Edited

44.

‘Kano?’

Erika, who was in the corner of the library, momentarily listened with interest to the lively conversation.

“Still, as they say, Diazi is Diazi. He was so beautiful, almost as if not human, but he was real. How could someone look like that?”

Maid 2 spoke as if still enchanted by the thought.

Erika agreed with those words. Even with the same face, while Nicholas Diazi had a cold demeanor, Norma Diazi, who always had a smile on her face, was like human sunshine, which was overwhelmingly destructive.

“Oh, you have no loyalty! Lord Kano is one of us, the McFoy family!”

Maid 1 lightly rebuked Maid 2.

“Well, with that face and that physique, what can one do objectively? And how is Lord Kano part of the McFoy family? Lord Kano isn’t even a citizen of the Empire.”

“Still, I like Lord Kano’s bursting muscles and his dark skin, as if burned on top of his stomach. I think true manly beauty is Lord Kano. Just seeing Diazi’s countenance makes Diazi’s family worthy of awe, and just imagining holding hands with them feels like committing a sin.”

Maid 3 intervened. It was a fairly serious and stern voice.

‘They’re really talking about all sorts of nonsense. Well, that’s to be expected.’

Erika closed her stiff eyes and silently listened to their increasingly intense gossip.

Today and yesterday, McFoy was noisy due to a feud between two men. It was obviously a fight over Lord Kano, but the parties involved simply dismissed it as Kano’s unwarranted jealousy.

As for our Lord, she saw Lord Norma Diazi as a character from mythology or fairy tales. Maid 3 had at least imagined holding hands with him, but our Lord lacked so much imagination in this regard.

It was clear that they thought the fight between the two men was simply Kano’s fight, and Norma was just accepting it.

However, Erika didn’t see it that way. Norma Diazi was sincerely engaged in the fight and genuinely provoking our Lord.

‘You may be quick-witted, but… you’re too naive in this regard.’

Our Lord always acted as if mundane things like dating or leisure activities were a matter of life and death. Perhaps that’s why she lacked so much imagination in this regard.

‘Only the two men who have Lord in their hearts suffer.’

Especially Kano, who had spent years by their side and had a history with Lord, even to Erika as a third party, it seemed quite pitiful.

‘He’ll just continue his promiscuous ways, casually meeting and mingling with various women. Why suddenly act like an innocent man, enamored with our Lord?’

Erika wasn’t exactly sure when Kano started orbiting around Lord Aisa after putting aside his libertine lifestyle. From what Erika remembered, it was probably shortly after Aisa became an adult and was suddenly engaged.

‘But with Kano’s methods and background, it’s difficult to ensnare Lord.’

Aisa was younger in terms of romantic affairs and was someone who adhered to self-imposed rigid rules. Rather than passionate love, it would be easier to capture her attention by listing the benefits she would gain by having him by her side in a logical manner.

Kano probably knew that too, but his fiery pride made it difficult for him to hide even one of his emotions.

At that moment, Maid 1’s voice sounded even closer than before.

“Oh! No, After all, one is from the Diazi family, and the other is a foreigner. I’ll stick with Harry Fallon, whom I can see every day!”

Erika stood up with a scraping sound of her chair. It was a gesture filled with discomfort.

“Eek!”

“Eek!”

“Gasp! L-Lady Seymour.”

Maid 1, 2, and 3 screamed as if they had seen a ghost. Erika glared at them coldly.

* * *

For several days, the nightmares persisted. I tried to wake up from the realization that it was a nightmare, but I couldn’t move a muscle as if pinned down by scissors.

It wasn’t until I was drenched in cold sweat that I could open my eyes.

“Ah, ugh.”

I breathed heavily while staring blankly into space. Slowly, I calmed my breathing.

“Sigh… I must be going crazy these days.”

Thinking that I should drink some water, I tried to sit up.

I felt a weight on my stomach. It was light, but it had a significant presence.

“Hmm?”

I rolled my eyes and glanced down at my stomach. Once again, when people are too shocked, they can’t even scream.

“…”

The thing that had been lying roundly on my stomach suddenly rose up. Then, it lunged towards my face.

“Wha… what the!”

With a scream, I fell off the bed, and with my scream, the bedroom door slammed open.

“Lord! What’s wrong!”

At the same time, Glenn’s voice, rough with morning sleepiness, echoed in the bedroom.

Audaciously, Antoinette, who had ambushed me, confidently placed her foot on my chest, which was now grotesquely distorted under the bed.

“No! That beast…!”

Seeing me sprawled on the floor, Glenn rushed over in anger. It didn’t look like Antoinette was going to let me go without a fight.

However, whether she had adapted to McFoy Castle or not, Antoinette paid no attention to Glenn, who was approaching menacingly. Antoinette stood on my chest, licked my cheek with a rough tongue, and cuddled the innocent baby beast in my arms, hastily raising my palm to block Glenn. Glenn, taken aback, couldn’t make a move towards me.

“How did she get in?”

