CH 44

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“Beware of His Majesty.”

Not long after he got into the carriage, the duke spoke. Like last time, he was strangely wary of the emperor.

‘Wasn’t he the one who originally swore allegiance?’

When she had doubts, he added more explanations as if he had noticed her.

“His Majesty loves anything unique and he wants to have it.”

For example, Ingrid. But Luana thought there was nothing unique about her. Except for being a witch, she was no different from ordinary people. The duke snorted at the point.

“Even if you are a witch, you are unique.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it yourself.”

Even though she didn’t know what he meant, as she was pondering, the duke looked at her with an absurd expression.

“Think about the first time you met me.”

“Oh, the cheese jerky!”

Luana recalled the situation with food. As expected, she is unique. Who eats cheese jerky when they’re about to die? And it brings back memories of that time!

“But it was like a supper before death.”

“People don’t normally do that.”

Who else can open a cheese jerky in such a tense situation? However, Luana did not readily acknowledge her uniqueness. She was just pouting her lips and groaning.

Meanwhile, the carriage came to a stop at the Imperial Palace.

As soon as the door opened, Luana tried to jump, but she paused at the sight of the person in front of her.

“Sister?”

Ingrid, who had gained more weight than before, was waiting for Luana right in front of her.

“Luana!”

Ingrid’s eyes were teary while running towards her and calling Luana’s name. She jumped out of the carriage and was immediately hugged by her. For the first time in her life, she was in Ingrid’s arms. Luana was confused; even though she calls her sister, she doesn’t fully recognize her as her family yet. It was hard to accept all the overflowing emotions.

It was the duke who saved Luana. He gently pulled Luana apart from Ingrid and then held Luana’s hands.

‘No, why are you doing that here?’

She managed to swallow the words about to pop out of her mouth. Luana looked before her and saw Ingrid’s teary blue eyes burning. The gaze was full of hatred.

‘It’s not something you can understand.’

The emperor gave the war order, but it was the duke who carried it out. For Ingrid, he was also an object of hatred.

“Let go of Luana.”

It was Ingrid who spoke up first.

“I don’t want to.”

He used to speak casually in the past, but now the duke was speaking formally. That probably means that Ingrid’s presence with the emperor has grown that much.

“Luana is not yours. Please let go of her right now.”

“She is mine.”

“Isn’t that your delusion? Can you be sure that Luana wants this, too?”

Ingrid pointed out the facts sharply with her sneer. Then the duke’s arm, which was holding Luana, was loosened.

“It doesn’t matter if Luana wants me or not.”

“It seems natural for the Empire to ignore the wishes of the other party’s. As expected from his people.”

“Do you know the meaning of what you’re saying?”

“I know.”

Every word that came and went between the two of them was cold. They don’t fight by the collar, but there was enough violence in it.

If she left it like this, something big would happen. Once Luana let go of the duke’s arms, he caught his breath and shouted.

“SHE IS MINE!”

Shouting those words, the duke grew pale, and Ingrid was perplexed. Such a duke looked pathetic, like a puppy with floppy ears, but now he couldn’t even take care of his own dignity. Luana hurriedly ordered the servant to take the basket out of the carriage. She held it up and said,

“Sister, I’ve baked some cookies. There are plenty of other things too. Would you like some tea?”

“All right.”

Ingrid nodded and took Luana’s hand. She doesn’t think she was originally like this, but she was being strangely friendly.

‘Is it because of what happened last time?’

After all, when someone is weak, if there is someone who treats them kindly, they’ll treat you better as well. But shouldn’t she fall for the emperor, not her?

‘What is the emperor doing?!’

Now Ingrid was arm in arm with Luana. In her previous life, it was not unusual for friends or sisters to link their arms. But it was different here. No matter how much they were of the same gender, they didn’t act so friendly. It was a place where it was considered dignified to keep a certain distance, even between friends.

Ingrid clung to Luana, occasionally looking back at the duke with a dissatisfied expression because the duke was following them.

