Bloodline is a Cheat Code - Chapter 78

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 78
Father cleared his throat roughly as if uncomfortable, and only when he actually choked did our conversation finally come to a halt.
For a man who had lived his entire life gazing at only one woman with unwavering devotion, devoid of any ambition whatsoever, this was perhaps a weighty subject.
But my sister truly is an ambitious woman. From what I know, there are three men.
The final choice is three, but the number during the process remains unknown, and I still only know the names of two—I haven’t even seen what the others look like.
It may have been a jest to Mother, but my sister and I honestly felt a chill run down our spines at the thought of Father fainting.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the Tea House, and as my sister descended from the carriage, she whispered softly near my ear.
“Tiae, I think I’m beginning to understand where your perceptiveness comes from now…”
“Ha ha… I was just thinking the same thing.”
Since I had never kept secrets from Mother until now, I hadn’t been conscious of it, but I was finding myself agreeing somewhat with my sister’s words.
After all, this perceptiveness couldn’t have simply arisen from nowhere.
* * *
As we descended from the carriage, quite a crowd had gathered nearby.
Still, since the entire Duchy was moving, I hadn’t spread word widely for fear that the streets would become too congested and only increase our fatigue, yet people who had heard the news through the grapevine had gathered one by one to observe us.
Among them were those who appeared to be noble children, but the majority were commoners. I couldn’t greet them with grand gestures.
Being surrounded by so many people caused my introverted nature to rear its head suddenly, inducing dizziness. Unable to bear it, I quickly turned my body toward the Tea House entrance before I could lose consciousness.
“Hmm?”
“Tiae, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing…”
I felt strange gazes from among the curious onlookers.
Was this the ‘people allergy’ symptom that Minabell often spoke of, something only introverts experienced?
Whatever it was, based on the various experiences I’d had in my life, this wasn’t an unfounded worry. There must have been something visible only to my eyes once again.
And I was also bothered by what Minabell, who had been busily selecting dresses and checking various things, had seriously told me a few days ago.
‘Tiae, don’t you feel like many things have been going well lately?’
‘Hmm? Well, yes. Haven’t most things been going smoothly lately? Though changing clothes over ten times seems as exhausting as dancing three songs in a row. Can’t we stop now?’
I meant I was on the verge of fainting.
‘No, we have eight more to go. That’s not the important part. The fortune reading for this week warned to be cautious about things going too well, so be careful. I have a bad feeling. My points have been dropping lately, so the fortune results are coming out too vague. I should run away and enter the Magic Tower, or maybe I should present something incredibly revolutionary in fashion?’
Minabell’s advice: be wary of things going too smoothly.
Indeed, compared to how many incidents had been crashing down like a tsunami recently, they were being resolved far too quickly.
To the point where I had unconsciously come to regard problems as naturally resolving themselves easily.
There were even moments when I thought that at this rate, Lucian would soon find himself ascending to the Emperor’s throne.
In such circumstances, I looked around in various directions trying to identify the source of that strange gaze I felt, but the owner of that gaze had already hidden themselves within the crowd.
My sister, with a worried expression, stopped walking while holding my hand. Mother and Father had already entered the Tea House.
“Did you see something?”
“Sister, didn’t you feel something strange just now? It felt like something was watching us continuously.”
“There are so many people looking at us… Which one specifically?”
That’s the problem—I couldn’t tell.
If I had to describe it, it was like the unpleasant sensation Lai gives off, or perhaps the gaze of an old man scrutinizing us persistently.
But whatever it was, it was too late to catch them. Though he was remarkably quick, it was also because I had been far too relaxed recently compared to how vigilant I used to be.
“I think I need to be a bit more alert today.”
I murmured softly, and Serpina Rosena nodded in response. By then, her face had taken on a chilling, lethal edge.
It was that expression I hadn’t seen in far too long—the one that promised death to anything that dared touch me.
“My prospective fiancé arrived far too late, which caused me considerable concern and led me to abandon propriety and come greet him myself.”