I asked, raising my eyebrows. Antoinette tilted her head against my chin as if trying to appease me with her cuteness.

“Lord, what’s this in the morning…?”

At that moment, Erika’s voice was heard. She looked obviously worn out from staying up all night.

“Isn’t it the beast Lord Diazi brought? Did you sleep with that beast last night?”

“I don’t know. Can someone just help me up first?”

Anyway, Erika seemed subtly annoyed.

Once I stood up, I glanced at Erika and then at Antoinette. Antoinette was now sitting on my instep, looking up at me with innocent eyes, which made me chuckle involuntarily.

“Cute, but… because of you, my knights are in trouble.”

No matter how much of a baby beast she was, when an intruder appeared out of nowhere, Glenn had been making threatening gestures all along. Still, why hadn’t he said, “Please kill it, Lord!” until now?

I bent down and lifted Antoinette in my arms.

“Take her to Lord Diazi,” I instructed Glenn.

Glenn tried to take Antoinette from me.

That’s when Antoinette turned into a fierce little beast. When Glenn reached out to me, she growled and slipped out of my hand.

Frightened, she began nibbling on the edge of my robe. This won’t do.

“Sigh… Summon someone from the Diazi family. Ah, that Bains fellow or something. He was in charge of feeding her, so find him.”

“My Lord, your schedule is tight today. Shouldn’t you―”

Feeling Erika’s urging, I looked down at Antoinette in embarrassment. What is she going to do?

“…For now, I’ll take her with me, so send Bains to my office.”

I reached out to Antoinette again, clicking my tongue. Perhaps feeling a sense of betrayal at handing herself over to Glenn, Antoinette hesitated for a moment.

“I was wrong. Come here.”

Being authoritative was the right approach, just like dealing with children.

* * *

“It’s not like we missed anything, right? Would that despicable fellow really endure being expelled from the family for love?”

The news Erika brought wasn’t what I had hoped for.

“No excuses, My Lord. I’ll widen the scope of people we contact.”

“We don’t have time, so hurry up. If we go to the temple trial, it’ll be difficult to torment them our way.”

“Yes, Lord.”

I sighed softly and unconsciously stroked Antoinette’s chin. I felt a little better.

“So, is this the new candidate for my husband?”

I asked, gesturing to the thick pile of papers.

“Yes. The reason there are fewer candidates than last time is probably because most of the Lord’s peers are already married. Excluding those already engaged, the age range… seems to be lower.”

“…At least they’ve had their coming-of-age ceremonies.”

I muttered with cloudy eyes.

“In a way, they’re about to have it.”

Erika said firmly.

Sigh. I felt a strong sense of reluctance and thought, why not just get married?

“…My recommendation would be…”

As Erika resolutely passed me the thick pile of papers to recommend one of the candidates, there was a smart knock on the door of the office.

“It seems like Bains has arrived. He’s later than I expected.”

I gestured to the knight guarding the door, indicating it was okay to open it, and reached out to Antoinette. The door opened, and Antoinette sat on my thigh as if to say it was okay.

“…?”

And there stood an unexpected figure in the doorway. I looked down at Antoinette with surprise.

‘She came without sending a knight. She must be quite popular.’

When Antoinette spotted the man standing in the doorway, she jumped up excitedly. Watching her leave my thigh without any lingering attachment brought me joy.

The man in the doorway carefully hugged Antoinette, who had run to him like a flash of lightning.

‘What’s happening so early in the morning.’

The person who came to take Antoinette was Norma Diazi.

He was dressed casually, but somehow more meticulously than usual. His well-built physique showed subtly under his attire, which was neat yet stylish.

Adding amethyst embellishments to match the occasion at McFoy was quite satisfying. His slightly more exposed forehead than usual gave off a subtly different vibe.

Erika thought to herself that he must have deliberately come today.

“Good morning, My Lord.”

Whether it was because of his mood or not, Norma flashed a morning smile at me with flushed cheeks.

“…Yes, good morning.”

Feeling as if the grip of the nightmares and the issue with Philip had loosened, I put on a slightly more composed expression.

Erika quickly stood up and greeted Norma respectfully before stepping back. I gestured for him to take a seat opposite me.

“Antoinette behaved rudely to the Lord, please forgive her.”

Norma said with a pitiful expression.

“…Yes, well. It’s okay.”

“It seems she visited Lord’s bedroom last night. It seems she wanted to see Lord more since there isn’t much time left for her to stay.”

“How can you know that Antoinette doesn’t have much time left to stay?”

“Antoinette is smart and knows everything. So, you need to be careful what you say.”

Norma’s face as he said so was quite serious. He went a step further, placing his index finger on his lips and pretended to watch Antoinette’s reaction.

Seeing his playful demeanor, I couldn’t help but smirk.

‘A big guy like him finding it cute…?’

Then I quickly regained my composure. Blaming it on the excessive stress, Norma spoke up again.
T/N: Do you guys smell it. Its the smell I know of hmmm, the smell is smelly. The smell is of Contract marriage.