What did this look like…?
“Oh. I’m going, really!”
After coming out there, she wondered why they were making such a fuss, and it seemed like it was because of her. Without hesitation, she immediately left the room. She needed to get her words out of there before things got complicated. If the Duke even saw that sight, the child’s horse could have been disposed of. It was when she had just left the mansion that she let out a small breath at the sight that had changed from just before.
“…this.”
The Duke, who hadn’t been there before, was standing near the rampaging horse. So she hurried over there.
“What the hell is the fuss about?”
“I’m sorry, Duke. Suddenly, this child struggled and ran amok, so I ended up coming here.”
Bruno bowed his head to the Duke, not knowing what to do.
“…Suddenly ran amok?”
“Yes, it is.”
“If Deliam, who was there, was hurt, what would you do?”
She stood behind the Duke and looked at the child standing across from her. The child was looking at this place with very uneasy eyes.
“Without any lengthy words, dispose of this immediately.”
“…yes. All right.”
“And you…”
She blocked the Duke’s path before he could finish his words. The Duke, who saw her, frowned.
“What are you doing?”
“It happened because of me.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I’ll take care of everything, so can’t you just leave the horse alone?”
“So, is it your fault?”
“Yes. I am the cause.”
“Tell me straight. What are you talking about?”
“That horse fell in love with me. That’s why.”
“…It looks like a joke right now.”
Despite the fact that he seemed to be getting more and more ferocious, she shrugged her shoulders as if nothing was wrong.
“What can I do if it’s true? That horse came all the way here to find me.”
She quickly glanced at Bruno. Bruno hesitated before opening his mouth.
“This child saw the young lady earlier and liked her very much. The fact that the child came all this way happened when the young lady was away…”
The Duke swept back his hair with a puzzled look on his face.
“Look. Am I right? So hold me accountable.”
“Oh, no! I was wrong. No wonder I asked to go with Elia…”
Before she knew it, the child who came next to her said with a small cry. The Duke, who looked at her and the child for a while, let out a small sigh.
“I hope this will be the last time this happens.”
“Thank you, Duke.”
“Father, thank you…”
It was time to face each other and smile in relief.
“You follow me.”
“…Me?”
“A while ago, you said that you would take responsibility, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but…”
“Stop talking and follow me.”
The Dukke turned himself up and began to walk briskly, and she quickly followed after him. When she looked back for a moment, the child was staring at her with a worried look. After a reassuring smile, she followed him into the mansion. The more she followed the Duke, the more she began to regret it. Did she say she was responsible for nothing? She couldn’t figure out how the Duke would hold her accountable. The place she arrived after following the Duke was his office. He walked over to his desk and took something from the bottom drawer and returned with it.
“Sit down.”
“Yes.”
The Duke, who was sitting on the sofa across from her, held out a document and a fountain pen to her.
“…That contract from before?”
“From now on, I’m going to revise some of the provisions of the contract. Just as I call you, don’t omit a word and write it down.”
“…yes?”
The Duke, who raised his head arrogantly, looked at her as if she was doing something without hurrying to grab his fountain pen. She reluctantly lifted his fountain pen.
“What shall I write?”
“From the 26th clause written in the second chapter.”
Clause 26? She turned the back page of the contract with a curious mind.
“…You’re not trying to change the compensation conditions, are you?”
She hoped that her thoughts would be heard. Yes, probably not…
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“It’s okay to change.”
The Duke still stared at her with an arrogant gaze. For a moment, she felt the urge to poke her fingers into those eyeballs.
“It’s nothing else, but why are you trying to change the compensation conditions?”
“Isn’t it the compensation condition that you are most anxious about?”
“…No matter how much it is, isn’t it too much?”
“You were the one who said you would take responsibility. So write.”
No, but she thought it’s too much. She glared at the Duke with a feeling of unfairness.
“Half the amount of the existing compensation conditions…”
“…Like a zombie.”
“What did you say?”
“Yes? I didn’t say anything.”
She shamelessly pretended not to know and wrote.
“So what next?”
Waiting for the next words while muttering inwardly that she was the unluckiest person in the world, it was somehow quiet. What else? It was the moment when she suddenly lifted her head. What? Was she wrong now? She rubbed her eyes, just in case, but she saw the same thing. Unbelievably, he was laughing with a hint of amusement.
“You don’t like cutting the reward in half, do you? …Why no answer?”
“…yes, yes?”
“I asked if you wouldn’t like to cut the reward in half.”
She nodded right away.
“Of course.”
“Then what about amending Clause 36?”
At those words, she lowered her gaze to the contract. Clause 36 was the part where the contract period was specified.
“Are you sure you want to correct this?”
“If you don’t want to reduce the compensation amount.”
“How are you going to fix it?”
“You decide whether to do it or not.”
She thought for a moment, then nodded. Still, it’s better than the award that the indemnity was modified.
“Then write it down.”
“Yes.”
“Even if the charges are cleared due to clear evidence, B must extend and continue the contract until A wishes.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
She raised her head in amazement.
“…Duke. Doesn’t that sound like a lot of time?”
“Write it down because you don’t want to see it anymore.”
She glared at him while holding the fountain pen tightly. It’s like writing a long-term slave contract with her own hands. She didn’t know why the Duke would change the clause in this way. Of the many provisions, she managed to write down all the sentences and put a period.
“…I wrote it.”
