TDWO Chapter 32
by xxsienna‘Ugh!’
Anri jolted awake with a silent scream.
In the spacious and lavish room, her round eyes blink in bewilderment.
In the sunlight streaming through the curtains, specks of dust floated into her disoriented view.
For several days now, she had been having the same dream.
Though it wasn’t a real wedding, perhaps because she was about to face a once-in-a-lifetime event, she kept dreaming about one.
To be precise, it wasn’t a dream about getting married, but rather about kissing…
With round eyes, Anri quickly shook her head.
It was a dream that no one else knew about, but it has made her feel embarrassed since morning.
Actually, Anri didn’t hesitate to kiss things she found cute, lovable, or desirable.
Like puppies, lovely dolls, or money…
Because nothing but a kiss could express this overwhelming feeling.
She didn’t know why she had to use her lips to express affection. Was it some kind of instinct?
However, kissing a man, regardless of whether it was for money or a scene essential for future couple roles, was something she absolutely did not want to do if she didn’t like the other person.
It required getting so close that their breaths mingled, allowing contact with one of the body’s most sensitive areas.
Even if it was a man she found attractive, it felt like a daunting barrier to overcome if there was no personal affection.
Yet, the higher the barrier, the more thrilling and enjoyable a kiss with a suitable partner could be.
Knowing this, it was frustrating that she had never had a chance to kiss anyone in her 21 years of life, making her so tense that it appeared in her dreams.
‘I want to kiss a guy too! Eek!’
Anri jumped out of bed in her cotton pajamas and tugged at the drawstring.
She did this to let the servants know she was awake.
“Ahem.”
Anri sat modestly on the bed, pretending not to have any outrageous thoughts.
However, the strange thoughts didn’t easily go away.
And it’s no surprise, considering who the partner was!
Even when she signed the marriage contract with Edwin, she felt it—his lips were those of the male lead she’d always dreamed of.
But now, things felt a bit ambiguous.
‘Why is the Duke being mixed into the male lead I imagined…?’
Anri tilted her head slightly.
In any case, that man was still that man, yet it felt strangely dissonant, making her feel odd.
To Anri, Edwin was Edwin, and the Duke was another.
A kiss with Edwin was always a delightful windfall.
But a kiss with the Duke… felt distinctly different.
‘I don’t dislike it, but it’s not something I can fully enjoy either.’
A feeling engulfed Anri that she couldn’t quite pinpoint. It was vague and perplexing.
The lips she would come into contact with seemed closer to those of the ill-tempered Duke than to the male lead she imagined.
‘Ugh…’
As that thought crossed her mind, her face suddenly flushed.
Anri cupped her cheeks with both hands and opened her eyes wide.
All she could remember was arguing with the Duke, and now the idea of kissing such a person…?
‘Oh, dear.’
Anri’s heart pounded. After clashing with each other, why suddenly a kiss?
‘I feel like a kid who has to get punished by a scary teacher!’
The metaphor was a bit odd, but she couldn’t think of another situation to compare this feeling to.
‘I can’t refuse it on my own, so I have to go through it! I’m so nervous!’
Anri sprang up from the bed and paced around the room. She couldn’t calm down all of a sudden.
It felt like someone had inserted a bellows into her heart and was continuously blowing air into it.
She couldn’t tell if this feeling was anxiety or excitement.
However, the thought of this opportunity disappearing was even less appealing.
‘After all, it’s Edwin, the one I’ve always dreamed of.’
Anri stopped her wandering thoughts and dreamily clasped her hands together.
In her 21 years of being single, such an opportunity was rare, especially a kiss with someone she had wished for millions of times in her previous life!
To succeed without a hitch, she could forget all the bickering memories for that moment.
‘Right, right. Anri. Edwin was originally a bad-tempered and mean person, wasn’t he?’
Though experiencing it herself was a world apart from just reading about it in books.
‘I wonder what it would feel like with Edwin…’
Anri’s expression began to sparkle like a girl in love.
Just then, the servants entered.
Today was the day Viscount Wentworth and his family would come for the wedding, which was only two days away.
Anais and Bonita, who had dressed Anri, gasped in admiration.
She wore a romantic and elaborate dress with her shoulders exposed, adorned with frills and puffs.
The skirt was layered with tulle, resembling a cloud.
The fabric, intricate finishing, and details were distinctly different from any dress Anri had worn before; it was full of care and luxurious.
This dress was the latest design that Bonita had specially acquired through a close clerk at Charlotte & Audrey.
