HCM – 43

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Frisia bit her fingertips until blood came out. She couldn’t sleep. Jeremy Wood had escaped and Aslei was missing.

Although he had such a gigantic body, he had hid so swiftly that they hadn’t even caught a trace of him.

‘Damn it! I’m doomed.’

Frisia was contemplating whether or not to send word to the former Duke, who could be said to be her grandfather-in-law. She didn’t because she didn’t know exactly where he was, and didn’t know how he would react.

‘What if he says to forsake Aslei?’

Of course, the former Duke also cherished Aslei. However, he was a person whose family honor and political affairs were more important than the life and death of his own blood.

He would be ashamed of his successor being cursed, and he would be furious if he knew that Aslei had been transformed into a giant wolf.

‘But it has already become impossible to hide from my side.’

A giant wolf escaped the duke’s castle and a commotion broke out to catch the fugitive wizard. Now that two knighthoods were chasing the wizard, rumors were inevitable.

Already, a number of vassal families in the duchy had sent people to inquire about the situation. She could cover for Aslei’s duties for now, but the tumultuous unrest of nobility was inevitable.

‘Even if it’s not me, someone will try to tell Grandfather the news.’

Frisia did not have any children with Aslei. To be precise, she was on contraception because she didn’t have any intention of starting a family yet.

If he knew about the curse, it was clear that his grandfather would use that excuse to take all the powers away from Frisia.

‘When you’re in contact.’

Fortunately, out of all of her misfortunes, his grandfather traveled with his friend to another continent. It was an expedition in tracking down a real dragon.

In a sense, it was like saying that he would not return until he died, so Aslei and Frisia were only asserting that the former Duke had gone on a trip.

‘But if the news arrives.’

He would surely return to the Duke of Tintalion, to protect his clan.

It would take several months to find the old duke and that was on the quick side. Before that, Frisia wanted to find Aslei and break his curse.

‘I don’t think that damned Jeremy will be found, and there’s no other way to break the curse… … .’

The former curse seemed to be undone through physical and emotional interactions with Frisia. At least it seemed so. The pain had also dissipated.

‘We can’t do that in his current form.’

First of all, it was physically impossible. She wondered if Aslei could change from a wolf to a human like a werewolf in legends.

“Madam.”

One of her maids approached Frisia with a worried expression. Seeing the hot meal on the tray, she shook her head.

“I don’t need it. If I eat something, I will fall asleep.”

“But you’ve only nibbled on snacks for the past few days. The knights will soon bring the duke.”

She sincerely hoped so. Aslei was not caught, despite using all possible means to catch him. Frisia was convinced that he was doing this on purpose and hiding from her.

‘You must be concluding things on your own and digging yourself into a hole again!’

Aslei was the male lead, but because of his delicate setting, he was sometimes frustrating. It was obvious he was thinking something like ‘I can’t be with you in this form.’ He must be considering the worst possible scenario.

He didn’t even consider showing up when the duke’s wizards looked for him. Beforehand she had thought he was just wandering around without being able to enter the castle.

“Madam, you are bleeding.”

Frisia, who had bitten her fingers, not her nails, raised her head. She hadn’t slept in five days, so didn’t even register the pain.

“Uh… … .”

She was so angry she couldn’t help herself. She had to find Aslei, by all means but the way… … .

‘Oh.’

There was one way she could think of. A good way to check and see if Aslei is sane.

Suddenly in a good mood, Frisia gathered her maids. Happy with the thought she might have Aslei come to the Ducal mansion on his own two feet.

❁ ❁ ❁

The news naturally spread to the capital that two of the Duke’s Knight Orders were pursuing a wizard and the other was looking for the duke who had turned into a monster.

This was such a big deal that even the imperial family had to pay attention to such gossip.

‘Is there something wrong with that Aslei Tintalion?’

The emperor had always been dissatisfied with the fact that the power of the aristocracy was stronger than that of the imperial family. It was the Duke of Tintalion who became the focal point of that power, as was the Duke of Atreille.

It was the emperor who was absorbed in how to bring them to his side, as the marriage was a combination of the two powers.

‘How very tempting!’

The previous old duke traveled to another continent and all that remained was a lonely Duchess. She was a young and beautiful woman, that was not yet thirty.