Instead of My Beloved Sister, I Married a Monster - Chapter 19

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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 19

While fleeing in the night and stealing weren’t exactly praiseworthy acts, there was something humanly understandable about them to some degree.

If, as he said, there really was an elderly mother over eighty desperately waiting for her son to return.

“…How did Count Max end up captured here?”

Evnia slowly crouched down to match Count Max’s eye level as she asked.

A light of gratitude flickered in his eyes as he looked up at Evnia.

Count Max hastily wiped his wet eyes and straightened his hunched back as he spoke.

“It wasn’t by choice. Isn’t that right? The Southern Region is a place where children are raised hearing bedtime stories about thieves who died coveting Litberck’s treasures. No one in their right mind would try to break in here. The problem was that my master’s wet nurse was from another region. That fool probably didn’t hear even half of the cruel tales surrounding Litberg Castle.”

“So you had no choice but to come here because of your master’s orders?”

“Yes, I knew he was an immature young master, but I never imagined that fool would be so thoughtless. If I had known, I wouldn’t have entered his service in my ambition for advancement. With his brains, he wouldn’t have inherited the territory anyway.”

His explanation went like this.

Count Max was originally a knight of House of Schwaiger, a landowner family from a neighboring region.

He worked as a guard under Franz, the eldest son of Schwaiger Baron, when one day his master, suddenly tired of his peaceful daily life, came up with an insane idea.

That was…

“He said Litberg Castle had been quiet for too long. That fool Franz thought the monster Ram had finally grown weak. How could he still be in his prime after living all those years? He also added that old tales tend to be exaggerated.”

“Didn’t the people living nearby know that Lord Ram was such a… refined person?”

“Not at all. Even I thought he would have a hideous appearance like the rumors said, until I saw him with my own eyes. He hadn’t officially shown himself outside even once in the past few hundred years. Everyone naturally thought there must be a good reason for that. Since Litberck was regarded almost like cursed land in the Southern Region, no one had ever attempted to establish contact in the first place.”

“For cursed land, it doesn’t look like a bad place for people to live.”

“That’s why in the distant past, many tried to seize Litberck. But after they all died without even setting foot in this castle, no one tried to plant new flags here anymore. Instead, people from nearby regions began using this place as a kind of disposal facility.”

“A disposal facility?”

“Literally. Whether it was trash or trash-like people, they would push them here and prevent them from coming out. As a result, it gradually became a land everyone avoided, calling it dangerous. You never knew what kind of bottom-feeder you might encounter.”

Being distracted by other incidents and accidents, she was hearing the basic explanation about this place rather belatedly.

Evnia inwardly admired herself and thought it was good that she had tried to converse with Count Max.

Though the conversation had started for different purposes, if she had asked others, she wouldn’t have gotten such an organized answer.

Even Hanna, who was like him a person, sometimes said things different from common sense, perhaps because she had spent her entire life in this castle.

“In fact, I came along to protect my master from such people. Not from enemies beyond common sense like that insane butler. How could I, who’s not even a blessed one, possibly face a hero who made his mark in history and his subordinates? I knew Franz wouldn’t be able to get what he wanted no matter what. Naturally, I had no interest in stolen goods either. That’s why I remained alone outside under the pretext of keeping watch. But…”

Count Max couldn’t continue speaking and squeezed his eyes shut.

Evnia could easily predict the ending of the interrupted story.

Evnia finished the story on Count Max’s behalf.

“They’re all dead.”

“…I don’t know. I couldn’t find even their bodies, let alone their belongings. But well, probably so.”

“Were you captured while going in to look for your companions?”

“No. That butler named Giyermo came looking for me. At first he rushed at me as if to kill me, then suddenly changed his mind and said he’d spare me. Come to think of it, he said he just happened to need a knight.”

Evnia buried her face in her palms.

Who could have predicted that the common knowledge that the mistress of a noble house needs a knight would ruin one man’s life like this?

“You can go and check for yourself whether what I’m saying is true. There are plenty of witnesses.”

Count Max pleaded with a desperate expression.

Evnia decided not to waste precious time on a formal investigation.

The situation he described was drawn too realistically to brand him a liar.

After briefly rubbing her face with dry hands, Evnia raised her head again and said.

“Didn’t anyone listen to such circumstances? If you had explained the situation to others, they would have already…”

“You’re the only person here who can be reasoned with, miss…”

“Hanna is a person too.”

“That maid is the butler’s loyal limb. Naturally, she has no authority to release an intruder either.”

“…What about Lord Seven?”

“That fairy thinks 3 years is roughly 3 weeks…”

Evnia thought of Seven’s age and swallowed a sigh.

To him, who had lived over 500 years, 3 years certainly wouldn’t seem like a very long time.

“Still, wouldn’t it be dangerous for you to leave now? It’ll get dark soon, and if you’re unlucky, you might encounter wild beasts in the forest.”

“But what if I’m caught trying to escape during daylight? If that butler regains his original form, then there really won’t be any chance to run away.”

It seemed like he could be released openly just by conveying this story to Ram, without having to sneak away.

Apparently Count Max, having never spoken directly with Ram, didn’t have the courage to do so readily.

To him, Ram’s image was probably closer to a man who could turn subordinates into fish with a single gesture rather than a lover.

Count Max pressed his forehead to the floor again and shouted.

“Miss! I beg of you like this! Please just pretend you didn’t see me this once!”

“I’m not a miss. I’m married now.”

At Evnia’s unexpected answer, Count Max glanced up at her with eyes that showed he didn’t understand.

Evnia spoke again with emphasis in her voice, as if stressing the changed title.

“I’m a married woman now.”

“That… that’s right, isn’t it?”

“So I’ll help you leave here officially.”

When Evnia smiled with a confident face, Count Max also awkwardly pulled up the corners of his mouth to follow her.

Though his eyes looking at her were still full of questions, as he couldn’t connect the conclusion and reasoning at all.

* * *

“Lord Seven, are you sleeping? It’s Evnia, and I have something to ask you briefly.”

Evnia carefully knocked on Seven’s door as she asked.

Fortunately, he hadn’t gone to bed yet, as faint sounds of movement could be heard from inside.

Shortly after, Seven roughly threw open the door. He looked quite annoyed by the late-night visitor.

Evnia decided to get straight to the point instead of bothering him with useless pleasantries.

“Lord Seven, I married Lord Ram, right? That’s correct?”

“…Coming this late in the evening and suddenly asking what…”

“And you said divorce was impossible too.”

“Yeah, but why are you asking that out of the blue?”

“Then I’ve really become the mistress of Litberck now? I have the authority to manage this castle too, right?”

She had clearly asked each word distinctly without mumbling, but Seven still had an expression showing he couldn’t understand what she was saying.

Seven, who had been looking up at her with hazy eyes for a moment, soon raised his right hand to rub his haggard face.

Then he spoke in a voice weathered by the vicissitudes of life, befitting an old man who had lived long.

“Yeah, go ahead and ransack the treasure warehouse as alimony to your heart’s content. Ram can live without eating anything anyway. Just don’t sell the castle too. I’d have nowhere to go.”

“I don’t need alimony. I won’t sell the castle either. Instead, may I use my authority as mistress to release Count Max?”

Ram had already begun to view Count Max’s stay with distaste after hearing about his theft record.

She thought permission would be granted without much trouble, but Seven unexpectedly couldn’t readily answer her question.

Evnia looked at Seven, who was silently standing with his mouth half-open, with worried eyes as she asked.

“Lord Seven, what’s wrong? Is it not possible?”

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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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