Spring in My Grasp - Chapter 30

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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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(30) The True Crisis

Yet once Alexis was publicly proclaimed a Holy Knight, his daily life transformed brilliantly.
Each morning, priests dispatched from the Temple arrived to conduct the Holy Knight’s ceremonies, and by midday, noble ladies from High Society sent him invitations in succession. Of course, the Main Residence intercepted and managed those matters.
Since Alexis had no interest in such affairs whatsoever, he paid them no mind. And come evening, he was obliged to make appearances at Royal Palace banquets and ceremonies.
“His Majesty wishes to offer his personal congratulations to the Holy Knight.”
“The High Priest desires to walk through the Holy Temple together with you tomorrow.”
“This evening, the Marquis’s household has prepared a banquet. Your attendance is absolutely essential.”
Faced with such an endless tide of requests, Alexis found himself changing into formal attire multiple times a day, boarding carriages, and departing the Count’s Residence. Of course, he now resided entirely in the East Annex, so I could greet him upon his return, though I did not accompany him.
I understood it well enough myself. There were duties I ought to fulfill as the Holy Knight’s wife. Yet I did not believe such responsibilities fell to me.
Alexis was no longer the man he had been. From a dissolute fool of gambling houses and drinking dens, he had become a Holy Knight upon whom the entire nation’s gaze was fixed. I could see without hearing rumors that noble maidens sparkled with admiration when they beheld him, and that young aristocrats extended their hands to him with reverence.
Yet within all that brilliance, I could not stand beside him. Nor did I truly wish to.
Beyond the Annex’s windows, I found myself watching Alexis return late each evening with increasing frequency. His weary footsteps stretching into the dawn hours, yet always surrounded by praise for his radiant appearance and remarkable divine power—seeing him thus left my mind equally troubled.
‘Perhaps I should simply go to the Castle and live there.’
Then I would not have to witness his transformed daily existence.
A new path was already opening beside Alexis. The Kingdom’s protector, a Holy Knight under the Pope’s direct authority, and High Society’s newest star. I murmured to myself.
‘Why do I hesitate like this? I could simply leave right now….’
After all, he was living quite a busy life these days, and I had already prepared my belongings to some extent. I had saved a considerable sum. Now was the opportune moment to depart. Yet whenever Alexis returned and smiled at me, that resolve wavered.
“Today was so exhausting.”
Hearing his petulant voice, my determination to leave vanished in an instant. That smile of genuine relief—it weakened my heart somewhat.
But by the next day, my doubts began anew. I vacillated between the thought that I must leave and the thought that perhaps I should stay a while longer.
***
In due course, a letter arrived from the Hartwood Marquis Family. The Glister Main Residence, unwilling to receive correspondence from Hartwood, left it untouched and forwarded it directly to the East Annex. Thus, unlike other letters, this one was able to reach Rowan’s hands.
“Rowan.
You must have already heard the news.
It seems that families in High Society are already beginning to discuss marriage prospects for Alexis. However, legally, it is you who holds the position of wife. If you fail to maintain your place as wife, not only will our Hartwood Family become a laughingstock, but the very foundation of our family’s standing will be shaken to its core.
Therefore, do not miss this opportunity under any circumstances. You must remember that if you squander this chance, the Hartwood Family will fall alongside you.
-Marquis Hartwood”
The moment Rowan unfolded the letter and read merely two lines, her face contorted. The further she read, the more her lips twisted into a grimace.
“Ha… unbelievable.”
Crumpling the letter in her hands, Rowan collapsed into her chair. Then, finally, she brought her fist down hard against the armrest with a sharp crack.
“Ugh! How is it that these people never change, never! Even if I died and came back to life, they didn’t care if I was a monster or anything else—so what now?”
She ground her teeth and stamped her feet in fury.
“Maintain my place as wife? If not me, the family falls? Good heavens. Am I a person or a pillar holding up a roof? What makes me so indispensable?”
Lea, who had been blinking nervously beside her, asked carefully.
“Rowan… are you alright?”
“Alright! I’m perfectly alright! So alright that I want to burn this letter as kindling!”
Rowan shouted and rolled up the letter, hurling it into the fireplace.
“There! It’ll serve as firewood for the winter!”
Lea’s eyes widened in surprise, but she soon burst into a stifled laugh. Rowan shook her head and muttered.
“Ugh, this wretched family. As if they’re so grand. What good is being a Holy Knight’s wife when they know full well I’m confined to the Annex! If I remain bound to these people, I’ll be nothing but a puppet of the family for the rest of my life.”
It was something she said in anger, but deep down, she knew it was true. Audrey was like that, the Hartwood Family was like that, and Alexis’s situation too. Rowan placed her hands on her hips and huffed indignantly before lowering her head and releasing a long, weary sigh. Then she vented her final frustration.
“These people never change—not in the past life, not now, never!”
***
It happened on one such day.
“M-Madam…!”
The Butler had slipped into the Annex during the afternoon. He glanced around nervously, confirming no one else was present. His face had grown grave and tense.
“We have a serious problem!”
Had war broken out? Rowan, who had been trimming herbs gathered from the Vegetable Garden, turned her head.
“Yes? What is it now?”
“The situation is… extremely, very dangerous!”
The Butler approached her while dabbing his cold sweat with a handkerchief, then whispered urgently.
“Has war broken out?”
When Rowan asked with utter indifference, the Butler leaned in even closer and murmured.
“Ever since the Young Master became a Holy Knight, marriage proposals have been pouring in from all the prominent families. The Countess has been keeping it hidden, but I just discovered it.”
“Ah.”
Rowan made a vacant sound. Then she returned to trimming the herbs as if nothing were amiss.
“This is not the time to be so calm…!”
The Butler spoke while hopping about anxiously.
“If you make even the slightest misstep, Madam… the Young Master could be divorced and immediately remarried!”
Yet Rowan’s expression remained unchanged.
“Is that so…?”
Rowan replied listlessly, plucking herb leaves one by one. The Butler’s eyes widened.
“Is that so? Madam! Are you saying this is someone else’s concern? Madam!”
“Well… I suppose if that’s how it is, then that’s how it is.”
Rowan answered with the same indifferent tone.
“What else can I say.”
Watching Rowan mutter that she thought war had actually broken out, the Butler clutched his chest as if he might collapse on the spot.
“Madam, please come to your senses! You must hold onto the Young Master firmly! Right now, a single smile, a single touch could be the deciding moment!”
“Hmm…”
Rowan murmured while gently waving the herbs in her hand.
“But still, the Young Master comes here and sleeps every day these days. Isn’t that already holding on tightly enough?”
The problem is that I’m the one being held onto, Rowan thought.
“That’s because you don’t understand, Madam!”
The Butler trembled and stamped his feet.
“Men are creatures that can be swayed at any moment! You cannot continue like this, so indifferent and apathetic, Madam—absolutely not! Please, you must hold him close!”
Hold onto what, hold on to what. I’m the one being held onto. Tsk tsk, Rowan shook her head.
“Hold on? I’m not a net, am I.”
Rowan laughed helplessly and resumed plucking the herbs. The Butler threw both hands up to the heavens.
“Oh, God… the real crisis in this household is neither the Countess nor Audrey—it’s Madam’s this carefree, indifferent attitude!”
Rowan shrugged and spoke.
“Well… things will work out naturally, I suppose.”
The Butler finally clutched his head and sank to the ground.
“Oh dear… at this rate, I’ll die from stress first…”
The Butler’s mournful cries and the sound of Rowan trimming herbs filled the Living Room.

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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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