The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 220

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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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Part 2, Episode 25
An emotional turbulence that had never once visited her features settled across Brisa’s face, now the picture of a proper young lady.
“I’ve given it a great deal of thought. Perhaps I was overly cautious, uncertain as I was about what sort of person Your Highness might be…… Well, it’s possible he isn’t quite so purely political in his calculations. In any case, whether Your Highness made some use of Alpheus or not, he has written the correct answers all along and made judgments that serve everyone well.”
She recalled how Alpheus had expressed such sadness, saying that ‘Brisa continues to wish to return home.’
Only then did she understand why Brisa had approached her and sought this conversation.
“Your Highness will surely make a fine emperor. Had you simply sided with Audrey and remained silent to the end, I would have been confident of your ascension, but I would not have believed you capable of becoming a wise ruler…… truthfully, this conversation has given me faith in Your Highness.”
Those words certainly moved her deeply, and yet…….
“So I believe I can return to my territory with trust in my heart.”
It sounded somehow like she was entrusting him with everything and now wished to withdraw herself.
Suddenly Maximus saw the expression of an old man in Brisa’s face, though she was not yet twenty.
Already so weary, all of it rendered meaningless, asking only that those she held dear remain safe…….
“……I see.”
Maximus murmured as if entranced.
“But it sounds to me like you’re saying you won’t venture beyond your territory again?”
“……Because I dislike it.”
Brisa spoke quietly but clearly.
“I know that the Defense Scroll was made through Alpheus’s sacrifice. But if he must stake his life in such a way even once more, I would rather close my eyes and pretend not to see. I’ll trust that Your Highness will manage his empire well.”
Her eyes held a peculiar emptiness.
“I can live well with Alpheus in Sears. The Taming is finished now. Whether the Dark Mages cause further trouble or not, I wish to live in my territory, protecting only my own people. I believe Alpheus and I have done our part for the empire’s people. If I speak truly, even Leopold has done enough.”
She spoke slowly.
“I no longer wish to concern myself with the world and its affairs. Should anyone else appear seeking to demand adventure and sacrifice from my brother, I will show no mercy. Truthfully, justice and greater causes have always been the words I despise most.”
Maximus, who had once lured Alpheus into the Southern Forest for the sake of a greater cause, found himself with nothing to say.
“Everyone was good at hiding, weren’t they? Now we shall hide as well. Our territory is something we can protect adequately on our own.”
Indeed, who among any living soul could fault Brisa for this attitude?
Not when the one family before her had hovered between life and death…….
Long ago, when she had been summoned to the Empress Dowager’s reception and sat rigidly for hours, she wore this very expression.
Likely even then, when she was praised by everyone, she had never truly stepped forth into the world.
And yet.
“But this is not like Brisa.”
Alpheus had been right.
“Her heart appears gravely wounded.”
Surely the face he saw when she strolled through the Tomato Field and offered unsolicited advice to the farmers glowed with vitality.
Brisa was the type who found her spark only when she stepped into the world and exercised her gifts.
Alpheus had drawn her forth into that world.
Yet during those six years without Alpheus, she had returned to her former self.
Of course, her world had grown somewhat larger than before, but her heart bore deep wounds all the same.
Maximus gazed into Brisa’s eyes and spoke low.
“I regret it.”
She had been so mature that he hadn’t realized—thirteen was far too young an age to be left alone.
“Whatever his political intent may have seemed, I should have invited her to the Imperial Palace itself, so she wouldn’t isolate herself with such thoughts.”
If the shadow of that reception had been cast so deeply upon her, and six years had passed with no one to persistently brush it away…….
“I truly regret it.”
Maximus held her small, delicate face in his gaze and spoke with force.
“Had I known such trauma had taken root in the young lady—this desire to flee from everything—I would have traveled to Sears to find her every single day.”
He spoke his sincerity without hesitation.
“Whether she had a fiancé or not, regardless of what vulgar rumors might spread.”
He knew well that this declaration was not wise.
In most instances, his judgments were coldly rational and calculated.
But just as when he had exposed Marcel’s identity before Audrey, there were moments when he acted on his heart rather than his head.
In this moment, speaking these words felt like the most important thing in the world.
An inauspicious yet beautiful flower garden, the breeze caressing the bridge of her nose, a beauty whose bearing suited the comfort of sitting with the earth.
How long had it been since he’d faced her alone at close quarters?
Every scene that surrounded her had etched itself into his mind.
In this instant, he intuited that he would never regret this declaration, not for all eternity.
“……I see.”
At a voice that suddenly sounded from behind, Brisa startled and her eyes flew wide.
As she spun around urgently, Maximus smiled wryly.
A voice noticeably lower than he remembered continued, weighted with discontent.
“But it seems no vulgar rumors shall spread after all.”
Brisa had not noticed, but the man who had been emanating presence behind them for some time now.
He had known all along but let it be. The man seemed to have no intention of hiding his identity, and he was curious to see exactly how much longer he could bear it.
“Certainly it arrived later than expected, but it appears to have returned not too late. Quite fortunate, in fact.”
With Western Dialect, he made clear the meaning—’had you acted in such a manner, I would not have allowed it’—and a young man with dark hair announced his return after six years away.
“I offer my respects to Your Highness and the Lady of Sears after so long.”
“Grand Duke of Nogen.”
Maximus turned to regard him slowly and smiled slightly.
“You are welcome.”
“Thank you.”
Though he exchanged words with Maximus, the young man’s golden eyes were fixed brazenly on Brisa alone.
“I trust you have been well?”
A silence stretched.
Truthfully, this was a circumstance none could have anticipated.
The Grand Duke of Nogen suddenly appearing on the continent after six years with no word whatsoever—and in someone else’s territory no less, in a place like Behila?
Having completed her logical deduction, Brisa whispered to Maximus.
“Am I hallucinating? If so, please take me to a doctor at once.”
“Perhaps the lady should be taking me instead.”
Maximus spoke in an easy, bantering tone.
“That existence gives off the air of genuine menace. Look at the direction his killing intent projects—surely even a lady as talentless as yourself at swordplay could sense that much?”
It was an attack cloaked in jest.
If he replied now with ‘Indeed. I am mad with jealousy and find Your Highness disagreeable. I wish to duel with you.’—only Leopold would appear the strange one.
Yet to say ‘A duel, Your Highness? How could I ever presume to cross blades with you…….’ would wound his pride.
Maximus had a gift for jests where every possible answer meant losing.
Typically, if the target grew serious, he would simply say ‘I was only jesting—did it offend you? I’ll be more careful.’ and the matter would dissolve.
‘Six years ago, when I unveiled Alpheus to high society, I was the one who gave him that potion to silence his voice.’
Even in situations without hope, he could always think of a way to overcome.
‘The Western Dialect is second nature to me.’
Leopold, who had been regarding Maximus for a moment, answered slowly.
“How could I ever presume to duel with you, Your Highness?”
And he added with a deep smile.
“My body belongs to Brisa. It would be rather inconvenient were I injured.”
Maximus experienced defeat for the first time.

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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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