I Became The Wife Of The Cursed Grand Duke Chapter 118

Last night, the corrupted land was purified alongside a strange light.

The problem was that there were more than a few witnesses to this unexpected event.

 

Kalian furrowed his brow as he pulled out a thin cigar from a silver case and lit it.

 

“Keep your mouth shut.”

 

He knew. This wasn’t something that could be resolved just by silencing Benjamin.

‘So, what should he do? Would blinding everyone and cutting out their tongues solve it? Or perhaps…’

As a cruel thought crossed his mind, Benjamin spoke with a resolute expression.

“It would be better to reveal the truth and declare that the saintess cannot be acknowledged.”

“That’s nonsense.”

Kalian’s jaw tightened as he lit the cigar.

It was a sign of his extreme anger, but Benjamin remained unwavering.

 

“I understand that the precedent set by the first guardian makes you hesitant. But…”

“Benjamin Uliel!”

“You can prove that you and that person are fundamentally different.”

 

Kalian took a deep breath to calm his rising fury and strode toward Benjamin.

He stopped just in front of him, staring down at him intently.

“How do I prove that I’m different from that person? That madman is my father, and I’m his son.”

“What? What do you mean…?”

 

Kalian’s head was spinning. He pressed his fingers to his temples, feeling a throbbing pain.

 

“The saintess has never once healed my wounds. I know better than anyone how foolish this is.”

His voice was sharp, laced with bitterness. Finally, Benjamin knelt on one knee and bowed his head.

“Your Grace, but…”

Kalian turned away, clearly unwilling to hear more, and gripped the doorknob tightly.

“Leave now.”

 

He yanked the door open, his face twisted in displeasure.

“Grand Duke…”

 

An uninvited guest had arrived.

 

* * *

 

“What brings you here?”

Kalian’s expression subtly shifted as he sat across the table, facing the woman.

Deborah licked her lower lip the moment their eyes met and spoke.

 

“You’re… giving me a medal?”

 

Her dark eyes, unlike Evelyn’s radiant, emerald-like ones, were heavy and unsettling, like a gloomy forest.

“Yes.”

“Why? May I ask the reason?”

 

Kalian, though annoyed, answered patiently.

“You performed a ritual to purify the corrupted land some time ago, didn’t you?”

“Yes, it was nauseating and exhausting, but I endured it. Do you know why?”

Deborah’s lips curled into a wide, unnatural smile.

“Because you asked me to. Deborah can do anything for you, Grand Duke.”

Her eerie smile made Kalian frown.

 

‘She didn’t seem entirely stable before, but now…’

 

Unlike the lifeless marionette she once resembled, Deborah now seemed like a wild beast on the verge of madness.

 

But handling beasts was one of Kalian’s strengths.

“You did well. That’s why I’m awarding you the medal. Thanks to you, the corrupted land was purified.”

 

“…Liar.”

Deborah’s expression hardened, and she covered her mouth as if doubting his words.

“Can purification really progress this slowly?”

 

Kalian nodded calmly.

“As you know, the corrupted land was vast. Sometimes, divine power doesn’t take effect immediately.”

“Oh, really?”

Of course, it was a blatant lie.

When he had taken the saintess to the territory, he had tested her repeatedly, just as he had with Evelyn.

Under the guise of rituals, he had wounded her and pressed his gloved hand against hers.

But instead of healing…

‘It was disgusting.’

He had felt a nausea so intense it twisted his insides.

 

The discomfort he had forgotten thanks to Evelyn now surged through him again.

He had vomited so much after sending the saintess away that the blood vessels in his eyes had burst, turning them red.

Yet, he had faithfully answered her calls every night.

 

The reasons were simple.

First, to confirm her true intentions, and second, to make her trust him completely.

 

‘After enduring such a repulsive process, I can’t reveal the truth now.’

He didn’t want to see his loved one cornered again.

To prevent that, he needed time.

 

Time to uncover the temple’s scheme of using a fake saintess to manipulate him.

 

As he gathered his thoughts, Deborah’s stiff expression suddenly softened.

“Phew, what a relief.”

“…”

 

“To be honest, I’ve always been worried. Whether I could really use divine power, whether I could awaken you…”

Kalian stared at her, recalling the reports about her.