“I’m going to have tea only between girls. Why are you following us?”

“I can’t be separated from Luana.”

Ingrid’s expression deepened with disgust. And as soon as she tried to spit out her venomous words, Luana hurriedly intervened,

“It’s just for a while. It’s okay, right?”

Out of habit, she took chocolate cookies out of the basket and held them to the duke.

“Then finish the cookies.”

It’s not that far away! Luana, who knows the duke’s eating habits, opened the basket and gave him a lot of food. This will buy her some time. Ingrid looked at the scene with a puzzled look, but she had no choice but to spend time with Luana alone.

“Come back after you finish eating the cookies.”

The Duke made a dissatisfied expression but did not refute what Luana said. That’s how she managed to have time with Ingrid.

***

The two remained silent for a while as the maids set up the tea and desserts she had brought. Only after they retreated did Ingrid open her mouth first.

“Are you okay?”

She doesn’t know why Ingrid asked such a question, but she decided to answer it for now.

“I’m okay.”

“Really? I heard you ran away. Didn’t the duke bother you?”

Ingrid said so, scrunching her face. Luana’s heart ached as her beautiful face scrunched as she captured her suffering. It was a look that had much impact. She thought she got used to beauty while looking at Gerald, but as expected from the novel’s female lead!

“Yes, I’m really fine. He’s actually better than before.”

There was some more annoying side to it, but she couldn’t tell all the truth. She thought it would be crazy just to say they shared the same bed. In reality, there was nothing to worry about, but it would feel different to others.

“I am very worried about you.”

At the same time, the sad image of Ingrid melted her heart.

“Oh, sister! Try the cookies! It’s fresh and delicious.”

When she tried to change the subject and recommended cookies, she looked at Luana with teary eyes.

“I baked it myself!”

“I see. Is that a raisin inside?”

“No, it’s chocolate.”

“Chocolate?”

Not knowing what it was, Ingrid asked about the cookie without a doubt. Then, her teary eyes widened.

“What in the world is this?”

As she said that, she couldn’t stop eating the cookies. The sweet and bitter flavors blended so well with the cookies that she constantly put them in her mouth.

“Try this, too. This is chocolate scones.”

Ingrid did not decline. Watching her eagerly eat the scones made her happy.

‘Yes, you need to gain more weight, too.’

How nice would she look then? Thinking so, she eagerly recommended desserts, but suddenly the door opened unannounced.

‘Did the duke eat everything I gave him already?’

She turned around, and it wasn’t him.

The emperor was entering.

“You look happy.”

He smiled and walked inside, and took a seat calmly.

“Sir Raytheon.”

Ingrid, smiling brightly until just a moment ago, changed her expression. A more faked smile covered her face. It was very unfortunate, but there was nothing Luana could do.

“You said your name was Luana? It’s been a while.”

“I greet His Majesty The Emperor.”

“Enough with the greetings. I don’t want to ask my love’s little sister to do that.”

He waved his hand casually.

My love.

Luana managed to hide her face from rotting without realizing it. She didn’t know it when she read it in the novel because, in real life, the emperor felt like garbage.

The duke wasn’t a good person, but the emperor was much worse. He continues tormenting Ingrid and eventually makes her pregnant, and she runs away, then he regrets and looks for Ingrid. It was too late to regret.

Ingrid suffers more than anyone else during that regret. The duke, the second male lead, secretly helped and comforted her.

‘He was also one of the male leads.’

Luana instead has the duke become the male lead. Ingrid and the duke. The duke is known as a cold-blooded man, but in reality, he is very childish and listens to other people’s thoughts well. So he will go well with Ingrid. As she thought about it, her heart sank strangely.

Later, she touched her chest because her heart stung, but she couldn’t figure out why.

‘Did my body become weaker?’

Or maybe it’s because she got angry after seeing the emperor.

“But what’s this?”

In the meantime, the emperor picked up a chocolate cookie and then put it in his mouth.

Luana doesn’t like everything he does.