It’s Trouble Because Unrequited Love Is So Fun - Chapter 23
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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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“Oh my. That’s absolutely not the concept of a tragic heroine.”
“…?”
“Right now you’re truly tragic, Serenthia. Listen carefully. You’re being sold off by your family, you’ll die without a husband but face the crisis of a broken engagement, and in the midst of all this, all you have to rely on is one squirrel.”
“No matter how I look at it, this sounds like you’re insulting me indirectly.”
The squirrel who quickly turned away from me opened its mouth.
“So. Specifically, how are you going to look pitiful?”
To look as pitiful as possible….
‘I need a hint, a hint….’
At that moment, I recalled my family’s schemes.
And in the shared vision, I remembered the letter my family had sent and the contents of the documents in Chairman Pasan’s hands.
[Countess Rosemary, scheduled to enter the mansion in two days under the pretext of chaperoning]
In short, my dear mother would be coming up from the Rosemary family.
The surface reason was to strengthen the marriage ties between Rosemary and Kairozen.
The underlying reason was to confirm whether I was a useful card and to test whether they could use me. …And, money.
If it were me from before the regression at this time, I would still be intimidated and manipulated in front of mother.
But now I’m different from the past, aren’t I?
“Honestly speaking, those bastards…. I wish they’d all die today….”
“Serenthia, that’s not being honest, that’s being foul-mouthed.”
“Anyway…. I’m going with the tragic heroine concept as much as possible.”
I finished speaking with a wicked smile.
“…Before that, let’s just check one thing, just one thing.”
***
Raphael Kairozen thoroughly inspects the fortress every day from 1:43 PM to 2:21 PM.
It’s a habit from after the demon war.
The problem was that this routine resembled that of a cat.
Repeating the exact same time and route, several stray cats and dogs around the fortress would wander around following his movement pattern.
Though this wasn’t particularly pleasing to Raphael, the guard soldiers secretly raised those cute little wild animals.
Thanks to this, the stray cats and dogs were secretly getting plump from the guard soldiers’ hands….
“Meow.”
“Woof! Woof!”
…Today, for some reason, the stray cats and dogs ended up right in Raphael’s line of sight.
Raphael Kairozen, like the cold monster archduke he was, glanced indifferently at the wild animals.
“What are those stray cats and dogs?”
“Ah, yes. A mother who’s been here recently gave birth to babies.”
A soldier who had recently become a guard wiped the sweat streaming down his forehead. He was watching Raphael with an anxious expression. And for good reason, since Raphael’s expression was quite fierce.
What was even more serious was….
“Meow.”
One cat kept hovering around Raphael’s feet.
“Woof! Woof!”
The puppy that was with the cat was also wagging its tail at Raphael.
At that moment, Raphael’s face quickly stiffened.
He immediately pulled away from the stray cat and puppy.
Emanating an ominous aura as if he would kill them if they dared touch him.
He looked ready to order the death of the cat hovering at his feet.
When the new guard soldier was looking at the puppies and cats with a worried expression.
Raphael whispered coldly.
“Remove the animals.”
The new guard soldier asked Raphael while trembling.
“Yes? You want me to remove the cats and, and puppies?”
“Yes.”
“Th, the meaning of that, surely…. You don’t mean to k, kill them… do you?”
Raphael’s gaze turned to the frightened guard. He answered indifferently.
“No, I mean move them to a warm place.”
Raphael elegantly extended his fingertips and pointed to the western sky.
Isn’t that, isn’t that meaning to k, kill them…?!
When the guard soldier was sweating in his palms, Raphael muttered indifferently.
“Send them to the shelter for stray animals. It’s located 305m to the west.”
“…Ah, ah…?!”
“…That dog, name it Coco or something.”
Only then did the new guard soldier’s eyes widen greatly.
He even gave it a name…?!
And here.
The person standing at a distance, seriously observing that very Raphael Kairozen.
That’s right, I, Serenthia Rosemary, recalled the past.
“Why are you being kind to me?”
“Why, do you dislike it?”
“Th, that’s not it….”
“When I feel sorry for something, my attention goes to it. When my attention goes to it, I want to be kind to it. That’s all, so why.”
‘You thought I was pitiful in the past too. Just like how you secretly take care of those stray animals.’
People of the world only see your abilities, only see your thoroughly planned routines, and think you’re cold-blooded….
But perhaps, like before, even now you might be someone who’s weak toward small, fragile, and pitiful things.
If that’s the case, then clinging to him pathetically with the tragic heroine concept might be the right way to survive the broken engagement.
But Raphael wasn’t particularly weak toward ‘obviously pitiful things.’
Those cats weren’t trembling fragilely either.
Rather, they approached Raphael without knowing anything and without fear.
Then…!
I’ll go with a strategy of being subtly and indirectly pitifully annoying.
‘Good, let me lay the groundwork first.’
***
Late at night, inside the dining room of 【Kairozen Castle】.
Lady Isidel, Jacob, Head Maid Melorsi, and Serenthia were gathered.
There were two purposes.
To convey the information that the completion of the 【Donut-shaped building】 was imminent, and the fact that Serenthia’s marriage preparations were going smoothly.
So it was quite a good situation….
But unexpected worry and concern had struck this place.
Serenthia, the main culprit of this worry, covered her mouth and coughed pitifully, “Cough cough.”
“I’m sorry. I keep coughing….”
“Are you not feeling well?”
“No, that’s not it. I have some worries….”
“So, what exactly are these worries?”
“I absolutely didn’t cough on purpose, but since you keep asking, I’m answering…. I’m worried.”
Serenthia coughed softly while holding a handkerchief.
Then Lady Isidel spoke up.
“What worries could you have that made you lose all your fighting spirit and become so pitiful?”
“This morning, I saw sister open the window at exactly a 45-degree angle. It was the perfect angle to catch a cold. I wondered why she would do such a thing, but she said it was because she was worried about something? What kind of reason is that? It’s a mathematically unprovable puzzle….”
Lady Isidel’s eyes sharpened. Jacob was the same, but looked a bit more confused.
“Well…. I had a nightmare about being kicked out of this family and returning to Rosemary. I can’t sleep anymore….”
Baby snow leopard-like Jacob scrunched up his round face with all his might.
“Surely, that couldn’t happen? No matter how scary uncle is, he wouldn’t chase sister away….”
“….”
“…I can manage it, sufficiently.”
Jacob was quite an objective child.
Then Lady Isidel snapped her fan and said,
“Well, for some unknown reason, Chairman Pasan also seems to suddenly oppose this marriage.”
At her cold words, I hunched my shoulders.
In the chilly silence, Jacob rolled his eyes around.
“Sister, you look so pitiful.”
Even I felt that my current appearance looked very tragic.
‘Good. I’ve laid the first groundwork by appearing pitiful.’
At least up to this point, everything was flowing smoothly according to plan.
So right then, I needed to lay the second groundwork.
I pressed my reddened eyes and murmured,
“If it wouldn’t be rude… there’s one thing I really, really want to do…”
“Oh? What would that be?”
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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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