Chapter 53

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Chapter 53

She was mesmerized by his handsome face enough to forget that Marquis Loengram and Vivian were in the drawing room as well.

“Hm. Now, now. How long are you going to stand and talk? We still have a long conversation to share, so let’s just sit down and do

that instead.”

As if breaking the endearing atmosphere between Seth and Min-ha, who were only looking at each other, Marquis Loengram coughed loudly.

At his words, Seth Seth blushed in embarrassment before frowning at the Marquis’ gaze who was staring at him. Suddenly, one corner of his lips rose coldly. Min-ha trembled at the sight of Seth like that. It was the face, ‘just before being sarcastic.’’ which she was familiar with.

“Let’s do that. But, before that, let’s have an earnest conversation, I have something to say.”

“What…?”

“Even though the Loengram family had a long history that’s been passed down from the time of His Majesty the First Emperor of the Empire, and although they have stepped down from the front lines… I know that they held significant power in the imperial aristocratic society enough to participate in the council of elders. However, it seems that you have been very rude to me, as the Duke, from a while ago.”

“….!”

“Even though I’m here, I hope you won’t forget my title and yours. ‘Marquis’ Loengram.”

Unsurprisingly, the words that came out of his mouth were studded with thorns. Min-ha gently grabbed Seth’s hem, as if to stop him, glancing at Marquis Loengram, whose expression changed as his sarcastic remarks continued.

No matter how reasonable what he said was, this was the mansion of the Marquis of Loengram. She was worried about what would happen if the angry Marquis did anything.

As though he knew what Min-ha was thinking, Seth reached out and grabbed her hand, which was holding the hem of his clothes. It was like he was reassuring her that nothing she was worried about would happen.

Nonetheless, she could not put her mind at ease in the tense atmosphere, which seemed as though anything was about to happen.

“…I’m sorry, Duke Persen. I must’ve felt comfortable thinking that the Duke is like this old man’s son or son-in-law, I’ll stop being rude. I’ll be extra careful in the future.”

“Thank you for taking it that way.”

“My father didn’t have any malice either. Please, let it slide, Duke Persen.”

“….”

“So, if you were offended, please relax and sit down, Duke. And, Duchess. I’ve prepared a specially sweet raspberry tart and premium tea for you two.”

Fortunately, contrary to her expectations, Marquis Loengram relaxed his expression and apologized to Seth politely. Following him, Vivian smiled like nothing had happened as she tried to relieve the uncomfortable atmosphere before lightly clapping twice after the words that she had prepared dessert.

As if waiting, the maids pulled in a silver tray from outside the door and began to arrange tea and snacks on the sofa table in the parlor.

“Come on, come on! The tea is getting cold! Both of you, sit back and enjoy the tea and tart. It’s very delicious.”

“….”

“Then, I won’t hesitate.”

Min-ha was reluctant to see Vivian urging her to sit down next to her in a soft voice. Although Seth sat down with her, wearing a calm face.

He fanned the teacup in front of her and spoke.

“The tea is still hot, so it’s better to wait a little while before drinking, wife.”

“…Yes.”

Thinking that it was embarrassing to see him taking care of her so kindly, Min-ha wondered if it was even the person who uttered sharp words a while ago, yet she could not contain the feeling of being happy inside her.

In fact, even though she was worried about him when he said something rude on purpose, she was not upset. Even though she thought he was really impolite, how could she be emotionally angry at him, who was rational and cold-hearted in everything?

It all seemed to show how much she liked him, so she was happy and bashful.

Thinking that, she took a cup of tea in front of her to hide the laughter that kept leaking out, not paying attention to the gazes of the Marquis Loengram and Vivian, who were staring at her and Seth.

As though the sharp words that had been spoken to each other a while ago did not happen, Seth and Marquis Loengram had a conversation about the schedule of the Acacia Festival and the suppression of the rebels.

Between the two, Vivian intervened in the conversation by asking questions, while Min-ha listened to the conversation between the three of them, quietly drinking tea and nibbling on sweets.

Did they spend about twenty minutes like that…? When the two topics were settled to some extent, Marquis turned the conversation around.

“Well, let’s stop talking about the heavy stuff and talk about something else…”

“If it’s not urgent, could we do it at dinner? I’ve been traveling for a long time without being able to rest properly, so I want to relieve my fatigue.”

“…Oh, my goodness. This old man didn’t notice. I guess it’s because I haven’t seen the Duke in a long time. I apologize, Duke Persen.”

“Of course not.”

“Then, I will guide you to the annex, Duke.”

