The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 44

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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 44

 

It was meant to be ‘Why don’t you and Brisa ride together,’ but Alpheus couldn’t understand the Western Dialect.

 

He grinned and chimed in.

 

“Oh, is that so? What is it?”

 

Leopold momentarily showed a troubled expression. This was because there were many knights and maids around.

 

Leopold, who had never encountered such pure and straightforward speech, muttered awkwardly.

 

“Well, now that I think about it, it’s an extremely personal matter.”

 

It meant ‘I don’t want to say it in front of you.’

 

Then Alpheus took my hand and said cheerfully.

 

“Aha, I see! That’s understandable. I was always wishy-washy when I was young too. It’s the privilege of adolescent boys. Well then, Brisa! Let’s take that carriage!”

 

Then he whispered in my ear.

 

“Come to think of it, he said it was personal so he decided not to talk about it. He seems to need time to think alone, so let’s give him some space. At that age, well, it’s perfectly normal to be back and forth like that.”

 

In the original story, Leopold and Alpheus also had terrible communication. Even when Alpheus had turned dark.

 

‘This is unbelievable.’

 

Now that he hadn’t turned dark, their communication would only get worse.

 

‘In cases like this, only Leopold will feel frustrated.’

 

After all, the person who doesn’t understand isn’t the one who feels frustrated.

 

Anyway, I ended up riding the carriage with Alpheus.

 

To think I’d unexpectedly receive an invitation to Duke Divostan’s Estate dinner…

 

‘But I absolutely have to go. It’s not just a penny or two.’

 

If the Eastern Region later played dumb and said ‘We’re grateful, but we didn’t need to give that much,’ it would be too unfair.

 

I’d probably see red every time I looked at a tomato for the rest of my life.

 

‘Sigh. The Eastern Region will be incompatible with Alpheus, but… money comes first.’

 

Imagining Langsi’s delighted face, I absolutely couldn’t refuse this dinner. First, I’d need to teach Alpheus Eastern Etiquette.

 

* * *

 

Alpheus smiled contentedly as he watched Brisa sitting elegantly in the carriage.

 

He wanted to boast to the whole world. That he had gained such an adorable little sister who was also smart. That Brisa had solved in one go a major problem that would have required deploying countless knights.

 

But he held back.

 

‘I shouldn’t praise her too much. I already did earlier, so I shouldn’t do it again. She might think that people only like her when she does praiseworthy things.’

 

One month of living with his little sister.

 

Brisa was still blunt and cold. She often made harsh remarks without considering his feelings. Nevertheless, she was a good child.

 

Back when he was living as a mercenary, there was a stray cat that always kept its guard up around him. However, that stray cat would catch mice and drop them for him when he was sick.

 

Whenever he looked at Brisa, he was reminded of that proud cat.

 

Moreover…

 

‘She’s mature.’

 

Brisa usually spent all day bustling about, constantly moving.

 

However, her dress had no wrinkles at all and not a speck of dust was on her shoes. Though he wasn’t sure, she must have been trained extensively in proper deportment from a very young age.

 

But….

 

Shouldn’t children this age be playing and getting dirt on themselves every day?

 

He didn’t like the ‘education’ that Brisa’s birth mother had supposedly given her.

 

Of course, he couldn’t speak ill of the deceased, so he kept those thoughts buried inside. However, the words that occasionally slipped out during conversations with Brisa kept shocking him.

 

“Don’t skip dinner. You haven’t gained that much weight.”

 

“…Brisa? Do you have to skip dinner if you gain weight?”

 

“Isn’t that obvious? I sometimes went hungry before banquets too.”

 

“Who told a child such crazy things!”

 

“Mother did.”

 

Every time this happened, Wendy would turn pale.

 

“Be careful, Marquis! Or you won’t be able to eat potatoes!”

 

Eventually, Alpheus soon stopped using words like ‘crazy’ and ‘insane’ in the mansion.

 

Of course, Brisa acted as if she was unfazed when she heard such words. But her lips would subtly tighten. As if she was afraid of something.

