Translator and Editor: Skye and Nabi

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Chapter 26

Selena was so excited when she entered Sven’s cafe.

“For now, she’s doing all right.”

Sven looked at Selena with absurd eyes while organizing the enormous amount of information that came today.

“So far, she has a perfect score. I want to keep an eye on her.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Laria. It’s not easy to plot a scheme while hiding in the Duchy of Icard.”

Others thought all this was a coincidence, but Selena knew it was Laria’s trick. She knew the name of the Knights’ commander, Ludva.

“I have a good feeling about her. I really like her.”

Selena tried to prove her point by raising her voice.

“You’ve guided Duke Icard to an undisputed end of the situation.”

Listening to Selena’s frantic chatter, Sven sat deeply on the sofa, smiled happily. He stroked Neo, who came up to his lap.

‘As expected, the first time I saw her at the racetrack, I can’t believe she’s the one he had been looking for.’

“She’s the one we’ve been looking for.” Selena held her hands together and continued.

“She’s completely different on the outside. Laria is good at scheming and acting.”

Well, we’ll just have to wait and see what she’s going to do when she grows up.” He said with his eyes shining.

“I’m sure she’s planning to leave the Duchy of Icard, but I’ll do my best to help her.”

“Sure! She must be free. It’s a waste for her to be in the duchy.” Sven nodded slowly.

“That’s good.”

Laria mentioned rough information about the Imperial Family. It seemed that she would run away when Evan is planning to connect with Elaine, the Empress of the Imperial Family.

‘Maybe that’s Duke Icard’s plan.’

I’ll know exactly when I see Laria.

“…Maybe…”

“Maybe?”

“I don’t know if Duke Icard is planning to kill her. So, when his power grows, he can be associated with Elaine again.”

“Oh, my.”

“If Laria is in heaven, there would be no one to take issue with when she dies without anyone knowing.”

“Oh, my God, did he bring her with that kind of intention? What a piece of crap! No wonder she said she was dying, but wasn’t very surprised!”

“I didn’t know he was such a man-eater, but he’s really gone too far.”

“I guess that must be why she’s running away!”

Selena and Sven, who did not know that Laria was originally time-bound, quickly succeeded in understanding Kalaudin’s true intention.

Selena said, unable to retain her excitement.

“Then, she doesn’t have to be loyal to the Duchy of Icard!”

“Loyal to the Duchy?”

“I felt sorry for her since she got married early. I hope Laria will have a hundred men surrounding her. I’ll teach her how to be eye candy for men step by step.”

“Laria is a married woman now. Don’t forget.”

“She’s breaking up with him anyway, isn’t she? It’s common to have an affair while she is married, but it would be over if she stands out even more.”

Sven completely ignored Selena’s words and pointed at the map with a wooden stick.

“Listen, Selena. If Laria agrees with us, here’s the plan for the future.”

“Yes.”

“When it’s nearing Elaine’s marriage, you need to help Laria escape. Of course, it would be appropriate for her to go Hanua, the new territory that she had already bought.”

“Yes.”

“Duke Icard will then declare that Laria is missing and will marry Evan to Princess Elaine.”

“Hmm?”

Selena, listening to Sven, rolled her eyes and tilted her head.

“But what if he doesn’t want to marry Elanie?”

“No way.”

“What if Evan happens to like Laria?” She recalled the way he looked at Laria today and said, “The way he looked at her was no joke.”

“Then, it’s a catastrophe.”

Sven simply explained the situation.

“How indifferent the Duke of Icard is to Prince Evan with his love. Will she be able to take care of it? If she gets caught by him and she can’t run away, she’ll be killed in an instant.”

“Sigh…”

“So, she has to be very careful. If Prince Evan is like Duke Icard, he would never let go of the woman he liked.”

“Yes, she’ll have to be careful.”

“If she’s careless about this, it would be very troublesome. He’ll never let her get away with it. So, don’t be thoughtless.”

Sven frowned and warned. The black cat sitting on his lap yawned lazily.

“For example, you recommending another man to Laria could lead to potential affairs. Don’t you ever do that.”

“Early education is an important corporation…” A grumble came out of Selena’s mouth.

“Never, never let Prince Evan have her in his heart, or all of this will end up like a bubble foam. Do you understand?”

Not knowing it is actually too late, Selena nodded with a determined look.

“Oh, come to think of it, I had a request from Laria. It’s time she makes some money…”

“Huh? What is it?”

“She told me to find a man and bring him to her.”

