Thought It Was ‘The End’, Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 111

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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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Epilogue 2. Forget Love, I’ll Just Make Money (2)

The relationship between Lloyd and Genevieve was neither good nor bad.

More precisely, Lloyd felt nothing while Genevieve didn’t particularly like him.

Edelaine knew Genevieve as someone bright and spirited who deserved everyone’s love. She surely thought their distant relationship was due to Lloyd’s bluntness, but that wasn’t the truth.

She unilaterally disliked him.

‘She’s not the bright person my master describes her as.’

Lloyd knew her true nature.

Far from being cheerful, Genevieve was closer to cynical and negative in personality.

She was quick to calculate, accurately grasped reality, and precisely distinguished what parts required resignation.

She had moderately vile aspects and knew how to adapt to misfortune.

Those raised exposed to violence know its usefulness whether they like it or not. Having learned firsthand that being unhappy and unlucky doesn’t necessarily mean someone will appear to save you, she felt no hesitation or guilt about using violence.

She disliked troublesome things so usually appeared quite moderate, but when her radical side occasionally emerged, no one could stop her.

Just like Lloyd himself.

Their essences were more similar than anyone’s.

Who would believe that the most noble beloved of God on earth and a vagrant-born assassin had similar essences? But they recognized their resemblance to each other at a glance.

Childhoods exposed to continuous violence and abuse had made them that way.

Though their essences were similar, Genevieve wasn’t bad at socializing, yet she never spoke to Lloyd first. Not only that, her gaze was cold and her attitude frigid.

Such attitudes like Genevieve’s were very familiar to Lloyd.

People who liked Edelaine excessively generally acted that way. Shane and Genevieve were the most extreme, but even the Bertrand Family sometimes couldn’t hide their true feelings.

The reason was exactly that.

The jealousy that Edelaine abandoned ‘us’ and left, but took only you along.

Jealousy seemed to overcome even hatred, as she appeared to feel kinship with even the detested Shane regarding this matter.

Lloyd had done nothing wrong. Both he and the other party knew this. So Lloyd was confident, and they disliked him while trying to hide it because it wasn’t honorable.

“I wouldn’t know. But you don’t know what I know either.”

“It probably wasn’t as terrible as what I know.”

Even at the sharp words, Lloyd smiled leisurely.

“Are you asking for pity?”

“Who asked for such a thing? I’m telling you to be grateful that you were lucky.”

“I know better than anyone. You don’t need to tell me.”

“Really so arrogant and detestable.”

How is this like a kitten bouncing around? Genevieve grumbled.

“Why did she have to take you of all people?”

“Even if it wasn’t me, my master would never have taken you along.”

There probably aren’t many people who could feel superior to a Pope and Saint. Lloyd said, pulling up the corner of his mouth crookedly.

“Thanks to my master running away, you became Pope instead of becoming the Blancarde Duchess.”

“Even if Lady Edelaine hadn’t left, I would never have gotten involved with His Grace. I’d rather die!”

“Well, who knows. You have no eye for people.”

Lloyd looked at Genevieve while tapping near his heart below his shoulder. He was indicating the wound Harrison had inflicted. At Lloyd openly picking at her sore spot, Genevieve exploded in anger.

“I apologized for that. And if you’re going to argue like that, you should first question His Highness Edwin’s judgment for selecting Harrison as a knight guard. Since he was a knight guard, I naturally thought he was a verified person.”

“I never said His Highness the Prince had an eye for people.”

Lloyd shrugged his shoulders.

“…If it weren’t for Lady Edelaine, you would have died long ago for blasphemy.”

“I know.”

When even Shane couldn’t do anything to him, who else could harm him? Lloyd smiled annoyingly. Living as a fox showing off with a tiger on his back was quite pleasant.

“You’d better be careful when choosing a remarriage partner. And don’t listen to people around you if possible. There’s no one with good judgment.”

“There’s no remarriage in my life.”

Though the Pope must remain celibate, the Saint doesn’t necessarily have to. Many exceptions have already been made, so wouldn’t it be possible? Lloyd tilted his head.

However, Genevieve answered coldly.

“Once was enough for me.”

Going through it once was sufficient…

The Saint’s wedding was similar to a national promotional project. It was an event lasting several days. She couldn’t muster the courage to do that again. The wedding had been more difficult than even the papal inauguration ceremony.

“Love, romance – I don’t have time for such mindless things.”

She was busy to death, what remarriage?

Genevieve as Pope was still just a figurehead. Her support base was still fragile, and even that wouldn’t exist without the power of the Imperial Court and House of Blancarde.

Unable to neglect her duties as Saint, having to wander outside the country for more than half the year, she spent her days incredibly busy without a moment’s rest.

Even investing her leisure time in the vegetable garden meetings was burdensome, so there was no way she’d have time for romance. Lloyd said.

“It is a mindless thing.”

“It’s not good for your health either.”

Ah, not good…

Not bad…

Genevieve and Lloyd were surely thinking of the same person at this moment.

Genevieve shook her head and said.

“If that’s what love is, I’ll pass. I can’t handle it.”

“They say it was originally yours.”

“Shut up, please.”

One more word and I’ll smash your jaw with this fist. Her small, firmly clenched fist said so. Lloyd obediently shut up and left.

Genevieve snorted and glared at the boy’s retreating figure for a long time.

She was aware of acting childishly, but she couldn’t stand it when that detestable face was right in front of her.

‘It’s not that I have complaints.’

She understood intellectually that Edelaine hadn’t left her behind out of hatred.

But thinking of the time she suffered from guilt believing Edelaine was dead, jealousy toward Lloyd, who was chosen unlike herself who was abandoned, welled up.

You’d say it wasn’t abandonment.

Genevieve also accepted that she had sacrificed herself for them.

They say it was because it was a fate someone had predetermined.

‘A protagonist.’

Me?

Just who would want to peer into my life and make me the protagonist? What unique taste, she thought. Even looking back at her own life, rather than being interesting, it only brought disillusionment.

Edelaine had said, “You’re the protagonist of this world, so you must become happy.”

Those words saved Genevieve many times.

Even though it meant being the protagonist of a novel, the meaning never faded within Genevieve. What Edelaine gave wasn’t just words. Those words were still Genevieve’s treasure.

If she had to live according to someone else’s design, she wanted to be helpful to you.

She didn’t believe in the fate that someone unknown in name and face had supposedly predetermined for them.

She believed in the good intention that said if things flowed according to the story written in the book, you would surely become happy. She didn’t doubt that heart that wished for ‘our’ happiness more than anyone else’s.

But rather than being happy without you, it would be better to be unhappy together.

At least Genevieve never wanted to return to days without Edelaine again.

To those dark and damp days.

*

The day of Edelaine’s funeral.

That day was exceptionally clear.

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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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