The Military Doctor Excels at Being a Contracted Duchess - Chapter 52
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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 52】
The two who briefly made eye contact showed different reactions.
Unlike Ebel who averted her eyes, Victor slowly moved his hand to tickle her ear.
The air that had briefly cooled became hot again with their increasingly heated breaths.
No one was watching, so there was no need to pretend to be lovers, yet Victor didn’t stop.
His fingers slowly descended along the line of her neck.
Eventually, Ebel couldn’t endure it any longer and swallowed dryly.
Her chest sank and she could barely breathe properly.
All her nerves were focused solely on the yearning touch that traced over her.
“There’s something I wanted to say.”
“Something you wanted to say?”
She exerted maximum effort to avoid stammering, but her entire body remained rigidly tense.
Thump, thump!
Her heart beat painfully.
As if screaming that she was alive.
“Yes. That will be tonight.”
“…”
“I’ll call for a maid. You’ll need to change into your reception dress.”
Victor gazed at her faintly trembling body for a moment before untying the ribbon of her corset.
At the same time, Ebel gasped and inhaled sharply, flustered about where to look, and Victor considerately stood up for his wife’s sake.
No one would know that the back of Victor’s neck was flushed red as he left the bedroom.
* * *
Weddings are truly joyful occasions. Days worthy of celebration.
However, for those engaged in sinister work, they were perceived with somewhat different meaning.
For example, perfect for causing trouble?
Since alcohol was essential at receptions, the guests were merrily eating and drinking.
Genevieve didn’t attend at all, but no one paid her any mind.
Because there wasn’t anyone tactless enough to accidentally say, “Oh my, Lady Genevieve didn’t even show her face at the wedding?”
Gaspard, who had been humming as he left Genevieve’s bedroom, turned his face this way and that in the window’s reflection.
He was quite handsome, yet he didn’t work on just one person.
‘Our mischievous friends must have set up pranks here and there… I wonder if the Duke really doesn’t know, or if he’s pretending not to know.’
This is why information warfare is enjoyable.
Gauging how much the opponent has figured out, and fighting by making moves intensely.
If you leave the enemy alone despite clearly knowing what they’re trying to do, it means you have an ulterior motive.
What if he hadn’t noticed?
‘Then he must be blinded by love.’
At first, Gaspard naturally assumed Victor was having a fake marriage. Such a being couldn’t form a stable family with someone.
But after observing for a long time, it seemed real, which was somewhat bewildering.
He’s doing it? Love?
Well, otherwise there’d be no reason to block him every time he tried desperately to approach her.
‘This is a bit spiteful. Accept it. I can’t let them spend their first night peacefully.’
Gaspard scratched the back of his head vigorously and walked leisurely toward the direction of the Duke’s study.
The sun was slowly setting.
Today at the Bayern estate, fireworks as spectacular as that sunset were scheduled to unfold.
Taking advantage of the tragic fire to rummage through this and that.
Of course there might be false information, but he’d been doing intelligence work for years. He could distinguish that much.
“Now, let’s see it burn.”
The sunset blazed red in Gaspard’s vision.
Soon a thunderous roar echoed in his heart.
It was the beginning of the festival he had prepared.
* * *
Under the setting sun, applause and music mingled together.
The scent of rich wine and the sweetness of champagne rode on the wind, and between them the ribbons of skirt hems fluttered gracefully.
Gentlemen holding ladies’ waists laughed heartily, and children crowded around the snack table, so busy grabbing this and that to eat they lost track of time.
Ebel stood among them as the star of the party.
“Now you two must dance too!”
“That’s right. Join us.”
Noble ladies who had become acquainted approached Ebel.
After what happened earlier, she had deliberately avoided dancing even when waltzes played, but it had to be during a polka.
Honestly, she couldn’t imagine Victor dancing to the fast tempo of a polka at all…
“Lady, would you grant me the honor of the first dance?”
