The Girl Who Was Forced by Her Stepsister to Marry the Cursed Duke

Chapter 16:《Duke’s POV》 Getting Accustomed to Miltia 

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As I thought, Miltia is definitely a weird woman. 

Everyday she merrily cleaned my room, referring to it as ‘clam digging’. I once asked her why she looked like she was having so much fun cleaning my room. She then proceeded to grab a huge bivalvia and said.

“This one tastes really delicious even if you just roast it up a little.”

Or so she said. 

I didn’t have any plan on starving her… No, rather, I was pretty sure she was getting more vegetables and meats than she usually got back in her parents’ house…?

I asked Bhadra to look her up and it turned out, she had a very tragic life.  She was living with her stepparents in place of her real parents who passed away early. She was shunned and abused by her stepparents and stepsister… She was living a life where she couldn’t even get a decent meal.

When I thought about the struggles she had gone through to grow into 『a lady with poor eating habits』… For some reason, I was hit by stinging pain on both my heart and head.

Indeed. Her story was truly heartbreaking. A young girl, too young to live independently, had to eat whatever she could get in order to survive. But… At the same time, a mysterious enigma occupied my mind.

How did such an innocent and helpless girl become so shameless when it comes to food?! 

Aren’t childrens are usually picky eaters?! They usually have an unbalanced diet, right?! Or maybe my children-self was the only exception? 

When I asked the person herself, she said she learned how to cook all kinds of seafood from the head chef who had been serving her family since her real father’s generation. Perhaps, that head chef was the actual parental figure in her life.

….. I’d like to interview that head chef, in order to find the root of all evil but unfortunately, he was already far too old. He had retired from the count’s family many years ago and no one knew about his whereabouts. 

I couldn’t take my eyes off of her because of the disparity between her fragility and how shameless she acted. Yes… That girl was the only living being in this mansion that moved according to her own will… And furthermore… She was the only thing I could never predict. 

That’s why I’m so curious about her. That’s all. Nothing else. I absolutely have no other intentions other than pure curiosity. It’s not because… With just a little praise, her expression will slowly soften and then she will pull her lips upward, looking so adorable as she smiles. 

It’s absolutely not because I find her amusing how she goes beyond even my wildest expectations.I once asked her  「what are you doing?」, she then replied, 「I’m feeling so happy because there’s so many wonderful kelps growing in the garden after I scattered the『sea fragments』 that I gathered from Maricle-sama there」

W-w-well… I do agree that fine feathers do make fine birds when I saw her wearing my mother’s old dress. It’s just… When I’m with her, there are moments when I forget that I’m still cursed. 

Those moments… Somehow it feels precious to me so I started to think that… Living together with her doesn’t sound that bad. 

Anyway I’m sure after living with her, it won’t be long before I become accustomed to her eccentric behaviour. 

“Maricle-sama, would you like to take a dip in a warm bath? I will wash your back for you.”

“……..Pardon me?”