Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 79

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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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Chapter 79
It was a bombshell of a statement.
Neither Tania nor Aiden could utter a word, as if nailed in place by a proposal they could never have imagined coming from the Duchess’s lips.
“That… what… do you… mean…?”
Aiden’s words tumbled out in fragmented pieces, his shock too overwhelming to contain.
Seeing how startled he was, the Duchess quickly elaborated.
“Exactly as I said. Pretend to be my lover. Just until the Emperor and others lose interest and the attention dies down.”
“Ah…”
Only then did Aiden’s body, rigid with tension, finally ease somewhat.
A fleeting emptiness crossed his face—an emotion he couldn’t quite mask in time.
The Duchess, equally tense, remained oblivious; only Tania caught that subtle shift in his expression.
“Your Grace, are you asking me to engage in a fake courtship with you?”
“Yes.”
Aiden harbored genuine affection for Viviana.
It hadn’t always been this way.
In fact, at first, jealousy had consumed him when he learned that his daughter Tania would be registered as her daughter instead.
The pain had been unbearable.
But when he witnessed how tenderly the Duchess—despite her station—treated Tania as her own daughter, his heart shifted.
Gradually, the jealousy faded, replaced by gratitude.
Viviana was simply an extraordinary person.
Once I recognized her goodness, my eyes were drawn to her more and more.
The more I saw her, the more naturally my affection grew. She was a woman brimming with charm, after all.
If Tania had been born and raised as Viviana’s daughter from the beginning…
She wouldn’t be living a life where an assassin’s attack could come at any moment.
Yet I could never express my feelings to her or approach her first.
I was, after all, a father to a child.
I couldn’t deceive an unmarried woman and continue a relationship with her.
Moreover, compared to her status as a Duchess, my own rank and wealth were utterly insignificant.
Even imagining myself standing beside her felt like a sin.
But a fake courtship…?
It wasn’t as though we’d actually be engaged, so perhaps it wouldn’t be too greedy to indulge just a little?
He looked toward Tania.
If the girl showed even the slightest sign of displeasure, this fake courtship could never happen.
For Aiden, Tania would always be his first priority.
Tania met his gaze and, without answering immediately, her eyes blazed with a look that asked what he was waiting for.
It was her permission.
A small smile crossed Aiden’s face as he gently took the Duchess’s hand and raised it, pressing a kiss to the back of it.
“If that is your wish, Your Grace, I shall be delighted to play the role of your lover.”

✦ ✦ ✦
Duke Papiope officially announced that she acknowledged her passionate relationship with Aiden and was even considering marriage.
When the rumors of their courtship that had circulated only as hearsay were confirmed as truth, the Duke’s Residence naturally fell into chaos.
And the person most shocked by this news was….
Naturally, Declan, Duke Papiope’s father.
The moment he heard the news, Declan rushed into the Duke’s office in a frenzy, asking excitedly.
“Viviana! Is that really true? When on earth did you start having that kind of relationship with Aiden?”
“Yes. It’s been a while.”
The Duke answered without lifting her gaze from the documents.
Watching his daughter respond so calmly, Declan struck his own chest repeatedly in frustration.
“Why didn’t you tell me!”
“If I had told you, you would have gotten excited like this.”
“You should have told me anyway!”
Only then did the Duke lift her head and look at her father.
“We’re getting to know each other carefully. What if we break up because of everyone’s attention? Will you take responsibility for that?”
“A son-in-law who can’t even withstand his father-in-law’s interest is not needed!”
“I need him. Who are you to say he’s not needed?”
As a hint of irritation colored the Duke’s words, Declan’s momentum faltered somewhat.
“When did you start liking Aiden?”
“…When I first saw him. Aiden was so much my type that I couldn’t help but notice him.”
“You fell for him at first sight?”
“No. Listen to the whole thing. It wasn’t quite love at first sight….”
The Duke rolled her eyes as if recalling the situation at that time.
“I already had some fondness for him, but when I saw Aiden together with Tania, I found myself wanting to be part of that bond.”
The image of the Black Knights’ commander in that garden full of yellow flowers, with Tania hanging from his shoulder as they talked together.
I still couldn’t forget the feeling from that moment.
“The two of them seemed like the perfect family. Even though I’m Tania’s mother on paper, they looked closer than that.”
“Viviana….”
“It must have been after that. When I started falling deeper for Aiden.”
At his daughter’s honest answer, Declan found himself at a loss for words.
He had been prepared to object if she gave some vague excuse about love at first sight.
But this—the process of how she came to like him was so detailed and natural that it was impossible to dismiss it as a lie.
Declan realized that Viviana’s feelings were genuine and calmed his excitement.
He collapsed onto the sofa in the office and asked.
“Which one of you confessed first?”
“Why does that matter?”
“It matters!”
“I did.”
“Good grief! And you like a man who couldn’t even confess first…!”
“If you’re going to keep complaining, would you please leave?”
I wished Father would lose interest in my romantic life.
Though I suppose it made sense—a daughter who’d never spared a glance for any man suddenly pursuing romance would naturally pique his curiosity.
But knowing this wasn’t a genuine relationship but a fabricated one left me anxious.
The truth was, when I proposed the fake relationship to Aiden, I harbored a secret hope—to use it as an excuse to draw closer to him.
How absurd that I’d resorted to such a deception merely to evade some lovesick nobleman and dodge the Emperor’s interrogation.
It made no sense whatsoever.
Given my nature, I would have simply told them to back off and been done with it—I would never have chosen such a roundabout solution.
I returned my gaze to the documents, hoping Father wouldn’t subject Aiden to the same scrutiny.
Meanwhile, there was one who welcomed news of our union with genuine delight.
The moment Lucian learned of our relationship, he could barely contain his excitement.
“Aiden and Mother are…?”
If the two of them married, wouldn’t I finally have a true father figure?
I’d always envied the way Aiden showed his care for Tania.
And now, the two of them together?
For Lucian, it was news that could only be celebrated.

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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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