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Chapter 41
Chapter 41 - The Monster Duke Mistook Me for His Wife
Translated by Arnlian
Edited by VebtreX
***
Poke, poke poke, poke.
Something poked Ria in the cheek. Opening her eyes to the soft and smooth touch, a pair of round eyes welcomed her with a gentle smile.
“You finally woke up!”
What’s that? A cotton ball
? I was speechless at the sight of the palm-sized cotton ball before me.
A being, that was neither a human nor a beast or a monster, jumped and shook its body.
I was surprised by the cotton ball with its happily shaking body that looked, as if it was about to shout from sheer excitement alone.
“You, are you Teevee?”
“Oh, you remember!”
Teevee then approached with a big smile.
“I’ve been waiting for you for so long, why you have come now?”
“Me, me?”
The cotton ball seemed to know me well and showed a friendly attitude.
What’s going on? It even called me by my name earlier, has it been watching me?
“Teevee. Do you know me?”
“Of course.”
“How?”
“I don’t know the intent of your question. I can’t possibly not know you.”
“So why
?”
“Because you’re you.”
Yeah, right. I think the answer to this question is hard to hear.
Ria quickly gave up the conversation that kept going against her and instead curiously touched Teevee’s body.
“But, what is this body? And where are we?”
“Ah, this is my alter ego. It’s easy to move around with. And we are currently inside me.”
Ria slowly looked around the green meadow.
It means I am inside the old tree.
It is impossible in common sense, but there is nothing impossible in a fantasy world.
Ria has decided not to dig deeper into it.
“Ria, are you going to heal me?”
“As long as I can.”
I also want to save the dying forest.
Then Teevee began to talk with joy eventually.
“I’ve been in charge of protecting this mountain and forest since a long time ago.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“People regarded me as a guardian spirit and prayed to me, but as time passed, they began to forget about me.”
“That’s why you became so weak?”
A guardian deity or spirit originally appears from human faith.
I was told that their power is determined by how long people remember them and how deep their faith in them is.
“That’s right. I got weak. So weak I couldn’t block the evil energy anymore and ended up being cursed.”
Teevee had a bitter smile on its face as it was recalling the past.
“When I died, the forest died with me, and people left.”
From that day until now, without any help, Teevee fought a lonely fight.
It managed to push the curse away, but as it tried again and again, it was eaten away by the curse and went crazy.
“I’m glad you came before I completely lost my mind.”
Teevee giggled as it led Ria as they were about to arrive soon.
“There it is.”
Finally Teevee, reaching the core, pointed to a black thorn that penetrated the tree.
“Do you just need me to get rid of that?”
“Yup.”
Teevee nodded.
Ria strode up and grabbed the thorn.
‘It’s too big, I can’t pull it out. Teevee said, that this is a curse, so let’s crush it with divine power.’
As she grasped the thorn in both hands and poured divine power in, the thorn broke and remnants of it were blown away by the wind.
Ria, who was only firmly prepared, was surprised by what happened in an instant.
“Wait, it’s done? Wasn’t that too easy?”
“No one has ever managed to do that easy thing before.”
Teevee, now smiling like a flower in full bloom, looked more relaxed than ever.
As it jumped from its place and got on Ria’s shoulder, Teevee began to rub with its body on her cheek.
“Thank you for coming before I hurt more lives.”
It was the sign of affection and love.
The touching bodies conveyed Teevee’s heart.
***
The light from the old tree covered the mountain and the forest at high speed.
The ruined forest. The place where the scent of death is and now, new life began to circulate here.
The rotten branches have sprouted anew , and the blackened ground has been repainted with a yellowish-brown color.
The cloudy sky cleared up and the sound of the missing birds began to be heard in the distance.
Dillian looked around, holding unconscious Ria in his arms.
This energy. This warm and friendly light.
It was a power that he knew better than anyone else. It was the strength that saved him for numerous times.
‘This power, what exactly
’
Dillian looked at Ria, who breathed softly in his arms, for a long time.
***
Ria opened her eyes at dawn.
Blink. When she opened her eyes, she saw a sharp jawline through her blurred vision.
‘What’s this?’
Reacting to Ria’s movement as she rubbed her eyes to see if she was dreaming, Dillian lowered his head.
“Have you woken up?”
His indifferent face melted in an instant. Ria nodded, bewitched by Dillian’s friendly smile.
