I Won’t Pick Up The T*ash I Threw Away Again - Chapter 252
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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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#3
“No way!”
Naturally, Leilah flatly rejected Kalian’s proposal.
Though disappointed, Kalian took Leo and left the bathroom without complaint.
And while Leilah bathed, he put Leo to sleep. Perhaps tired from all the bathing, Leo fell asleep quickly.
Normally, they would have quietly eaten dinner beside the soundly sleeping Leo, but today was an exception.
Since Leilah had returned early for once, he wanted to have an intimate dinner together without anyone’s interference.
“Watch over Leo. If anything happens, report to me immediately.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Kalian entrusted Leo to the wet nurse and headed to the dining hall.
Leilah was already in the dining hall. Her slightly damp hair caught the sunset light streaming through the window, shimmering softly.
Kalian strode up behind Leilah and touched her wet hair.
“What if you catch a cold like this?”
“This much is fine.”
“Still, just in case, dry it completely before going around. If it’s bothersome, call me. I’ll dry it for you.”
When Leilah let out a small laugh at those words, Kalian placed his hand on her waist.
“Why are you laughing? Don’t tell me you don’t trust my skills?”
“Of course not. Oh, the meal is served. Sit down quickly.”
Kalian originally disliked people who didn’t answer questions and changed the subject, or who lied.
But when that person became someone he loved, even what he used to dislike seemed like a virtue.
How could she be so cute and lovable?
If there weren’t watching eyes, he would have embraced her and kissed her countless times.
Leilah and Kalian sat facing each other across the dining table. A maid set the food she had brought before them.
Warm mushroom soup, freshly baked bread, and fresh salmon salad were served first.
“When I saw him during the bath earlier, Leo’s babbling has increased a lot.”
Leilah said while tearing bread into bite-sized pieces.
“Don’t you think he’ll be able to speak soon?”
“It’s still far off. He can’t even say mama or papa properly yet, let alone words.”
“That’s true. You’re right.”
Leilah looked disappointed for a moment, then quickly perked up.
“Come to think of it, will Leo say ‘mama’ first? Or will he say ‘papa’ first?”
“Obviously papa. I’m constantly teaching him to say papa from beside him.”
“What? You even do that?”
“Yes. That way he’ll say papa before mama.”
How annoying. Leilah wrinkled her nose.
‘Will he really say papa first?’
Since Kalian was in charge of childcare, she had nothing to say even if Leo said papa first.
Still, since she had carried him for ten months and given birth in pain, she felt a bit disappointed. She had a strong wish for Leo to say mama first.
“You seem disappointed?”
“A little.”
“Don’t worry.”
Kalian, who had moved to sit beside Leilah, firmly grasped her hand.
“You have me, don’t you? I’ll love you enough for Leo’s share too, so don’t be too disappointed.”
“…Anyone listening would think Leo doesn’t love me.”
“Of course Leo loves mama very much too. You saw it during the bath earlier. How happy he was being held in your arms. He’s not like that in the wet nurse’s arms.”
It might sound silly, but those words brought some comfort to her heart.
Right, what did it matter which word he said first between mama and papa?
What mattered was that she truly loved Leo, and Leo loved her too.
After happily talking about Leo for a while, dinner had ended before they knew it.
‘Oh, I should have asked about the manor.’
Leilah, who belatedly remembered what she had forgotten, watched Kalian who was drinking wine.
“You seem to have something to tell me?”
She had been wondering how to bring up the topic, but fortunately Kalian opened the conversation first.
“I met His Majesty the Emperor today.”
“Hmm. Everyone leave.”
Instinctively sensing this wasn’t something others should hear, Kalian dismissed the servants.
“Why did Hes?”
“His Majesty gave me a birdcage with a singing toy bird as a gift. He said it’s a gift for Leo.”
“The same gift as last time.”
“This time it’s a bit different. It can sing as many as 17 different songs.”
“So?”
Kalian propped his chin and gazed intently at Leilah.
“You’re not planning to talk about that toy bird, are you?”
Of course not. She had only mentioned the toy bird to ease her nerves.
Leilah clenched her hands on her lap, took a deep breath, exhaled, and looked straight at Kalian.
“What do you think about this manor?”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. Please tell me exactly what you think about this manor.”
A meaningful question whose meaning was unclear.
Kalian stared at Leilah as if trying to figure out what she wanted, then spoke.
“I don’t really have any particular thoughts about it.”
