Instead of My Beloved Sister, I Married a Monster - Chapter 43

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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 43

 

“As if saying that would make me stop caring.”

 

“Still… Thank you for showing me the things you use for work today. Can I come back another time to see the maps I didn’t get to look at?”

 

Seven, who was organizing the maps spread out on the table, nodded absentmindedly.

 

While chatting with Seven, the topic of his profession had come up, so she had come to visit his room and was looking around at various items.

 

Having worked as a guide for many years, he possessed maps of various places around the world in different sizes, and the sheer volume was so vast it was hard to believe one person had collected them all.

 

But it made sense, considering it was material he had personally gathered by traveling for hundreds of years.

 

“The world is really vast, isn’t it?”

 

At Seven’s sudden question, Evnia stopped helping him clear the table and paused.

 

“It’s hard enough to cross even one mountain on foot, but when you look at a map, even Hessen where you’ve lived your whole life is smaller than the span of a hand. And there are countless other lands of that size piled up like this.”

 

“…”

 

“So don’t trap yourself in your own thoughts, and try to look beyond them when possible. It’s really unpleasant to see a young person like you getting scared beforehand and habitually giving up on everything.”

 

It seemed he was bothered by Evnia’s attitude of considering rejection first.

 

Evnia stared blankly for a moment at his youthful face, which made it hard to believe he had lived for 500 years.

 

Seven looked exactly like a child, but she thought anyone who talked with him even briefly would quickly accept his unbelievable age.

 

His advice carried the weight of resonance that came from the long years he had spent contemplating and pondering directly.

 

Seven pointed to some unknown region’s coastline and spoke in a casual tone.

 

“Well, if you see somewhere you want to go while looking at these, try asking Ram to take you there.”

 

“He runs away just seeing my face, so how could I go to the ocean?”

 

“Use that kind of excuse to go on a date. Have you ever seen the ocean?”

 

“No.”

 

“He’s a sucker for that kind of talk. If you say seeing the ocean was your dream, he’d probably fly to a resort right away with a parasol and towels.”

 

Evnia couldn’t deny Seven’s words. She had actually experienced something similar before.

 

When Evnia said she had never owned anything that was truly hers, Ram had reluctantly offered her his fingertips, pretending to give in.

 

Perhaps that was all Evnia desired from him.

 

Small gestures of interest and care, casual words of comfort, gentle speech, that handful of kindnesses that were too good for her.

 

“Later. If things really don’t work out, I’ll try it.”

 

“Right, is the weather a bit cold now? Going somewhere together next summer wouldn’t be bad either. It’s been a while since we went to the beach.”

 

Leaving Seven, who had suddenly started planning summer vacation, Evnia left his room with a smile on her face.

 

She didn’t know where Ram had gone, but she had a few likely candidates in mind.

 

Evnia decided to visit Ram’s room first. From what she could see, Ram seemed to find great comfort in his bed and blankets.

 

Evnia hurried to Ram’s room and knocked without delay.

 

She knew he wouldn’t readily engage in conversation anyway.

 

“Lord Ram, are you inside?”

 

“…”

 

“Are you not here?”

 

Evnia didn’t knock on the unopening door for long.

 

Two short knocks before speaking, then two light knocks after closing her mouth. She withdrew her hand after leaving only four knocks in total.

 

She had a feeling he was inside, but she couldn’t just enter someone else’s room without permission.

 

After a moment’s consideration, Evnia crouched down with her back against the door.

 

She thought if she waited here, he would eventually come out.

 

Once she settled in, she remembered that he could use teleportation magic, but there wasn’t really any alternative.

 

Evnia curled up small, being careful not to make any noise.

 

Seven’s words about the outer walls being broken weren’t wrong—even though autumn hadn’t fully ripened, the air inside the castle was already quite cool.

 

Just as she was starting to feel her bottom getting cold from the chill rising from the floor.

 

Click—she heard the sound of the door opening.

 

Startled, she turned her head to see a cozy-looking blanket flying through a narrow gap of about a hand’s width.

 

“…”

 

As soon as the thick blanket landed at Evnia’s feet, the door closed again.

 

Evnia froze, unable to even think of picking it up, then after a moment burst into loud laughter along with the breath she had been holding.

 

What on earth was she supposed to do with this man?

 

This foolish person who couldn’t be harsh even when it was absolutely necessary.

 

“Lord Ram, couldn’t you at least show me your face?”

 

“…”

 

“You ran away so obviously earlier that Seven already noticed everything. He’s definitely going to tease you endlessly.”

 

“…”

 

“You don’t need to avoid me like that… I didn’t confess expecting you to accept me anyway.”

 

As soon as Evnia finished speaking, there was a loud crash of something collapsing inside the room.

 

Had he perhaps broken the bottle of alcohol he brought earlier?

 

Evnia was looking toward where the sound came from with worried eyes.

 

Ram burst out, opening the door wide with his appearance disheveled.

 

He even had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t been able to sleep for the past few days because of her.

 

“Come inside and talk. Someone might hear.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Evnia silently followed him inside, carefully clutching the blanket he had given her to keep warm.

 

Ram seated her on the sofa in one corner of the room and then paced around busily by himself.

 

After circling the same spot repeatedly for a while, Ram approached Evnia again.

 

He suddenly apologized.

 

“I’m sorry. It’s all my mistake.”

 

“What is?”

 

“It’s been too long since I’ve lived closely with someone new, so I misjudged the distance. So I, I didn’t have any other intentions. You know? Like, I wasn’t trying to do anything to you…”

 

“I know that too.”

 

Evnia answered, blinking slowly.

 

Evnia didn’t really understand why he was saying such things in the first place.

 

If Ram had had impure intentions, she never would have come to like him in the first place.

 

It was ridiculous.

 

The opposite case would have had at least some possibility of being realized, yet she had ended up loving someone she couldn’t have precisely because he was unattainable.

 

“Then why?”

 

Did he find this situation just as absurd?

 

Ram asked in a voice that sounded almost bewildered.

 

At that, Evnia couldn’t help but feel a little hurt, though she didn’t show it.

 

“Do you really want to hear such a detailed confession?”

 

“I just can’t understand it at all. You heard my story. You know everything about why I tried to marry your sister.”

 

“I think I chose a poor match too.”

 

Evnia readily admitted it.

 

At that, Ram swept his bangs up as if frustrated.

 

“But then why…”

 

“But that’s a matter of my choice, and Lord Ram did nothing wrong, so you don’t need to blame yourself. You can just think you got unlucky with a strange girl.”

 

“What?”

 

“I know too. That Lord Ram had no feelings for me, that you were just being kind because you pitied me.”

 

“…”

 

“Lord Ram is a good person. Good enough to take responsibility for and care for even me, someone completely unrelated, just because I seemed to have nowhere to go. That’s why it was hard not to like you. Because Lord Ram is that kind of person.”

 

For Evnia, explaining why she came to like him wasn’t difficult at all.

 

Evnia just had to honestly voice the thoughts that came to mind.

 

That you are someone who can’t help but be loved, and so I too helplessly gave my heart to such a person.

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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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