“It’s all right, Young Lady Vivian. My faithful knights have already been waiting for me at the entrance to the drawing room since fifteen minutes ago.”

“….”

“Well, excuse me. See you at the party tonight, Marquis and Young Lady Vivian.”

“….”

“Let’s go, Madam?”

“All right.”

After ending the conversation as if he had no regrets, Seth got up from the sofa and reached his hand out to her.

Without hesitation, Min-ha put down the cold teacup she was holding and got up, holding the hand he had held out.

Regardless, she had already drunk a lot of expensive tea, ate tarts in moderation, and listened to all the stories she had to hear. She had no reason to sit any longer in this uncomfortable place any longer, so she followed Seth and walked out the open door.

She could feel the tenacious and slightly questionable gaze of the Loengram father and daughter staring at them from behind, but she did not dare to look back.

Of course, for her, it was more important to be with Seth, who held her own hand tightly, than the gazes of those people.

When Duke Persen and the Duchess had left, silence fell in the parlor where only Marquis Loengram and Vivian remained.

The Marquis was still awkwardly hanging on the sullen smile he had been wearing from laughing a while ago. Meanwhile, Vivian had a cold expression on her face as if she had never had a lively face. They were waiting for the sound of footsteps of the Duke and Duchess of Persen from outside, as well as the voices of the knights waiting for them to subside.

Eventually, as the sound of their words and footsteps became more and more distant and inaudible, the awkward smile that hung like a painting on the Marquis Loengram’s face disappeared.

He, who had a cold and heartless face in an instant, slowly picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip of the cooled tea.

Then, he glared at Vivian, his daughter, sitting next to him with snake-like eyes.

“What a nice look*. He was so arrogant..”

[ T/N: It’s a sarcastic expression to criticize something that one does not want to see or dislikes. ]

“….”

“I heard that if you approach the man who was turned away by his wife, you could easily melt his heart. I was wrong from the premise.”

“…Father.”

“Until recently, it was said that he hated Minase Persen…? It was obviously your fault for publicizing such a report. I don’t know who the hell made such a report, but I’ll have to rip their tongue out first.”

“….”

“Foolish and dim-witted thing.”

The words of Marquis Loengram, who placed down the teacup in his hand, did not feel as warm as the teacup.

Vivian’s hand, which was holding her skirt, trembled at the cold accusation that could not be considered to be treating his famous daughter at all. The trembling was revealing the contempt she was now feeling. However, she struggled to raise the corners of her lips before opening her mouth in a calm, low voice.

“…What you see may not be everything, father.”

“That’s humorous. Are you saying that all of those actions could be acting?”

“There’s a good chance of that. Duke Persen, the author, has always kept a distance from father.”

“Yes, that’s true. However, you know only one thing and not two things*.”

[ T/N: An expression meaning you look at only one aspect of something and miss the entire situation of it. ]

“What…?”

“I met him once or twice on the battlefield. There were fierce battles and battles as easy as twisting a child’s wrist, though he led them all to victory. Do you know what those warfighters love the most when they come back from the battlefield and spend the night in their barracks…? It’s to hold a woman.”

“…What does that have to do with what I’m saying wrong, father…?”

“Stupid thing. Listen to the end. The more crazy a man is in the war, the more likely he is to treasure wine. It’s because it was difficult to overcome the trauma of killing someone with his sword other than that provocative method. By the way, do you know what he was like? Even with temptation, he refused even to touch their fingertips, saying that he could not touch anyone except the one he had in mind. He’s such a man!”

“….!”

“There’s no way such a man could look at a woman, much less a woman he hates, with such a friendly gaze! Don’t think of him like other noblemen. Even though he’s wearing the nobility’s shell now, his nature is like a wolf. He’s loyal only to his own people!”

“….”

“Damn it…! Where do you see that he hated his wife so much that he wanted to kick her out?! Wasn’t the plan to bring you in and push you into their relationship? This way was wrong from the beginning!”

“….”

“If I had known this, it would have been better for me to take a new wife, give birth to a daughter and bring her to the twins, the descendants of Grand Duchess Blaine, rather than using you to approach Persen, that lowly bastard…! Damn it, I was foolish… To make such a complacent decision because I wanted to return to central politics as soon as possible.”

Marquis Loengram, who denied Vivian’s words at once, lashed out at her coldly. He seemed to be quite angry that ‘things went wrong.’ The more he continued, the more heated he got, and the more he raised his voice.

It was like a viper hiding in the grass, waiting for food, though it was unexpectedly trampled on, exposing its teeth.

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