The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 102

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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 102

“You must have handed over wheat to the Dark Mages too? That’s a crime…”

At that, Cheria’s shoulders drooped.

“Ha.”

She groaned in pain.

“That’s right… If only I hadn’t handed over that wheat, the Southern Region wouldn’t be suffering from such food shortages.”

I thought she would deny it unconditionally, but she admitted to the crime surprisingly quickly.

“No, if I had known in advance that the forest would expand rapidly and Warp would stop… I never would have handed it over. If only distribution had been normal, things wouldn’t have become this difficult.”

While I was confused about what was happening, Brisa hugged the wolf-dog tightly once more.

“But how did you find me? This is really amazing. At this level, it seems like domestication was successful. Oh my, how clever.”

The wolf-dog sniffed and nudged Brisa’s front pouch with its nose.

Then Brisa was surprised and picked up the scent pouch.

“Don’t tell me, you came here following the scent of the tracking incense inside this?”

The wolf-dog nodded its head.

“My goodness, your sense of smell is truly amazing. Leopold taught you even that.”

Brisa rubbed her face against the wolf-dog’s fur several times. Then she stood up abruptly.

“Now, since the puppy is here too, let’s finish this quickly.”

…What?

What exactly are they going to finish?

“Woof, wait here.”

Brisa looked directly into the wolf-dog’s eyes and commanded.

“You absolutely cannot follow us. You understand, right?”

Brisa patted the wolf-dog and grabbed Alpheus’s hand.

“Alpheus, let’s go in.”

Then she naturally entered the forest. Without giving him a chance to do anything, without any hesitation.

Alpheus also sighed once and agreed.

“Right, we need to find Lady Delmia.”

Even Alpheus was going along!

He panicked watching this scene.

‘No! If you go in there!’

Had they already fallen into Cheria’s scheme?

There was no more time to think. He was so flustered that he felt his human reason briefly snap.

In an instant, Leopold’s consciousness disappeared, and one-dimensional beast instincts simply commanded.

That place doesn’t feel good.

I don’t know much, but it must be a dangerous place.

But precious people are going into that place.

I need to follow and stop them.

I need to protect them.

The wolf-dog barked and followed behind them. And the moment he was swallowed by darkness, he lost consciousness.

* * *

“Ah, what?”

I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

I couldn’t believe this situation.

“Right now… the puppy didn’t listen to my command?”

I naturally thought he would wait. ‘Wait’ was one of the first commands I taught him.

No, the puppy was now smart enough to even deliver letters. I never imagined he wouldn’t listen to such a simple command of mine.

The problem was that the puppy collapsed as soon as he entered the entrance.

“What should I do?”

I immediately ran over and shook the puppy. But the sleeping puppy wouldn’t wake up.

“What should I really do?”

I muttered in panic.

“This, what should I do about this…”

Tears welled up at this unbelievable situation.

Honestly speaking, I had nothing precious to protect in this forest. And I didn’t have vague expectations that this situation would turn out well.

‘I was just going to do some gathering and leave!’

There was something in this forest that I coveted.

At this time, another revolutionary project that could increase agricultural productivity.

The materials to start that were here.

‘Even just that is incredibly important work. Our livelihood depends on it.’

Especially since the Naisar Marquis House’s situation is so bad!

But the puppy had fallen asleep.

Even if we took the puppy outside, according to Harrison, he would probably keep returning to this forest and falling asleep.

Now we were in a situation where we had to break this forest’s curse somehow.

In the dim darkness, Alpheus spoke as if troubled.

“Ah… The puppy also fell asleep as soon as he came in.”

The puppy’s appearance had the effect of breaking the awkward atmosphere between us.

“Brisa, are you okay?”

I nodded while taking deep breaths. I knew that crying and making a fuss here would be useless.

However, I was so anxious and scared that tears kept flowing.

I held the puppy’s front paw and quietly wiped my tears while hiccupping.

Alpheus grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

“Brisa, we don’t have time to delay. The forest is vast.”

