Lady Cinderella - Chapter 38

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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 38

“Give it here.”
Ella clutched Calaile’s finger and bit down hard, as if she were getting her revenge. She had meant for it to hurt, but instead, a grin spread across Calaile’s face, so wide it looked like it might split.
“I doubt I taste very good, though.”
The moment she let go, he held a cookie up to her lips the way one feeds a pet. She took it on reflex, but his easy, practiced manner stung a little. Knowing she had no right to feel that way, Ella bit his finger again, just lightly.
“Why are you upset again?”
“You womanizer.”
“What?”
“Go away.”
There hadn’t been a single rumor about his romantic life, so she never imagined he’d be this sort of man. She had expected someone stiff, rough, and taciturn. The image she’d built of the Grand Duke shattered into pieces. All that remained was a man who was sly, yet sweet and bewitching.
Neither of them intended to marry, anyway. She figured it wouldn’t be so bad to pretend, just for now, that they were a couple truly bound for marriage. How long could this sweet charade last? An unnamed unease crept into Ella’s mind.
Her memory wasn’t perfect. Take Miro, for example. Sir Emil Dionel had come up again and again whenever the Wellington Grand Duke was mentioned. Yet she had never once imagined that Miro was that Emil Dionel until Calaile told her so.
“Why are you angry? Calling me a womanizer. Are you jealous, by any chance?”
This was exactly why she disliked perceptive men. Or rather, she couldn’t hide her feelings well, and her face most likely gave away every thought in her head. Ella tried to cover her face with both hands, but Calaile was quicker. He leaned in until his forehead nearly touched hers and gazed steadily into her eyes.
“Or is it that you’re so fond of me that you’re just embarrassed?”
“That’s not it.”
“Sure it is. It’s written all over your face.”
Her flushed cheeks and trembling eyes gave her away. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, she couldn’t conceal her body’s reactions.
“I’m to blame for having such an unforthcoming fiancée. How hurtful.”
“What did you say?”
“Exactly what I said. Just hearing you say you like me, even once, would make me happy for the entire day.”
Even if it was only empty flattery, he wanted to hear it at least once. If those lips, which chattered like a mountain bird, would whisper love to him, he was certain he would feel as though he had the whole world in his hands.
‘A womanizer, huh.’
He had seen and learned enough to assume that, even without experience, this was how everyone behaved in love. Still, Ella’s reactions amused him. Since he’d been misunderstood anyway, Calaile decided to enjoy the situation. Still, it was better to appear skilled than inexperienced, so he mixed in a bit of bravado and tugged Ella’s cheek sharply.
“My fiancée is this ugly, you know.”
That teasing remark made Ella’s heart sink. She was used to cruel words from her stepmother and sister-in-law, yet since she had come to be by his side, a greedy part of her had started to grow. Perhaps it was because she had been dressed up so brightly each morning that such feelings crept in.
Surely, she thought, this was enough to earn her a place beside Calaile. Unlike when she had first returned, she now felt, even to her own eyes, that she had become a little prettier. His words were just the usual teasing, but her wounded heart welled up all the same.
She wasn’t sure whether he truly liked her, given that he still treated her like a younger sibling. After all, all she had was her devotion to him and a bit of knowledge. Not wanting to be hurt, Ella forced herself to compose her feelings and apologized to him first.
“I’m sorry.”
“El?”
His reaction was unlike him, really. With a cold, stiffened expression, Ella gently pushed his body away.
“I’ll organize the records. The Third Prince’s Faction will probably go after Your Grace. We need countermeasures before Marquis Osborn makes a move.”
She was someone who could never have brought herself to look him in the eye under ordinary circumstances. Ella regained as much composure as she could and drew a line.
“El, why are you suddenly like this?”
The moment they grew a little closer, Ella raised her walls again. Where on earth had things gone wrong? Calaile, certain his own careless mouth was to blame, rushed eagerly to explain.
“El, or rather, Lady Ellaides. You’re getting the wrong idea entirely.”
“What misunderstanding?”
Seeing her face go blank, he realized that if he smoothed things over clumsily, the matter would only grow more troublesome. Calaile slowly began picking through the points that troubled him.
“First of all, I’m not a womanizer. As you know, because of His Majesty, I was in no position to see other women.”
It was an open secret that the Emperor obstructed Calaile’s marriage. Hearing him say it so resolutely himself, Ella stopped moving and listened to him.
“It’s also true that I had no real interest. There’s a mountain of work piled up, and I can’t even look after my own territory properly, since I’m always wandering between the capital and the battlefield, watching His Majesty’s expression. Such a misunderstanding is unfair to me.”
