Standard Contract Guidelines for a Fraudulent Marriage - Chapter 60

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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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Episode 60

Violet’s eyes flew wide open. Her tightly pressed lips trembled visibly.

She felt Loerston’s gaze on her—cold and sharp. The weight of injustice and fear compressed her chest until breathing became difficult.

“Your Grace… I… I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
“Pardon?”

The moment Adelia’s eyes widened, Violet’s small frame swayed. For an instant, she looked as though she might collapse.

Without thinking, Adelia reached out and steadied her.

Violet’s consciousness blurred, but she did not lose it entirely.

The moment she realized Adelia was holding her up, her narrow face flushed a deep crimson.

“Th-thank you…”
“Why don’t we sit down and talk for a moment?”

Adelia tilted her head toward Loerston with a meaningful glance.

Loerston wanted nothing more than to bodily remove Violet from the room and cast her out the door, but for Adelia’s sake, he remained seated and silent.

“Have you come to apologize to me, Violet?”

Violet flinched slightly at her shoulders, then gave a careful nod.

Adelia felt her anger begin to soften. She could understand the embarrassment and pain Violet must be feeling in this moment.

Some might call it foolish of her to forgive.

They might ask how one could possibly forgive someone who had spread rumors nearly ruinous enough to destroy her standing in society.

Loerston himself could have said exactly that.

Yet she wanted to offer Violet some measure of encouragement for having come this far.

Even if it had not been entirely of her own will.

“I accept your apology.”

At Adelia’s words, Violet’s eyes widened slightly.

Loerston noticed Violet’s lips quivering with a petulant edge, but Adelia did not.

Even if Adelia had seen it, she likely would have dismissed it as her imagination.

Adelia drew a shallow breath and spoke in an even tone.

“So you may as well go home now.”

This time, not only Violet but Loerston too stared at Adelia in surprise.

Adelia tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear and composed herself before continuing.

“I understand that you wished to apologize to me, and I have accepted your apology. What remains now is simply for you to finish what you’ve started. I won’t concern myself with it any further. I trust you’ll do what’s right.”
“I just—”
“You may leave now. Apologizing repeatedly won’t change the situation.”

Adelia rose to see her out.

Violet, looking bewildered, stood to follow her, but her cheeks blazed crimson with shame once more.

Adelia was well aware that accepting an apology did not necessarily require her to comfort the person who offered it.

Violet left the Insel Duke’s Residence feeling as though she were being driven out.

She doubted she would ever be welcome here again. The thought made her body tremble with anguish, but an invisible force seemed to push her forward, and she could only shuffle away.

Adelia watched Violet’s carriage disappear into the distance, then exhaled a long breath.

“Junior.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you do that?”

Adelia blinked, tilting her head as if uncertain what he meant.

“What do you mean?”
“For a moment, I thought you were about to befriend Violet. My heart was racing.”
“Me? Goodness, I’m not nearly that magnanimous.”

Loerston thought that if everyone possessed even half of Adelia’s compassion, the world would be a better place—but she clearly disagreed with that assessment.

Adelia pivoted on the heel of her shoe and turned away.

Loerston followed her as though under a spell, walking slowly in her wake.

“She came to apologize—that shows sincerity. It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t entirely her own idea.”
“You noticed?”
“Of course.”

Adelia twirled a strand of her slightly frizzy hair around her finger.

“So I can show sincerity in return by accepting her apology, but I have no intention of becoming her friend. Besides, I doubt she wants that either.”

In other words, there was no need to waste unnecessary energy.

Loerston draped an arm around Adelia’s shoulders and allowed himself a quiet smile.

The timid, fearful girl he’d known at first was now making judgments with the natural dignity of a true duchess. He found it rather endearing.

***

Two days after Adelia’s vacation—her summer break—began, she and Loerston traveled to the Harbor to board a ship bound for the southern archipelago.

“Wow…!”

The sea stretching before them gleamed like a sky scattered with sapphires.

Adelia stood at the Harbor with one hand pressed to her light hat, keeping it from flying away in the breeze, and gasped in wonder.

“It’s so beautiful! This is my first time seeing the sea.”
“I haven’t been here in ages. Doesn’t it feel like your chest opens up?”
“It really does.”

They wandered about the Harbor, taking a leisurely walk before the ship departed.

At an Outdoor Cafe, Adelia couldn’t take her eyes off the people eating ice cream.

She’d had ice cream before at the Duke’s Residence, but she’d never seen it stacked in layers like that.

Loerston, reading her unspoken thoughts, smiled quietly.

“Wait here a moment.”
“Where are you going?”

Rather than answer, Loerston pressed a kiss to her forehead, then strode quickly into the cafe.

He returned shortly, holding an ice cream in each hand.

“Ice cream!”

Adelia broke into a radiant smile.

Loerston held one out to her with a satisfied expression.

Adelia accepted it carefully, then stopped short in surprise.

The part she’d assumed was just a holder gave off a crisp, cookie-like aroma.

“Is this part… edible too?”
“That’s right. It’s a thin wafer.”
“A wafer!”

Adelia didn’t know what a wafer was, but the name sounded delicious to her.

“Go on, taste it. Before it melts.”

Loerston urged her.

Adelia gazed at the layered ice cream with rapturous eyes, then took a small bite from the top.

Soft cream and the tart, bright flavor of wild strawberries bloomed on her tongue.

“It’s strawberry!”
“Right. There’s a different flavor underneath. Keep eating as we walk to the ship.”

The two of them walked side by side, eating their ice creams.

Adelia marveled continuously at the novelty of strolling outdoors while eating ice cream, basking in contentment.

As she popped the last piece of wafer into her mouth, she released a small sigh of satisfaction.

“Goodness, that was delicious.”
“You enjoyed it that much?”
“Yes! I’ve had ice cream at home before, but never anything this good.”

In that moment, Adelia felt a flush of embarrassment at having referred to the Insel Duke’s Residence so casually as “home.”

Yet Loerston simply nodded as though nothing were amiss and popped the last of his wafer into his mouth.

“The kitchen has its limits, after all. And they don’t use artificial dyes.”
“Artificial dyes?”
“Red, yellow, green—surely you didn’t think those colors came from the fruit alone?”
“Goodness, I didn’t even think of that! No wonder the colors were so vivid.”

Adelia chattered merrily all the way up the gangway.

Her delight reminded Loerston of a child happy after eating something sweet, and he had to suppress a laugh threatening to burst free.

When Adelia heard that the ship belonged to the Duke’s family, she nearly fell backward.

“No wonder there was no one else around!”

Loerston smiled mischievously.

“A honeymoon shouldn’t be crowded with other people, should it?”

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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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