The Monster Duke Mistook Me for His Wife Chapter 151 - Side Story Chapter 8

What time is it?

Woken by rustling sounds, I rubbed my dry eyes and focused on the approaching figure.

“…Dillian?”

“I woke you, didn’t I? Go back to sleep.”

His arms wrapped around me, and he smelled like the cold wind.

“Where did you go?”

“I just went for a quick walk.”

“I see. But… you’re wearing the same clothes as yesterday…”

As I blinked and tilted my head, Dillian quietly smiled.

“Hmm, I’m not sure… Maybe it just looks that way because you’re still sleepy.”

“Maybe…”

His soft hand stroking my head made me feel drowsy again.

“I guess that could be it…”

Mumbling under the lingering haze of sleep, I heard a quiet chuckle above me.

“Come here. You should sleep more.”

I lay down on the bed as Dillian guided me. He took off his outerwear and lay beside me, pulling me into his arms.

The coldness vanished, and my body instinctively curled up to the sudden warmth.

“I was supposed to take Dante later…”

“I’ll take him.”

“And I have a promise with Aina too…”

“I’ll wake you up for it.”

His large hand gently patted my back. As he tucked the hair tickling my cheek behind my ear, he whispered:

“Don’t worry about anything, Miss Ria.”

His sweet whisper became a lullaby, and I slowly closed my eyes.

“There won’t be any more pain.”

“…”

“I’ll make you the happiest person in the world. I’ll make it so.”

Dillian kissed my forehead and kept whispering for a while, but I was too sleepy to remember any of it.

By the time I woke again, the sun was high in the sky.

“You said you’d wake me up!”

Still barely able to open my eyes, I ran around the room.

While stumbling around getting washed and hurriedly buttoning my shirt, a strong arm wrapped around my bare waist.

It could only be Dillian.

As he pressed his body against mine, I tried twisting my torso to push him away, burying my face in his shoulder.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?! I’m late!”

“I told you. You don’t need to worry about anything, Miss Ria.”

Rubbing his face against my neck like a cat, he kissed my cheek.

“I already took Dante. And while I was at it, I let the Saint know your appointment time again, so there’s no need to rush.”

“Really…?”

“If you’re still worried, you can call her.”

“…I can’t call her if you don’t let go. Let me go!”

“Who could say no to you?”

But he only let me go after kissing me a few more times.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

I quickly finished getting ready and headed straight to the temple.

“Aina, I’m sorry I’m late. I overslept and even delayed our meeting… I’m really sorry.”

“Ria’s not to blame. It’s that Dillian jerk who didn’t wake you up.”

Nathan snorted in agreement and took my side, but late is still late.

As I lowered my head, Aina waved it off.

“No, no, it’s okay. Honestly, I overslept too.”

“Huh? You too?”

“I had something to do, so I didn’t fall asleep until dawn.”

That was rare. Unlike me, whose schedule was a mess, Aina always stuck to strict sleep and wake times.

Now that I think about it, Dillian came in at dawn too…

As I looked between Dillian and Aina standing nearby, he grinned and held my hand.

‘There’s something fishy going on…’

But I couldn’t figure out what.

Just then, there was noise outside the temple— and not in a good way.

“Is there a fight or something? Why is it so loud?”

“Ria, look over there.”

Following Aina’s finger, I saw Mateo in a cart, being pelted with stones by the people.

“Huh? Why’s that guy…?”

And what’s with that look? His already swollen face looks like it’s going to burst.

“That piece of garbage!”

“Give me back my money, you scammer!”

“Return my mom’s medical fees!”

It didn’t take long to figure out what was going on.

Apparently, he got caught living in luxury off of donations from the followers.

“They say bad guys never do just one bad thing—he really took it all, huh.”

As I muttered, Whity suddenly popped up from somewhere and punched the air.

“Bad guy! Crush him!”

“Crush him? Where’d you learn that kind of talk?”

“Crush! I’m gonna crush him!”

As Whity’s words got harsher, Aina quickly covered his mouth.

“What’s gotten into him?”

“You’re surprised?”

“B-because Whity used bad words!”

Sweating nervously under suspicious stares, Aina looked flustered.

“He probably picked it up just now. He’s surrounded by cursing on all sides, and he learns fast.”

Dillian pointed to the shouting crowd. Well… that’s true.

There were curses flying in every direction.

Still… it was pretty obvious who he learned it from.

Right then, Dante came running out of the temple toward me. Behind him, the Divine Beasts approached at a relaxed pace.

“Teacher! I think someone punished that bad man!”

“Looks like it.”

