Instead of My Beloved Sister, I Married a Monster - Chapter 13

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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 13

“So that’s why you didn’t come to my sister’s funeral?”

“Right, they said they couldn’t find the body.”

Evnia thought he had been suffering through truly foolish heartache.

From Evnia’s perspective, the rules Ram believed in and followed seemed to harm rather than benefit him.

If only he had come directly to the Hessen Family, if everyone had known what kind of person he was beforehand, if the Count and Countess hadn’t hidden and raised Emilia because of that, he would have already had a grand wedding and more.

If that had happened, I too would have…

Evnia suppressed the resentment that was blooming within her and replied with feigned composure.

“Still, you could have just taken her in and raised her. Then things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

“But that’s also, um… kind of awkward.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it. Marrying a man who changed your diapers and raised you from infancy as soon as you turn twenty? Would you do it?”

Evnia was left speechless and closed her mouth.

It was certainly a creepy thought.

If he had raised her until adulthood, he would be almost like a parent, yet they’d be expected to become husband and wife just because she got a bit older.

While people might react differently, objectively it wasn’t a very desirable situation.

When Evnia slightly frowned, Ram smiled as if to say ‘see what I mean.’

“I want her to not have to give up anything because of me.”

At his words, Evnia momentarily felt her heart sink.

Whether it was because his deep affection resonated in her chest, or because she felt troubled by the bad results that affection had brought about, she couldn’t tell.

“Growing up with loving parents, smiling, making lots of friends, studying what she wants to study… It might be a bit sad to leave her beloved hometown, but well, if she says she misses her family, I can take her to visit anytime. As long as it’s a life with nothing to regret except missing out on the fun of dating other men.”

Ram wore a gentler expression than ever as he spoke.

He looked so happy just imagining his unfulfilled dream that even the observer found herself wondering what kind of expression he would make if he truly achieved what he wished for.

After staring at him blankly for a while, Evnia impulsively opened her mouth to ask.

“What will you do now?”

At that, Ram looked back at Evnia like someone suddenly awakened from a dream.

He held up the whisk with perfectly peaked cream toward her and asked.

“What do you mean, this perfectly whipped cream?”

“Not the cream for dessert, but you, Lord Ram.”

At Evnia’s direct answer, Ram chuckled softly and put the whisk back down.

Then he spoke in a calm voice.

“I’ll have to wait again.”

Was his playful deflection despite clearly knowing what she was talking about meant to hide his sadness?

The smile gradually faded from his lips.

Ram turned his head to the opposite side as if to hide his face and gazed somewhere far away as he murmured again.

“If I keep waiting, someday again…”

Instead of interrupting him, Evnia quietly held her breath like she didn’t exist.

She didn’t particularly have anything she wanted to say to him.

If there was someone Evnia wanted to talk to right now, it wasn’t the man before her but the eccentric butler who would be diligently polishing armor statues in the hall.

Evnia inwardly mocked Giyermo’s foolish plan to her heart’s content.

See, Giyermo? I was right.

Lord Ram has no intention of making room in his heart for another woman.

From this man, I can only receive pity.

I wasn’t expecting anything more than that, but there’s something cruel about a heart being abandoned before it even begins.

Having safely hidden her inner thoughts under her tongue, Evnia eventually spoke obvious words of comfort.

But with sincerity.

“You won’t have to wait long.”

Only then did Ram’s gaze return to Evnia.

Looking at Evnia with unreadable eyes, he suddenly reached out his hand toward the top of her head and carelessly tousled her hair.

It was an utterly simple touch, like one would give to a much younger sibling or a friend’s child.

He spoke as if he found her admirable.

“Thanks for the comfort.”

She could feel her carefully combed hair becoming a mess, but Evnia didn’t bother to voice any complaints.

It wasn’t that she had become that comfortable with this man, and her hairstyle wasn’t particularly important to her anyway, and it had been so long since she’d received such an affectionate touch…

There were plenty of excuses, and perhaps that was all she needed right now.

Evnia left Ram alone and silently continued with what she had been doing.

“…Are you angry that I messed with your hair?”

“It’s fine, for now.”

“Right, so you’re not okay with it…”

She really was fine.

For now.

For the time being.

* * *

“Giyermo.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“I’m not a lady… And isn’t this not really a knight’s job either?”

At Evnia’s question, Giyermo looked back at her with a puzzled expression as if asking what she meant.

They were standing side by side in front of a large oven, waiting for the internal temperature to get hot enough.

Even though an oven was something that required human hands to operate, they were literally doing nothing but standing still in place.

“Actually, before coming to the kitchen, I thought there might be a magically operated oven or something here.”

“If needed, I could make one. Though there would be some trial and error.”

“…I thought using magic would be much simpler than lighting a fire with firewood, but I guess that’s not the case?”

“Oh, of course not at all. Magic requires delicate work of adjusting the amount and form of mana bit by bit, but this just works automatically when you tell it to.”

Saying this, Giyermo daintily pointed at someone with his fingertip.

Right on cue, the ‘this’ he mentioned stopped blowing air into the furnace and roughly coughed up a storm. He seemed to have inhaled ash mixed in the air.

The man who couldn’t bear the acrid smoke kept wiping away tears flowing down his cheeks with the back of his hand.

Due to the dust on his gloves, far from stopping, both the tears and coughing only got worse.

“Cough, hack, cough!”

“Count Max, are you alright?”

“I’m, I’m fine. Miss, I am…”

“If you’re fine, then hurry up and finish lighting the fire. At this rate, that roast beef over there won’t get into the oven until midnight.”

Saying this, Giyermo poked Count Max’s cheek with an elegant staff that appeared from nowhere.

It was a scene of exploitation too painful to watch.

Evnia felt like stepping forward to say she would do it instead, but if she did, Giyermo would obviously poke Count Max with that staff like kindling again.

In fact, whenever Evnia tried to help Count Max, Giyermo gradually increased the level of his criticism.

Calling him trash who couldn’t even light a fire properly and made a lady dirty her hands.

Though he had lived wearing tattered armor, perhaps Count Max still had some pride left.

Count Max seemed to find Giyermo’s abstract condemnation more painful than the actual smoke.

“Th-the flames seem to have stabilized now!”

“Tsk, go get more of the firewood you chopped yesterday. Before the fire we barely got going dies out again.”

Count Max, who had been happy as if he’d gotten a promotion, drooped his shoulders again at Giyermo’s words.

Evnia was looking at Count Max’s retreating figure toward the warehouse with pitying eyes.

Confirming they were alone, Giyermo secretly pulled something from inside his clothes.

He held it out toward Evnia as if telling her to take it quickly and said.

“Here, take this.”

The way he carefully checked the door and windows once more was suspicious, like someone doing something they shouldn’t be caught doing.

It felt like secretly stealing away something important.

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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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