‘Me, wearing Charlotte & Audrey, hee hee hee.’
Riding in the Roses & Hounds was already a miraculous experience.
Now, she was going to wear a dress made by the kingdom’s best dressmaker as everyday clothing.
Anri descended the stairs with a foolishly wide smile on her face.
She knew she shouldn’t get used to such luxury and high-end goods.
“Miss Wentworth.”
As she reached the first floor, a young footman in a smart uniform greeted her.
This footman had been recently hired.
Like the footmen of prominent noble families, he was handsome and well-groomed.
Footmen were usually the first people guests encountered upon arriving at the mansion, so they were generally tall, had pleasant appearances, and exuded kindness.
With bright eyes, Anri recalled her determination to memorize the faces and names of each servant.
She was able to recall all of the duke’s house servants thanks to the three days she spent getting to know them.
This footman stood out with his notably tall and slender figure and an impressive side-parting styled with a 2:8 ratio.
“Louis.”
Fortunately, she remembered his name.
“Has Viscount Wentworth arrived?”
In that moment, a flush of excitement crossed Louis’s eyes.
It was because the lady who would become the Duchess had called his name.
Louis responded with even more gratitude. He hadn’t expected her to remember him.
“Yes. He’s inside. Please go in, Miss.”
“Thank you.”
Just as Anri smiled and was about to enter the reception room, Louis spoke again.
“You look beautiful today as well, Miss. The dress suits you very well.”
Louis gazed at her with an enchanted expression.
The dress she wore was a pastel lavender, perfectly matching her kind and elegant nature.
The Duke of Briston’s household was the third noble family Louis had worked for. He had served various young ladies, but he had never seen anyone as fresh and lovely as Miss Wentworth.
If he had such a younger sister, he would want to carry her around all the time.
“Oh my. I’m glad to hear that.”
Anri’s eyes sweetly curved as she smiled.
After exchanging a brief glance with Louis, Anri stepped into the reception room.
The servants of the Duchy of Briston seemed particularly kind.
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Meanwhile, around the corner from the drawing room.
Edwin, who had come down to check on the arrival of the Wentworth family, spotted Anri just as he was heading toward the first-floor drawing room.
He had come down because he heard that Viscount Wentworth and his family had arrived. However, Edwin’s mood was slightly irritated by the unexpectedly ordinary scene.
‘Miss, you look beautiful today as well.’
…?
At the words he had just heard, Edwin’s dark and indifferent gaze shifted toward Louis.
Louis waited with a satisfied expression until Anri was completely inside the drawing room. Once the door closed, he adjusted his coat buttons and turned away.
A noblewoman about to marry and become a duchess being praised for her beauty by a footman
The dress suits her well?
……
‘Hmm, this is annoying.’
This was Edwin’s first experience having a wife. Therefore, the various events that occurred as a result were quite unfamiliar to him.
For example, the scene of another man openly admiring the beauty of the woman who would soon be his wife, just like now. And the scene where Anri effortlessly flashes a deadly smile at that man.
As Edwin stood still for a while, Albert wondered why he was so fixated on one spot.
“Aren’t you going, Your Grace?”
However, a different question slipped out from Edwin.
“……Was that footman’s name Louis Howard?”
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“Anri! My daughter!”
Morris Wentworth, the Viscount of Wentworth, embraced his daughter, whom he hadn’t seen in four months.
His emotions were evident, as tears welled up in his eyes.
“Have you been well? Didn’t you miss your father?”
However, Anri only felt indifferent and uncomfortable.
Her father was holding her too tightly, as if he were choking her.
She doesn’t need any more of these fatherly hugs.
He wasn’t even home when she needed him.
Feeling pained and uncomfortable, Anri weakly frowned and gently pushed Morris away.
“Oh, oh… Father! You’re going to wrinkle my dress!”
“Ah, right, right, forgive me.”
Only then did Morris wipe his damp eyes and face Anri.
There was no joy or emotion in the face of his daughter, whom he had not seen in a long time.
Still, moved, Morris reached out and held Anri’s arms.
“Our Anri hasn’t changed at all. You’re just the same. I’ve missed you, my daughter.”
Suddenly, Anri gave a sweet, sarcastic smile.
As if she hadn’t missed him at all.
“I missed you too, Father. So much that I no longer want to see you anymore.”
“Oh, my daughter Anri.”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Morris embraced Anri once more.
Perhaps because it had been a while since he saw her, she seemed even more lovable and adorable.
