sally looking eagerly at her.

'Was it a dream that I saw a while ago?'

She mused.

Not expecting his presence, Grace mumbled to Arthur with a blank expression on her face.

"...Duke?"

Arthur bit his lower lip, stretched out his arms and hugged Grace. Then, with a deep sigh of relief, he swept off her disheveled hair.

"....Do you know how worried I was when I heard that you collapsed in the secret garden?"

"...Duke."

"I thought my heart was going to burst."

Arthur whispered in an apprehensive tone.

He then reached out slowly and looked at Grace with persistent eyes, as if to make sure she was okay.

Grace felt her heart beat helplessly at the touch of Arthur's big hands gently caressing her forehead and cheek.

However, the moment Arthur's hand, which was slowly stroking her cheek, slightly touched her neck, Grace was consternate and pushed Arthur's hand hard.

"......!"

Arthur, who was thrown out in an instant, opened his eyes wide and stared at Grace.

Grace hugged her knees with both arms, and quivered with fear for no reason.

As soon as Arthur's hand touched her, she vividly remembered the strong hand that strangled her in the dream she had.

She took a deep breath, suppressing her desire to scream right away.

'Calm down. That was a dream a while ago. Just a dream... It's not a curse. There's nothing to be scared of.'

That's right. It's just a nightmare caused by the shock of collapse.

Grace convinced herself that way. How she collapsed, why she collapsed, and why she had such a dream. There was no clear explanation for all those questions except if all of the occurings were part of the 'curse'."

'No, it's not.'

Grace constantly lied to herself to shake off her fear, thinking that a nightmare could not be a 'curse'; that she collapsed because she was a little weak and had a nightmare.

'I don't want to hurt the Duke again.... I don't want to see him leave me.'

As she repeated it endlessly, the fear that dominated her mind subsided slowly. Grace calmed herself and spoke to Arthur, who was still staring at her with a mixed look of embarrassment and anxiety.

"...I-I'm sorry. I'm a little shy..."

"...I see. I'm sorry, lady."

"Oh, no. It's alright, it's alright. By the way, where is Leon?.... he must have been shocked. I should have reassured him...