I Won’t Pick Up The T*ash I Threw Away Again - Chapter 165

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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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#165

 

I ended up accompanying Kalian and Baron Delrond by chance.

 

I thought Count Hiltain would be with us too, but at some point he was nowhere to be seen.

 

Diane was walking boldly forward, holding Baron Delrond’s arm.

 

Baron Delrond’s expression as he followed Diane wasn’t particularly bright.

 

He occasionally let out deep sighs.

 

“Ber, doesn’t that look delicious?”

 

“It does, but the hygiene doesn’t look very good.”

 

Though stiff, he dutifully answered everything Diane said.

 

“If you eat something like that and get an upset stomach, it would be terrible, so let’s go to a restaurant with proper hygiene and have a proper meal, Diane.”

 

“Oh my, are you worried about me right now? How touching.”

 

Diane clasped her hands together and looked at Baron Delrond with sparkling eyes.

 

Baron Delrond’s brow furrowed slightly as he looked at Diane.

 

He sighed through his expression and looked back at us. His eyes were pleading for help.

 

But Kalian coldly ignored him.

 

“Leilah, this way.”

 

As if to prevent me from stepping in, he took me to the other side.

 

Baron Delrond’s desperate gaze pierced the back of my head.

 

Was it okay to ignore him like this?

 

I kept looking back because I was concerned, but Kalian said firmly.

 

“Don’t worry about it. Ber isn’t acting like that because he dislikes Viscount Andrian.”

 

“Then does he have feelings for her?”

 

It didn’t look that way though.

 

“Not feelings yet, he’s just flustered. There’s never been a woman who showed interest in Ber so boldly before.”

 

“Really? I thought Baron Delrond would be popular with women, how surprising.”

 

“I’m more popular than Ber.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

What did I just hear?

 

I stopped, flustered by the sudden remark, and Kalian, who stopped as well, looked at me.

 

“Why? Don’t I look it?”

 

“No. I didn’t mean it that way…”

 

“Your expression says otherwise though.”

 

Does it?

 

I hurriedly looked at a store window to see what expression I was making.

 

Soon I saw a woman with a large red ribbon in her hair making a foolish expression.

 

“The, the ribbon…!”

 

Right, I was wearing the ribbon headband!

 

Only then remembering that fact, I blushed and hurriedly took off the headband.

 

“Why are you taking it off?”

 

Kalian said with a voice full of laughter as he watched me.

 

“It suited you well, keep wearing it.”

 

“…You’re joking too much.”

 

“I’m not joking. It really suited you well.”

 

I usually believed most of what Kalian said, but this time I couldn’t.

 

Because something like this couldn’t possibly suit me.

 

I gripped the ridiculous headband tightly.

 

If it hadn’t been a gift from Diane, I would have thrown it away immediately.

 

“But I don’t see Ber and Viscount Andrian.”

 

Come to think of it, where did those two go?

 

I was worried we might have lost them, but fortunately we found them quickly.

 

“Shall we bet 1 gold on the first cup?”

 

“I think it’s the fourth cup.”

 

The two of them were enthusiastically playing a shell game.

 

So after all that talk about gambling, you’re actually doing it, Diane.

 

And she was doing it quite passionately too.

 

The golden ribbon on her head swayed wildly with Diane’s head movements.

 

The Empire legally allowed gambling as long as it wasn’t excessive.

 

Even so, it couldn’t look good for an imperial administrator, especially the Emperor’s aide, and a foreign envoy to be gambling.

 

What if Kalian thinks poorly of this?

 

I hurriedly gauged Kalian’s reaction. Fortunately, he was smiling without any sign of displeasure.

 

“I’ll go get them.”

 

Even so, I thought it would be better to bring them back quickly, but Kalian stopped me.

 

“Leave it. They’ve finally found something they both enjoy, so let them have fun.”

 

“Is that really okay?”

 

“Of course. Even if they lose their entire fortune, it’s their choice. No need to worry about it.”

 

Still, shouldn’t we stop them from losing their entire fortune?

 

“Wow, it really was the fourth one? Amazing, Ber!”

 

“Ahem, this much is basic.”

 

“Let’s try once more! You’ll win again, right?”

 

“You’re stating the obvious.”

 

Just a little while ago, Baron Delrond seemed burdened by being dragged around by Diane, but not now.

 

He was getting along well with Diane and having fun.

 

It bothered me that gambling was their common ground, but it should be fine.

 

I had no doubt that both Diane and Baron Delrond were rational people who would know when to stop.

 

Kalian, who had been quietly watching Diane and Baron Delrond like me, suddenly said.

 

“What if Ber says he wants to marry Viscount Andrian?”

 

They haven’t even started dating yet, and you’re already worried about marriage? I laughed.

 

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing? Both Baron Delrond and Diane are of marriageable age.”

 

Looking at them now, they seem like they’d suit each other well.

 

“Of course, if those two get married, I’d support it too. I’m just worried that Ber might say he wants to naturalize to the Kingdom of Natsha.”

 

Come to think of it, that’s true.

 

Baron and Viscount – there was already a gap in rank, but Diane’s family backbone was a duchy.

