Newlywed Life Begins with a Mistake - Chapter 24

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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 24

Their eyes were sparkling so brightly it was burdensome.

I leaned back against the sofa and absentmindedly looked down at the dessert placed on the table.

“Yeah. I won’t do it. I don’t want the responsibility, I just want to have fun.”

“What if another lady gets close to His Grace?”

“I’ll throw down a white glove and challenge her like a lady should.”

“No, my lady! That’s a duel.”

That’s when it happened.

Sebastian came looking for me with a knock-knock sound.

“My lady, it’s Sebastian.”

“Come in.”

Sebastian stood at the doorway, bowed his head in greeting, and carefully brought up his business.

“Would you perhaps be willing to reconsider the banquet matter?”

“No.”

“…I understand. Please rest comfortably.”

Sebastian’s bitter smile as he withdrew bothered me, but I felt I needed to firmly refuse to put an end to it.

But not long after, another knock was heard.

“My lady, it’s Sophia. I heard from the maids, but no matter how I think about it, we need your help. So please reconsider just once more.”

“Princess, no, my lady. This is Hans, your aide. I’d like to discuss the banquet matter. Would it be impossible even if I provided you with test questions and answers in advance?”

Making my refusal meaningless, the ducal house servants took turns coming to find me.

Like children who would never give up until their mother bought them toys, they were persistent.

Ah, I said I wouldn’t do it, so why do they keep clinging to me!

“I won’t do it. I said I won’t!”

I’m soft-hearted, you know.

If they keep tempting me, I might give in…

“My lady…”

I don’t understand why everyone is looking at me so desperately with one heart and mind.

What do you do at times like this?

“Argh! Don’t follow me!”

“My lady!”

The best strategy is to run away!

Eventually, tormented by the ducal house people, I ran down the corridor with all my might and threw myself into a room by pulling open the first door I could grab.

Click.

Only after locking the door did I grab the doorknob and slowly sink down.

“Huff, haa. At this rate I’ll be tormented all day.”

I was out of breath. Was it because I hadn’t run in so long?

I had only run a little bit, but my breathing became labored.

Fortunately, it seemed I had successfully evaded the employees as I could hear voices looking for me from various places.

“Ha, haa. Let me hide until dinner time.”

To catch my breath, I looked around the interior.

I had entered blindly thinking it was an unused room, but there were bedding and a desk.

“Does someone live here?”

Getting up and carefully approaching, the bedding was neat, and medical records appeared to be scattered messily on the desk.

There was a stack of parchment on one side, suggesting someone was exchanging letters.

“To B? Who is B?”

After checking the recipient, I was suddenly struck by an impulse.

I knew I shouldn’t, but I was suddenly seized by the feeling that I had to see the letter’s contents.

But I suppressed my emotions and turned my head away.

There were documents scattered on the floor.

I bent down to pick up the documents, and my medical records written in Matthew’s handwriting came into view.

“Huh? Why is this here?”

My body stiffened with inexplicable strangeness.

At that moment.

Click.

I sensed someone’s presence.

“…Who is it?”

A wary voice came from beyond the room.

I tried to answer nonchalantly, but the other person’s voice was so unfamiliar that I could hardly open my mouth.

“…I asked who you are.”

At the voice that seemed to be suppressing anger, I bit my lips, and only after hearing a metallic sound did I hastily grab the doorknob.

“Matthew! Sebastian and Sophia aren’t around, right?”

“M-my lady? Why are you here…”

“Everyone kept asking me to take charge of the banquet, so I ran away for a moment! But where is this? I accidentally fell asleep, was this your room, Matthew?”

When I gave him an innocent look, Matthew’s stern face softened gently.

“You were avoiding the butler and head maid. They both went to the kitchen to prepare for the meal.”

“Ah, thank goodness. Maybe it’s because I lack stamina, but I leaned against the door and fell asleep as soon as I came in!”

“…I see. Did you perhaps look around the room as well?”

For a moment, Matthew’s voice carried a chill. At this, I immediately made excuses and smoothly glossed over the situation with an innocent expression.

“I was in such a hurry to hide that I didn’t have the presence of mind to look around. If it’s alright, could you show me around now?”

“Haha. As you can see, my room is in a messy state, so I’ll show you around when there’s another opportunity. I’m secretly using this place as a personal research room without the employees knowing.”

“Then I’ll pretend I don’t know.”

When I placed my index finger to my lips, Matthew’s face brightened.

“Thank you. But are you really not thinking of hosting the banquet?”

“Matthew! Even you’re going to be like this?”

Relaxed by Matthew’s teasing, I poked his arm with my elbow and shot him a brief glare.

Just moments before, a chill had briefly crossed Matthew’s face, making me tense up without realizing it.

‘Come to think of it, I did barge into someone else’s room uninvited.’

Thinking about it from the opposite perspective, Matthew’s reaction was perfectly understandable.

