The Reason I Got Engaged to My Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 53

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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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Episode 53

 

Angelica, who had been hesitating, spoke.

 

“Colonel, if you move around, your wound could tear open, you know? …So I’m saying you can’t engage in acts of love that involve vigorous movement.”

 

“….”

 

“As fellow rational beings, let’s not create a situation where you lose an arm because you couldn’t overcome your desires.”

 

“….”

 

“Most importantly, this is my bed. Even if I don’t use it much, please be aware that it’s someone else’s bed and spend the night accordingly.”

 

Angelica finally disappeared after leaving words that could have been either a doctor’s concern or a homeowner’s worry.

 

I looked at the closed door with incredulous eyes and asked Ransel.

 

“…Did the treatment go well?”

 

“Yeah, she said it wasn’t too serious.”

 

“She said you could lose an arm if you’re not careful. How is that not serious.”

 

“She probably just said that to keep the bed clean.”

 

Ransel replied nonchalantly and sat down next to me, starting to unbutton his jacket.

 

When is he planning to undo all of that with one hand…

 

I watched him silently for a while and eventually helped him take off his clothes.

 

While I was close to him, diligently unbuttoning, Ransel stayed still and then asked.

 

“What’s wrong with your ankle? Are you okay?”

 

He seemed to have noticed the bandage wrapped around my ankle.

 

Even while asking, he looked cautious, worried that touching it might hurt.

 

I didn’t reply and just kept my hands busy moving.

 

Honestly, seeing him injured upset me.

 

It was better than earlier when there was blood everywhere, but still, injured is injured.

 

“Hm? Mary. Let me take a look.”

 

“I have to get up early tomorrow, so just hurry up and sleep.”

 

As soon as I undid the last button, I left a curt remark and lay down first. Who’s worrying about whom.

 

I pulled the blanket up to my chin and squeezed my eyes shut.

 

Ransel’s gaze seemed to linger on my face for a while, then I felt the sheet next to me sink with a soft thud.

 

“Mary.”

 

“….”

 

“Princess.”

 

“….”

 

“My love?”

 

“What.”

 

“I can’t sleep.”

 

“Keep your eyes closed.”

 

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep anyway.”

 

“Then what do you want me to do about it.”

 

“Hold me.”

 

“You’re heavy, so go away, you pig.”

 

Despite my sharp retort, Ransel came even closer.

 

Making Angelica’s concerns meaningless, our bodies touched without hesitation. I really want to just kick him off the bed, but I’m holding back because he’s injured.

 

I squeezed my eyes shut and pretended to sleep.

 

Before long, the breathing coming from beside me became regular. It seemed fatigue had finally caught up with Ransel too.

 

And so that long, long day passed.

 

***

 

Perhaps because I was particularly tired, I had a long dream.

 

“Mary! Come here!”

 

I was seven years old.

 

Sister Marie smiled brightly and gestured to me.

 

After becoming adults, Sister was a bit taller and had a different atmosphere, making it easy to tell us apart, but when we were young, no one except Father could distinguish between us twin sisters.

 

So we were distinguished by having a ribbon on the right side of our braided hair for Marie, and on the left side for Mary.

 

Of course, our personalities were distinctly different from childhood. Compared to Sister who was positive and bright, I wasn’t like that.

 

When Sister would play outside with our visiting cousins, I would just sit quietly next to Father and watch them.

 

Sister always tried to somehow draw me outside to play together.

 

That day was also one of those days when I ended up going outside.

 

“Why?”

 

“Just wait a moment…”

 

Sister crouched down and eagerly dug around the base of a tree.

 

Then suddenly, she sprang up.

 

With a very mischievous smile.

 

“Ta-da!”

 

Sister thrust a long tree branch toward me.

 

On it was a very… very long earthworm. A wriggling, busily moving earthworm.

 

I looked at the earthworm with a shocked expression, then quickly turned my body away.

 

“Ugh, disgusting!”

 

I shuddered and ran away frantically. Goosebumps covered my entire body.

 

Sister chased after me, laughing like a little prankster.

 

“Why, look at this!”

 

“Really stop it, Sister! Stop it!”

 

“Okay. I got it, so just stop for a moment!”

 

“If you throw that away first…”

 

Right at that moment.

 

Thud, my foot caught on a stone.

 

As my body tilted and fell forward…

 

Splash.

 

I fell into the lake.