“No particular thoughts?”
“Right. This manor itself has no meaning to me. What has meaning is that it’s the manor where my wife and son live.”
It was a sweet answer that could melt even a frozen heart, but it was useless at this moment. Leilah shook her head.
“Not that kind of thing.”
“Then?”
“You know, like this manor being cramped or inconvenient or something like that.”
When Leilah made a more specific request, Kalian’s eyes narrowed.
“It seems Hes said something strange to you.”
“It’s not like that. He just said he would grant me a new manor as a gift.”
“Ah, I see.”
Kalian leaned back against his chair and crossed his arms.
“And then he sold me out. Saying I would find this manor cramped and inconvenient, so we should move to a bigger, better manor.”
Hit right on target, Leilah expressed her agreement through silence.
“So you thought I would be uncomfortable?”
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“No.”
Kalian crossed his legs carelessly and wiggled his foot.
“Well, it’s true this manor is cramped, but I’ve never thought it was inconvenient. Rather, I thought it was good because I could quickly get to wherever I wanted, saving time.”
If someone else had said that, she would have thought they were being sarcastic, but knowing Kalian wouldn’t do that, Leilah took it as a compliment.
Though it didn’t sound much like a compliment.
“Still, it would be nice to move to a big manor.”
“So you do want to move to a big manor?”
“Yes. That way Leo will have more space to run around when he grows up. There’s so much I want to do for Leo.”
So Kalian meant that while living in this manor wasn’t inconvenient for him at all, he wanted to move to a big manor for Leo’s sake.
Though the conclusion that he wanted to move to a big manor was the same, the reason was different, so Leilah could feel somewhat relieved.
“I already told His Majesty that we would move to the new manor he granted us after Leo’s first birthday next year.”
“Good job. Moving right now wouldn’t be good for young Leo.”
“Yes. And there’s one more thing.”
Kalian furrowed his brow.
“What is it this time?”
“It’s about a domain.”
“A domain?”
“Yes. His Majesty said he would grant me a domain along with the new manor.”
“Ah.”
Kalian nodded as if he understood.
“Hes, that guy. He’s finally doing his job properly. I was about to give him an earful since he’s been completely silent after making you Prime Minister.”
“You were?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t make sense for someone who’s a Prime Minister to not have a domain. Even insignificant nobodies have domains.”
Those with domains would mostly be from prestigious families, but he was treating them like insignificant nobodies, so Leilah smiled awkwardly in bewilderment.
“So which domain did you decide to receive?”
“Nothing’s been decided yet. His Majesty told me to choose for myself.”
“He told you to choose your own domain?”
When Leilah nodded, Kalian clicked his tongue.
“Passing off such an important matter as a domain to a subject. Does he have any sense or not?”
Kalian shook his head, muttering that the guy still had a lot to learn.
“Since it’s come to this, make sure to choose a really good domain.”
“What kind of domain would be good? It should be close to the capital, right?”
That way, if something happened in the domain, she could go down there immediately.
But Kalian seemed to think differently and shook his head.
“No, I’d prefer you choose somewhere as far from the capital as possible.”
“What? Why? That would make traveling between the capital and the domain inconvenient.”
“Exactly. If it’s far from the capital, even if we hole up in the domain, Hes won’t be able to call for us when something happens and will have to solve it himself.”
Kalian picked up his wine glass.
“That guy relies on us too much. He needs to develop some independence.”
“It’s not that you find it bothersome, is it?”
“Well, I do find it a bit bothersome.”
At his unadorned honest answer, Leilah shook her head.
Though Kalian wouldn’t admit it, Hes really resembled him a lot. Especially in his mischievous nature.
“Once you choose a domain, it’s hard to change. You should consider it almost impossible to change.”
The blood-red wine disappeared into lips even redder.
“So don’t be swayed by other people’s words, and choose carefully after thinking it over and over again.”
“Do those other people include you too?”
“Of course. I told you, didn’t I? That I’d like to tell you to choose the place farthest from the capital as your domain.”
Kalian put down his empty wine glass on the table and stood up.
“But thinking about it logically, you shouldn’t make such a choice. Hes wouldn’t allow it either.”
Taking long strides, Kalian approached Leilah’s side and extended his hand toward her with a smile.
When Leilah took his hand and stood up, Kalian kissed her cheek.
“So do as you wish. Whatever choice you make, I’ll trust and follow it.”
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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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