Translator: Nox

Chapter 57

57. Because I Can't Love You

Marquis Lev's eyes, which had been full of anticipation, flickered with a hint of disappointment.

But it was better than nothing.

If it hadn't been for an excuse related to Yuan, he wouldn't have even been able to bring up such a thing to his nephew.

The very phrase "I'll think about it" held significant meaning.

It was proof that Klaud was finally considering a better future.

Marquis Lev watched Klaud's hands, busily handling the work piled up before him, as if trying to shake off any distracting thoughts.

Perhaps the blueprint for the commercial city, Rockenhardt, which Klaud had initially predicted would be realized much sooner than expected, was densely packed within those documents.

There are things that cannot be hidden, no matter how hard one tries to deny them.

"My happiness is one of those things."

Marquis Lev lowered his face, hiding his emotion.

"Feeding, clothing, and showing good things to my wife and children… Since the late Empress passed away, my happiness has been solely in such things. The kind you, Your Highness, used to mock not long ago."

Klaud's quill paused briefly before resuming its rapid movement.

"Looking back, there's no greater happiness than that."

"Here we go again. I can practically recite the lines now. It's like my uncle only ever talks about how happy I seem."

"At least you don't seem unhappy."

"……."

"The fact that you're even considering the future is a great joy to me."

Klaud roughly put down the quill that had been moving busily.

Whether Mosan Rebeu Marquis Lev looked at him with tearful eyes or not.

He crossed his arms and stared at the Painkiller in front of him for a long time before tearing open one of the packaged Painkiller and swallowing it with cold water.

"...Since I can't love you, this is the only way."

Klaud gave the Marquis that twisted, dark smile of his.

Even after tearing it open and swallowing it, he still gripped the bundle of Painkiller tightly in his large hand, as if he would crush it.

---

The news that Marquis Lev left behind as he left work, <Debutante in the Marquisate>, was no different from a bombshell to the young maids who envied the grand Debutante at the Imperial Palace as if it existed only in dreams.

"Madam. You must trust me entirely?"

"Monica, you always act so pretentious. What good are you to Madam when you can't even braid hair properly?"

"You're the one who does those chores, Henna! High-class personnel like me only give instructions. Isn't that right, Canaria?"

"You can't even do it properly. You almost missed curfew because you were gossiping at the dress shop. The butler knows you're trying to slack off using Madam as an excuse."

The maids were in the middle of a heated argument in the drawing room, where they had hastily summoned the dressmaker, Michelle. Yuan sat blankly among the boisterous maids.

While Michelle and Monica were seriously discussing re-measuring the dimensions that had been taken recently, and debating about the hair ornaments and neckline, it felt like she was dreaming.

"I'm already married... Does a Debutante even make sense? More than that, did His Highness allow me to go to such a flamboyant event?"

"Don't worry, Madam. Marquis Lev said it himself. You're going as an invited guest, so you can just mingle with the young ladies and enjoy yourself. He repeatedly told me not to feel pressured."

Butler Gustav replied gently.

One after another, pure white organza, apricot, and light pink silk, suitable for a Debutante, were draped and then unfolded around Yuan's neck and shoulders.

The maids were more excited than Yuan. Henna, who had been glancing at the dazed Yuan, quickly approached and whispered.

"Madam. His Highness is being good to you, so just say thank you and accept it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You skipped the wedding, so this much is okay, right!"

Yuan barely lifted the corners of her mouth to smile and slowly nodded. But as Henna's gaze shifted to the fabric, her face clouded over again.

'Does His Highness really see Apollyni Princess in me?'

If not, she couldn't understand why he kept being so kind to her, even though he wasn't very interested in her.

No man throws a Debutante for his married wife.

No, she didn't know for sure, but it probably didn't happen.

The late Apollyni Princess, who was said to be the same age as Yuan, would now be preparing to be the star of the Imperial Court Debutante.

'Maybe he sees Apollyni Princess in Madam.'

'The two of you have a similar aura. And you're the same age.'

Henna's face, as she cheerfully chose the pearls to decorate the dress, overlapped with that day.

Right. What does it matter what the reason is?

What's important is living with him as a family in this Mansion.

'If I think of him as my brother... then it'll be okay.'

Klaud's heart, which had been suppressing the pain, throbbed painfully.

Yuan managed to put on a faint smile on her pale face and mingled with the maids who were fiddling with the fabric.

-Thud.

"M-Madam!"

"Madam! This handkerchief—."

Two or three drops of bright red blood fell on the white organza.

"Huh?"

Yuan quickly caught the blood with her hand.

It was a sudden nosebleed.

"I knew you were overdoing it lately! I can't live like this, really!"

Henna looked upset and quickly brought more things to wipe it with.

Yuan was surprised herself, but she smiled to reassure the maids.

