Chapter 37

13. The Main Character’s Personality (1)

Translated by alyalia

I could feel the guards who were following us were also agitated.

“If I had a holy relic like the main character in the opera, I would have made the same choice for Aloken.”

“What?”

“Eternal life doesn’t matter if I can be with you.”

Tuk.

I pretended to lean lightly on Aloken’s shoulder. It’s a copy of the people’s behavior who passed before my eyes. Aloken tried to reflexively back off when I touched him. But a few seconds later, as if he had finished judging, he changed his attitude.

“I don’t even crave for holy relics in the first place. With such a lovely fiancée by my side, I have enough treasure.”

“Oh my, is that true?”

As expected, Aloken responded skillfully to the play. As he approached, the appearance of whispering love while wrapping his arms around my shoulder was more natural than me, who had begun it.

(What a sight!)

(Did they drink honey to become that sweet?)

(It’s a happy thing that our young Master is happy, but to do that on the street…)

It was obvious what the servants who were walking with us together would think by now. Rather, it was what I had hoped for. Aloken and I continued our playful play until we boarded the carriage.

“It’s already late. I’m in trouble if my fiancée gets hungry, so can you hurry up?”

“All right, my Lord.”

I got into the navy-colored carriage, gracefully accepting Aloken’s hand escorting me. Aloken, who had few words with the horseman, also approached the carriage shortly after.

Aloken, who had a few words with the horseman, also approached the carriage shortly after.

“Hmm?”

However, he took a seat next to me this time, not the opposite of me. I sat beside him without saying a word. Soon I watched the carriage door close.

Tung.

The heavy sound of the door closing was soon followed by a shallow vibration every time the wheels moved.

“Vanora.”

“Yes.”

“What are you thinking?”

Now that the curtain had fallen, it was the actors behind the curtain’s turn to show their true faces.

“What did you do that for? You don’t even usually keep your manners.”

Aloken had returned with a cold look that made it feel like his voice had been lowered by one tone. He leaned his upper body toward me and whispered so that the conversation wouldn’t leak to anyone. The pressure grew as much as our distance got closer. However, I had already lost my fear since I broke Haures’s head.

“You seem to be going through a lot too.”

“What…?”

Naturally, this kind of pressure didn’t impress me. I went on, fiddling with the cloth hanging by the window.

“Aloken, you didn’t like the opera you just saw, didn’t you?”

When this was brought up, Aloken’s expression on the window hardened.

“No, not that much. I wasn’t interested enough to the point I didn’t care if the actor on the stage died right away…”

‘What?’

It was a casual remark. However, I acted as if I had been trampled upon.

“…”

“Did I offend you?”

Aloken shutting up. Seeing him unhappy with this situation, I wondered whether he made a slip of the tongue and reflected on his remarks. But no matter how much I thought about it, there was no problem.

“I know the eyes of people who are not interested in a certain subject because I have received a lot of similar glances over the years.”

‘Especially since my father often saw me with that look.’

I dismissed my thoughts and continued the conversation in a small voice.

“It hurts to be bored.”

“…”

“But seeing you sit in a boring opera for hours just trying to be a fake lover… It made me think differently.”

Usually, while talking about this topic, someone would have said a word of sympathetic response. Still, the man sitting next to me only looked at me with questionable eyes.  

“Looking back, you always did your best to hide our fake engagement. Thanks to that, there wouldn’t be words about me regarded as a fake fiancée, but on the other hand, I think I’ve been too uncooperative.”

“…”

“So from now on, I’m just trying to keep up with my acting…”

This play was honestly not a bad thing for me either. The more solid our love seems, the less room for Naverius to find out about it.

“Vanora.”

At last, Aloken, who had not said anything, opened his mouth. He looked down at the floor, clasping my hands, and subtly asked a question.

“I certainly don’t like opera. It’s boring, but there’s actually more than one or two boring things like that.”

“…”

“No matter what I do with the things around me, it’s not fun at all… At first, I looked for something stimulating to appease my boredom. I don’t like gambling. Fortunately, I like to hunt.”

“And then?”

“But these days, I’m getting tired of hunting.”

He leaned lightly. Then he supported his elbow against the carriage wall and said while putting his chin on his hand. There was no such thing as arrogance or humility.

“Then what should I do when hunting becomes as boring as an opera?”

“You just have to find another hobby, right?”

I answered without much thought.

“That’s right. Fortunately, I think I’ve already found something I’m interested in this time.”

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If I had known that he would then bring this up, I would have had a conversation with him more sincerely.

Soon Aloken’s eyes turned to me. He seemed to have realized something.

