The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 149

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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 149

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That night.

“Good night, Brisa. Good night, Wolf-dog. It’s unfortunate, but now it’s time to put a brief pause in our day. So I’ll just sing one more lullaby before I go.”

Alpheus showed no signs of leaving my room.

I sat leaning against the bed with my arms crossed and spoke curtly.

“Just so you know, if you make such baseless comparisons in front of strangers when we go to the capital, know that I’ll put a period to our relationship.”

The fact that I was going to the capital for summer social activities also meant that Alpheus would be tagging along.

If nothing else, keeping Alpheus’s mouth in check was crucial for the sake of Sears’s reputation.

“But what if poetic inspiration keeps coming to me?”

“Suppress it.”

“What if I really want to express my amazing impressions?”

“Say it to yourself.”

“But then people might misunderstand me as a cold person!”

“To be honest, Alpheus.”

I sighed and muttered.

“I don’t even dare hope for such good fortune.”

Despite my sincerity, Alpheus remained steadfast.

“Anyway, I’ll sing a lullaby before I go. My lullabies are definitely effective. Look at Wolf-dog. He looks very sleepy.”

He wasn’t sleepy but tired, and that wasn’t the effect of the lullaby but rather the effect of Alpheus…

In the end, Alpheus sang one more song before leaving.

And after his footsteps had gotten quite distant.

I covered Wolf-dog with a blanket and said.

“Come out, Leopold.”

Then I quickly turned around. Before long, a low voice was heard.

“Not yet. You need to keep your eyes closed.”

“Alright.”

I heard the sound of him putting on the clothes I had laid out behind me.

Only after rustling around for a while did Leopold clear his throat a few times to signal ‘I’m done.’

I sighed and turned around again to face Leopold.

The boy was standing elegantly, fastening his sleeve cuffs.

“Um, are you going to some ball or something?”

I walked over to the bed, sat down, and crossed my legs while speaking sarcastically.

“Don’t tell me you’re dressing up like that when you’re not even going out anywhere?”

He shrugged while perfectly dressed and replied.

“I have an appointment to talk with a woman who’s not family. I need to maintain basic courtesy.”

“Ah, do you perhaps not know how to use your brain? Can you recognize that this woman who’s not family is currently in sleepwear?”

“That’s your situation, Brisa.”

He replied lightly and swept his jet-black hair back once. Then he crossed his arms and said.

“So the Northern Region affairs are pretty much all wrapped up? Then just say Wolf-dog left for the Western Region tomorrow. I’ll sneak out now and take a warp.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah. I don’t find this situation of sharing the same room with you particularly pleasant. If there’s nothing else, I’d like to leave quickly.”

When Leopold said it was ‘not pleasant,’ it simply meant it was terrible.

I understood the Grand Duke’s distress at being thorough about propriety and nodded.

Leopold continued speaking.

“Besides, I need to scout out the land where I’ll attempt 【Purification】 in advance. Princess Backhun said she’d stop by the Western Region first anyway.”

Even though he didn’t show it, the Western Region’s land must have been constantly on his mind.

“There’s nothing more you need me for here, right, Brisa?”

“Hmm…”

At Leopold’s question, I fell into thought for a moment. Then I slowly began to speak.

“Actually, I did want to visit that valley in Rudolph Village where the ‘Dimensional Traveler’s’ spirit is said to be.”

“Ah, the place humans can’t go?”

Leopold immediately understood what I meant. It was a valley we could reach with Wolf-dog’s help.

I nodded and said.

“Remember what the Centauros said? I think we need to meet that spirit to know the full story for certain.”

The Dimensional Traveler was definitely deceived by the Dark Mage too. She probably cursed the four families without knowing the truth.

If so, she who was said to be the Queen of Riente probably wasn’t an evil person.

“Seeing how she prevented dark magic from reaching Rudolph Village, she’s definitely on our side. So I think she might answer our questions.”

A spirit was like a fragment of soul left behind before a person died.

Leaving behind a spirit required very powerful sorcery and magical power, as well as strong will.

“Maybe that spirit has been waiting for us all this time.”

At my words, Leopold slowly nodded. Then he replied carefully.

“Then we shouldn’t go to meet her without any thought, but should calculate the timing well.”

The ‘Dimensional Traveler’ was from 800 years ago. The spirit would have been continuously wearing away during that time. A long encounter would likely be impossible.

“It would be wise to first gather all possible information, then go when we truly don’t know something and face a wall.”

Even when questioning the Centauros, there were limits to the questions. This time, there would likely be time limits.

“Let’s first go to the Imperial Palace to find some information about the ring, then go after that.”

I agreed with his opinion and carefully suggested.

“We can come here anytime, and you can transform anytime too.”

It seemed best to save the spirit chance as a last resort.

Leopold nodded lightly, then looked down at me for a moment. Then he asked in a voice that swallowed some distress.

“…That aside, are you really going to participate in this capital social season?”

The capital’s social season wasn’t really anything special. It simply meant nobles from various regions spending summer in their townhouses in the capital.

But nobles gathering in the capital ultimately meant a continuous stream of parties and banquets, picnics and performance viewings, shows and exhibitions, and such events.

So usually unmarried people of marriageable age and their families, or nobles who valued connections and enjoyed socializing with people, would hold gatherings every other day.

This naturally included the Imperial Court. No, rather than included, it would be more accurate to say they were the center.

Usually minors didn’t bother joining these social gatherings.

But if someone was accompanied by another or invited by a person of high status, they could naturally attend.

This was why I could frequently attend capital social gatherings during my two years at the Academy.

“Ah, you haven’t been able to use your brain for a while now. Didn’t you see Isabela’s condition earlier?”

I shrugged and said.

“If I don’t go, the Northern Princess will probably cut a few people’s tongues and then never be able to set foot in social circles again.”

“But.”

Leopold said calmly.

“I don’t like the idea of you going back to capital social circles.”

“This is a somewhat unexpected reaction.”

I blinked in genuine surprise.

“Why on earth, Leopold? You’ve never even been to a capital social season?”

Indeed, during our Academy days, Leopold returned to Duke Nogen’s Residence every summer vacation.

As a minor, he rarely received official invitations, and the Nogen family wasn’t originally active in social circles.

Of course, as high nobles they had to attend major events, so they were well-versed in related etiquette and family trees, but they would decline all invitations that weren’t truly necessary.

“Since I’ve never been, it only ends at not liking the idea.”

Leopold frowned and said.

“If I had seen it with my own eyes, I would have been disgusted. I still haven’t forgotten what the Second Prince said to you.”

I was momentarily speechless.

When he expressed ‘disgust,’ it was tantamount to declaring he would eliminate it from this world.

“That he wouldn’t have been able to break off the engagement with you if he had seen you at the Imperial Palace… those words.”

It was truly thoroughly Leopold-like.

Seeming to let things pass casually but never forgetting was his characteristic.

He would chew on it over and over like that, then bring up the topic when it was absolutely necessary.

“Having to face again the people who tried to pair you with the Crown Prince, and having to be in the same place with the Second Prince who proposed engagement to you under the guise of a reasonable suggestion.”

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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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