I Was Marked as the Grand Duke Male Lead’s Stepmother - Chapter 27

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 27

 

After Morgan’s confession, I couldn’t sleep properly for quite a while.

 

My skin was so rough I was afraid to look in the mirror, and my dark circles had gotten so bad that even pandas would want to be friends with me.

 

That once fresh, plump, and moisturized skin was nowhere to be found.

 

“If Emma were here, she would have covered it all up perfectly with makeup. What a shame.”

 

It was the first time I regretted telling Emma she didn’t need to come to the Duke’s Household for a while.

 

If there’s one thing my past life and current life have in common, it’s that I’m completely hopeless when it comes to this kind of thing.

 

No matter how hard I tried to hide the dark circles under my sunken eyes, the more I touched them, the more the mirror only showed me a grotesque appearance.

 

I had no choice but to wipe it all off again and do my makeup as usual.

 

“Why did that man suddenly propose and make me lose sleep like this?”

 

At least the fortunate thing was that I hadn’t run into Morgan since then.

 

He was still busy, and I was busy taking care of Fleur.

 

So some days it was strange how nothing happened at all, as if I might have dreamed it.

 

That day I had planned to ask Morgan to participate in childcare, but it fell through when Morgan suddenly proposed out of nowhere.

 

I need to find another time to talk to him, but I can’t easily bring myself to do it.

 

I can’t gauge how he’ll act after that day, and I keep putting it off because I can’t decide how I should view him either.

 

His proposal had nothing to do with affection or love.

 

It was focused solely on raising the heir.

 

That doesn’t necessarily have to be me.

 

In a few years, Morgan will marry Gabriella, and then my existence won’t be needed.

 

And it would also be a problem if Morgan proposed because he likes me or loves me.

 

If that happened, the original story would be completely twisted and become an entirely different novel.

 

Perhaps my possession itself might be for the purpose of twisting the original story.

 

But who knows? Nobody knows. Only God would know.

 

I want to live this new life I’ve been given well. I want to try all the things I couldn’t do in my past life.

 

I want to experience proper love, build a harmonious family, and enjoy such ordinary daily life.

 

Through my past life, I truly felt how much of a blessing and high-level existence it is to enjoy ordinary daily life.

 

I don’t want to live a troublesome life sitting in the position of Grand Duchess either.

 

For titles, I thought someone suitable would be a fellow viscount or baron, or perhaps a second son from a count’s family.

 

Since I need to continue my family line, a second or third son would be just right. That way we could build a life together.

 

But suddenly a proposal from the Grand Duke? The moment I heard it that day, my mind went blank.

 

And how my heart was pounding.

 

Would I be fired from my nanny position if I refused? How should I refuse? Why is this man suddenly acting like this?

 

All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind.

 

In a few years, he’ll meet Gabriella and fall into a terrible love with her, but a completely unexpected element was trying to interfere and twist the original story.

 

It was also scary. What is the original story trying to do by going this way? Has it already become a completely different story?

 

So how will I end up being swept away in the middle of this newly written story?

 

I was suddenly frightened by the uncertain future.

 

They say life itself is a series of uncertainties, but having a known world change and become uncertain was anxiety of a different dimension.

 

In any case, I’ll do my best to live in whatever position I’m given, but I couldn’t help being scared.

 

Things need to go according to plan as much as possible to avoid family destruction and increase survival probability.

 

Though Fleur is lovable, that was a secondary issue.

 

And though it might be meddling, as a reader I also wanted to protect the original story.

 

But if I rashly accept the proposal, I might really fall into an unpredictable, inescapable whirlpool.

 

So I hope Morgan never brings up proposals or anything like that again.

 

“Sigh. That aside, I also need to talk about Fleur’s Academy matter…”

 

There’s a lot to do, but I can’t bring myself to go talk to him.

 

“This life and my previous life are both really not easy…”

 

I roughly finished my already ruined makeup and got up.

 

“Young master, I’m here.”

 

Fleur had now stabilized enough to play well on his own.