Leaving the strange feeling behind, I bid farewell to Matthew and left the spot.

Just as I was about to turn back, sensing I had missed something.

“My lady! There you are!”

“My lady! Please talk with me for a moment!”

Due to the employees who burst in without warning, I pushed aside the strange feeling I had just experienced and rushed down the corridor.

“Ah, don’t follow me!”

* * *

The next day.

“My lady, where are you? I bought lots of desserts you like!”

“My laaady, is it hide-and-seek again today? Then Mary and I will find the hidden lady~”

Ugh, damn it. Why is everyone so persistent!

Sometimes you need to know when to give up, but these people all seem to not know the meaning of giving up.

I thought it would be fine if time passed.

“My lady, about this banquet…”

“If you were to host the banquet…”

They were still relentless.

Having crouched in the grass due to the employees’ persistent appeals, I stood up abruptly in frustration.

“Fine, I give up!”

“Oh my, you were in the garden?”

“So now is my lady ‘it’?”

The maids nearby spoke with sparkling eyes, but I headed to the study to settle this once and for all.

“Honey!”

Bang! When I opened the door, people were gathered inside.

Startled by the rough noise, the assistants looked back and forth between Casian and me, then quickly fled the study.

“Please have a comfortable conversation!”

“We’ll excuse ourselves!”

The room became desolate as if the tide had receded.

“Please sit.”

When Casian pointed to the sofa, I perched lightly on the edge of it.

As if proving our estranged relationship, Casian and I looked at each other while maintaining distance.

As an uncomfortable silence filled the air, I wiggled my finger to close the gap.

“Come here, honey.”

Huh? Why isn’t he coming?

I had extended my hand first, but Casian didn’t move.

Thinking he might not have heard me clearly, I said it once more.

“Come here, honey.”

“…”

“Won’t you come?”

“…I’m coming.”

Casian, who had been sitting on the opposite side, slowly rose from his seat.

Due to the hot weather, he was wearing a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves and cotton pants.

It was nothing special, but I kept glancing at him.

His broad shoulders, the prominent tendons between his solid forearms, his long yet sturdy legs.

His appearance is really my type, but his stubbornness is damn strong.

“My lady?”

“Ah. Having long legs is good at times like this.”

While I was lost in thought, Casian called me. Responding belatedly, I finally launched into the main topic.

“Fine. I’ll do it, the banquet. But I have a condition.”

“A condition?”

“Yes. I’ll hit you exactly three times.”

That way I can forget the past too.

I didn’t know if I could really shake it off completely, but I felt like I needed to hit him three times.

Casian, who had been making an expression like he didn’t understand what I was saying, eventually nodded.

“Very well. Hit me as much as you want.”

As Casian bent toward me, I made a fist with my thumb tucked inside my palm.

And then.

“Netali! Deiji! Reina!”

She gritted her teeth and threw a punch at his shoulder.

* * *

Two days later.

“His Grace’s shoulder has been dislocated. Be mindful of security.”

Pabel, the captain of the Valhalla Knight Order who was surveying Count Heteus’ Estate Gardens, left a radio message with sharp eyes. Immediate responses came back through the communication magical device.

-Yes, Captain! No abnormalities in Zone 1.

-Zone 2 is also clear.

-Zone 3 is the same.

“Good. Report immediately if anything unusual happens.”

Pabel, who had put the magical device inside his armor, let out a long sigh.

That morning at dawn, Pabel had gone to the infirmary to get medical supplies and was greatly shocked after witnessing Casian receiving treatment.

[Matthew, I need some spare bandages… Your Grace, why is your shoulder!]

[It’s nothing serious.]

[But!]

[There’s no need to make a fuss, so go back.]

According to the aides, it was the Northern Witch’s doing, but he couldn’t believe it.

His lord’s shoulder was injured just from being hit by a mere woman?

‘Could it be that the Princess secretly left a code when she went shopping?’

If it was Evelyn who had left numerical codes, leaving another code without the knights knowing wouldn’t be difficult for her.

What if she secretly left signals avoiding the knights’ eyes, and spies who noticed this simultaneously attacked Casian?

If he had been at the Duke’s Mansion the day before, he could have known the truth of that day, but unfortunately Pabel had been in the Pikan Region.

‘Since we can’t reveal the assassin’s attack to outsiders, they must have attributed it to the Duke’s wife, no, the decoy’s doing.’

Having made that judgment, Pabel tightened his grip on his sword hilt.

‘I need to strengthen security.’

Despite knights being stationed in all directions, Pabel didn’t let his guard down.

Today was scheduled to be the venue for competing over the Heteus banquet.

“Oh my, this must be the place.”

“Count Heteus’ Estate Gardens are always full of greenery whenever we come.”

“It was really nice when we came last year too.”

As if to prove this, the princesses were gathering one after another at the House of Count Heteus.

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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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