 

“Ah…! He… help…! Blub…”

 

The more I struggled, the more my body sank underwater. Cold water entered my mouth and nose.

 

The moment my head was completely submerged, I could see Sister stamping her feet and the panicked servants beyond the water’s surface. That was my last memory.

 

And like a twist of fate, I remembered my previous life then.

 

“….”

 

The moment I recalled the memories up until just before dying in my previous life, I opened my eyes.

 

Before I knew it, I was lying on a soft bed. My whole body ached as if I had caught a fever.

 

I only blinked my eyes.

 

A past life. And a life in a completely different world at that.

 

Then what should I do now?

 

Would it be okay to live normally, as I had been doing?

 

I was confused.

 

“M-Mary!”

 

Sister, who had been sniffling beside me, opened her eyes wide. It seemed she had been waiting for me to wake up.

 

Sister hastily wiped away her tears and snot as she spoke.

 

“Huu, huk. S-sorry… Huuung…”

 

“…It’s okay.”

 

I slowly sat up. My head hurt a little, but my body was fine.

 

Sister lifted her head and met my eyes.

 

The moment I met those bright yellow pupils, I felt a strange sensation.

 

People said we looked so alike they couldn’t tell us apart, but I didn’t think so.

 

Sister’s eyes were special eyes filled with affection, love, and tenderness for me. Eyes that only Sister possessed.

 

That’s why I could quickly compose myself. Even with memories of a past life, this was where I belonged.

 

“Later I’ll go throw myself into the lake too…”

 

Sister muttered while hugging me tightly.

 

Sister Marie was that kind of existence to me.

 

My only sister, friend, and the sanctuary that allowed me to live comfortably in this world even after becoming aware of my past life.

 

I hesitated for a moment, then patted and hugged Sister back.

 

***

 

The response to the perfume wasn’t bad.

 

‘Though it wasn’t enough to be a huge hit or cause a stir throughout the Empire.’

 

It was because perfume wasn’t the main product of the booth.

 

If I promoted perfume too much under the boutique’s name, it would defeat the purpose of creating a fake identity, so I only placed it as an additional product.

 

Of course, I didn’t forget to use the fact that it was the work of a genius perfumer as a sales pitch.

 

‘The unexpected gain was probably…’

 

Seria’s booth might have failed.

 

Right after what happened between me and her on the first floor of the observation tower, people were busy watching the ducal family’s reaction, so Seria’s booth was bound to fail.

 

From the moment the word “insult” came up, the overall context didn’t matter to them.

 

‘Well, that aside…’

 

There was something more immediately important.

 

‘Who exactly leaked the carriage’s location to outsiders?’

 

I carefully thought it over, but there was no one particularly suspicious.

 

***

 

For servants, recommendation letters were the only means to prove their abilities, and the most reliable means at that.

 

The maid Ibel was able to be employed at the Arviente Estate with a recommendation letter from none other than the Imperial Palace.

 

Imperial Palace recommendation letters were naturally the best kind, but since Sophia, the mistress of the estate, was from the Royal Family, there were quite a few maids who had worked there, so it didn’t stand out much.

 

In other words, it was an easy position to stay quiet inside while leaking information to the outside.

 

‘But it seems like the estate’s security will be tighter for a while…’

 

Ibel, who was sweeping the corridor alone, rolled her eyes anxiously.

 

She had managed to find out and relay the carriage’s location, but the attack ultimately failed.

 

Ibel didn’t know who the people paying her were. But she could well imagine that if she didn’t provide the information they wanted, her own safety would be at risk.

 

“What? You’ve already swept almost everything?”

 

Just then, someone approached with a bright smile, holding a broom.

 

Marsha Cotton. Mary Blin’s personal maid.

 

Startled, Ibel soon asked in her characteristically small voice.

 

“Wh-why are you here? To help?”

 

“Yeah, it’s been a bit awkward being next to Miss lately.”

 

Marsha shrugged and began sweeping the floor here and there.

 

At the meaningful words, Ibel’s eyes widened.

 

Why was it awkward to be beside her?

 

She wanted to hear more details, but was hesitating whether asking might arouse suspicion, when

 

Marsha sighed deeply and said.

 

“The Colonel… I mean, Young Master is very ill. He keeps hovering between life and death, so Miss is so dejected… What should we do?”

 

“…Huh?”

 

Ibel’s eyes widened once again.

 

She hadn’t heard anything like that?

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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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