 

I’ve been spending more time reading books alone, and especially after going on outings, I’ve been mainly looking for books related to plants and animals.

 

Sometimes I read books in the library, but usually I check them out and read them comfortably in my room.

 

But the more I read, the more questions kept arising, and I began to feel many limitations in giving immediate answers.

 

Even now, Fleur was reading a plant guide when he asked me.

 

“Marisselle, what does a rhinoceros look like? It’s a big animal with a big horn that eats grass.”

 

“Um… It’s an animal with one long thorn-like horn on its face, and another smaller horn behind it.”

 

I explained while drawing a picture on paper.

 

But Fleur just tilted his head with an expression that showed he didn’t understand at all.

 

And looking at what I had drawn, even I wondered if this could possibly be a rhinoceros.

 

One circle for the face with two pointed triangles drawn in for horns. The rest of the body and legs were no different.

 

A slightly chubby oval took up the body, while thin ovals occupied the four legs.

 

The tail was roughly drawn like a curled pig’s tail.

 

Everything I drew and made by hand was unsightly.

 

“This won’t do. Young master. Let’s go to the library and look for an animal encyclopedia. I think there might be a rhinoceros in there.”

 

“Yeah. Good. Let’s go.”

 

Fleur excitedly kicked off from where he was lying and reading, and stood up.

 

“The library might be a bit chilly, so I think it would be good to wear an outer garment. Come on, young master.”

 

Since the manor was so vast and everything was so large, the perceived temperature differed slightly in each space between the outside weather and the manor’s interior.

 

The library we had now arrived at was the same.

 

As expected, since it was morning time, there was a slightly cool atmosphere.

 

“Hello, Spencer.”

 

“Yes. Hello, nanny. Welcome, young master.”

 

Spencer greeted us with a bright smile, but there were shadows under his eyes.

 

The pile of books stacked high on his desk explained why there were shadows under his eyes.

 

“You’re working so hard.”

 

“You’re working hard, Spencer.”

 

Fleur repeated after me in his cute voice.

 

Spencer, hearing Fleur’s encouragement, spoke with gleaming eyes as if hidden strength was surging up.

 

“What have you come to look for, young master?”

 

“Yeah. I came to look for an animal encyclopedia.”

 

“I’ll find it for you.”

 

Spencer sprang up from his desk like lightning.

 

“Ah! Spencer, you don’t need to get up. Just tell me where it is and I’ll find it myself.”

 

Seeing the many piles of books on his desk, I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to find it.

 

It was better for me to find it since I had relatively more free time.

 

Then Fleur also said he would help search and followed me around.

 

Fleur took the lower section, and I took the upper section as we began searching.

 

Ancient divine beasts, ancient disasters… Even after scanning to the end of the fourth shelf, I couldn’t see the book Fleur needed.

 

I began searching the bookshelf one level higher.

 

The upper shelf was filled with books whose titles started with “Beloved by the Helman Empire.”

 

“…”

 

“Oh! Young master. There’s a book called ‘Animals Beloved by the Helman Empire.’ I can see it has pictures too. For now, please look at this first, young master. I’ll search for more.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Fleur took the book I gave him and fluttered over to sit at the desk like a sparrow about to take flight.

 

I began searching diligently again.

 

This shelf also didn’t seem to have an animal encyclopedia.

 

The shelf above. This one started with “World’s.” Just from the titles, I had a strong feeling there might be something in this section.

 

Sure enough, before long I spotted a book titled “Animals of the World.”

 

“Great.”

 

I stretched my hand out. But I couldn’t reach it. I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my body close to the bookshelf. Then I stretched my arm out to its maximum length. Fortunately, my fingertips reached it.

 

‘Yes!’

 

I felt elated over something so simple.

 

But I immediately ran into a problem.

 

The book was too heavy and only budged slightly in place.

 

No matter how many times I tried, the result was the same and I only exhausted myself.

 

“Ugh. If I were just one centimeter taller, I could have pulled it out…”

 

I was about to turn away, swallowing my disappointment, when a shadow fell over my head.

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