 

“Now, at Eastern Region banquets, ladies must always have an escort.”

 

Meanwhile, Brisa began her explanation.

 

“So you must always stay by my side as my partner. If you leave my side even for a moment, according to etiquette, the unfortunate situation of Gillab coming to my side could occur.”

 

“Partner? You and me?”

 

“You’re my blood relative, aren’t you? It’s the most natural arrangement.”

 

She spoke indifferently.

 

“I don’t have a fiancé anymore anyway.”

 

After saying that, Brisa gasped and covered her mouth.

 

Alpheus frowned.

 

What did she mean by that?

 

“Any…more?”

 

When he asked slowly, Brisa sighed as if she had made a mistake.

 

After a moment of silence, she spoke quietly.

 

“My engagement was broken off. It’s nothing serious.”

 

Broken engagement?

 

Alpheus had never received any reports about this.

 

In fact, Brisa had ordered Langsi and the maids to keep quiet about the broken engagement. She didn’t want things to become noisy over this matter.

 

“Br, broken engagement? What bastard dared to… No, wait, you were engaged in the first place? You’re only twelve years old!”

 

Indeed, he made a commotion.

 

“Tell me the details right now! What kind of outrageous situation is this? Huh?”

 

Brisa explained calmly in a somewhat tired tone.

 

“The engagement was made when I was seven. It’s not common, but it’s not something that deserves a ‘only’ either.”

 

“Good heavens….”

 

“And the broken engagement is natural. My circumstances have changed. Objectively speaking, it was already a somewhat unbalanced engagement from the beginning. It means this isn’t even something for you to be angry about, let alone heaven being angry.”

 

Alpheus looked at Brisa with an expression of disbelief.

 

Could those… could those words really come from the mouth of a twelve-year-old?

 

Were all the nobles completely out of their minds?

 

Wielding a cane to correct a six-year-old child’s habit of saying “uh…,” telling them not to eat before parties because they might gain weight, naturally attaching conditions to marriage.

 

“Well, anyway, my fiancé…”

 

Brisa muttered bitterly.

 

“He wasn’t particularly keen on the engagement with me from the start.”

 

“What? Then who exactly was this engagement for?”

 

“At least my mother was very pleased with it.”

 

“You, you… you… did you like that engagement? Huh?”

 

Alpheus asked the doll-like girl before him.

 

Those were the only words that came out.

 

Of course, he expected Brisa to put on a serious face and snap at him not to make such an uncultured fuss about this…

 

“You grew up without anyone to rely on too, so you’d understand, Alpheus.”

 

Unexpectedly, she answered calmly.

 

“My heart has no power.”

 

Alpheus flinched.

 

He knew exactly what Brisa was saying.

 

The heart of a child with no one to lean on was powerless. Because it couldn’t influence anyone anyway.

 

Brisa raised her eyebrows.

 

“So don’t worry. As long as you maintain the appearance of a decent marquis, I absolutely won’t bother you after that. I know my place.”

 

In the end, wasn’t she still thinking that her heart had no power?

 

Alpheus unconsciously clenched his fists.

 

He remembered the butler he’d driven away on the first day praising Brisa for being mature.

 

“Our Young Lady Brisa! Is fundamentally different from you lot, a noble and mature person!”

 

Only now did he truly realize those words were right.

 

He knew that child still didn’t rely on him.

 

Still, he had planned to wait. Until Brisa opened her heart. Without thinking impatiently, because there would be many more days together ahead.

 

But… this really wasn’t right, was it?

 

“Tell me more about that engagement, Brisa. Hm? I really need to know about this…”

 

When Alpheus pestered her, Brisa let out a deep sigh with a weary expression.

 

“It’s an engagement that’s already over.”

 

She muttered with her eyes downcast.

 

“From the beginning, he was beyond my station anyway. My fiancé… He knew that too.”

 

He detected bitterness in that face.

 

Alpheus’s heart sank.

 

Brisa wasn’t unaffected by the broken engagement. She had simply accepted it.

 

Because there was no other way.

 

Then his heart ached even more, and he hated that fiancé even more.

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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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