If I Disobey the Duke

I Don’t Want To (1)

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Lily turned her head and pursed her lips.

The black veil swayed gently with her motions, the silver hair underneath reflecting the sunlight softly.

“I’m sorry.
Pft… I just can’t imagine it.”

A snowman with neatly trimmed black hair, thick eyebrows, sharp gray eyes, and a closed mouth.

A man who would normally be choking a beast’s neck with one hand looking for a small branch of the same size and a branch with a precisely curved angle.

She imagined him poking through the snow with his leather gloves, well equipped even with a black cloak.

Lily’s slender shoulders, which were not covered by thick winter clothes, trembled slightly.
Even though she knew it was rude, her giggles didn’t stop.

She had no idea what he looked like doing that.

After a long laugh with her head down, Lily looked around.
After confirming that no one was there, she looked at him and carefully lifted the veil.

The bright sunlight lit up her face.

Lily, who didn’t know what he was feeling, leaned over and whispered, “If you can keep it a secret, I also… I want to make one.
Is that okay?”

He frowned and Lily was a little sad.

Maybe it was because she was a commoner, so she didn’t even know the proper rules and yet wanted to make a snowman.

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At that moment, his head lifted and he nodded slightly.

Lily’s eyes gleamed.
“Thank you.
Then…”

She squinted, pouting.

He watched intently as the snowball took shape between her silk gloves.

The snowball that Lily had gathered was much smaller than the one he had made, just enough to fit in her hands.

He raised one eyebrow slightly.

She could almost hear him question her.

“This is e-enough.”

While Lily gathered snow for the the second snowball, he held out a fairly large one.
It was the first snowball that Lily had made, now inflated.

“That was supposed to be the head…”

“…”

He thought about something for a moment, and then he tried putting the big snowball on top the other ball that Lily had just made.

Lily burst into laughter again.
“That’s the base, Knight.” She rolled the snowball, making it even bigger, then added the torso

He put the head on it.

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After making the eyes, nose and mouth with stones and branches, a snowman that was considerably larger than her original intention was made.

Lily took a moment to admire her finished product.
“I didn’t mean for it to be this big… but I think it’s pretty good.”

Compared to his snowman, it looked much bigger.
She secretly liked it that way.

Once again, she realized that it was the first time that she had not been so nervous after coming here.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been too lonely for days?  We just made a snowman together, but it felt like I made a new friend.

Seeing Lily’s proud expression, he suddenly stood up.
His thick cloak covered her shoulders.

The warmth surrounding the body startled Lily.

“Oh, I’m fine…” she trailed off.

A familiar body odor wafted through the gentle breeze.
A deep fragrance that sunk deep into her heart.

Lily stood up and froze while holding on to the cloak.

She was well aware of this smell.

Extremely aware.

“By any chance, are you…” Lily, who met the gray eyes staring at her, paused.

Even just by looking at him, he was a beautiful man.

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Vlad was a hero who achieved a legendary victory for the dukedom.
If he had such an appearance, wouldn’t he have been widely known earlier?

She may just be asking, but what if it wasn’t Vlad?

Ivan even said that he was a man with a wife.
He was a high-ranking aristocrat, so she must be a noblewoman as well.

How unpleasant it would be for her to find out that another woman had strange illusions about her husband.

Besides, if she asked such a question, he would find out that she was only a duchess by name.
And he would also know that she was just a trinket who didn’t know what her husband looked like.

She muttered quickly, “No.
I think I misunderstood something.
Like a fool…”

“…”

Lily was embarrassed.

What did I give so much meaning to the snowman that would melt anyway?

She lowered her gaze and quickly moved towards the main tower.

He had no idea what kind of expression she was making this time.

* * *

When Lily returned to her room, she didn’t even think about changing her clothes.
She was still wearing the dark green dress and the veil.

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After half a day, she sat on the bed until sunset, staring into the air with unfocused eyes.

The vermilion colour of the sunset lit the whole sky on fire.

She cut a faint, lifeless figure, almost as if in mourning.

“No matter how hard I think of it, that’s Vlad’s…”

A cold, deep scent like an old tree in winter.
She had already smelled his body several times, so there was no way she wouldn’t notice.

His height and broad shoulders were also quite similar compared to the other knights.
He was in a high enough position to command Talin, and even had a long relationship with Vlad’s comrade, Priest Ivan.

Even the…

Even the thing that rolled on the floor of the priest’s room was what they used yesterday.

All the information was shouting that he was her husband.

But she didn’t want to believe it.

“Is there any reason… to deceive me so much?”

A man who deceived her even when there was no good reason to.

Isn’t this the tuth?

She was not a singing bird, but a small bug being played by the paws of a cat.