Lady Cinderella - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Lady Cinderella, Chapter 13

So much for the air of authority he’d put on in front of Ella. Carlisle pushed the piles of documents off to the side and spread out a map of Oberon Gorge. If her words were true, there were roughly three places the spoils were likely to be ambushed.
If he stationed the starving soldiers from the north at Oberon instead, the food problem would be solved. And if they managed to earn some merit on top of that, General Eastern, whose nose had grown rather high, would not be able to act recklessly either. Watching his lord throw himself into troop placements without a word of explanation, Kevin could only beat his own chest in frustration.
“This makes no sense. What exactly are you banking on with that woman?”
“There’s no downside for me. Worst case, we lose nothing. So there’s no reason to refuse.”
“Why? Have you actually fallen in love or something?”
The songs that had urged the Grand Duke to marry were meant to point him toward a well-connected, well-bred lady, not to saddle him with some shabby woman who’d been treated as a servant and was now engaged to him. Carlisle snorted with a faint laugh at Kevin’s veins standing out as he argued against it.
“Does falling in love really need a reason?”
“Love? You, Your Grace? Don’t make me laugh.”
“Me, what?”
“A man who’s truly in love doesn’t act the way you’re acting right now.”
He had handed the woman off to Olga and was now staring at nothing but the map. Where exactly was he seeing anything that looked like love? Even the dogs in the street would laugh at that. Kevin pulled out a file with a sour look on his face.
“If you’re interested in women to begin with, there are plenty of ladies from far better families lying around everywhere.”
“Opposition only makes love burn hotter. Even if death tears us apart!”
“Stop trying to sound literary. It’s embarrassing.”
She’d been born to crazy parents, suffered through hardship, and then used some half-learned scraps of knowledge to catch the Grand Duke’s attention. Her presence was irritating enough, but the way his lord was playing along with every one of her tunes was utterly exasperating.
One careless rumor, and not only the Emperor but the Crown Prince’s faction and the Third Prince’s faction’s nobles might attack in some form or another. With the war situation on the Gordon Great Plains already being picked at, and pressure quietly building for him to ride out again, his lord was calmly listening to a madwoman’s nonsense. Kevin could do nothing but beat his chest in frustration.
“Looks like it’s showing a lot, then.”
“Right now, it’s only the first day, so no one’s noticed yet, but soon everyone will. She’s too pitiful a young lady to be toyed with halfheartedly. Know when to stop.”
“When did I ever toy with a woman?”
“I thought you weren’t that kind of man, but this time, I’m truly disappointed.”
Kevin stormed out, as if he was genuinely angry. After all, it was Ella who had proposed the deal, and he had merely accepted her offer. Yet he couldn’t for the life of him understand why he was being treated like the villain.
“Cal? May I come in?”
“Of course, El.”
In the middle of his work, Ella stepped up to him hesitantly, dressed in yet another gown he hadn’t seen before. The pink satin ribbon dress she’d worn earlier had been lovely, but the mint-green dress she wore now brought out the clear, white skin and the shimmering silver hair even more.
Seeing her faintly made-up face, it was clear Olga had dressed her up with all her might and sent her off to at least hear someone say she looked pretty. Ella, who had been so brazenly chattering just moments ago, now stood fidgeting, unable to decide where to look, not managing to get a single word out.
“Well, you see…”
“That dress suits you very well. The earrings look good on you, too. You’re lovely.”
The new earrings she wore made her bright skin stand out far more than the old, worn emerald earrings that looked like heirlooms. The moment the compliment left his mouth, Ella’s face flushed a deep red.
“R-really?”
“It’s my taste. I like it.”
That, at least, wasn’t empty flattery. Unlike the shabby figure she’d first presented, the girl standing before him now was truly dazzling. Well, there was one thing he didn’t like. Quietly, he reached out and rested his hand on the nape of Ella’s neck.
‘Just as I thought.’
His fingers settled on the hair ornament that held her smoothly twisted-up hair in place. Yes, this ornament, this was what he didn’t like.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Wait a moment. Hold still.”
As Carlisle’s hand slid the ornament free, Ella’s lovely silver hair came loose and spilled softly down.
“There, this is much better.”
He smoothed the fallen strands himself. With her hair down, she suited the look far better. Together with the faint scent of flowers, the girl’s cheeks flushed a rosy peach-pink.
“Y-you shouldn’t do that, it’s embarrassing.”
‘I really can’t figure her out.’
At times she would charge at him so boldly, like a truly grown woman, yet at his touch, when he was wearing a man’s face, she grew so flustered she didn’t know what to do with herself.
Confirming that Olga and quite a few others were peeking through the gap in the door, Carlisle slyly took Ella’s hand and led her over to the wall.
“Um, Cal?”
“Shh.”
“Someone’s watching from outside.” He whispered softly, and Ella, unable even to glance up, found herself trapped within his chest. She had come along thinking he’d only show her off for a moment, but now that she stood like this with the Grand Duke in front of everyone watching, her face burned and she didn’t know what to do.
