MHHC Chapter 1

My Husband Has Changed

Please forgive me for skipping greetings in my urgent state and going straight to the point. I remember you telling me I could send you a letter whenever something unbearable happened.

The Most Reverend Father Padre, something very strange has occurred.

My husband, Grand Duke Valentin Karizu Albrecht von Ansgar, tragically became one who would never return from the battlefield, as you must have heard. All of Denburg was in uproar, so the news must have reached Falkenhaim as well. As the Grand Duchess, I naturally presided over the funeral.

It took three days for the coffin containing the Grand Duke to tour Ansgar Territory, and two days to receive condolences. I stayed by the Grand Duke's side throughout that entire period. That day was no different.

Midnight. I remember hearing the bell toll. Fierce winds kept battering the windows, making the priests extremely on edge.

The situation that followed is overwhelming to describe in detail. Everything happened so suddenly. The tightly closed windows shattered all at once, and fierce winds rushed in. The wind soon calmed, but an inexplicable tense atmosphere hung between us.

It was then that my husband exhaled a long, long breath and awakened again.

'Adelheid.'

My husband called my name with that face still pale with death's touch. The instinctive terror that surged in that moment... no words could adequately describe it.

The people of Ansgar are busy praising that God Morig has performed a miracle. But I am still afraid. It was clearly a body whose breath had ceased. I witnessed this closer than anyone, felt it. But what could I possibly say?

Roosters began crowing even in the dead of night. Young livestock tremble before the Grand Duke. Though I should rightly rejoice that my husband has returned alive, wretched as I am, I keep having other thoughts that trouble me.

If you see this letter, please come to Ansgar Territory in Bitzleben as quickly as possible...

"My lady."

It was a sudden call. Adelheid startled and accidentally knocked over the inkwell with her elbow. The spilled ink instantly stained the parchment black. The moment she confirmed it had become an illegible mess, Adelheid felt rather relieved instead.

She barely managed to lift her gaze to meet Valentin's face. Her pale lips trembled slightly.

"Your Highness. What brings you to my chamber at this hour?"

"Why... won't you come?"

She could see sorrowful resentment settle on Valentin's sculpted face. It had only been this morning that he became capable of imitating human speech even slightly. Until then, all he could do was moan monotonously like a beast's cry.

But suddenly proper conversation? Could this be a sign that his memories were returning?

Adelheid swallowed her humid breath.

"Come where, you ask."

"Yesterday, together, lie, lying down..."

He meant why she wouldn't lie down together in the bedchamber like yesterday. Since her husband's mind had become like that of a child after returning from death, it surely meant exactly what it sounded like. Like a child seeking comfort in its mother's embrace.

Even so, Adelheid's innocent cheeks quickly reddened.

"Your Highness and my conjugal visits are only possible on dates deemed auspicious by the priest. Yesterday was... you were in confusion so it couldn't be helped, but it would no longer be proper."

"..."

"Your Highness was originally accustomed to sleeping alone. Right now, having just experienced great trauma, there's some confusion in your memories..."

"Why...?"

"Pardon?"

Unable to find words appropriate to the situation, Valentin crumpled his elegant features and strode across the room. He grabbed Adelheid's waist with rough hands. Ignoring her shock, he easily lifted her and pushed her to sit on the desk, now a mess with ink. Items swept aside fell to the floor with a clattering noise.

"If you do this..."

Adelheid's beautiful face quickly became tearful after the initial surprise. The dress she wore today was among the more decent ones she owned. She had treasured it because it had no patched areas, but now it was covered in ink and completely ruined.

"No, no."

Seeing Adelheid's eyes crumple as if about to cry, he urgently cupped her cheeks. That face, so beautiful it couldn't possibly be human, drew very close. She quickly drew in her breath.

"Why...?"

Why are you crying? Or why are you upset? From Valentin's brief words and expression, his concern was perfectly readable. It was absurd. Originally, her husband was a man who found even brushing against her sleeve detestable.

If he had lost his memories, he should have forgotten even her name. It was frustrating not knowing why Valentin, who had forgotten propriety, memories, language, and even blood relatives, was fixated only on her.

They had not even consummated their marriage yet. No matter how she thought about it, there was no reason for her husband to cherish her so tenderly.

