The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 26

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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 26

 

He seemed to be on his way back from the restroom, as he was alone without any servants.

 

“Oh, it’s nothing really.”

 

My cheeks flushed red, thinking I had made a fuss over nothing.

 

“There’s a bird over there… Oh, again!”

 

But the sight of the bird catching fish was fascinating.

 

Leopold’s gaze followed my finger.

 

“…Ah.”

 

The boy tilted his head and asked.

 

“Were you feeling sorry for the fish being caught?”

 

“Huh?”

 

I felt sorry for the bird being falsely accused, so I pointed out the truth.

 

“We just had a fish dish for lunch ourselves, didn’t we?”

 

Leopold stared at me intently and blinked twice.

 

“Ah, since you’re still young… I thought you might feel sorry for all prey animals.”

 

“Young… age?”

 

Seven-year-old me was immediately triggered.

 

I retorted with a serious expression.

 

“I’m not young.”

 

“But you’re seven years old.”

 

“You’re nine years old as I understand it. Isn’t that similar?”

 

“Ah.”

 

Leopold’s brow furrowed slightly. Nine-year-old him was triggered too.

 

“Seven and nine being similar… That’s quite an interesting claim.”

 

That meant ‘you’re talking nonsense.’

 

Understanding that typical Western Region way of speaking, I lifted my chin and said.

 

“I’ve already read all the Academy required reading. Our mental age and conversation level should be similar.”

 

Then Leopold narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

 

“That seems like too radical a statement…”

 

That meant ‘absolutely unacceptable.’

 

While maintaining his dignity and refinement as a mature noble, he was doing his best to refute my opinion.

 

The seven-year-old, already sensitive about age issues, got fired up.

 

“Actually, there’s no real difference between seven and nine years old.”

 

The precocious nine-year-old boy cracked at that point.

 

“How… how can seven and nine be the same?”

 

Originally, the beings most concerned with age in this world were children.

 

Since nine-year-olds were also children, we had both lost our composure.

 

“When you were taking your first steps, I was already reading books by myself.”

 

“That’s the difference between one year old and three years old. Now it’s seven years old and nine years old. Don’t you know numbers?”

 

“The difference is the same. Don’t you know subtraction?”

 

“As we get older, that difference becomes more and more meaningless. Don’t you know ratios?”

 

That’s when it happened.

 

A voice could be heard from far away.

 

“Now, please gather on the deck!”

 

It seemed like the prize drawing was starting.

 

“Ah. I should go…”

 

Leopold came to his senses first and muttered.

 

He gently asked Mother, who was blankly staring at the lake.

 

“Madam, shall we depart together?”

 

It was natural etiquette. Among the three of us, Mother was the eldest, so he was asking for her opinion.

 

‘Wait.’

 

Only then did I come to my senses.

 

‘Mother has been quiet this whole time?’

 

While I was having a life-or-death age argument with Leopold, Mother hadn’t said anything.

 

‘That can’t be right.’

 

For a moment, it felt like my vision went white with foreboding.

 

The moment I slowly looked at Mother with a frightened face, a whining sound came from Mother’s mouth.

 

“Depart? We’re departing now?”

 

My heart dropped with a thud.

 

It was the ‘different voice’ that Mother made every night.

 

“I don’t want to go…”

 

Mother looked at Leopold with vacant eyes and said.

 

“I don’t want to go, Masa.”

 

Masa was the maid that Mother had brought. Since she was a kitchen maid, she didn’t accompany us this time.

 

Mother whispered desperately toward Leopold.

 

“I don’t want to go. I don’t want to go to the Empire. I’d rather die in Riente.”

 

Mother’s thin voice was mixed with tears.

 

“I don’t want to get married… In a foreign country where there’s no one, what would I do surviving all alone? That person, he’s already been married before…”

 

My head went white. I couldn’t breathe.

 

“She keeps returning to that night when she departed on that ship.”

 

Night was a problem, but the ship was also a problem.

 

Until now, there had been no occasion to board a ship in the Marquis Territory, so I didn’t know.

 

I trembled my hands desperately.

 

“M-Mother.”

 

Of all times, of all times… of all times, right now…

 

“Mother… Mother. Stop… Please stop.”

 

I muttered while moving my lips slightly. My heart was pounding and my body froze.

 

“No, Mother… not now… really not now.”

 

What should I do?

 

What on earth should I do about this?

