If You Wish For A Married Couple’s Duties

Episode 17.
The Naughty Prince (6)

 

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Huge thanks to Assandri for the kofis! (1/1)

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Episode 17.
The Naughty Prince (6)

 

“…You’re the duke’s wife?”

 

“Yes, I’m the new Duchess of Esbaden.”

 

With a smile, Dooha approached the prince with light steps.

 

“Your Highness came to congratulate me on my wedding, but I’m sorry for the late welcome.
I wasn’t feeling well.”

 

Justin stared blankly at the duchess walking towards him.

 

They said that the new duchess was the ugliest woman in the world, so then who was this woman?

 

With silver hair and a beautiful figure that glistened every time she walked… She was far from the rumored ugly woman.

 

Wearing a light creamy dress, the word angel was more appropriate for her.

 

In the meantime, Dooha opened her mouth again after confirming the appearance of Layla, who had been caught by the knight.
and the maid sitting on the floor.

 

“But this isn’t something that anyone who came to celebrate a wedding would be carrying.”

 

Dooha smiled and lightly grabbed the crown prince’s wrist.

 

He didn’t know where and how she touched it, but he lost the strength in his hand that was holding the sword.

 

Because of this, it appeared as though Justin willingly handed the sword to Dooha.

 

She naturally took the sword from the prince and put it down, throwing it behind her back.

 

“There’s nothing good about these dangerous things when they’re used like this.
But…”

 

Dooha’s expression was confused as she tried to assess the situation.

 

“Did my beloved child do anything wrong to Your Highness? Why is the knight intimidating that kid?”

 

When asked by her, Justin shook his head and opened his mouth, having had finally come to his senses.

 

“That girl, or that woman, dared to scar the face of the prince.
Those who blemish the bodies of members of the royal family have committed a serious offense.” 

 

“That kid did something like that? That’s strange, she’s not someone who would do that for no reason.”

 

“Are you implying that I’m lying, Duchess?”

 

“No way.
No way.”

 

Dooha shook her head in surprise.

 

“There’s no way Your Highness would lie.
Why would an imperial prince have any shortcomings such as lying?” 

 

Dooha said with an innocent smile.

 

“However, as His Highness knows, the Duke of Esbaden is an administrative district recognized by His Majesty.
Punishment for criminals could only be inflicted by the head of the workforce.”

 

All of that time spent reading books about the Empire in the corner of her room had paid off.

 

Now, she could easily recite the political position of the duke and the power dynamics of the empire.

 

“If that child has sinned, then she is a criminal.
If so, I will ask for every detail of the crime and punish her according to the laws of the duchy.”

 

She bowed her head lightly with a slender smile.

 

“Please, do not do anything to dirty your noble hands.”

 

The prince listened silently to Dooha and soon swept back his hair.

 

“By the way, the Duchess is not just pretty, but she’s good at using her mouth as well.”

 

His eyes, which were full of anger, were already rising… but with a different kind of heat.

 

“This makes me even angrier.”

 

The prince approached her with slow steps.

 

Approaching a distance close enough to feel each other’s breath, he whispered into Dooha’s ear.

 

“If I had known you would be so pretty, I wouldn’t have refused.
I’m really sad.”

 

He grabbed the ends of Dooha’s hair and lifted it.

 

“Is this why the duke accepted this marriage without rejecting it?”

 

Dooha did not react to the prince’s rude words and actions, staring straight ahead with an expressionless face.

 

“What are you doing to Madam? Madam! Get his hands off your body! That j*rk! Argh!”

 

Rather, Layla screamed in Bashalin out of shock but was then stopped by the prince’s escort knight.

 

“Madam, you said you cared about her, right?”

 

Justin glanced toward Layla, who was making a fuss, and continued.

 

“Whether you have administrative autonomy or not, it is very easy for me, the prince, to take away that child’s life.” 

 

Even if it was the duke, it would not be an easy problem to move on from if there was harm inflicted onto the prince’s body.

 

Moreover, what would happen when an immigrant woman from Bashal, who was not a noble person, hurt the prince’s body?

 

“The reason why I didn’t kill that child right away is that this is the duke’s territory and I respected the duke’s status.
It was purely out of favor.”

 

Although the Duke of Esbaden was said to be a great nobleman with the power to compete with the imperial family, Justin was part of the imperial family anyway, and the Duke was merely a servant of the imperial family.

 

There was an indescribable gap between the two.

 

In other words, if the emperor wielded his authority and orders, the duke must follow.

 

“But if you accept my suggestion, I’ll let her go without any punishments.
What do you think?”

 

“…Suggestion?”

 

“It’s a suggestion that’s not as bad as you might think.”

 

Justin smiled as coyly as a snake.

 

“The women in Bashal are so talented at being in bed.”

 

Indeed, everyone’s faces turned pale when they heard those vulgar and astonishing words.

 

The prince’s remarks were a thorough insult to not only her, Bashal’s princess, but also to all Bashalin women.

 

“I want to see your talent.”

 

Justin did not know what mistake he had made when he dared to touch the Duchess’ waist.

