I Became the Youngest Sister-in-law of the Ruined Reverse Harem’s Male Leads - Chapter 74
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
#.74
05. Behind the Original Story
In the carriage moving to the Waldrafen Estate, I must have asked Liliana about a hundred questions while clinging to her.
“Little sis. What if I miss Edith? But Edith might cry because she misses me too.”
“What if a dragon suddenly appears and tries to eat me? Edith needs to be there to protect Lilliana.”
“Without Edith, I’ll go to sleep without brushing my teeth every day and my teeth will rot. Then I’ll cry every day because it hurts, but is that okay?”
Even after bombarding her with questions, the carriage didn’t stop.
Leopold, who couldn’t bear to watch anymore, made a suggestion to win my favor.
“When we get to the ducal estate, I’ll make you a swing.”
But there was already a swing at the Imperial Palace too.
Seeing my sullen face, he added,
“I’ll embed magic stones in it so when you start moving, it’ll automatically go higher by itself.”
“Hey, that’s a promise, right?”
“Yes. I promise.”
I clenched my small fist. An automatic swinging swing… so cool!
When I couldn’t hold back the laughter that was escaping, Edgar, who was sitting across from me, clicked his tongue silently.
No matter how I look at it, Edgar is like a grumpy old man.
“And there’s something I need to tell you two.”
“Huh?”
“Brother, me too?”
“Yes. You’re both going to attend elementary school. Lady Edith created the Foundation for the Patronage of Young Mages, and things went well so a magic school was built.”
“But Lilliana and I aren’t mages?”
“Even though it’s a magic school, regular people can enroll too. There are separate magic classes and regular student classes, so you two can go to the regular classes.”
“Wooooow!”
It’s my first time going to school.
I’m moved that I’m already old enough to go to school.
I thought I’d be a little kid forever, but I’ve grown up!
“Little one. When you go, there will be lots of new friends, and Helene and Chris said they’re coming too, so the four of you can meet every day.”
“That’s so great. I want to go. Let’s go quickly!”
Since the carriage seat was high, my legs dangled in the air and swung back and forth.
I’m excited. Suddenly, life at the ducal estate seems like it’ll be fun!
* * *
Emilia had been at her most peaceful for nearly a year.
Thanks to Lilliana’s health problems being resolved, she no longer needed to cut back on eating and sleeping time to do research like before.
Thanks to that, she could leave work on time and even had time to enjoy hobbies.
“Emilia. Did something good happen?”
At her Magic Tower colleague Gabriella’s question, Emilia wrinkled her nose and smiled.
“It’s sooo good. The crazy guy next door is quiet too, and I have time to spend the salary I earn.”
Of course, Emilia had only slowed down the demonic erosion, not stopped it.
So she still had to periodically pour intense divine power into Francois.
But after their souls were bound by the marriage contract, she no longer had to pour divine power into him every day like before.
‘The noise from next door has decreased a lot, so it’s manageable.’
If before it was unbearable enough to want to chop down the front door with an axe, these days it was tolerable enough to roughly endure and sleep well.
When Emilia hummed, Gabriella narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
In fact, though the person involved didn’t know, rumors were rampant behind the scenes. It started small.
“Lord Francois quit dating!”
“I bet one gold coin he’ll meet a new woman within three days.”
“No, that’s not it. He declared that he found someone to be loyal to among the women he was seeing, and he won’t meet anyone else from now on!”
“Instead of worrying about rumors, hurry up and submit your thesis first.”
At first, no one believed it.
Francois Cassel had never once been without a lover.
Women who saw him would be charmed by his beautiful appearance and try to seduce him, and the Marquis himself was serious about dating.
“The rumor seems to be true. I met the Marquis at orphanage volunteer education on the weekend.”
“Huh, what?”
At someone’s comment, other experiences popped up as if they’d been waiting.
“I saw the Marquis tearing up party invitations.”
The Marquis was a party enthusiast.
“I saw the Marquis refusing a note asking for contact at a cafe, and I thought I was hallucinating from lack of sleep. But…”
As testimonies gathered one by one, they concluded the rumor was real. Then everyone came to have one question.
Why on earth?
Why was the Marquis, who was serious about both dating and having fun, suddenly acting like this?
They were curious about the reason, but no mage had the courage to ask the Marquis directly.
But now, Gabriella seemed to have gotten a little closer to the answer.
‘Something’s suspicious.’
Emilia wasn’t afraid of the Marquis.
It wasn’t because her sister was the Empress – she wasn’t the type to rely on power or authority anyway.
In fact, with just a little observation, you could tell she treated the Marquis like he was nothing special.
“Hey. You said you’d buy me food so I made a reservation, but why are you so late?”