She reluctantly handed over the amended contract. The Duke who quickly took the contract confirmed what she had written.
“What’s wrong? It’s just a revision of a non-trivial clause anyway.”
“You’re not asking because you don’t know, are you?”
“Okay, let’s get out.”
Now that he had got what he wanted, was he kicking her out without regret? She glared at the Duke with a feeling of unfairness, then stood up. As soon as she came out of the house and the door closed, she let out a deep sigh.
“Oh hey, it’s my seller.”
With all fighting spirit lost, he trudged toward the room. When she arrived at the room and opened the door, the child ran as if he had been waiting for it.
“Elia!”
“Huh.”
“Were you scolded by father?” the child asked in a worried voice.
“Rather than being scolded, I solved it well.”
“Really?”
She nodded.
“Then I’m glad.”
“What do you mean?”
“Bruno took them to the stable.”
“Didn’t he run amok again?”
“Yes. This time I calmly followed him.”
He felt threatened that he might die, so he must have quietly followed him. She pictured a white horse like Wen Sui in her mind.
“Charles. Now I see he must be a troublemaker. I’ll punish him later.”
“Charles?”
“Yes. It’s the horse’s name.”
“Okay, if Charles gets into another accident later, let’s go and punish him.”
“Thank you very much, Elia.”
The child suddenly hugged her tightly. Suddenly, it took the form of a child burying itself in her arms. She smiled quietly.
“I didn’t do much, what?”
“You know, Elia.”
“Huh.”
“I really like Elia. It keeps getting better.”
She looked down at the child for a moment. His face was buried, so she couldn’t tell what expression he was making.
“I like Liam too.”
“Really?”
“Ugh. Really.”
“Then when will you marry my father?”
“…what?”
She blinked her eyes in bewilderment.
“Elia is my mother.”
The boy raised his head and stared at her with his eyes wide open. She knew perfectly well that the child thought of her, but she didn’t know how to take that. What’s more, she was going to marry that unlucky person?
“Well, wouldn’t that be a bit different?”
“What’s different?”
“The Duke and I are not worthy of marriage. Marriage is between people who love each other.”
“Elia is my mother no matter what anyone says?”
“The Duke hates me. I don’t like people who hate me either.”
She seemed to think about the child for a moment, then opened her mouth.
“…Then, next birthday, I will tell my father to marry Elia instead of a birthday present.”
No, what was this again?
“Hey, Liam?”
“Yes, Ellie.”
“The Duke and I don’t love each other, so we can’t get married.”
“Why?”
…At this moment, the child was visible through the window in the wall. If he was asking while pretending not to know the Duke, she really didn’t know what to say, so she was even more speechless.
“…For now, let’s think about that issue again later.”
The child nodded his head slowly.
“What else do you want to do now?”
“I want to take a nap with Elia.”
“Is that enough? Isn’t it like playing in the garden or something?”
The child nodded.
“Okay, then let’s do it.”
Together, they lay down and looked at each other. When she opened her arms, he came into her arms as if the child had been waiting for them.
“…Elia, if you wake up a little later.”
“Huh.”
“Eat the cookies father made…”
“Okay.”
She looked down at the child in her arms, completely asleep. After slowly stroking the small and pretty crown of her head, she also slowly closed her eyes.
* * *
Deliam’s birthday passed, and peaceful days continued. He went to play in the stables with his horse and got all sorts of licks from Charles, but it was no more than a minor thing. Then he was around a few more days. And the reason was because Ladiana started visiting the duchy every day.
She looked at Deliam, who was sitting on her right, once at Ladiana, who was sitting on her left, and once at the Duke, who was sitting across from her. In the middle of a long conversation with Ladiana, the two suddenly entered without saying a word, and it became like this.
“What can you all say?”
“Shall I just leave?”
They let out a deep sigh as they remained silent. The child was acting as a child, and the Duke was staring at me with a very displeased expression. Ladiana only had a calm expression, but she was drinking tea with her mouth shut.
She stared at La Diana, the cause of this situation. What the hell was this woman thinking? At this point, she felt a little uneasy. Ladiana was no different from a celebrity among the nobles. Her family was the biggest reason she became a celebrity. Ladiana’s father, Count Lougide Blond, and his wife, Kersha Blond, were originally close friends of the late Emperor. However, the current Emperor, Ivan Recardo, stopped interacting with the Blonde family.
The main reason was to prevent other noble families from targeting the count family. As a result, the meeting between Ladiana and the Emperor was mainly held in an external location other than the imperial castle. However, despite the Emperor’s efforts, the nobles were keeping an eye on the count’s family. Since Ladiana, the daughter of such a count’s family, began to visit the Duke family incessantly, they couldn’t help but gossip about it. Rumor had it that the Duke and Ladiana would soon be getting married.
At this point, she didn’t know what the Duke was thinking. There was no way that the duke was unaware of the spread of these rumors, so why on earth did he allow the visit? According to the original development, the Duke was obsessed with Ladiana, but there was nothing new about it. However, that terrible obsession was put off for a while when it was related to Deliam. It was said that even the Duke would spare himself if he judged that his son, Deliam, wouldn’t suffer even a little damage.
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Translator Note:
I will be out for 2 weeks (a family travel yay!!) so sorry but I won’t be posting. I will be back with more chapters as soon as I return. Thank you all!!
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on September, 10.
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