EWOWMAIBTYPF Chapter 194

Chapter 194

 

At Lucio’s confession, Lia stood frozen stiff, saying nothing.

Though Lucio had secretly hoped for a reply like “I love you too,” he quickly adjusted his expectations.

He should be grateful that Lia wasn’t pushing him away at all.

Just then, Lia reached out and gently brushed the corner of Lucio’s eye.

Thinking it was a gesture without clear reason, Lucio blinked—only for teardrops to fall with a plop onto Lia’s cheek.

It was only then that Lucio realized he was crying.

Startled for a moment, he noticed Lia’s eyes growing moist as well and let out a small smile.

Lia, letting out a faint smile in return, slowly closed her eyes.

“…”

That was all the answer he needed to his confession.

Feeling his heart swell with emotion, Lucio gently kissed her, much more cautiously than before.

Lia wrapped her arms around Lucio’s neck and held him tight.

Their lips met with no space between them, and the pounding of hearts was felt, whose it was, it was hard to tell.

Lucio felt dizzy from the overwhelming sense of happiness.

It felt like a dream.

As the sweet kiss deepened to the point where he thought he could die happily in that moment…

“…?”

Lucio paused and pulled back slightly.

Lia’s arms, which had been wrapped around him, fell limp.

When he looked up, it wasn’t just her arms—Lia’s entire body was slumped, completely unresponsive.

“Lia…?”

He called her name again, but with her eyes calmly closed and no reaction, his heart sank.

Frantically checking her breathing and pulse, Lucio suddenly realized…

Lia had fainted mid-kiss.

 

***

 

“My child!”

“Adriana!”

“Lia!”

The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Belus, along with the former Marquis of Diapel, rushed out, calling Lia’s name and instantly surrounding Lucio, who had just stepped down from the carriage.

Naturally so—he was holding the unconscious Lia in his arms.

“What on earth happened?”

The Grand Duchess asked sharply.

Lucio, rarely one to get nervous, instinctively swallowed hard.

He had tried to avoid attention by leaving the palace discreetly and heading straight to the marquis’ residence, but he hadn’t expected to run into her family right at the front entrance.

“She was perfectly fine just a few hours ago. I think you’d better explain why she looks like this and why she’s with you.”

As the Grand Duchess pressed again in a cold tone, the Duke of Elard, unable to watch his son struggle, stepped in to mediate.

“Lucio, we’ve just returned from the palace ourselves. We were surprised to hear during lunch that Lia had gone there, so we went after her. We heard a bit from the Second Prince… Did Lia go to see you after everything?”

As the Duke spoke, Lucio reluctantly tore his gaze from Lia, now in the Grand Duke’s arms, and nodded.

“Yes. She came to find me.”

“Then why is she like this?”

“She may have overexerted herself…”

Lucio, recalling something Lia had said, started to answer, but quickly bit his tongue, realizing it might be misunderstood.

But that only made things worse.

The Grand Duchess, seeing Lucio grimace from the pain on his bitten lip and raise his hand to his mouth, widened her eyes.

At that moment, the former Marquis, who had been checking Lia’s complexion, murmured,

“Wait, why are Lia’s lips so swollen?”

“…”

An awkward silence fell.

They’d all been too shocked by her collapse to notice earlier, but now it was obvious—both Lia’s and Lucio’s lips were swollen and red.

Clear evidence left by two complete novices to kissing.

The Grand Duke, known for his shocking lack of awareness, slowly looked back and forth between Lia and Lucio.

Lucio tensed up without realizing it, clenching his fists.

“No way…”

As the Grand Duke’s face gradually twisted in horror, Lucio swallowed dryly.

He had long since abandoned the idea of gradually earning favor with the Grand Duke’s family after the incident with the family heirloom.

‘But still, I didn’t mean to offend them this badly…’

Of course, if Lia’s family disapproved of him, the soft-hearted Lia might be more attentive to him—but it would also make her feel troubled, and he didn’t want that.

Just as Lucio let out a sigh and opened his mouth to explain…

“Adriana! I’m here!”

Suddenly, a gust of wind and a puff of smoke appeared as Ascart burst onto the scene.

“Huh? Why are you all out here? I thought I was…wait, Lia!”

Ascart, who had just used a teleportation scroll from the imperial docks to arrive at the marquis’ estate, approached with a bright smile, only to freeze at the sight of Lia in the Grand Duke’s arms.

“Father, what happened? Lia! Wake up! Why is her face so pale? And what’s with her lips—why are they so swollen?!”