Unlike when I had made a fuss holding the puppy earlier, his attitude was quite calm.

Of course, I also agreed that staying like this was meaningless.

Eventually, I was led by Alpheus’s hand and walked away, leaving the puppy behind.

Alpheus said in a firm voice.

“For the puppy’s sake too, we need to find Lady Delmia as quickly as possible. Let’s go deep into the forest.”

Anyway, Alpheus was planning to do his best for the Second Prince, so there didn’t seem to be much change in strategy.

Moreover, perhaps because he had experienced many wars, he became much calmer than usual in crisis situations.

“There would be no point in finding the Second Prince. He’s probably wandering in dreams within this stopped time anyway. Since he’s already addicted to dreams, even if we drag him out, he’ll come back in on his own feet. So we need to solve the fundamental problem first.”

He looked at the people lying collapsed, sleeping like the dead, and came to a conclusion.

“We can’t just ignore all these people either.”

While the protagonist was deciding on his kind meddling.

I bit my nails anxiously.

Now, regardless of Delmia or whatever, I was worried sick about the puppy.

The puppy who had run all the way here to deliver Leopold’s letter and growled saying he would protect me…

I clearly told him to wait quietly.

But he must have felt something was wrong, so he followed us into this dark place without thinking…

‘What if we can’t meet Lady Delmia? What if we can’t defeat Lady Delmia? What if we can’t find a way to wake up the puppy?’

I regretted it so much.

If I had known this would happen, I should have explained the situation more.

Or I should have put a leash on him and told Cheria to hold onto it.

I should have prepared for any possible danger.

When my thoughts reached that point, it felt like I had been hit on the head.

‘Ah, this must be how Alpheus felt.’

He must have been extremely afraid that this kind of anxiety might become reality.

‘Having a precious being you need to protect become endangered… this is what it feels like.’

Even though the puppy had moved according to his own will, everything felt like it was all my fault.

Meanwhile, Alpheus held my hand and continued going deeper into the forest.

People were collapsed at places that had once been the forest’s boundaries. So we could follow that path.

Walking through this strange space where all living creatures had stopped moving and no sound could be heard, I felt like I was dreaming.

“Um, Alpheus.”

After walking for quite a while, I spoke carefully.

“…I’m sorry.”

Only after Wolf-dog ended up like this did I realize.

“I was wrong.”

Even though I originally thought I was good with words, this time it was hard to explain with words.

Alpheus let out a deep sigh. Then he answered in a low voice.

“That’s right, you were wrong.”

“…”

“Don’t do that again.”

I nodded my head dejectedly. Then I added with all sincerity.

“For your sake… I won’t do it again. Even if I think it’s okay, I won’t do anything dangerous.”

But after saying that, I suddenly had a realization.

“How can I make you cherish yourself?”

Ah.

Not doing dangerous things for the sake of someone who would worry about me. That was ultimately cherishing myself.

So…

‘The experience of being loved naturally makes me cherish myself.’

The realization flashed through my thoughts like lightning.

‘I see.’

I held back the tears that were welling up and thought.

‘I’m finally understanding that I’m being loved.’

I thought it was better to avoid conflict. I believed there should be no big disturbances.

But this moment…

Because Alpheus got angry at me, I was able to realize it.

“I’m sorry.”

I said once more.

“It’s my first time having… a real family. I’m sorry for being clumsy at everything.”

“I’m clumsy too.”

Alpheus gripped my hand tightly.

“Still, let’s try to do well from now on.”

His tone, which had become emotional before he knew it, was filled with strength.

“Sometimes, fighting like this, crying, and sulking… that’s what I want. Real families are like that, aren’t they.”

Actually, that kind of bickering relationship wasn’t my preference.

I just… no matter how much it festered inside, I hoped things would remain reasonably peaceful and trouble-free on the surface.

I had always lived that way. But…

“Yes.”

I nodded my head vigorously.

“I will.”

Because I now had faith that even if we fight, cry, and sulk, family is ultimately about holding hands like this again.

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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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