My In-laws are Obsessed With Me

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“Should I ask the kitchen to make a chiffon cake so we can share it?”

At my question, Selphius stopped walking.
No matter how good his acting was, a child was still a child.
His stateliness from earlier disappeared, and it looked like hearts were dripping from his eyes.

“Where is Theodore? Let’s call him and eat together.”

“His Royal Highness is away visiting the Imperial palace.”

“The palace? Why?”

“Some time ago, there was a celebration congratulating our victory in the war.
As a result, there will soon be a festival celebrating the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke.”

“Ah…”

“His Majesty called for him, saying there were things to discuss before the festival.”

It was said that Theodore was a huge factor in winning the war because of the curse.
If he wiped even a drop of his blood on his sword, those with even a slight scratch would all die.

“A victory festival…Theodore probably doesn’t even want one.”

All the rumors about him enjoying war, blood, and killing were all lies.
At least, that was the way I saw it.

Because of the curse of his blood, he has no choice but to utilize it.
Because his entire body was a weapon.

Next to me, Selphius furrowed his brow as if remembering something unpleasant.
He spoke after fixing his expression. 

“In the countryside where I was living, many children lost their parents to the war.
So I don’t like war.”

“…”

“If the nation has become this powerful, then they should stop now.
Why does the Emperor have such greed…”

“Selphi.”

I quickly stopped Selphius, who was about to say something against the Emperor, and glanced around.

There were guards on duty in the surroundings, as well as maids and servants working.

If news that a grievance was expressed about the Emperor in the Grand Duchy, there was a chance that rumors of treason would spread.
It was best to be careful.

“I understand how you feel.”

With a bitter smile, I patted Selphius’ head.
Although Selphius mumbled ‘stop it, why are you petting me?’ with a bright red face, he didn’t avoid my hand.

“Let’s eat cake together.
Selphi.”

* * * 

As soon as night fell, Theodore came back with a tired countenance.
He approached with a dark expression and inquired after me.

“The butler informed me that your family visited.”

“They did.”

“Are you alright? There weren’t any issues?”

It seemed like Theodore asked me without much thought, but having someone genuinely worry about me was a new experience.
It was a curious feeling. 

After nodding reluctantly, I quickly changed the subject. 

“I heard from Selphi — the capital is going to hold a celebratory festival for you soon?”

“It’s completely unnecessary.”

As I thought, he didn’t like it.
Although it seemed that he hated it more than I expected. 

“Do you not like war? Or do you not like attention?”

“I don’t like either.”

Seeing how he answered without even the slightest bit of hesitation, it looked like he really meant it. 

According to the rumors, Theodore was a “bloodthirsty warrior” who enjoyed war, blood, and killing, but…

There wasn’t a single thing true about the rumors. 

“Do you happen to know anything about the rumors about you?

“What are they like?”

“They say you love war, blood, and killing.
I heard that you were a barbarian who didn’t even pay attention to your only heir after sending him off to a remote residence.”

And I also heard he didn’t complete his first wedding night, but let’s not tell him that.

Even at my straightforward words, Theodore’s expression was unchanging.
He was calm as if listening to a story about someone else. 

“Then, did you believe them?”

“Why don’t you correct the rumors?”

“What?”

“It’s like someone is deliberately speaking ill of you.
If life was based on rumor alone, you would be the worst person in the world.”

That’s right.
Unless someone was purposely spreading rumors, they shouldn’t have been this harsh. 

“I don’t care about the gaze of the world, so it doesn’t bother me.”

“Even if you’re being cursed at like a devil?”

“That’s right.
And frankly, they aren’t wrong.”

Theodore’s lips curled into a self-mocking smile.
With his gaze lowered and a stony, expressionless face, Theodore mumbled quietly:

“How could there be anyone worse than a man whose body possesses lethal poison?”

I scowled at Theodore’s self-loathing.
I even had the sneaking suspicion that maybe the horrible rumors came from Theodore himself.

I didn’t bring it up to create such a heavy atmosphere!

In an effort to lighten the mood, I raised the pitch of my voice playfully.

“I think you might have to care now.”

“Why is that?”

“You’re married to me now.
Since you’ve become my reliable support, if you get caught up in weird rumors, then I’ll be in a bad situation too.”

Theodore didn’t have an answer.
No, more accurately, I don’t think he knew how to respond.

“Ah, right.
I heard you went to the Imperial palace. Did you meet Princess Dahlia?”

As soon as I finished my question, a murderous look crossed Theodore’s face. 

My goodness, what’s the matter?

His expression was so cold it felt like he really could kill someone.

“That princess…”

“…”

“She’s definitely insane.”

“What? Did something happen?”

My concern rose unintentionally because he spit out his words so angrily it seemed he had been holding them back behind his serious face.

Did she do something weird again?

My uneasy worry became a reality.

“She wrote a pledge in her own blood.”

“…What?”

Did I hear wrong? What? She wrote what?

My mouth hung open out of shock.

She really is one of those ultra-rare crazy bitches.

“J-Just what did she write?”

“That part is a bit weird.”

“What?”

“She did write something, but it was in a language no one could recognize.”

Theodore scowled as he remembered what had happened.

“It looked like an ancient script.
On top of that, they said she wrote secretly every night.”

“She wrote a pledge in her own blood every night?”

Goosebumps formed all along my arms.
Something definitely went wrong while she was recovering. 

Because of her disease, Dahlia did not receive proper education.
She never went to an academy.
Due to her difficulty with outsiders, she didn’t even have a common tutor. 

And yet she wrote a blood pledge in an ancient text?

There were many strange details.
But the shocking news didn’t end there. 

“When she burned the blood pledge, she said she needed to burn it with my hair and approached me with a knife.”

At Theodore’s words, I stood up abruptly.

“W-Were you hurt?”

“You think I wouldn’t be able to block that? She approached me from behind, so I just pushed her away.
His Majesty couldn’t even say anything.”

She’s even crazier than I had thought.

I remembered Dahlia’s murderous gaze boring into me from the day I left the temple. 

I should definitely avoid her.

“Enough.
Let’s stop talking about that.
I don’t even want to think about it again.
More importantly, here.”

Theodore shuddered, then took something out and handed it to me. 

“I almost forgot.”

“What is this?”

“Tomorrow’s article… No, to state it more accurately, the newspaper that was almost released tomorrow.
It won’t be released anymore, though.”

“What?”

I unfolded the newspaper Theodore handed me. 

At the very top was news about Princess Dahlia.
My eye was immediately drawn to the article written just below it.

[Grand Duchess ‘Pershati Lapileon’! Abandoned a Commoner and Reached for Power!]