Though things had tangled up in a strange way, he was the man she had secretly cherished in her heart for these past several years.
“Knowing I can see your lovely face like this every morning fills me with joy.”
As if to make a show of it, Carlisle leaned his face in close, and Ella, unable to bear the embarrassment, squeezed her eyes shut tight. He considered kissing those defenseless lips, but it was still too early.
She was only eighteen. And besides, she was a fake fiancée bound by a deal that wasn’t real, so he couldn’t carelessly steal her lips. Carlisle’s lips brushed lightly against Ella’s forehead, then pulled away.
“Hm?”
“There seem to be too many eyes on us right now, so we’ll kiss when we’re alone.”
He spoke as though he meant for them to hear, and soon heavy footsteps thundered outside the door. Only after confirming the onlookers had all gone did Carlisle release Ella from the space he’d been holding her in.
A grown man, and not just any man but the sculpted face of the Grand Duke Wellington she had admired for so long, was coming close enough to touch her nose, and Ella shut her eyes without thinking. It would have been better to open them wide and take in the sight, but Ella had to admit her own limits when it came to matters between a man and a woman.
“Why? Did you think I was going to kiss you?”
“I’m not!”
“Looks like you are, though.”
Carlisle’s words struck right at the heart of the matter, and Ella, feeling a little flustered, gave his chest a petty shove. As before, it did nothing at all. Pouting slightly, she suddenly caught sight of the map of Oberon Gorge lying on the desk and hurried over to it, almost as if she were fleeing.
“Here. The ambush will happen here.”
“Here?”
The spot her finger landed on was not any of the three places he had first marked. On the map, it looked like an open plain, the kind of terrain where an ambush was hard to set up.
“Look closely.”
Ella traced with her hand the direction in which the troops would march across the map.
“If they’re going to lay an ambush, it would be here or somewhere around here. But if reinforcements are deployed, we won’t be able to avoid losses.”
“I suppose so.”
“Besides, it would be too easy to predict. But this place is different.”
On the map, the area clearly appeared open, which meant an ambush there would be easily discovered. Yet Ella offered the exact opposite opinion.
“They know the local terrain well. The map doesn’t show it in detail, but there’s a good chance a narrow path runs between these cliffs and the forest marked here.”
“Isn’t it a bit too narrow? It doesn’t look like a place troops could pass through.”
He said it, but if it were a path only the enemy knew, it would also make a convenient line of retreat.
“The places we can predict are the ones we’ll guard, so they won’t dare to rush in easily. They’ve already been defeated, and every single soldier they have must be precious to them.”
The most important thing was preventing the loss of their strength. Her theory was that the enemy, just as much as they themselves, would choose the safest route. Since most of them had already been wiped out by Carlisle’s hand, the remaining stragglers were not many. For them, this raid on the spoils was little more than a last desperate struggle. Dealing the greatest blow with the smallest attack—that was the true aim of this raid on the spoils.
“And?”
“A trap has to be set where the enemy least expects it. Their pattern of action so far has always been like that. A place where we would never expect an attack, yet which is their best option. That place is right here, Your Grace.”
It was quite convincing. Scouts would naturally gather at places favorable for an ambush, so deliberately striking where no one looked made sense. Considering how the enemy’s numbers had dwindled, they were likely to have laid a double trap. Impressive. Truly impressive. Yet somewhere along the way, the title she used for him had changed to “Your Grace.” It irritated him, this line she drew by calling him not by his name but by his title.
“You should call me Kal, not Your Grace, shouldn’t you, El?”
At his slyly coaxing request to use a pet name, Ella hesitated. In front of others, she had reluctantly played along, but now that they were alone, even that was not easy.
“It’s still hard for me.”
“Repeat after me. Kal.”
“…Kal.”
“Not bad to hear.”
Her talent for slipping in and striking at the strategic points he had nearly overlooked was astonishing, but it was still too early to judge her fully. Still, if even this manner were an act, he would have no regrets being deceived—it was that perfect. Earlier, she had trembled so timidly at a man’s touch, yet now, as she looked at the map and met his eyes and spoke so easily, he couldn’t help but smile.
‘She’s actually rather cute.’
“So, may I go now?”
“Go? Where to?”
He had expected her to keep chattering at his side, but Ella only mentioned the points she wanted to highlight and then kept her gaze tilted toward the door. Being so indifferent while speaking with him felt rather insolent, so Kal caught her wrist and seated her on the sofa in his office.
‘This is trouble.’
The one she had been happy just to watch from afar was now pressed so close beside her that Ella could hardly breathe and didn’t know what to do with herself. It was as though the person who had always felt distant, like the hero of a picture book, had suddenly leapt out right before her eyes.
Her heart raced wildly, and she couldn’t tell where to put her gaze. Whenever she heard sweet, teasing words, her face flushed without her even meaning it. The closeness, the way he approached so easily, still refused to become familiar.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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