“I had urgent business at the Imperial Palace. Over being five minutes late… never mind. Forget it.”
Though they’d suffered together because of the project, Emilia and the Marquis seemed excessively close.
‘Is there something between those two?’
Gabriella began to observe the two people carefully.
“But what’s good here?”
“I don’t know either since it’s my first time here.”
“Haven’t you come here on dates? I trusted only you, geez.”
“Sigh…”
First, it was clear that Emilia had no interest in the Marquis whatsoever.
Anyone could see it was the attitude of treating a male friend.
And the Marquis was.
“The veal is delicious.”
“Just one bite.”
“Order it yourself.”
He snapped back coldly, but with his hands he cut the meat and tossed it onto Emilia’s plate.
It was too rough to be treating a woman he was interested in, but there was a separate point to note.
“Is it good? Want more?”
His mouth only spat out cold words, but his eyes kept glancing to check if Emilia was enjoying the meat.
‘Still suspicious no matter how I look at it…’
Just from this, it seems like the Marquis has feelings for Emilia.
When Gabriella’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, Francois asked.
“Gabriella. You haven’t changed your mind about becoming a teacher at the magic school, right?”
“Ah, no sir. I’m tired of research and want to focus on discovering talent for a while.”
“Dealing with kids will be really tough, but will you be okay? I know since I have a younger sibling.”
“I’ll go with firm resolve.”
And so Gabriella quit the Magic Tower with encouragement from Emilia and the Marquis.
“Come to think of it, you two are going in the same direction.”
“Emilia must have told you we’re neighbors. Which direction are you going?”
“Ah, I think I need to stop by the Magic Tower briefly. I forgot and left something behind.”
“Alright then. Be careful going in, and I trust you’ll do well with your school work just like you did at the Magic Tower.”
“Yes. Please go in!”
Right on time, the Marquis and Emilia’s carriage arrived.
The Marquis, who got on first, extended his hand to Emilia to help her board.
“You look pale. Are you having indigestion? Do you have medicine at home?”
“It just looks that way because of the moonstone. I’m not full yet. Don’t worry.”
Soon the carriage departed.
Throughout the return journey to the Magic Tower, Gabriella pondered their relationship and muttered.
“Even the day when the Marquis becomes the subordinate comes. This might be…”
“Gabriella. What do you know?”
“Ah! You startled me! Haven’t you left work yet?”
“I haven’t finished my work yet. Explain what you said earlier.”
“Hmm. Never mind. Everyone will find out soon anyway.”
Gabriella giggled to herself, gathered her remaining belongings, and left the Magic Tower.
* * *
It was just as Francois got off in front of his house and was about to open the gate and enter.
“Wait a moment.”
Emilia approached and placed her hand on his forehead.
The golden pattern shining on her palm was always fascinating to see.
Any priest could use divine power.
However, there was hardly anyone throughout the entire temple who could emit divine power as concentrated as Emilia’s.
Moreover, Emilia was the only person who had received divine blessing strong enough for God’s pattern to clearly appear and shine brightly.
“I wake up at dawn every day to pray for you.”
“I know. God’s blessing flows in at that time every day. Thanks to that…”
Francois tapped his temple with his finger.
“I can feel the demon inside here hiding deep into the hole in my soul.”
When the sun set and the moon rose, the demon tried to possess Francois’s body.
Because of this, he had to surround his entire house with powerful sealing magic every night.
The demon made all sorts of attempts to break the sealing magic.
And in that process, strange sounds were made, causing Emilia, who lived next door, to suffer.
“Thanks to that, the house doesn’t become a complete mess like before.”
Though he still kept the sealing magic up just in case, the number of times the demon tried to destroy his soul every night had greatly decreased, making life much more bearable.
“That’s how it should be. That’s what I’m praying for.”
Warm energy flowed in from the hand covering his forehead.
Emilia closed her eyes and prayed for blessings.
Though it wasn’t a blessing like baptism or wedding ceremonies, it didn’t matter.
He simply liked this moment.
For someone even his parents had abandoned, having a person with no blood relation show such interest and effort gave him an indescribable sense of fulfillment.
It was like sweet rain to a heart that had been devastated by demons his entire life.
Most of all, he enjoyed watching Emilia’s concentrated face.
‘…Enjoyed?’
Flustered, Francois stepped backward.
“What? I’m not finished yet.”
Emilia pulled him back and placed her hand on his forehead again.
His heart beat thump, thump, thump, more intensely than usual.
Unable to understand himself, Francois was convinced without doubt that prolonged exposure to laboratory chemicals had caused something wrong with his body.
That night, before going to sleep, he looked up an encyclopedia of drug side effects.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————