The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 241

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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 46
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The morning after.
“Happy birthday, Young Lady!”
“Congratulations on coming of age!”
The moment I woke, servants and knights erupted in chaos. Perhaps well-fed the day before, they all sang with lusty voices.
“Brisa! Brisaaaaaaa!”
Alpheus made the biggest spectacle of himself.
“Happy birthday! That I could celebrate your coming of age—I’d die happy just from this…….”
“Don’t say such inauspicious things.”
I glared at him and spoke curtly.
“You’ll have to celebrate my wedding too.”
“Brisa, you said something I didn’t like and now you’re attacking me so fiercely…….”
Alpheus, mortally wounded in spirit, wobbled as he thrust the birthday gift toward me.
“I’m relieved I managed to prepare this.”
What Alpheus handed over carefully was, astonishingly, a small sculpture.
“Happy birthday, Brisa.”
The carving depicted my twelve-year-old self, unmistakably.
“What…… what is this?”
“I made it from this.”
As I accepted it, bewildered, Alpheus produced a mechanical nail with self-assured confidence.
“During my mercenary days, I took up wood carving as a hobby. My skill was never extraordinary, but with this nail, I can create incredibly detailed work.”
I stood transfixed, staring at my own sculpture.
“Of course, I didn’t use just the nail—I used carving knives too, naturally.”
It was small enough to hold in one hand. The craftsmanship was correspondingly delicate.
“It’s given me such dexterity with my right hand.”
Alpheus knelt and met my eyes as he spoke.
“I used to think, when peace comes, what will I have to do? But now I’ve found a dream. I’m thinking of opening a workshop.”
The Marquis dreaming of becoming a craftsman was an unprecedented declaration since the kingdom’s founding.
“Making dolls, making toys, sculpting like this. Don’t you think I’d make a wonderful grandfather?”
Yet I didn’t tell Alpheus to stop making such declarations. Instead, I answered with a trembling voice.
“It’s wonderful.”
I drew in a breath and nodded emphatically.
“Truly wonderful.”
Alpheus hadn’t given me merely a wooden carving. He’d reaffirmed once more that my choice not to abandon his arm had been right.
“When I first saw you, with that grumpy expression looking up at me…….”
Alpheus spoke softly, tinged with wistfulness.
“I instinctively knew you didn’t like me, but you were so endearing.”
I couldn’t remember that moment. The flood of unfamiliar memories had left me too bewildered.
“If I’d died in the Eastern Region, at least I’d have seen my sister’s face—I’d have counted myself fortunate.”
Something caught in my throat.
I wanted to tell him then that meeting Alpheus that day had truly been my fortune too. That what you’ve given me has meant so much…….
“Congratulations on your coming of age, Brisa. Now we grow old together, but the little girl in my memory will remain eternal. I’ll worry over you and cherish you my whole life. Just as I did that first day.”
I was grateful to him for carving our beginning into my coming-of-age birthday.
I opened and closed my lips before finally speaking.
“Bury this with me.”
Perhaps my life truly began on this day…….
“It’s so meaningful—you’ll have to bury it with me, won’t you? Promise?”
As I spoke with tears welling in my eyes, Alpheus pulled me into his arms with a reproving embrace.
“Why must you speak of death on such a beautiful day?”
“Riente has a legend.”
I repeated what I’d once heard from my mother.
“If you bury the most precious thing with the dead, their spirit won’t wander this world searching for it.”
That’s why the History Book of Riente, which Mother had loved most in life, was buried with her, she’d said.
“How beautifully human! Riente truly is a warmhearted nation!”
“Is it?”
Alpheus was moved far more than necessary, so I told him the reality.
“That’s why the tombs of Riente’s kings are enormously large and ornate. They stuff them with all manner of treasures and precious metals. In the end, it just fattened grave robbers and hastened Riente’s collapse.”
The Sears family’s birthday gifts continued after that.
I accepted their congratulations plainly and expressed my gratitude with composure.
The maids weren’t disappointed by my reaction—they’d already expected this much from me. But the moment I began to dress, the maids couldn’t hide their excitement.
“This dress! You should wear this dress, Young Lady!”
“These earrings for today! These ones!”
The ensemble was far too elaborate for staying within the mansion.
Normally, on my past birthdays, acquaintances had visited the Marquis Manor one by one.
But with a rather brazen expression, Masa spoke worriedly.
“Young Lady, what shall we do? It seems Valerie is quite unwell…….”
I thought to myself, ‘So the real test begins.’
“But she says she absolutely wants to give you a birthday gift, so wouldn’t you quickly go and receive it? After all, the other guests won’t arrive until this afternoon.”
My intuition had been right.
Of course, anxiety gnawed at my chest—some premonition that something was amiss in the Western Region.
‘Surely it won’t turn out that everything’s been razed when I get there?’
I questioned anxiously.
“She contacted us this morning, right? It wasn’t coordinated long ago? You confirmed the schedule just now, yes?”
“Goodness, Young Lady.”
Masa shook her head.
“How could we have coordinated a sudden illness days in advance? This word just came through.”
Since it was obviously a lie, it was hard to gauge whether the Western Region was intact or not.
As I bit my lower lip with a worried expression, Masa started in alarm and continued.
“Don’t worry so much, Young Lady! They said it’s not terribly serious!”
Wendy too watched nervously and added her piece.
“Y-you don’t need to make such a grave expression!”
That wasn’t the worry at all…….
But from behind, Alpheus widened his eyes and secretly gave me a thumbs up. He was marveling at my acting.
In the end, I boarded the Warp without hiding my concern.
Even after arriving in the Nogen Ducal Territory, I couldn’t shake my worry.
I kept glancing about the Warp site, but found no sign of anything amiss.
Eventually, I even asked the servant from the Grand Duke’s Residence who’d come to meet me.
“Nothing’s wrong, is it? Everyone’s safe?”
“Ah…….”
The servant answered with a very apologetic expression.
“W-well, Valerie, um, that is, she, ah, ah, isn’t…… isn’t unwell.”
The birthday girl looking so anxious seemed to make him feel guilty for deceiving her.
Alpheus climbed into the carriage and showed me two thumbs up.
“Brisa, what’s with your acting? Have you been practicing drama out in your territory?”
He genuinely marveled at it.
“You could audition for leading roles at a theater troupe right now.”
I thought it was simply that everyone but me had no sense.
I gnawed at my nails and looked out the window. Still peaceful.
When I fell silent, Alpheus spoke excitedly.
“Oh, Brisa. Still in character? Can’t disrupt the emotional continuity? Then I’ll zip it too!”
“You talked nonsense the whole way anyway, but thanks for finally closing your mouth.”
I hoped Leopold wouldn’t be absent when we reached the Grand Duke’s Residence.
No matter how I thought about it, something felt wrong. That Leopold, who’d shown such open hostility toward Maximus, hadn’t sought me out even once in all this time…….
‘Whether it was the engagement ceremony or the imperial banquet, these grand celebrations always ended poorly.’
I bit my lower lip.
‘I just want everything to go smoothly…… smoothly and safely…….’
As long as Leopold appeared safe and sound.
And so the Grand Duke’s Residence came into view.
It was as I was alighting from the carriage at the main gate.
“Now, Brisa, take my hand and step down carefully. Your dress is so flowing…….”
The moment I’d stepped down from the carriage, Alpheus’s expression, which had been steadying me, went rigid. And the instant I descended safely, his eyes flashed with a dangerous glint.
“Wait a moment, Brisa.”
His voice carried a sinister killing intent.
“Go inside first…… I have something urgent to handle.”

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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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