'Unless he's not my husband.'

At that chilling assumption, Adelheid's face instantly turned pale. At her pitiful appearance, Valentin's golden eyes softened with a honeyed tenderness. They were close enough for their breaths to intertwine.

She quickly dismissed her suspicion. There couldn't be two men in Denburg with looks more sculpted than a sculpture itself.

"...Am I... fright, frightening?"

Adelheid, who had been shaking her head reflexively, suddenly came to her senses. Regardless that he was her husband, bringing a man into her chamber without a priest's permission violated propriety.

"You must return now. If the servants or guards were to see..."

His strong grip desperately clutched her arm as she babbled. With his other hand, he undid the hair ornament that had been firmly secured, letting hair like golden thread spill down past Adelheid's waist in waves. As if satisfied with her disheveled appearance, Valentin smiled like a painting.

"Don't, don't, don't."

Affection dripped like the juice of overripe figs, drop, drop. The man's solid, massive frame pressed close as if pushing her down. As his face approached, Adelheid squeezed her eyes shut. But nothing she had braced herself for happened.

'...What?'

Through Adelheid's barely opened eyes, she could see Valentin's chin. Hot breath scattered over her forehead. He seemed to be gently tracing her face with his lips. Or perhaps savoring her scent. Her forehead, eyebrows, eyelids, soft cheeks and chin... and finally her lips.

"......"

His lips, which had pressed close as if about to devour her, stopped with just a small gap. Having only stolen the very edge of her breath, he seemed satisfied. As if that was the reward he had wanted his entire life.

"My wife..."

A cold gleam appeared in Adelheid's gently lowered eyes. Though still confused, she could be certain of one thing.

Her husband had changed. Very drastically at that.

"Who are you?"

She first faced her husband bare-faced immediately after entering the bridal chamber. When she removed the thick veil that had covered her face throughout the marriage ceremony, Valentin Ansgar spoke as if astounded. Adelheid felt overwhelming terror at how the handsome man's face instantly contorted.

"I am... Adelheid."

"I'm not asking your name, but why you're here. Where is the bride? Where is Charlotte?"

"I... I beg your pardon, but today, the bride Your Highness married is me..."

Adelheid trembled as she deeply bowed her head. The longer the silence stretched, the more her meager courage vanished moment by moment. She didn't have the confidence to face the man's anger.

Eventually, Valentin rose from the bed and roughly grabbed her chin, forcing it up.

"You're my bride? In front of whom do you dare to pull such nonsense?"

Terror filled Adelheid's pale green eyes completely.

The man's—that is, the Grand Duke who had become her husband today—anger was justified. What he had wanted from the beginning was not Adelheid, a half-noble count's daughter, but the beautiful and strong Charlotte.

"It's exactly as I said. I am the second daughter of Count Reichenau."

"You're Count Reichenau's daughter? Didn't the count have only one daughter?"

In fact, everyone except a very few believed this. Her existence had been kept thoroughly secret by Count Reichenau from the moment of her birth.

Adelheid barely swallowed words she couldn't voice. Meanwhile, Valentin swept Adelheid from head to toe with sharp eyes.

It was a completely blatant gaze, as if appraising the price of fish displayed at a market.

"Are you also a healer?"

Adelheid bit her lips, which had gone pale with shame. The women of Reichenau were rarely born with powerful healing arts. Her half-sister Charlotte, born from the count's wife, was a lady among ladies who had awakened as a healer.

In contrast, she was the daughter of a servant whose name she didn't even know. If she had at least been born with healing arts, her situation would have been different, but unfortunately Adelheid possessed no such power.

Naturally, what Valentin wanted enough to pay off the Reichenau count's massive debts was Charlotte, not Adelheid. But the count had absolutely no intention of handing Charlotte over to the ducal house.

His first daughter was one the Crown Prince had his eye on. She was too precious to hand over to a mere northern barbarian. Due to such circumstances, half-bred Adelheid was selected as the bride.

It was clearly a fraudulent marriage, but there was nothing Adelheid could do. She too had been dragged to the wedding ceremony.

"How disgusting."

Having guessed all this from her silence, Valentin shot Adelheid a terrifying look and left the bridal chamber just like that.