At that very moment, a familiar voice reached us from nearby.
That infuriatingly charming man who could dissolve all tension in an instant. Lucian Advein stood before me with a gentle smile.
Given the many eyes upon us, Serpina Rosena and I offered him a formal greeting, which he accepted with a casual nod.
As Lucian Advein moved to naturally offer me his arm, his gaze shifted to Serpina Rosena.
“Hmm, I do have two hands, after all.”
“I cannot entrust my sister to a man who offers his hand to two women.”
Serpina Rosena’s words dripped with lethal sincerity, audible only to us.
For a rejection of an escort, it was remarkably cutting. Lucian Advein shrugged helplessly and turned to look behind him.
“Then I have no choice but to ask my newly hired man to escort her. Calieo.”
“Yes.”
A heavy, blunt voice devoid of any emotion—like a magical artifact given form.
A black-haired man, half a head taller than even Lucian Advein, emerged from the Tea House as though he’d been waiting. Throughout his approach, he stared fixedly at Serpina Rosena rather than his master.
His dark eyes swirled with countless emotions, plainly visible.
And Serpina Rosena was no different. Neither of them bothered to hide anything now.
I leaned toward Lucian Advein as though closing the distance to accept his escort.
“Your disguise skills are terrible.”
“His nickname is Kal, so the blade must be preserved—what would you have me do about that?”
Lucian Advein sighed as though once a swordsman made up their mind, there was no stopping them, then spoke calmly to the man.
“Introduce yourself. This is Serpina Rosena, the Young Duke of the Rosena Duchy, heir to the dukedom, and likely the most precious lady in this entire Empire.”
Hmm.
With no Empress, no Imperial Consort, and no Imperial Princess, she certainly was the most precious lady.
He was right.
“The most precious in the Empire….”
The man murmured those words repeatedly as though no more fitting description existed in the world, then extended his hand toward Serpina Rosena.
“Would you grant me the honor of escorting the most precious lady?”
“….”
Serpina Rosena shot Lucian Advein a look that was somehow both grateful and resentful, then took the hand of the man who was presumably Calieo and entered the Tea House.
Following behind and accepting Lucian Advein’s escort as we headed toward the Tea House, I glanced at him, and he let out a soft chuckle.
“Are you disappointed that I didn’t call you the most precious lady?”
“Of course not. I just wish you’d consulted me before orchestrating such a situation.”
“Don’t be disappointed. You’ll soon become the most precious woman in the Empire. Since ‘lady’ is a title given to unmarried women, I’d rather not give it to you.”
“Are you even listening to me? And I’m still unmarried right now…. This is frustrating. You’re making it impossible for me to speak.”
I caught sight of Mother squealing with delight as she watched me enter with Lucian Advein’s hand in mine, so I hastily stopped myself from blaming him.
It was absolutely not because his words made my face flush.
Mother and Father had already exchanged greetings with Lucian Advein, for refreshments and tea arrived immediately—far more elaborate than when Aubrey Violet and I had our tea time before, truly resplendent.
“Ah, this is Haeston, this is Jade Delpoi. And this is Calieo, our newly hired employee.”
“Your Highness, please lower your tone. Neither of us holds anything but a hollow title now, and our Seri is the one actually managing the ducal affairs.”
“Isn’t this the moment I need to make a good impression? I thought I might present myself a bit more favorably with my words, madam.”
Lucian Advein was undoubtedly a man of a thousand faces.
The very person who had been casually teasing me moments ago and shamelessly playing around with Serpina Rosena was now wagging his tail eagerly before my Mother.
Social skills that seemed impossible for someone merely nineteen years old. Perhaps one needed this level of cunning to survive in that ruthless Palace.
Suddenly, Mother pulled me into a tight embrace. I blinked in surprise as I found myself nestled in her arms, lifting my head to look at her.
“If such an innocent child marries someone like His Majesty, she’ll spend all her days being teased.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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