 

Father was in the ship cabin, and the maids didn’t know the current situation either. They were just watching us from afar.

 

Moreover, Leopold right now was…

 

‘It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.’

 

Tears welled up due to anxiety and regret.

 

‘I… I lost my composure at being called young and acted like a seven-year-old…’

 

But I’m not just a seven-year-old. I shouldn’t act like a child.

 

I should have just sent him away without having a long conversation.

 

We can’t be found out. This is my engagement that I should have taken responsibility for.

 

‘Wh-what should I do…’

 

Now Leopold would step back and make a troubled expression. With fear, disgust, and a bit of curiosity.

 

I knew that expression very well. The butler at the Marquis Manor always made that expression.

 

In the terrible silence, only Mother’s whining continued.

 

“Masa, please… I don’t want to go. Okay?”

 

Mother’s eyes had already lost focus.

 

“The Riente Kingdom will be fine… It can’t just collapse like this, we…”

 

That’s when it happened.

 

“Please do that.”

 

Leopold said calmly.

 

“You don’t have to go to the Empire, Princess.”

 

I turned to look at Leopold sharply.

 

Among the Imperial people, there was no one who called our mother ‘Princess.’

 

“So please calm down. Let’s go back.”

 

“Really, Masa?”

 

Mother blinked while looking at Leopold.

 

“Really, I don’t have to go to the Empire? I don’t have to get married?”

 

Joy was evident in Mother’s words.

 

Leopold nodded.

 

“Yes, Princess. Everything will go according to your wishes.”

 

Then Mother breathed heavily with excitement.

 

“Really?”

 

Mother grabbed Leopold’s hand tightly and asked again with wide eyes.

 

“Will Father allow it? He will, right? He cherishes me more than anything.”

 

“Of course.”

 

Leopold smiled gently as if soothing Mother and patted her hand.

 

“But since it’s too late now, it would be better if you sleep tonight and ask His Majesty the King tomorrow morning.”

 

After that, he took out some medicine from his pouch.

 

“If you feel like you’re getting seasick, tell me. I brought sleeping medicine. There’s no better remedy for seasickness than sleep.”

 

It was exactly the same sleeping medicine that Mother had shown me earlier.

 

“Please take this. It will help you sleep well.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“You should fall asleep quickly so tomorrow comes faster. Anxious nights are too long.”

 

“Yes, Masa. You’re right. Thank you.”

 

Mother quickly took the medicine from Leopold and opened the lid.

 

“Without sleeping medicine, I don’t think I’d be able to sleep tonight.”

 

Mother muttered while trembling.

 

“Having to marry such an old man and bear his child… It’s horrible just to imagine. Yes, Father wouldn’t make my life like that.”

 

Right in front of me, the child born from such circumstances, Mother swallowed the medicine in one gulp and collapsed smoothly.

 

Leopold hurriedly caught Mother with his shoulder and arm.

 

Seeing this, the maids who had been standing far away came running.

 

“My lady!”

 

“Oh my, Princess!”

 

The maids caught Mother who had collapsed like a sheet of paper.

 

Leopold spoke quietly.

 

“She had severe seasickness symptoms, so she took sleeping medicine and fell asleep. Since her condition isn’t good, take the warp back immediately when the ship docks.”

 

At those words, the maids immediately responded.

 

“Yes, understood!”

 

“Thank you, Young Duke!”

 

After that, they took Mother to the ship cabin.

 

Only Leopold and I remained at the railing.

 

A moment of silence passed. In the distance, the shouting of lottery numbers could be heard like in a dream.

 

After taking a few breaths, it finally felt like color was returning to the world.

 

“Th, thank… ah, this… this is my, my problem…”

 

Various words came out mixed together.

 

I was ashamed that I couldn’t solve my own problem and had fallen into a panic.

 

“Sorry… sorry. I, ah, ah, couldn’t do anything…”

 

Then Leopold smiled gently.

 

“You’re young. It’s okay to just stay still.”

 

Now I couldn’t argue with being called ‘young.’

 

But I felt strange. It was the first time I’d heard someone say ‘it’s okay to just stay still.’

 

I was supposed to try hard. I always had to work diligently.

 

“Go see your mother.”

 

Leopold taught me what to do until the very end.

 

“Everything will be okay.”

 

The reason I couldn’t respond was because I felt like I might cry.

 

I nodded and then turned around. I could feel Leopold’s gaze watching me from behind, but I didn’t look back.

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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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