"I guess so. I should have listened to you, Henna."

"I told you to sleep in in the morning and not to suffer by joining the baggage cart to fetch water—!"

The reason Yuan went to the small Chapel every day was ostensibly to get some fresh air and pray, but the reality was different.

The pain she absorbed every night for Klaud's clean face was considerable.

Unable to loudly release the remaining pain in her room, Yuan had no choice but to head to the deserted Chapel cemetery early in the morning.

Under the guise of taking care of Oliver's grave, Yuan screamed out the pain that remained in her body there.

It was aimed at the gap before all the maids went to fetch water and before the priests came to the Chapel.

"You must be too tired. You're trying to help with the merchant guild's work, and now you're even preparing for the Debutante. Aren't you feeling a little sentimental?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Yuan nodded at Henna's worried question.

Canaria and Monica, who had been quietly watching, made a suggestion in response.

"How about visiting the cemetery in the Marquisate? You always felt better after visiting there, right? It's been a while since you went two weeks ago."

"That's a good idea. It would be nice to look around the jewelry stores in the Marquisate while we're at it. We should separate Madam from Hille so she doesn't work so much!"

Yuan slowly nodded at the maids' urging.

"It's about time I went. Thank you for your concern, Henna. And Canaria and Monica too."

---

Count Geret Pellieze was finding the week-long carriage journey very difficult.

He was lying down in a comfortable four-wheeled carriage, and he kept stopping at every town he saw to rest, so the journey, which would have taken 3-4 days at the earliest, was being endlessly delayed.

Ignoring the annoyed eyes of the secret agent Giyotel, Count Pellieze stared intently at the signs posted at the largest trading houses in each town:

<Cleaning Potion, Pre-Order Now Open!>

Having arrived near the Rebeu Marquis family's cemetery.

Count Pellieze, who didn't have the courage to boldly enter the cemetery, which was located on a low hill for no apparent reason, deliberately parked an unmarked hired carriage on the path leading up to the cemetery and began to observe whether anyone was coming or going.

"If they come once or twice a month, that means they come once every two weeks. I've come at the right time. It'll be soon."

For the first few days, the Count had been enthusiastic about staking out the area, commuting from an inn in a nearby town, but by the third day, his face was tired and he stared out the window with eyes like rotten pollock.

The only people who would visit the Marquis family's cemetery were their relatives, so there wasn't even an ant passing by outside.

As he became more uncomfortable, the Count began to consider the unreasonable idea of kidnapping Yuan and bringing her to him instead of meeting her directly, but he was soon startled by the sound of hooves loudly shaking the ground, and he pulled his hat down and peeked out through the window.

"!"

A golden four-wheeled carriage, clearly visible from afar. And to top it off, the jewels embedded in the tips of the decorations that rose up were sparkling...

"B-Bolonico?"

First Prince Bolonico Euphris.

Geret Pellieze was now encountering someone he absolutely shouldn't meet in this remote cemetery.

---

The carriage from the Black Manor, which had left the Mansion early in the morning, entered the Marquisate around noon.

Yuan, holding a bouquet of wildflowers she had woven, entered the cemetery, where an unexpected guest had already arrived.

"May there be eternal glory to the great Euphris."

"Ah, Sister-in-law—."

It was First Prince Bolonico, whom she had met briefly at the wedding anniversary party.

First Prince Bolonico, who received a bouquet of chrysanthemums from a bluish-skinned attendant, greeted her as warmly as if they were close friends.

He was standing in front of the nameless tombstone of her sister, Louise Pellieresse.

"I was looking around because there was a nameless tombstone here, wondering what the story was. What about you, Sister-in-law?"

"...I came to pay my respects to the late Emperor and the late Empress, Your Highness."

"Something that even their son doesn't do..."

First Prince Bolonico gathered his eyebrows as if he was impressed and placed the bouquet of chrysanthemums in front of Louise's tombstone.

Yuan felt cold sweat on her palms and clenched her fists tightly, waiting for him to finish his short prayer.

"You must be very frustrated."

Soon, Bolonico's voice, which had been closing his eyes, wrapped around her ear like a snake.

"At a young age. With such a Monster. An unwanted marriage. No matter how much you try to forget reality by doing other things, aren't you desperate because the reality doesn't change?"

"?"

"Bolonico wants to make a good offer to Sister-in-law."

First Prince Bolonico's sharp, high nose pointed straight ahead. Then, his bright blue eyes shone darkly at her.

"How about taking Bolonico's hand and coming out into the bright world?"

"...What do you mean—."

"It means becoming Bolonico's person."

Bolonico's person.

'Has he been calling himself by his own name since earlier?'

Yuan did not miss the blue gaze that seemed to look down on her with a mixture of wariness and bewilderment.