 

“In the first place, you were originally going to be mine.
I think there was a mistake.”

 

“…”

 

“Well, it’s not unprecedented for a married woman to take the position of Empress, so don’t worry.
Being the Empress is much better than being the Duchess.
I guarantee your place… “

 

Not knowing what shame was, the prince’s hand climbed up her torso.

 

“Princess! What are you doing? Hurry up and beat him up!”

 

Layla shouted exasperatedly in Bashalin, but Dooha remained motionless.

 

If it was anyone else, she would have punched him in the face before he finished saying such a dirty remark, but the situation was different now.

 

The opponent was not a small one, but the only prince of the empire.

 

As long as this j*rk in front of her was a member of the imperial family, and as long as her husband was a knight serving the imperial family and a faithful servant of the emperor, she could not deal with him in such a reckless way.

 

If the imperial family’s trust in the duke got broken, how can she take responsibility?

 

‘Even if the prince makes fun of me, the nobles will be on the side of this dung dog.’

 

At first, Bashal was not the only power in the empire.
There were also a number of ‘barbarians with strong spirits’.

 

She was said to be important for the alliance, but she was only a stranger in this foreign land.

 

No one would side with Duchess Stranger.

 

‘…That person…’

 

Dooha recalled Leonhart, a duke who always looked at her with his cold eyes.

 

‘How would he react if he were here?’

 

‘It was not like this marriage happened because he wanted it anyway, so he may push me to take the offer if he wanted to.’

 

‘I only imagined it, but why am I so depressed?’

 

Dooha bit her lips with her eyes down.

 

“As expected, you like it.
Unlike the Duke, the Duchess is happier to communicate with me…”

 

It was then, when she clenched her fist, turning away from the prince who was pushing like an angry male character,

 

Thud!

 

The Prince was shoved away from her with a strange sound, almost like a prisoner being pushed in the prison.

 

“It seems that I’ve been treating someone whose character is inferior to an animal’s too well without knowing the consequences of it.” 

 

It was a voice that felt calm, the intense anger masked like boiling lava underneath the ground.

 

Dooha slowly turned her head.

 

The man, who stretched his arms over her shoulders and was grabbing the only prince by his collar, was wearing blood-covered armor and emitting a dark aura.

 

It was him, Leonhart.

 

***

 

“Oh, my.
What are you doing?”

 

Justin was distracted by the duke’s grip that was tightening his breath.

 

“Duke of Esbaden! Do you know what you’re doing right now? You should let go of him right now!”

 

The shocked escort knight ran to him and yelled, but it was useless.

 

Leonhart was only staring at the prince.
It was as if he couldn’t hear the knight.

 

“Your Highness, there are two things that I hate most in the world.
Do you know what they are?”

 

Tears came out of Justin’s eyes.

 

“Firstly, humans who touch what is mine.
Secondly,”

 

He ground his teeth as he watched Justin struggling in the air.

 

“Treating someone whose character is inferior to an animal’s too well without knowing the consequences of it.” 

 

As Leonhart’s hand gradually gained more strength, the eyes of the fourth Prince gradually began to roll back.

 

“My lord, please stop! He’ll really die!

 

At the words of the knight that rushed over to his master, the strength in the Duke’s hand finally loosened.

 

“Argh!”

 

Justin fell helplessly to the floor as soon as the Duke loosened his grip.

 

Gasp! Cough, cough!

 

“Your Highness, are you okay?”

 

The Prince’s escort knight shouted, supporting him, who had become pale.

 

“Ahh! You will regret what happened today! If His Majesty finds out about this, do you think he will stay still? How dare you treat His Highness like this?”

 

“Do as you please.”

 

“What, what?”

 

The escort knight looked at him with a puzzled face at the duke’s overly confident attitude.

 

“I won’t stay still either.”

 

Leonhart looked down at the Fourth Prince with cold eyes.

 

Facing the gaze, Justin clung to the escort knight.

 

“You! How dare you touch the prince and think that you’ll be safe?!”

 

‘Is that the only thing you can say?’

 

Without realizing it, Dooha looked at the prince with pathetic eyes.

 

“You still haven’t come to your senses.”

 

The same seemed to have been true of Leonhart’s pathetic consideration of the prince.

 

“Since you seem to have nothing to offer but your status, say a word.”

 

He knelt down on one knee to be at eye level with the prince.

 

“The position of the Grand Duke’s is equal to that of the Prince’s.
Unless you are the Crown Prince, our status is the same.”

 

“That’s!”

 

Justin knew this all too well.

 

However, he had already become the Crown Prince in his mind, so he was not afraid of the duke, although he had difficulty dealing with him.

 

“So, what you enjoyed while staying in this castle were not things that you took for granted.
It is purely out of favor.”

 

Justin’s body trembled, insulted by the duke’s rebuttal to every word he had said.

 

“The kindness I give to you, the prince, ends here.”

 

The Duke, who watched the scene, got up from his seat and turned his back without any hesitation…

 

“Get out of my castle right now.”

 

..with one last word.