But surprisingly.
Victor was already in front of her.
“You dance the polka?”
“I dance it quite respectably.”
“Really… truly?”
“Would you like to test it?”
Half-believing, half-doubting, Ebel took his hand.
When Victor and Ebel came out to dance, everyone cheered and cleared space.
When would they ever see the Duke dance a polka again?
The cheerful 2/4 rhythm resonated merrily under the sunset. The straightforward and lively dance was actually an area where Ebel was confident too.
The moment anticipation welled up, Victor moved first.
Following that, the bustle of the silk dress Ebel wore swayed rapidly and the venue became a cauldron of excitement.
Victor’s firm arm supported Ebel’s waist, and the two moved as if racing.
‘Better than I thought… he dances well?’
She seemed to see smugness in his gaze, so she laughed brightly.
“Ebel.”
“Yes.”
“If you were an intelligence agent who had snuck into this manor, when would you cause an incident and steal information?”
After dancing like running for the first time in a while, her chest rose and fell rapidly.
Ebel, who had barely calmed down, looked around.
“…Probably today?”
“Don’t be too surprised no matter what happens. Preparations are made, and some things were induced.”
Soon other couples also came out to dance together, spreading passionate energy.
The watching ladies cheered while waving lace fans, and children imitated the dancing in their own way.
The summer that had only been sweltering was ending like this. People all laughed joyfully in anticipation of the coming autumn.
Due to what she heard from Victor, Ebel was a bit tense, but she didn’t shrink back.
‘The children are over there.’
Damian and Angelm didn’t mix with the other children. Just the two of them were whispering about something, and when their eyes met hers, Damian waved his hand.
‘A servant is watching the children nearby.’
The guests were generally staying at the reception venue.
Since going to bedrooms before the sun had even set would be rude.
‘No matter what kind of incident they create to divert attention…’
Unless they were going to wage war, they wouldn’t drop artillery shells on the manor.
If not that, then somehow it would work out.
It was right when Ebel was about to sit in a chair to rest for a moment.
“What’s that?”
Someone pointed toward the manor vicinity and raised their voice.
“Smoke? There’s smoke coming out…”
Under the purple sky, the 2nd floor of the manor.
Faint smoke was seeping through the gaps of the tightly closed windows.
“…?”
A moment of silence passed as people couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Then, someone immediately screamed.
“Fi-fire!!!”
What did they burn in the kitchen? Before such thoughts could spread, another cry followed.
The elderly ladies who were acquainted with Genevieve had noticed something.
“That’s near Genevieve’s bedroom!”
“Good heavens!”
It was a situation that would instantly sober up even those who were quite drunk.
“Fire! There’s a fire!!!”
“What should we do…!”
Joy turned to tension in an instant. The noble ladies hurriedly searched for children to hold in their arms, while servants quickly lined people up to create evacuation routes.
Meanwhile, Ebel’s face turned deathly pale as she searched for the twins.
‘They’re gone. They’re gone!’
Her heart sank with a thud.
The two children who had definitely been eating cake just moments ago had vanished without a trace!
“Victor! The children are missing!”
“I’ll immediately order a search for them. Don’t worry and evacuate.”
The butler, Willen, led the guests.
Having received evacuation training in preparation for such incidents, the servants were able to move calmly.
Meanwhile, the flames had already begun licking beneath the roof, and the black smoke and acrid smell grew thicker.
But when she calmed her trembling heart and looked carefully, the fire was spreading slower than expected.
Asbestos!
The asbestos walls were doing their job.
“Put out the fire. It’s a blaze that can be extinguished quickly.”
“Yes!”
For some reason, when they lifted the cloth-covered chairs, water buckets filled to the brim were revealed.
Victor rolled up his sleeves with the servants and began personally carrying the water buckets, and with that scene as the last thing she saw, Ebel moved along with the guests.
‘Did Victor also anticipate the children disappearing…?’
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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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