Chapter 168 - [Side Story 7] Annoying men (4)
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When she only frowned slightly and didn't react at all, she poked her a few more times until Blie impatiently grabbed her finger.
"I told you not to mess around, Adriene."
"Why are you so quiet about the task I gave you, and why are you making that expression?"
After the shocking incident on the day of her childbirth, Adriene was on edge whenever Roardnes visited the Duke's mansion.
Knowing that Roardnes had a tendency to act impulsively or get ahead of himself, she wanted to be prepared in advance.
She didn't want to go through another situation where he prepared a wedding dress and everything a bride needed to prepare before even proposing. Nor did she want another strange incident where her husband experienced the labor pains instead of her.
Even if the outcome was good, knowing in advance was different from being informed without knowing.
So, Adriene had asked Blie to keep an eye on Roardnes whenever he went to the Duke's mansion.
"'Task'?"
"...A favor I asked."
Blie finally returned to reality, crossed her arms, and crossed her legs. It was a habit that she couldn't seem to fix, no matter how many times Gregory told her not to sit like that.
"Your husband is too violent."
"What?"
Blie stopped talking, looking at Adriene's innocent eyes.
Epero, who still frequently visited the Duke's mansion, had come to his senses and didn't mention the criminal law system, but whenever he met Roardnes, he was either kicked or treated like an invisible person.
"Anyway, that's how it is."
"Anyway, if you're going to generalize like that, why did I ask you?"
Blie irritably ruffled her carefully styled hair.
And she glared at Adriene resentfully.
"Ah, my head hurts. I think you're more of a problem than your husband."
"What?"
What kind of nonsense was this? Adriene blinked slowly, wanting an answer.
"What the hell did you say and do with my body that made that prince..."
"What's going on?"
Impatient, Adriene pulled her chair closer.
Blie hesitated, regretting having brought it up, but then muttered, "Oh, whatever," and began to pour out the words she had been holding back.
"Prince Epero asked your husband not to abolish the criminal law system. Your husband, who went completely crazy after hearing that, beat up the prince."
"What?"
"And that prince, he likes you, no, me..."
Blie rambled, unable to find her words.
Whenever she had a headache or couldn't think of the right words, she would grab her head and groan like that, so Adriene patiently waited for her.
"...He likes me? If he's talking about the criminal law system, then he..."
"I have to tell that prince our secret."
Blie cut her off abruptly.
Feeling that she was avoiding the answer, Adriene blinked her eyes rapidly.
"You mean he likes me? Because of the criminal law system..."
"I think I should tell that prince."
Blie sighed in annoyance, glancing at Adriene.
"I think he likes me, not you. To be exact, he's been sexually attracted to me ever since I found this body... damn it."
"What are you going to do by revealing it?"
Amidst the confusion, Adriene regained her composure.
She felt guilty for keeping the secret from Epero, even though Yonado and Vincento knew.
But she hadn't told him simply because she didn't want more people to know this secret.
"What am I going to do? Before you die at the hands of your husband, I have to tell him the truth so he won't do such stupid things."
"So if you reveal it? What are you going to do if you reveal it? Are you going to be with Epero?"
"Adriene, there's something I haven't told you."
Blie lowered her voice meaningfully. Adriene leaned closer to her, listening intently.
"I don't want to be tied down to one man. I want to enjoy myself."
"..."
"And I didn't want to say this, but I'm still deeply hurt from my first love, so I don't want to have a deep relationship with anyone."
"First love? Who?"
"It's a secret."
This time, it was Adriene's turn to be annoyed.
Blie smiled with a mischievous look on her face.
"I like it when you make that expression."
"..."So, if you reveal that fact, and if Lord Epero still likes you, what are you going to do?"
Adriene asked worriedly, her lips tightly closed.
She didn't know what the criminal law system had to do with it, but the most important thing was Epero and Blie's feelings.
Blie pursed her red lips and thought for a moment before replying brightly.
"I guess we'll just enjoy ourselves for a while."
It was a simple and clear answer.
****
"I knew it. I told you not to. I wasn't really that bothered. It was just annoying."
Blie slammed the book she was looking at angrily, facing a bewildered Victor.
Blie had recently confessed the truth to Epero at Oxana's welcome party.
I was about to think about it a little more.
After dancing several songs in a row with Victor, Oxana squinted her eyes after seeing the scene and subtly asked Blie if she would consider getting along with her younger brother.
Blie glanced at Victor, whose face was flushed red at Oxana's suggestion, and said with the skill of a diplomat, "Let me think about it. I'm free now."
Epero, who had been circling around, overheard the words and dragged Blie to the terrace, fuming.
But what could he do by taking her to the terrace?
The young prince, who had no experience in love, couldn't suppress his anger and, after bringing her there, realized that he, who wasn't her lover, had no right to say anything, so he just worried about her image.
Blie, who was about to throw away her damned saintly image when she heard that, immediately retorted to Epero.
Starting with 'There's something you don't know, Your Highness', she ended all the situations in a few sentences.
Epero first distorted his face, but his bloodshot eyes popped out as if they would pop out of his sockets at the core sentence that said his soul had been swapped.
Without saying anything, Blie asked Epero, "Do you still like me?" and Epero, with a confused face, just moved his lips and ran away.
And now, a week later, with no contact.
