I Made a Mistake in my Confession. Can I Cancel it? - Chapter 4
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 4
“What did you just say?”
Kartan, who had been unable to speak for a moment, belatedly raised his head. His expression looked like someone who had just heard a declaration of war.
“Now that I think about it, I feel like I only showed you my bad side that day. I’d like to make up for it—do you have time?”
This time she refined her words as much as possible. Only then did the Archduke’s expression seem to soften as he nodded sideways.
“Well, sure.”
At his somewhat lukewarm response, Lillian cheered inwardly.
‘Oh, something’s working. At this rate, I’ll be dumped in no time!’
She was glad she had decided to act opposite to the book’s content. With her spirits greatly lifted, Lillian was filled with confidence. Kartan, who had been staring intently at such a Lillian, cleared his throat and turned his gaze to the calendar.
“Is this Saturday okay? If you have time, let’s have dinner together.”
Saturday was the day after tomorrow. While ordinary ladies would spend several days preparing for a date, Lillian was different. With her plan already perfect, there was absolutely no reason to postpone. No, meeting sooner would only advance the timing of being dumped, so it was actually a good thing.
“Great!”
It was the moment Lillian obediently nodded her head. At the same time, Kartan’s chair was pushed back.
Surprised by Kartan approaching her with large steps, Lillian hurriedly stepped back. Then she quickly waved her hands dismissively.
“Um, you don’t need to see me out. You must be busy, so please continue with your work. Well then, I’ll be going.”
Then she escaped as if fleeing before Kartan could say anything more.
“Haa… haa…”
It seemed she would need more practice to deal with Archduke Kartan. Just being alone with him in a room was this overwhelming, and now a date.
‘I’ll need to prepare to be perfectly dumped!’
Returning home, Lillian first opened her wardrobe. The book said that before going into battle, one must first inspect their armor.
A modest and demure woman’s attire is the key to receiving a man’s proposal, right? The author even provided illustrated examples, strongly recommending elegant and proper-style dresses.
‘Then I’ll go in the completely opposite direction…!’
Lillian’s eyes sparkled as she thoroughly searched through her wardrobe. After searching for quite a while, she finally found it. Among the proper and plain solid-colored dresses, she spotted a bright red short mini dress!
Lillian pulled out the dress that revealed so much skin and bit her lip.
“Ah. This is a bit…”
It was a dress her mother had given her a few years ago, saying she didn’t wear it anymore.
The back of the dress was cut daringly low. Of course, the front wasn’t modest either. Looking at the garment that seemed like it was left unfinished, Lillian couldn’t even dare to wear it.
“Not this one. Let’s wear something else.”
No matter how urgent it was to be dumped by Archduke Kartan, she couldn’t abandon human dignity. She wasn’t some naked emperor. If she went out wearing such clothes, it was obvious she would only be embarrassed.
“Huh? Was there something like this…?”
A subtle pearl-colored silk dress caught her eye.
She remembered receiving the wrong dress from the dress shop a few years ago instead of what she had ordered.
The reordering process seemed complicated, so she couldn’t properly complain and just pushed it to a corner of her wardrobe.
“You’ll finally shine today!”
Lillian’s expression gradually brightened. Thanks to the bold design but modest color and material, she felt she could close her eyes and try wearing this much.
“It’s just for one day.”
Standing in front of the mirror, Lillian steeled her resolve.
* * *
Finally, the day of the decisive battle had dawned. She had eaten a hearty breakfast from the morning and even brought a whistle for self-defense in case of emergency. As Lillian entered the restaurant that Kartan had told her about, she let out a small exclamation of admiration.
“Wow.”
It looked like a miniaturized version of the Imperial Palace had been moved here. The red fabric and gold-painted pillars created a magnificent feeling, and in the center of the restaurant, a baby statue with a vase continuously poured water from the fountain.
“Are you Lady Lillian? His Grace the Archduke is waiting for you.”
The moment a staff member approached and mentioned Kartan, her excited expression finally faded.
“Yes…”
Lillian answered quietly and followed behind the staff member. And behind her, the gazes of the customers followed.
The pearl-colored dress suited Lillian’s fair skin tone perfectly. Moreover, thanks to the semi-transparent material, her skin subtly showed through whenever she moved. Lillian was busy constantly covering herself with her hands, bothered by the dress’s neckline that was lower than usual. She had no idea that such behavior actually made her appear pure yet mysteriously stimulating to men’s desires.
Knock knock.
With the sound of knocking, the VIP room door opened. It was the moment when Lillian stepped into the room at the staff member’s gesture to enter. Seeing Lillian come in, Kartan’s expression hardened stiffly as if frozen. He couldn’t take his eyes off her until she sat down.
‘Hehe, he must be quite surprised.’
To hide the corners of her mouth that were naturally rising, she picked up the water glass placed in front of her. Lillian, feeling secretly proud, fell into happy fantasies. She had inwardly hoped that Archduke Kartan would be displeased seeing her unladylike dress and leave, but such a dream-like event didn’t happen.
Confident Lillian bravely opened the conversation first.
“Have you been waiting long?”
The Archduke didn’t answer. Instead, he just stared intently at her appearance. Feeling embarrassed by his fierce gaze that seemed like it would pierce through her, Lillian opened the menu and asked.
“Your Grace, what would you like to have for your meal?”
She suddenly stopped while browsing through the menu. Everything was course meals only. It detailed what food would be served in the courses and what ingredients were used, but the important prices weren’t listed.
‘What’s this?’
As she was frantically flipping through the menu in confusion, she heard someone clearing their throat from across the table.
“Today, something seems different from usual.”
Eyes resembling a blue abyss started from her slender neckline, moved to her coolly exposed collarbone and shoulders visible between the pearl-colored dress, then finally settled on her cleavage. As his persistent gaze lingered particularly long in one place, she felt as if she had been stripped naked.
“Ah, is that so…”
Her face flushed for no reason and her words trailed off. Then she thought that perhaps now might be the perfect opportunity. So she tried to act confident and added haughtily.
“I wear clothes like this sometimes.”
Then she even straightened her shoulders wide like a baby bird insisting it was true. At Lillian’s appearance, Kartan suddenly burst into laughter with a “pfft.”
“Why are you laughing?”
Lillian became anxious at his smile whose meaning she couldn’t understand. As she clutched the whistle in her pocket, she soon heard a low baritone voice.
“Am I not allowed to laugh?”
“Ah, no. It’s not that…”
Lillian felt fear because she couldn’t understand why he was laughing at all. Then Kartan, whose gaze met hers directly, once again looked over the dress Lillian was wearing.
“It does suit you well, but…”
As if something didn’t please him, he seemed to curl the corners of his mouth before standing up from his seat. Then, before Lillian could do anything, he covered her shoulders with something. Instantly, a sharp yet heavy and deep grassy scent rose from the jacket that Archduke Kartan had covered her with.
It was unexpected. The scent lingering around her nose wasn’t bad. Flustered by the unexpected situation, Lillian was intoxicated by the somewhat strange feeling. Then, as her nose became numb, she came to her senses belatedly and hurriedly took off the jacket.
“It’s fine, you don’t need to give it to me.”
She tried to return it, but Kartan didn’t take it. Instead, he looked intently at Lillian’s face and said.
“Are you rejecting my kindness?”
His burning gaze slowly swept over Lillian as if savoring her.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————