***

“Evan, why don’t we go to bed now? I’m getting sleepy.”

That night, I asked cheerfully on purpose.

Evan didn’t even say anything crazy anymore. Of course, that didn’t really mean anything anyway.

“Yes… I’m going to sleep.”

Evan fiddled a fairy tale book, deciding if he should or shouldn’t say something.

Gosh, I’ll let it go because young people must have had a hard time these days.

“Do you want me to read you a fairy tale? Until we fall asleep.”

“That’s for kids…”

“Don’t you like it?”

“We are children.”

Evan was supposed to be blunt, but his neck would turn red when she did something he liked.

“Come here, I’ll read it for you.” I patted the space next to me and said curiously.

Evan sat next to me and handed the book over. He then gently leaned his head on my shoulder.

‘Huh? I did say I’d read him a fairy tale, but I didn’t expect this.’

However, he got hit a lot these days, so I decided to let it go because I felt sorry for Evan. Ludva shattered his mind, and his father, Duke Icard, wasn’t even trying to correct the facts. So, I need to be nice…

I stroked Evan’s hair on my shoulder and started reading. A very adorable baby bear was painted on the cover of the fairy tale book.

“The baby bear loved to see the stars in the night sky.”

Evan, who was lending against me, had a pleasing expression and listened to my voice.

“But one day, the star fell from the sky.”

Actually, I only bought it because the illustration was pretty. I didn’t know the content.

“It was then, ‘The baby bear crossed the mountain and the field that was filled with stars. He thought he had to climb the mountain to pick off the star.’”

“So, he looked frantically, with his eyes turned upside down.”

‘Huh? What kind of fairy tale book is this?’

Isn’t the baby bear too tenacious because it looks cute? It’s a little different from the pretty picture on the cover.

“The baby bear reached the sea and eventually held the star in his chest.”

What, what are all these fairy tales? Let’s think about the position of Bulgari, who was living well in the sea!

Evan slowly expressed his appreciation.

“It’s a good story, isn’t it?”

“Huh?

“Uh…”

Now that I bought it, I can’t say it’s weird, and I covered the fairy tale book nervously.

“Let’s go to bed now.”

“Wait, Evan. Are we sleeping like this?”

He was hugging me slightly and patting me on the back.

“You keep hugging me when you sleep.”

That’s because I wanted to see your wounds then.

Isn’t this bad?

”I’ve been mean to you, so I’ll do what you like in exchange.”

Well, it’s a bit embarrassing to hug Evan, but…

“Don’t worry— you won’t have a baby if we don’t hold hands.”

“R-right?”

Evan spoke calmly. It felt somewhat compelling.

“In fact, I made a mistake in my sleep, and I’m going to be obvious, but…”

Though when I saw Evan’s serious face, I thought, ‘He’s big, but he’s still a child after all.

“I’ll be careful, so trust me.”

“Yeah…” I had no choice but to nod slowly.

Evan is a year younger than me, but he is much larger than his peers, so he looked like he is fifteen to sixteen years old. My physique is much smaller than my peers, so I was covered in his arms.

Nevertheless, I felt like I had to take care of him especially when he can’t sleep without saying anything.

I sighed a little and opened the conversation first.

“Evan.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t put too much care about what Ludva says.”

“I won’t think about it.” He answered quietly.

“I was told before that I shouldn’t get along with you, but I’m not going to be swayed by those words anymore.”

“No, that’s not the point.”

That’s not the point. I looked up in frustration and looked at his red eyes.

“I’m trying to say that you don’t make everyone unhappy…”

“Though… it’s true, Laria.”

“…Huh?”

“Don’t you feel it? Everyone in the duke’s house misses her.”

I couldn’t deny that kind of remark of his.

Even the calm Lisa sometimes missed Matilda, so she would sometimes make expressions that she didn’t know what to do. The Duke of Icard also changed. There’s nothing she could say to deny that fact…

“As long as she’s dead, I’ll have to embrace the darkness for the rest of my life.”

“It’s not your fault, you know? If you don’t overcome the darkness, you’ll always be unhappy.”

“That’s inevitable, Laria.” Evan smiled weakly.

Well, I shouldn’t try to solve a lifelong trauma all at once after just arriving at the duke’s house.

“Still, Laria, when I see you…”

He murmured softly.

“Family is there for each other.”

“The racetrack was my very first family outing. We looked like we were just a normal family back then.”

I buried my face in Evan’s arms without answering.

That day, it was somehow saddening that Evan and I were thinking exactly the same thing.

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