Victor, who couldn't handle Oxana, who was being invited to every party and looking for a husband, was hovering around Blie.
Muttering because Epero had cut off contact more annoyingly after she had said something, Blie stared at Victor who was waiting quietly.
"Aren't you worried about your friend? Go find your friend instead of me."
"I need it. Epero. Time to sort things out."
Blie looked at Victor strangely.
The sight of him drinking the tea that the maid had carelessly brewed was a bit comical because he was holding a small cup compared to his huge body.
"You... broke up with Epero."
"...I didn't think you were so perceptive."
"Don't you like him?"
"Who said I didn't like him? There are reasons for this too. I just wondered if you could still like me knowing those reasons. I'm not the type to turn away men who come to me."
Victor, a charming bear-like man, left after trying to impress her for a long time.
There were several quiet and heavy hits about how attractive a husband he would be.
He spoke surprisingly well, considering that he had recently improved his Empire language.
It was also a bit cute how he introduced himself in the Empire language, even though he knew Blie spoke Elarcon fluently.
When Victor's carriage finally left to take care of his older sister as the night fell, Blie could finally rest.
"Prince Elarcon visits often."
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"Ah, Master."
Lottie, who had been locked up in the study, came out just in time to see Victor leaving through the window, yawning with her mouth wide open.
A neutral, husky voice sank low in the air.
"Well, isn't that the life of a popular young duke?"
Blie stared at the necklace sparkling around Lottie's neck and replied lightly.
Lottie was silent for a long time.
"I heard you're going to accompany the Queen's entourage with Prince Epero this time."
"Yeah. It's a pain, but since the Pireta territory is adjacent to Elarcon, it wouldn't hurt to make a good impression."
"So, you're going to follow the Queen on her journey around Ronta, looking for a husband?"
"Well, maybe to nearby places. I can't leave this place entirely."
Blie replied, plopping herself down on the living room sofa.
It was Adriene who had invited Blie to join the journey around Ronta.
She wanted Blie to travel and build a friendship with the Queen since she hadn't traveled much in her homeland.
Adriene seemed to feel sorry for Blie who seemed to be tied up.
It wasn't a completely wrong thought.
As she pressed her temples against the overwhelming fatigue, Lottie quietly approached and sat on the sofa opposite her.
"...Can't I not go?"
Lottie's voice cut through the air filled with a subtle tension.
Blie scratched her head and stopped.
When she straightened up from her buried position, Lottie's reddish-brown eyes were deeply staring at her.
The heart that she had locked up and frozen for a moment fluttered. She felt a slight nausea.
"...It's unlike a teacher. You didn't stop me from going anywhere. Even when I first came to Ronta."
Lottie was only looking at the floor. Blie silently stared at her teacher.
"That necklace. The mana stone attached to it. It contains the Emperor's magic. Why did you accept it? Didn't you say that you helped the first Emperor Caldeion establish Ronta and the first King of Elarcon establish Elarcon a long time ago and lost a lot of magic? You've only been doing research since then. If you needed a lot of magic, why didn't you ask me for help?"
"Can't I not go?"
The answer to countless questions was the same as before. Blie stared at her teacher, speechless at Lottie's unusual behavior.
After fiddling with the necklace for a long time without saying anything, the teacher suddenly stopped moving. At that moment, Blie realized that time had stopped.
In the still air, Lottie, who had been exuding a strange tension, reached out her short and plump hand to the brightly shining necklace.
Suddenly, in the light of the necklace that was flashing, the shape of the short and plump hand slowly lengthened and turned white.
Blie's eyes widened in disbelief at the unbelievable sight.
Tears welled up in her eyes for no reason.
When the light disappeared, the 'real' Lottie was in front of her.
Skin as white and soft as snow.
The faded silver hair that had been braided to one side turned into a silver hair that sparkled like a jewel.
Long, dense silver eyelashes fluttered and the reddish-brown eyes that had been her eyes sparkled with their original red light.
The delicately sculpted, jewel-like, elegant face was clouded with a sad light. Blie opened her mouth, breathless.
"Teacher?"
The 'man' Lottie, with a face as fresh as a water fairy from a lake.
It was the appearance that had made Blie's heart flutter just once.
The teacher, who had said it was more comfortable living as an old man with a small body rather than a beautiful man, had returned to his original form.
The old man's appearance, which he had maintained by using up all the remaining magic, had completely disappeared without a trace.
He was the man who had bluntly rejected her when she confessed her love as a child, blindly infatuated with his appearance.
His eyes were no longer those of that time when he looked at a naive child who was confessing recklessly.
"Can't I not go?"
His voice, which had been neither a man's nor a woman's, was now a completely manly voice, moist with emotion, as it reached her ears.
It was the same voice as when she had first fallen in love with him, a voice that was gentle, beautiful, and cruel.
He asked again, with a face that seemed so desperate to be by her side, as if he had regained the appearance and magic that he had abandoned for himself.
It was an expression that made her have that illusion.
Terjemahan bebas (lebih natural):
"Can't I stay?"
His voice, once androgynous, now held a deep, masculine timbre, filled with longing. It was the same voice that had first captured her heart—tender, alluring, and tinged with a hint of cruelty.
He asked again, his expression filled with a desperation that seemed to suggest he had regained his former appearance and magical powers just to be with her. It was an expression that made her believe, just for a moment, that this was possible.
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