In This Life, I Will Be Your Dog - Chapter 104

Bellona stared anxiously outside the castle gates. Watching her, Caelus wore a bitter smile.

He was grateful yet sorry, knowing how much more desperately she awaited the herbs than he did.

It pained him to think he had burdened her with heavy words before his death.

What if it was his dying wish that twisted her life?

If only he hadn’t said such things—perhaps she would have truly become Empress and lived a happier life than now.

Giving such an order to a principled knight—maybe he was the one who had ruined her life.

“Your Grace! They’re here!”

As he watched blankly, her rare radiant smile caught his eye, and his unguarded heart sank.

She was a natural beauty, and when she smiled that brightly, his heart raced as if it were broken.

Though he was moved, he also felt a belated guilt—he might have been the one who took away the smile of a woman who could laugh so beautifully.

Even so, the obsession that had settled deep within him at some point curved into a faint smile.

‘Even if your life collapsed because of me, I think it’s a relief. Because the you I couldn’t have in that life is now beside me.’

He was just a little sorry. That was all.

“Your Grace, there’s more than I expected. This should be enough time to travel to the Kingdom of Kellicus. What a relief. Thanks to Sir Lycaon, we have the antidote…”

Her uncharacteristically chatty voice rang in his ears and faded somewhere.

That smile, that flushed voice—none of it felt real.

Watching her ceaselessly moving red lips, a wicked thought surged. He felt he had to touch her to escape this strange sensation.

Unable to suppress the urge, he approached her. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist and calmed himself in the familiar scent he hadn’t felt in days.

“Your Grace?”

“Yes, it’s a relief.”

They had agreed to share everything, but not this feeling. He wanted to always be a gentle and good man in her eyes.

“Why… is something wrong?”

Her once-bright face darkened. Once again, he seemed to be the one taking her smile away. A bitter laugh slipped out.

“I want to kiss you.”

“…What?”

“I guess I can’t. We’re allies now.”

She tilted her head in confusion. The man’s sudden behavior was strange.

Just then, someone hurriedly came up to the second floor.

“I’m back. Where should I put the herbs?”

The man who entered with a bright face suddenly stiffened.

Seeing the Grand Duke and Duchess radiating an intimate air on the second-floor terrace of an inn in broad daylight, Lycaon frowned without realizing.

As Bellona flinched in the awkward moment, Caelus held her tighter and said in a composed tone, “Akon will guide you. Leave them there.”

As Caelus gave the order, eyes fixed solely on Bellona as if she were all that existed in the world, Lycaon glared at him with displeasure and responded gruffly.

“Aren’t you going to look? You need to know what kind of herb it is to recognize it again in Kellicus.”

“I’ll look later.”

“There’s quite a bit. Shouldn’t you check it now?”

As the man continued to pester him, Caelus’s golden eyes sharpened in silent warning.

But whether he was oblivious or doing it on purpose, Lycaon’s rude attitude continued.

“Wasn’t this urgent? You should decoct it quickly and give it to—”

At that moment, Caelus pressed his lips to Bellona’s in plain view.

As if to say, We’re husband and wife. She’s my woman. Even in front of a brat like you, I have every right to do this.

With a look that clearly told him to shut up and get lost, he deepened the kiss, curling his tongue.

Lycaon, unable to say another word, left with a crumpled expression.

Only then did Caelus release her lips, let her go, and roughly tousle her hair.

It annoyed him, as if he’d defiled her in front of another man. His uncontrollable emotions were driving him mad.

“Your Grace.”

“…If that made you uncomfortable, I apologize.”

She stared at him silently as he apologized without even meeting her eyes—then suddenly turned his face to make him look at her.

“What kind of husband apologizes for kissing his wife? But from now on, I’d appreciate it if you could refrain in front of others.”

“So… you’re saying I can keep doing it.”

It didn’t feel great to see him act so hesitantly, so unlike himself.

The man who had always been arrogant now looked like a toothless beast.

She thought she understood why he was being so cautious, and yet not completely.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him—she just couldn’t understand why he was being so blindly devoted to her.

Though he spoke cruelly in the name of revenge, she now knew that wasn’t the real reason.

Caelus’s gaze as he looked at her was still as gentle as ever.

In any case, they had embraced so passionately just days ago, and a few words weren’t enough for her to start distancing herself from him.

The situation may have changed, but her feelings hadn’t.

Still, there was another reason she had to refuse. So Bellona gently declined, taking care not to hurt his feelings.

“Right now, I think this much distance is best. As Your Grace knows, we still have things we need to resolve. So—”

“So a kiss is okay, but nothing more? You’re trying to torture me.”

Though his voice remained calm, his twitching jaw betrayed his displeasure.

As she hesitated, wondering what to say next, a stranger’s voice cut in.

“Ah, I greet Your Grace the Grand Duke.”

Both of them turned at once.

The man’s wide eyes, surprised to find them here, softened when he saw Bellona.

“Your Grace the Grand Duchess! Haylis Chartrem Rihylde offers his formal greetings.”

His overly bright tone was at odds with the formality of his greeting, which matched his attire—polite and proper.

But both Bellona and Caelus stared at the young nobleman with identical expressions.

They had no idea who he was.

The quick-witted man scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

“Ah… you don’t remember me.”

With a face that showed he understood, he stepped closer and smiled brightly at them. Then, unexpectedly, he expressed gratitude to Bellona.

“I wanted to thank Your Grace, but things were so hectic back then that I never got the chance. Truly, thank you for saving my life.”

As he bowed deeply, Bellona simply stared at the back of his head—then her green eyes flashed.

“Ah, was it during the hunting festival?”

“Yes! Do you remember now? That boar! I almost got killed by it, but you showed up just in time to save me.”

The man grinned shamelessly, delighted to be recognized.

“Ah, you were that young nobleman.”

Even though her tone was indifferent, he beamed nonstop.

The unexpected encounter made Bellona click her tongue.

She had worried about him since he’d run toward the scene of the chaos—but despite his delicate looks, he seemed to have a surprisingly sturdy character.

“And the two of you still seem so affectionate.”

“Since you know that, wouldn’t now be a good time to leave?”

At Caelus’s cold tone, the man finally wiped the smile off his face and stepped back. Bowing once more, he spoke in a serious tone.

“I may not come from a distinguished house, but if there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll gladly do it. If there’s ever a need, please contact the House of Rihylde. I will gladly offer the life Your Grace saved.”

With those rather admirable words, Haylis turned to go, wearing a proud expression. But suddenly, Bellona called out to him.

“Young lord.”

“Yes?”

She stared fixedly at the man who quickly turned back, then whispered something to Caelus.

Being called back after being dismissed, and then stared at by both of them, made Haylis smile awkwardly.

After eyeing him carefully for a moment, she asked with a suspicious expression:

“You said your family name is Rihylde?”

“Yes.”

“You’re the son of Marquis Graeme.”

“Haha… so you know my father.”

Watching the man scratch the back of his head again, seemingly out of habit, she couldn’t shake a sense of familiarity.

“I see. You may go now.”

“Yes!”

With one more polite bow, the man finally left.

“He looks like him.”

“He does.”

Golden eyes and clear green ones met, both glinting strangely as they sparkled.