I looked at Dillian, Aina, and the Divine Beasts who came with Dante.

Everyone except Dillian avoided my gaze.

Yeah, I can tell— they all ganged up on him.

“I want to be someone who punishes bad people too!”

You want to become that? Is that okay?

“I wanna see up close!”

Excited, Dante ran into the crowd.

Aina and the Divine Beasts chased after him, and even Dillian, who was reluctant, got dragged away by Nathan.

Left alone, Aaron came up to me.

“Lady Ria, aren’t you going?”

“What’s the point of seeing that nasty face again?”

I shrugged and added,

“But, Lord Aaron, I do have a favor to ask.”

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

A few days later.

The day of departure arrived.

“Miss Ria, thank you so much for everything.”

“Teacher, thank you!”

“Thank you! But Whity doesn’t want to say goodbye to Ria!”

“Me neither…”

As Whity whimpered, even brave little Dante burst into tears and clung to me. Dillian’s brow twitched.

“Can’t you stay a little longer?”

“I’ll come again next time.”

I tried to calm down Dante, who was hugging my waist and whining, but he wouldn’t cheer up easily.

“When are you coming back?”

“You shouldn’t ask busy people to keep coming. How about you guys come visit next time?”

Unable to take it anymore, Dillian peeled Dante off me and handed him to the count.

Knew it. I figured he’d break sooner or later.

“When can I go? Sniffle.”

“When we get married.”

At that, Dante immediately stopped crying. His teary eyes turned bright in a flash.

“You’re getting married? Really?!”

“Married?! ♪ Dun-dun-dun-dun~ Here comes the bride~!”

“When? When are you getting married?!”

The excited kids asked, their faces glowing. Dillian looked at me with a playful smile.

“Soon?”

“Wow!”

“Yay!”

Dante and Whity jumped around the garden like they hadn’t been crying at all.

“Is this really okay? You don’t even know when that’ll be.”

“We had to calm them down somehow. Or should I have just let them cry?”

I mean, this is better than crying, but…

‘Why does it feel like this just got way bigger?’

Before Whity started yelling he wanted to be the older brother, I climbed into the carriage.

“Count, thank you for everything. See you next time.”

“I should be thanking you. Have a safe trip back.”

“Teacher! See you soon!”

“Bye-bye!”

As I waved until the big figures turned to dots, Nathan grumbled from my lap.

“That guy never misses a chance, huh.”

“So what? We were gonna get married someday anyway, right?”

I whispered just loud enough for him to hear, and he sighed.

“Ugh, why him? Ugh.”

“Quit sighing first thing in the morning, you’re ruining the mood.”

“It’s because of you, brat!”

The familiar bickering made me feel like I was already home, even though we were still in the carriage.

Smiling at their antics, I was startled by the sounds from outside.

“Long live Lady Ria!”

“Long live the Duchess!”

What now?

Startled by the chants of my name, I pulled the curtain aside and saw people cheering and throwing flowers.

“Lady Ria! Lady Ria!”

Shocked, I quickly closed the curtain and turned to Dillian.

“What’s going on with all these people?!”

“The High Priest donated the confiscated property under your name. I guess they’re thanking you.”

“Huh? But the temple was supposed to do that.”

That day, I’d asked Aaron to distribute Mateo’s seized assets to those in need— in the temple’s name.

‘But they gave it under mine?’

It was meant to raise the temple’s standing, but somehow mine had gone up instead.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Well, maybe the High Priest had other ideas.”

Dillian reached for the curtain and pulled it open.

“What’s done is done. Why not wave back?”

Confused, but unable to ignore the crowd, I gave a hesitant wave. Cheers erupted even louder.

“My lady! Thank you!”

“Be happy forever!”

Dillian, now right next to me, chuckled as he whispered near my ear.

“By the way, everyone thinks you’re the Duchess now. We’ll have to get married soon, don’t you think?”

Wait a minute. How do they even know I’m dating Dillian?

“This was your doing, wasn’t it?”

“I merely dropped a hint. The High Priest made the call.”

“Knew it! You slippery snake!”

Annoyed as I was by Dillian’s tricks, he seemed delighted by the people calling out my name. His eyebrows twitched in satisfaction.

“At least they’ve got good taste. Go on, sing her praises louder!”

“Lady Ria! Lady Ria!”

With Nathan’s shout, the people joined in, waving and cheering.

“Are you crazy?! Nathan, stop it!”

“Everyone, shout it loud!”

“I said stop!”

“Hahaha.”

With all the noise and cheers, our carriage rolled along the flower path for a long, long while.

Side Story Part 1 – The End