<Deborah Del Lindberg, age unknown. Raised in a monastery, but no records exist of her childhood. Lost her memory due to a divine power surge.>

“Have you still not recovered your memories?”

 

“Unfortunately, no.”

For some reason, Deborah seemed unusually cheerful, even humming as she nodded.

Then, she caught sight of her reflection in the teacup and froze.

“Sometimes, even my smiling face feels unfamiliar.”

She began tracing her features with her fingers.

“It’s strange… It’s clearly my face, but it feels like I’m seeing it for the first time.”

Kalian felt a chill run down his spine but also understood the alienation she felt.

‘It’s understandable.’

She remembered nothing—not her age, her parents’ faces, or even the family she was born into.

Her memories before being proclaimed the saintess were a jumbled mess, as if someone had deliberately erased them.

“Others say they feel a pang in their hearts when they think of their parents, but I feel nothing.”

Deborah pouted, genuinely aggrieved.

“If I lost my memory due to a divine power surge, at least let me use that power properly.”

 

She began rambling without being prompted.

“What kind of god eats away at someone’s memories? A saintess who can’t use divine power—does that even make sense?”

Kalian spoke calmly, as if to soothe her confusion.

“It’s likely the dissonance between reality and the divine revelation you received.”

 

He stared at her intently, his gaze steady.

There had once been a slight resemblance to Evelyn, but now Deborah’s face was pale, her eyes sunken, and devoid of any vitality.

“You haven’t been sleeping well, have you?”

“Yes, as expected, you noticed.”

 

“How long has it been?”

Deborah counted on her fingers, rolling her eyes.

 

“Hmm, how many days has it been? A week? Two weeks?”

Now that he looked closely, it wasn’t just her face that was off.

 

Her hair was tangled as if unbrushed, and her nails were ragged from being bitten. Nothing about her seemed normal.

 

‘What’s going on?’

Kalian subtly furrowed his brow and lit another cigar.

“Is there… a reason you haven’t been sleeping? Has something unusual happened to you recently?”

 

Deborah’s cheeks flushed as he lit the cigar and exhaled a long stream of smoke.

Kalian met her gaze directly, his expression calm.

“Tell me. Who knows? Maybe I can solve it for you.”

As expected, Deborah’s eyes gleamed through the haze of smoke.

“Can you really solve it?”

The corner of Kalian’s mouth twitched slightly. He took another drag from the cigar.

 

“Results are proportional to faith.”

He set the half-smoked cigar in the ashtray and studied her expression with a cool gaze.

 

“Well…”

 

Deborah hesitated, staring at the rising smoke before finally speaking.

“You need me too, don’t you? That’s why you’re helping me. You can only achieve what you want if I’m here.”

For a moment, a faint, strange smile crossed her face. It was odd for someone asking for help to smile like that.

As Kalian chuckled lightly, Deborah rummaged through her sleeve and placed something on the table.

“Get this for me.”

 

His tilted lips slowly straightened. Kalian picked up the small glass bottle she had placed on the table, his expression hardening.

“I need that medicine.”

 

* * *

 

Deborah scanned the bedroom with hollow eyes. Then, she recalled the Grand Duke’s voice, which had brought her here.

“First, get some rest. It’s best if you stay at my residence in the capital for now instead of returning to the temple.”

“Thank goodness. He didn’t cast me aside.”

Not only that, he had even promised to personally procure the medicine she had been taking regularly.

The crimson liquid.

It was a medicine the high priest had been supplying her with once every two weeks.

He had said it was highly effective in restoring memories, hadn’t he?

It didn’t seem to be a lie, as her mind always felt clearer after taking it.

But at some point, the intervals between doses grew longer, and now it had been over a month and a half since she last received it.

The withdrawal had left her suffering from severe headaches and sleep deprivation.

“Then rest. For now, leaving the residence without permission is prohibited. Please refrain from moving around the mansion unless absolutely necessary.”

The butler, whom the Grand Duke called Gilbert, had addressed her.

The command disguised as a suggestion made a strange light flicker in Deborah’s eyes.

“Am I… being held captive by the Grand Duke?”