The Military Doctor Excels at Being a Contracted Duchess - Chapter 59

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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 59】

The room that had originally been a bedroom was neatly emptied of furniture. Instead, what filled it were various treasures contained within transparent glass cases.

The soft gaslight fell upon the treasures that beautifully decorated the walls.

Though the windows were closed and curtains drawn to prevent any damage, the hundred or so lights illuminating the space made it feel even more beautiful.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

In the center of the treasures stood two people awkwardly, ribbons tied around their necks.

Both were women, one holding a whip in her hand, and judging by their attire, they appeared to be coachwomen.

But female coachwomen!

It was something she had never seen in her entire life.

“These two people found employment thanks to you. They grew up in an environment familiar with horses from childhood. I had them drive a carriage as a test, and according to Matthias, they were much more stable and comfortable than male coachmen.”

“Ah…”

“There’s a carriage exclusively for you waiting outside. Please feel free to use it whenever you wish.”

“Victor, this is…”

Too much.

She had received so many things, yet she had nothing to give back in return.

However, Victor shook his head briefly as if he knew what she was thinking.

“You’ve given enough. Opening the children’s hearts wasn’t easy, and you went through a lot of hardship, didn’t you? You even got injured.”

“That was…”

“This is how I can feel at ease. Though it’s problematic that only my heart feels at ease.”

She wanted to ask how much all of this cost, but Ebel decided to hold back that question.

At a glance, it was clearly an amount she couldn’t afford, and asking would only make her feel more burdened.

‘Let’s think of it as something for maintaining dignity. I can just leave it behind when I go.’

What if she continued to stay here?

That wouldn’t be a problem either. After all, it would ultimately be the family’s assets.

Calming her heart with such thoughts, Ebel approached the coachwomen and firmly grasped their hands.

“Please take good care of me from now on.”

“Thank you for employing us. I never thought… I could work as a coachwoman.”

Perhaps from nervousness, their hands were cold.

After shaking hands with both of them, Ebel smiled.

“It’s still before dinner. Have you been assigned a place to sleep?”

“Yes, the head maid told, told us.”

The coachwoman who started hiccupping quickly covered her mouth.

Seeing this, Ebel could tell that Victor’s words about ‘trying to become a university dean’ were 100% sincere.

A society where women could also have jobs and earn money.

It wasn’t simply because she wanted it that he told her to try it, but because he wished for it too.

After the coachwomen left, as Ebel was examining the treasures one by one, she flinched and trembled at arms that quietly embraced her from behind.

He hadn’t carelessly pressed his body against hers.

There was definitely distance between them, yet somehow… it felt like being held.

“Things should be quiet for a while now until the King’s birthday celebration.”

“…Yes.”

“You’ve been busy and had no time to rest. So how about going on a vacation under the pretext of a honeymoon?”

She couldn’t see Victor’s face.

All she could hear was his breathing and voice. And… though it must be her imagination, a rapidly beating heart.

It didn’t make sense.

That his heart would race like a racehorse because of her.

“Do you have a city in mind?”

“Tarifa. We’ll go to a southern coastal city. It’s a place with active trade, so the tourism industry is well-developed too. It will be enjoyable.”

Honestly, she wasn’t unmoved by the idea.

The excuse was good, and it would be nice for a short trip.

Victor seemed to see right through her thoughts and chuckled briefly.

Indeed, when he was with Ebel, he found himself smiling often.

“Don’t worry too much about the children. You can just buy them gifts when we return.”

“!”

“There’s also a need to show them that your position and treatment in this household won’t change for the worse even when you’re not here. And I think it’s necessary to show that you’ll return even after leaving.”

Ebel was gradually won over by Victor’s proposal.

A vacation where she could leave comfortably without worrying about money. Honestly, it was tempting.

And what finally moved Ebel’s heart was Victor’s whisper:

“This is a pathetic man’s way of asking for a date, the only way he knows how.”

Thump, thump.

Her heart also beat rapidly in sync with his rhythm.

It was bewildering.

A famous poet (*Christina Rossetti, “A Birthday” (1861)) once said.

That when you fall in love, ‘my heart is like an apple tree, like a rainbow shell.’

When she had forced herself to read it for cultural refinement, she had thought it was nonsense.

‘But now I think I understand it a little.’

That poet compared falling in love to a birthday.

Sable fur and doves, pomegranates, peacocks, golden grapes and silver leaves… if love was such sweet things, then I would never know it in my lifetime.

That’s what she had thought…

‘Am I crazy for wanting to close this distance he’s maintaining?’

Her chest felt ticklish as if being teased with peacock feathers. Her lips and cheeks burned hot, refusing rational thought.

Ebel found this change in herself unbearably strange.

It felt like there was a door in front of her, and all she had to do was open it.

But if she crossed to the other side of that door, she would become a different person from who she was before.

‘I’m afraid that something fundamental, something essential within me will change.’

Perhaps Victor felt the same way.

That he had approached her like this first, like lovers when no one was watching… it was very telling.

‘Through this honeymoon, our relationship will change into something different from what it’s been.’

This wasn’t a prediction but a certainty.

And Victor… wanted it to be so.

“Our relationship will change in some way, won’t it?”

The contextless question flowed quietly from her lips.

Victor still maintained his distance, yet without releasing the arms that held her from behind, he answered.

“We’ll be happy.”

“Happy…?”

“I’ll make it so.”

It felt like a bird had perched in her chest.

She felt like she might burst into tears, or want to stop breathing altogether. An inexplicable anxiety tore at her insides, yet she also wanted to try trusting him.

“How about we go see Angelm now?”

“…Alright.”

Would she lose herself because of one man’s love? Would it be okay to leave part of herself in the past and change into a new person?

If only she had an older sister to ask.

This was harder than having to perform surgery while thrown into a battlefield.

When faced with mortal danger, there was no need for existential thoughts.

‘I must be having idle thoughts because I’m well-fed.’

Walking toward the drawing room with Victor, Ebel looked around at the much-changed household.

Changes made by her own hands.

What would happen to those left behind if she, who had been the agent of change, disappeared?

“Did you call for us?”

Ebel’s chain of thoughts was interrupted thanks to the twins’ appearance.

Angelm was trying to act mature and composed while failing to hide his anxiety, and Damian was… just being childish as usual today.

Ebel smiled warmly as she patted the back of Damian, who had run over and clung to her as she sat on the sofa.

“First, I’m not sure how you’ll take this story.”

Angelm, sitting across from them, clenched his fists tightly.

Victor glanced at her once, then seemed to become conscious of it and softened his tone a bit.

“I want to make you a proposal, Angelm.”

“A proposal…?”

“Yes.”

And then silence.

Watching these two people who weren’t having a battle of wills but truly couldn’t communicate, Ebel nearly clutched her chest.

“It’s a good proposal, isn’t it, Victor?”

Ebel finally intervened and gave Angelm a look that said not to worry.

Though he wasn’t the type of child to relax just from that, it would help a little.

“I want to make you, Angelm…”

“…”

“my adopted son.”

Boom!

Well, some sound effect like that should have played here.

Angelm was so shocked that he froze completely, not even breathing.

So Victor had no choice but to speak once more.

“I’m saying I’ll establish you as the next head of House Bayern.”

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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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