 

It was a position a mere baron couldn’t dare to match.

 

In such cases, the man usually entered the woman’s family as a son-in-law.

 

So if Diane and Baron Delrond really got married, there was a high possibility he would naturalize to the Kingdom of Natsha.

 

“That would be quite troublesome.”

 

For a talented person like Baron Delrond to go to a foreign country.

 

It would be a national loss. If we could stop it, we absolutely should.

 

But how?

 

If they love each other and want to marry, it would be ridiculous for me to step in and say no…

 

“Pfft.”

 

Kalian suddenly burst into laughter.

 

Why is he laughing?

 

When I looked at him puzzled, he covered his mouth with one hand and waved the other dismissively.

 

“Ah, sorry. You were so cute thinking so seriously about it.”

 

He called me cute?

 

I stood there dazed at hearing something for the first time in my life.

 

“Watch out.”

 

Kalian grabbed my shoulder and pulled me toward him.

 

At the same time, a group of people rushed past us.

 

Caught off guard and ending up in his arms, I opened my eyes wide and looked up at Kalian.

 

“With your eyes so wide, you look like a rabbit.”

 

Then Kalian chuckled and gently stroked my head.

 

It was a soft and tender touch.

 

Perhaps it was because I knew he had feelings for me.

 

Things that I would have brushed off lightly at other times felt significant now.

 

Through the hood swaying in the cold wind, I could see his handsome face and warm gaze, making my heart race frantically like it was running a marathon.

 

An unknown emotion I had never experienced before swirled within my heart, leaving me confused.

 

* * *

 

Around sunset, we parted ways, promising to meet again.

 

Diane twisted her whole body in regret at having to part with Ber.

 

“Don’t be so disappointed, Diane. We can hang out together again next time.”

 

“Mm, that’s true. Alright, then I’ll have to go ask him on another date.”

 

Her heart was as positive as her cheerful personality.

 

“So, what about Leilah?”

 

Diane asked me with unusually sparkling eyes.

 

“What kind of relationship do you have with His Majesty the Emperor?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

Wh-what is this all of a sudden…?

 

Though I was flustered by the unexpected question, I soon calmed myself and answered composedly.

 

“We don’t have any kind of relationship.”

 

“Oh come on, that’s a lie. You two like each other.”

 

“I-I don’t!”

 

At my desperate outcry, Diane smiled slyly.

 

“So you’re saying you don’t, which means His Majesty likes Leilah. And Leilah knows that too.”

 

Ah, so that’s how the conversation goes.

 

I shut my mouth in embarrassment.

 

“But is it really not true?”

 

Diane poked my arm repeatedly as she asked.

 

“From what I can see, Leilah likes His Majesty too.”

 

“I think he’s a good person, but I don’t see him as a man.”

 

“Really?”

 

Diane immediately asked back.

 

“Do you really have no feelings for His Majesty? Would you be okay if His Majesty married another woman?”

 

The word marriage naturally brought to mind the Holy Kingdom’s royal marriage, weighing heavily on my heart.

 

“I’d be… fine.”

 

At my barely managed answer, Diane let out a bitter laugh.

 

“Who would believe you’re fine when you make that kind of face?”

 

I was at a loss for words. I tried to avoid Diane’s sharp gaze, but she wouldn’t allow it.

 

“What are you running away from like that?”

 

Diane said in a slightly angry voice.

 

“What are you so afraid of that you can’t say you like someone you like and keep hiding it?”

 

What I’m afraid of is…

 

“…His Majesty is too good for me. Someone like me doesn’t suit him.”

 

Kalian said that wasn’t true, but I wasn’t naive enough to believe those words at face value.

 

I knew better than anyone that I was lacking compared to him.

 

“So how could I dare to like His Majesty? I don’t have the right to do so.”

 

“Why do you need qualifications to like someone! You just need a sincere heart!”

 

Diane pounded her chest as if extremely frustrated.

 

“Forget all that nonsense about emperor and baron, and tell me Leilah’s honest feelings.”

 

Then she grabbed both my shoulders and asked with an utterly serious face.

 

“What do you think of the man named Callian de Chepel Yusbeldya?”

 

How do I think of him purely as a person, without his position or status?

 

“I… His Majesty…”

 

Kalian, Kalian…

 

With emotions rising clearly, I couldn’t finish my words and covered my face with both hands.

 

* * *

 

My life had always been winter.

 

There had been moments when spring visited, but they were truly brief.

 

In the blink of an eye, spring left, and winter came again, skipping over summer and autumn entirely.

 

Winter was always cold, but this year was exceptionally cold.

 

Not a ray of sunlight entered, and it felt like both my body and heart would freeze completely in the raging blizzard.

 

Just when I thought I might freeze to death, he appeared.

 

His embrace, as wide and warm as a cave, pitied me as I was exhausted from the fierce cold and comforted me.

 

This was the first place where I could rest so peacefully.

 

Let me just rest here a little.

 

I’ll just thaw my body and heart and leave again.

 

I thought that as I stayed temporarily.

 

“…”

 

But when I suddenly came to my senses, I found myself settled in his embrace.

 

I had dared to hold him in my heart.

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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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