Then she belatedly realized that she was using Dillian’s knee as a pillow and jumped up.
“Ugh.”
“Argh.”
A groan burst out of their mouth at the same time.
It was because Ria, who rose up recklessly without calculating the distance, thrust her forehead into Dillian’s chin.
Ria rubbed her ragged forehead and took a look at Dillian’s body.
“Are you okay?”
“That’s too bad, it would have been nice if our lips met instead since we bumped into each other.”
I can’t believe that’s what he says while frowning.
‘It still hurts.’
Saying a sly remark with that refreshing face, huh? After looking coldly at Dillian, Ria scanned the room.
‘Not my house, but a cottage?’
The trees spread out with a bonfire. Beside it, the sleeping Nathan could be seen.
“What happened?”
“Because Miss Ria was sleeping soundly, I decided to stay here for the night.”
They stayed in a small cottage halfway up the mountain, where Teevee guided them.
“Are you feeling well?”
“Maybe it’s because I just woke up. I feel rather light.”
It wasn’t even dangerous. Ria shrugged lightly.
“Then is Sir Dillian okay?”
“You mean me?”
“Yes, does Sir Dillian hurt somewhere?”
“
 Are you worried about me?”
“
? Of course. Did you know that Sir Dillian was weird earlier?”
Ria flinched as he looked at her in a strange way.
‘Did I say something wrong?’
Dillian blinked slowly and opened his mouth a long time after looking at Ria.
“
 I guess the water in the valley was so cold I was shocked for a while. But I’m fine now.”
Looking at Ria’s breath of relief, Dillian laughed.
‘Who’s worried about whom?’
Has someone ever been so purely worried about me? I don’t know. It’s been so long that I don’t even remember.
He had to be the master of Sinaize, and the man who would be the master should never show any weakness.
Because of that, he cut out all the words of concern for him. Punished the one who told him for being presumptuous.
Usually, he should be in a bad mood, but strangely, he felt good.
“Give me your hand, just in case.”
Ria’s hand that covered the back of his hand was warm. Then Dillian held the hand with all his might.
Let’s admit it now. I just like this woman.
I like Ria Delice.
He lost his memories, but everything he said to Ria was sincere.
The return of memories did not dilute or deteriorate.
The heart that beat like it was going to explode proved it.
If that swollen face she has after waking up looks so lovely, isn’t it de facto over?
‘Well, what should I do now?’
Dillian looked down at Ria’s face worrying about him and was in agony.
‘Should I reveal that my memory is back, or not.’
If I reveal all the facts and push her to take responsibility, she will surely nod reluctantly.
It would be quite easy to take her into the house*.
*The Sinaize Dukedom.
But she’s afraid of me and she’s always looking for a chance to run away.
‘That’s a problem.’
Dillian did not want Lia’s attitude to change.
Like now, it was nice to approach and have a conversation without hesitation.
If Ria is afraid of him and avoids him

‘I might lock her up.’
It was not a joke that Dillian was thinking of shackling Ria.
Even if he lost his memories, he was always subconsciously very possessive.
But it was the worst of the worst stories.
And it had to be stopped for Ria’s own self.
‘As expected, the only way is to keep pretending having my memory lost.’
It will be difficult to take her to the house, but Ria will eventually have no choice but to go with him.
I’m going to make it happen by all means.
“Sir Dillian?”
Dillian, who had not spoken for a long time, seemed strange, so Ria shook his arm cautiously.
‘I don’t know how she knows my name, or how she knows about the curse.’
He didn’t care anymore. The important thing was that Ria Delice was staying with him.
Even if Ria is a spy for Lexter, he could accept it.
Why? Because that will also become Ria’s weakness.
‘First, we’ll have to do a background check on her as soon as we get down.’
Dillian was relaxed even though his only weakness, the curse, was caught.
“Miss Ria
”
He was so relaxed that he had time for making a nonsensical scheme.
“Yes, go ahead.”
Dillian grabbed his forehead and lowered his head.
Then made an unsuitably weak voice.
“I
 Ugh.”
“Gasp! Sir Dillian!”
“Miss Ria, my head is
”
As he frowned and lowered his head, he could feel Ria being flustered.
“Oh, oh my. Does it hurt a lot?”
Ria hurried and carefully hugged Dillian’s head.
Dillian didn’t miss an opportunity and put his arms around Ria’s waist.
Ria flinched in the hard and hot embrace as warmth passed through the thin clothes.