Duke's wife

Chapter 35

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Grace, who is still a smol child, was startled by the sound and sat down. Perhaps because she was so surprised, she didn't even have time to scream.

She crouched without even thinking of running away, and stared at someone walking out of the darkness with her blank eyes.

Soon after, a person wearing a robe from head to toe appeared in front of Grace.

The person, whose build was too small to be a man and whose hands were too large and rough to be a woman, sat in front of the door and giggled at Grace, who stared blankly at him.

"...Oh my. I was wondering who it is, but it is the 'defective product'."

"......!"

"Little one, are you lost?"

"........"

"I hope you didn't see anything or search around here, right?"

The man stood in front of Grace in a voice as if a snake were hissing, and said so.

Grace nodded recklessly with a face of fear. In light of his unexpectedly overbearing attitude, she thought she had to do so.

In response, the man chuckled and spoke.

"Hah, fortunately, you're very quick to catch on. ... Mhm, I don't hate kids who are quick-witted."

"......"

"Should I give a 'gift' to the quick-witted child in return?"

And he suddenly stretched out his big, rough hand over Grace's head. Grace crawled back for fear of the appearance, but she couldn't avoid the big hand.

He chased Grace, who had finally stuck to the wall, and grabbed her little head with thin, long, wart-like fingers.

[T/N: FBI opens up! (ㆆ_ㆆ)]

"......!"

She saw a green flash like a lightning strike, and she felt her head gradually emptying out.

She couldn't remember why she came all the way here and what the person in front of her said a while ago.

Then, she began to fall into such a terrible sleep that it was hard to open her eyelids. Grace blinked slowly and soon snapped and fell to the floor. Her consciousness was gradually breaking. And the memory was disappearing.

"Okay, have a good night's sleep. Forget everything you saw a while ago."

The consciousness was cut off at the end of the bizarre voice.

Later, when she opened her eyes again, Grace couldn't remember anything.

───※ ·❆· ※───

Rumble.

The carriage running along the rough stone road shook greatly.

"Huh!"

At that moment, Grace, who was sleeping uncomfortably in the carriage, woke up.

Grace took a deep breath as she pressed her hand on her flabby temple. She had that strange dream again.

This bizarre dream, or curse, in which she doesn't know who the hell keeps showing up for what purpose. Grace was confused as if someone had dug through the memories of her head that were locked comfortably.

'......the room full of books, and the man who slipped through them. It's all new to me.'

But why is that everything she saw in that dream was as vivid as reality?