“Everything Lady Celcius brings up these days is interesting. When you pretended to be my lover earlier, I even thought it wasn’t bad.”

“?”

“I’ve never felt this way before.”

Aloken smiled at me while looking at my face.

“…So, what I mean is, you’re charming.”

I pretended to be startled when the word charming came out of his mouth.

“…”

However, there was no significant change other than me raising both my eyebrows slightly. In other words, my face didn’t turn red or even smile.

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

‘I need to get used to this kind of sudden attention…’

It was awkward to hear that I was attractive, the opposite of the insults I had heard. Rather, it felt like he was giving me a slap on my face.

“Your reaction is too cold.”

Aloken straightened his tilted upper body and sat upright when I showed such a cold face. Then he looked at my face and added a few words.

“What I’m interested in you it’s not just a one-time contract. I’m even willing to carry out this until marriage.”

I couldn’t let those words slip away.

“Marriage?”

“These days, I think it’s okay to have Lady Vanora as my real wife.”

“What do you mean it’s okay?! You won’t gain anything by marrying someone from the Celcius family…”

“I see. When we made a deal, you politely said that we didn’t have to get married, but the truth is you just didn’t want to.”

Aloken pulled up a short curtain hanging from the carriage’s window to see how close we were to the mansion and then calmly began to look straight ahead. His face had regained its smile.

“My family is not a family that will be shaken just because of marriage to Count Celcius’s family.”

‘He said before there’s already a family he had in mind to be married to! Now he wants to throw them away?!’

I listened quietly to his words and noticed. Aloken’s remarks were sincere.

“I have no intention of getting married.”

For me, he was merely a tool to establish myself in the social world while at the same time beating out Naverius. I have already made up my mind. I will destroy and kill my targets in the next two years, but it would be difficult if I stumbled upon a marriage I didn’t even want. It’s not good to be clingy.

“That will never happen.”

I drew a line as cold as frost in the North. However, Aloken replied as if it was natural, without turning his head to look at the front of the carriage.

“My hunting skills are better than you thought.”

“Why did you say out of nowhere…”

“I have no hobby other than hunting, so the skills I had been immersed in for a long time naturally improved.”

Tap, tap.

He placed his hand on his twisted leg, tapped his knee lightly with his index finger, then lowered his head and raised the corner of his mouth.

“I’m persistent when it comes to beasts I’m interested in.”

“Are you comparing me to a beast?”

“It’s the same whether it’s a person, a beast, or a piece of meat.”

He drew the end of his words softly and joked. I clenched my fists for a moment at his attitude. Shortly after, I turned my head to look out the window as if ignoring his words.  As I saw a familiar landscape, we seemed to have reached the Duke’s residence.

“You’re going to hunt me down like a toy, right? Even if I say I don’t like it?”

“Is that how you respond?”

“Even the gratitude I felt for you before is disappearing. I’ll pretend that there won’t be any further cooperation from now on. I don’t want to be more than a business partner with you.”

As soon as the horseman stopped the horse’s hooves, I opened the door and got out of the carriage.

“Yo-Young Master, did something happen between you and the young Lady?”

Even though Aloken and I apparently got out of the same carriage, I got off without an escort. Even if it’s unusual for anyone who sees it. Aloken, who stepped on the ground belatedly, told a lie.

“There’s nothing to worry about. It’s just a quarrel between lovers.”

* * *

That night.

It was good to run out first, but I couldn’t avoid mealtime since I stayed in this mansion. So I had to have an overly lavish evening with Aloken. In addition, Aloken shamelessly delivered a letter to my room, saying, “People feel intimacy and affection for those they see often.”

I didn’t like this situation.

‘My head hurts.’

I couldn’t understand why he showed such great interest. Obviously, he didn’t bother me until recently, saying that if I wanted to get married after breaking up with him, I would lose my reputation.

‘Naverius and this guy are equally annoying!’

I eventually gave up thinking. I hope this is just a brief, poor-quality prank by the arrogant little Duke.

“Lady Vanora, did you call for me?”

“I can’t sleep well, and I’ll probably stay up all night. So could you bring me a new candle for the night?”

“I understand. If Lady is experiencing such symptoms, scented candles seem to be helpful. Should I bring it with the rest?”

“Thank you.”

By the time my maid brought the new candle, I had unfolded the theology book I had received and began writing with the tools from Aloken. It made me calm down. The more sharp nib pressed against the paper and the more wavy letters I drew, the calmer my mind became.

‘Why do humans crave for love?’

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Because they want the person they’re interested in to be interested in them as well?

Even though there is a good concept called friendship, they always want more than that. I thought they were greedy.

‘Everyone is trying to ruin their lives for love.’