At his words, the Grand Duke closed his eyes in despair, and the former Marquis, who had been holding his neck, reached out to point at Lucio.

“Lucio?”

Ascart looked at Lucio with a puzzled expression, then turned back to Lia.

Even he, famously dense, seemed to catch on as cracks slowly spread across his cheerful expression.

Just as Lucio tried to remain calm and called out “Ascart,” the Grand Duke murmured in a sorrowful voice,

“How hard did you push the girl for her to faint…”

At that moment, Ascart’s eyes widened.

“Lucio, y-you sly! You wolf-like—!”

Unable to even curse properly, Ascart jumped up and charged at Lucio.

“I thought of you as my dearest friend! Even on the way here, I kept hoping it wasn’t true!”

Lucio, who truly had no excuse, relaxed his body, accepting Ascart’s grab at his collar.

Then.

“Ascart.”

The Grand Duchess placed a hand on Ascart’s shoulder, stopping him.

“You did well coming all the way here. Let’s go inside now.”

“But Mother, that guy did something to our Adriana…!”

“If Adriana had truly hated it…”

Gently calming her son, the Grand Duchess looked at Lucio, whose face resembled her close friend.

“Do you think he would still be standing there unharmed? Either he’d have a sword stuck in one of his limbs or would have already been turned into a human skewer by fire.”

“!”

Realization struck Ascart, and he shivered at the horrifying image.

As much as he was angry, he didn’t like the idea of Lucio ending up like that either.

Still shocked by what had happened to his sister, Ascart sniffled as he spoke.

“I still thought our Lia was just a little girl…”

“Indeed.”

Giving Lucio a frosty look, the Grand Duchess led Ascart inside, followed by the Grand Duke and the former Marquis.

The previously chaotic space quickly fell into silence.

Duke Elard approached the stunned Lucio.

“Even so, wasn’t making her faint a bit much?”

“…”

“As a father of a daughter myself, this is just…”

Lucio silently looked at his father, who was shaking his head, then suddenly spoke.

“Father, I have something urgent to tell you.”

His voice was lower and more serious than usual.

The Duke looked at Lucio with surprise, then nodded.

“Yes. We’ll need to set the engagement date soon.”

“Engagement?”

Lucio frowned at the unexpected comment, but Duke Elard chuckled and shook his head, interpreting it his own way.

“You’re in such a rush, aren’t you? Planning the wedding already? The Grand Duchess won’t approve of that so easily. Still, I suppose it’s been years since you’ve been apart—you must have missed her terribly.”

“…”

Lucio simply stared at his father, who was already mentally preparing for the wedding.

The Duke then paused, narrowing his eyes.

“You didn’t get her into trouble, did you?”

He jumped in alarm, saying that if that were the case, the Grand Duchess might kill him, but then immediately looked secretly excited at the idea of becoming a grandfather.

Seeing this, Lucio burst into laughter.

He couldn’t remember the last time he laughed so freely, without any burdens.

Thus, on their way to the duke’s estate to report that the matter of the devil’s relic had been resolved, Lucio continued to humor his father’s excited banter.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, at the Count Amber estate.

“Sniff, sob…”

“Our poor lady…”

“Can’t you all be quiet?!”

Clara, with both hands wrapped in bandages, shouted as she paced around the room.

The nanny and maids, who had been packing with tears in their eyes, flinched and stifled their sobs.

Still, Clara’s frayed nerves didn’t settle.

It was only natural—imperial knights were stationed outside the estate like prison guards, following the emperor’s command to leave the capital and return to Count Amber’s domain by tomorrow afternoon.

Her father, Count Amber, had stormed out in a rage upon hearing the news.

He had spent his life seeking a son-in-law who could elevate the house of Amber through Clara. It made sense he was furious.

No man would want a disgraced woman punished by the emperor, confined to a small territory and banned from the capital.

Eventually, Clara’s tears, long held back, burst forth.

She didn’t understand how she ended up like this.

“This is all Adriana’s fault…”

Roughly wiping away her tears, Clara recalled the moment she was dragged by knights and forced into a carriage at the palace.

Another carriage had pulled up abruptly, and out stepped the former Marquis, the Grand Duke, the Grand Duchess, and Duke Elard.

Relieved and hopeful, she called out desperately, and only then did they widen their eyes upon seeing her.

The knights gripping her arms loosened their hold, flinching under the former Marquis’s dark glare.

At that moment, Clara truly believed they had come to save her.

That they would scold Adriana for being so heartless to her only cousin, and convince the emperor to reverse the punishment.