No Longer Your Puppet, Duke のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 81 - チャプター 90

The doorknob ahead felt as cold as ice when Roselyn’s fingers brushed against it. After Rieta had said her goodbyes, her figure retreating down the corridor in her heavy mourning dress, a heavy silence once again claimed every corner of Castle Valthorne."Even though it wasn’t her fault," Roselyn murmured.She could still see the way Rieta’s shoulders had shaken as she apologized over and over. Roselyn looked down at the silver tray in her hands. The warm steam rising from the breakfast dish was already thinning, losing its battle against the winter chill seeping through the grand corridor windows.Taking a long, steady breath, Roselyn tried to ease

The coppery smell of fresh blood clashed sharply with the pungent scent of brewing herbal decoctions inside the Emerald Chamber. The spacious room, adorned with deep green gems, was usually reserved for the kingdom's distinguished guests. But this afternoon, its atmosphere had turned grim, repurposed into a makeshift infirmary."You must be examined as well, Grand Duchess," Mrs. Hargrove said, her face lined with deep anxiety."I am fine.""At the very least, please change your gown."Roselyn didn't answer. Her gaze remained rigidly fixed forward.The moment she stepped past the threshold of the Emerald Chamber, her heart felt as though it had stopped beating. 

A nurse's shriek shattered the morning stillness.Roselyn dropped the pen she was holding. Before she could process the words that followed, ink splattered across the unsigned report, forming a dark, jagged stain."Grand Duchess! Lady Lexcan has regained consciousness!"Her desk chair skidded backward with a harsh, scraping sound. Roselyn was running before her mind could even make the conscious decision to do so, her gown fluttering wildly behind her as she dashed through the seemingly endless corridors.Two days of waiting without a definitive answer from the physicians, two days of holding her breath every time the door to the Emerald Room creaked, had finally culminated in a single sentence that left her chest trembling somewhere between pure relief and the sheer ter

"Since when did you suspect I'd also gone back to the past?" Roselyn asked, leaning against Kaelus's chest.The crimson-eyed man studied her for a moment before wrapping his arms around his wife, who sat perched on his lap. Hearing the sudden question, Kaelus fell quiet, his fingers combing gently through her brown hair. The carriage, which had been jolting along, now slowed to a crawl, cutting through the heavy snowfall that blanketed the steep path toward the border."Are you going to answer or not?"Roselyn tilted her chin up, cupping his face in her small hands, lips pouting as she waited.Kaelus pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Since I saw you at the imperial ball.""Ah

The Valthorne carriage pulled away from the port as winter dawn broke along the eastern horizon. The blood moon from the night before had already set, replaced by a gray sky carrying the cold wind so distinct to the North.Inside the warm cabin, Roselyn leaned against Kaelus's shoulder. Her fingers, wrapped in velvet gloves, were held tight in his grip, as though he refused to let even an inch of distance come between them."Are you thinking about what Merran said last night, Rose?"Roselyn let out a soft sigh, her eyes staring blankly out the window fogged with frost. "About the heavens trying to restore things to where they originally belonged. Yeah, it's been on my mind.""You know a lot has changed compared to the p