If he were to leave even briefly, it would be all too easy for them to seize on the pretext that he meant to return to his domain and raise troops. Yet he couldn’t neglect his domain’s affairs, either, so he always kept his guard up and gave his best to both state matters and the duchy’s administration. It was fortunate that he was quite sharp. Had he been even a little dull or foolish, the duchy’s household would surely have been ruined by now.
“Then…”
“At the very least, this is how I was taught to behave toward a woman I’m fond of. You’re charming enough, and even your sulking is this lovely. Do you still not understand my sincerity?”
His pouring confession struck her heart mercilessly. At the very least, his eyes were not those of a liar. Speaking earnestly and without a trace of playfulness, he seemed unusually commanding.
“You frighten me.”
“Ah, sorry. It’s become a habit. Living among men like that, I can’t help it. Please understand.”
Perhaps embarrassed by his own words, Calaile brushed his bangs aside with a sheepish smile. He had returned to his usual self. Ella was only now beginning to grasp what he had actually said.
“Then, the woman you had been courting before…”
“You’re the first.”
“That’s a total lie!”
And yet he had been so skilled! A flood of conflicting emotions surged through her. His behavior had been so thrilling that she could hardly believe he was a novice, yet the thought that he had never done such things with another woman left her oddly pleased with herself. Torn between being happy and being angry, Ella was caught off guard when Calaile pulled her shoulders into a tight embrace first.
“I’m a first-timer too. Do you know how happy it is to have someone beside you? I was just as lonely as you were.”
“Cal…”
“When I finish my day’s work and come home, a lovely fiancée is waiting for me. And when I’m tired, I now have an excuse to go see you. These days I even eat my meals properly. It’s all thanks to you.”
Unless something serious came up, the two of them shared meals and tea every day. It had grown so natural that Ella no longer even noticed.
For Ella, love was a feeling she had never known, and it left her thoroughly bewildered. Just what had Calaile been thinking, stubbornly drinking that dreadful tea he had brewed with his own hands? As she listened to his earnest pleading, Ella found herself asking the question she had never dared to voice.
“Do you… really like me?”
Tears welled in Ella’s golden eyes, which shimmered like the moon hanging over a dark night. If he let this chance slip away, he might truly come to regret it. Calaile gritted his teeth and resolved to be resolute.
He could not say for certain what the word love truly meant, but he knew this moment was the one it had been waiting for. She looked as though she might shatter if handled carelessly, so Calaile gently drew her waist into his arms.
“I love you, Lady Ella.”
She remembered the nights she had stayed up late embroidering, when Mary had told her something. That when you truly met the one you loved, you would hear bells ringing in your ears. It would feel as though a rainbow had appeared before your eyes and a halo glowed behind his head.
‘Why am I acting like this?’
Recalling her own youth, when she had been separated from the one she loved so deeply because of family opposition, Mary offered Ella a firm piece of advice.
—You’re still young, so once you find a man you think is the one, hold on to him tightly and never let go.
Calaile’s eyes spoke for him. He gazed at her with such unwavering sincerity that she almost felt foolish for not having noticed sooner. A small hand came to rest upon his cheek.
“Are you serious?”
“I’m serious, so close your eyes.”
With those words, Calaile kissed her gently, his hand still resting at her waist. Ella shut her eyes tightly at the warmth that pressed into her, and wrapped her arms firmly around his neck.
‘I don’t want to let go.’
Now that she had realized it, she could never go back to how things had been. She knew it was a selfish feeling, but she no longer wanted to give up anything at all. Having been wounded even by his smallest words, she could no longer bring herself to deny it.
“I like you. I like you, Kal.”
“I know.”
Because she was not yet accustomed to being loved, and because this feeling was new to her, Ella wandered without finding her footing. Holding the cheeks of his fiancée, who had nearly tipped into panic, Calaile pressed on with one light butterfly kiss after another.
“When I call you ugly, you should interpret it the opposite way.”
“Hm?”
“Because you’re pretty. You’re so pretty that I’m afraid if I call you pretty too, some other man will snatch you away.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
At the sweet praise, Ella soon smiled shyly, her cheeks flushing. The magic of a kiss was remarkable. Calaile lightly bit the tip of Ella’s fingers, which had grown quite soft by now. It was payback for earlier.
“If it were up to me, I’d want to hold the wedding right away. And I’d like to have a cute child who looks like you.”
“A-a child?”
“You said you’d grant me anything I wished for. El, let’s make a child together.”
Just as her anger seemed to have eased, the sly wolf lifted its head once more. Calaile came closer without hesitation and, with a sly smile, gave Ella’s nape a light nip.
“Ow, what are you doing right now?”

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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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