Chapter 34

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Chapter 34

I shook my head and let out a long sigh at the thought of dealing with these people all at once.

‘Can I do it?’

Can I hit back? Will Astell be able to repay the humiliation she had suffered for a long time? If you look at other novels, weren’t most of the villains’ personalities like that? But even so, it seems that six people would not come out at once. And above all, not all of them were family.

‘It feels like the difficulty has suddenly risen.’

But how did I happen to meet Julia? Recalling the original novel, I couldn’t remember any mention of Astell’s family until her death. Was it because I came to the capital? That might be the case. Originally, Bleon and Astell did not come to the capital, so it was obvious that this happened because I asked to go to the capital. My self-confidence was about to disappear, and in the end, the thought that it was something I did on my own made me feel better.

‘I’m not the Astell I used to be.’

Right. I am not Astell. They are not my family. I wasn’t a person with a strong sense of justice, but I wasn’t the kind of person to live like an idiot.

It’s spilt water anyway. I had to do what I could do—and that was to show that I would no longer tolerate their insults and harassments towards Astell, or me, as I was Astell before. So I had to show a very good example for them to not touch me in the future. After making up my mind like that, I tried to organize my thoughts.

Astell had no idea what happened in that long period of time after leaving the Heins Marquisate for ten years. She was unaware that Julia had divorced a few years ago because of it. If Astell didn’t know, I also wouldn’t know.

If the butler was here, I would have grabbed him already to ask him. Unfortunately, the butler was left at the Kren mansion.

‘What should I do?’

Information was a powerful weapon to know how to fight. In order to deal with those people, the more information about them that I had, the better.

‘Wait a minute, doesn’t McCain know a little bit?’

Then McCain suddenly came to mind. McCain mentioned last time that he lived in the capital for a long time. He would know more than Astell or Bleon, who were nobles who once resided in the capital yet cut off all contact with others and lived in seclusion.

‘But…’

The thought of meeting McCain would bother Bleon. But in the current situation, I had to pick up even the smallest things. So I thought about it for a while. Should I go and meet McCain without Bleon’s knowledge or to talk to Bleon even if he would be a bit flustered…?

‘It’s better to tell him rather than talk secretly, right?’

I decided to talk to Bleon first, thinking that if I explained step by step why I wanted to meet McCain, Bleon would feel too bad.

When I came to this conclusion, I realized that much more time had passed than I had expected. It was already dark outside the window and it was already past bedtime.

‘Everyone must be sleeping.’

Then I have to move tomorrow morning. With that in mind, I got up and stretched after sitting motionless for hours. I felt refreshed yet tired at the same time, and I immediately got out of the study and went into the bedroom.

When I entered, Bleon, who I thought was sleeping soundly on the bed, was waiting for me when I didn’t come, sitting quietly on the sofa without sleeping yet.

“Bleon?”

I called for Bleon in a hoarse voice because I had not spoken for a long time.

“Wife.”

Bleon has been staring at me since I opened the door and walked in.

“It’s late. Why haven’t you slept yet?”

“I’ve been waiting for you, Wife…”

“I told you to go to bed first.”

“I couldn’t sleep…”

“Still, if you close your eyes and lie down, then you’ll be able to sleep somehow…”

I frowned slightly and sat across from Bleon. Then Bleon immediately came to my side, sat down, and hugged me.

“Haa…”

Then, he performed the usual ritual of breathing in and breathing out deeply.

“I think I can live now…”

“I told you I was going to be in the study.”

Seeing him not wanting to leave my side for even a moment, I let out a deep sigh.

‘It’s too much…’

Despite knowing that I was in the next room, the level of anxiety he had was much worse than I expected. As I observed his condition, I was a little worried about whether I could say this now.

‘Let’s calm down and think about it for a moment.’

After making the atmosphere softer, I felt like I had to say something, so I hugged him tightly on the back and rubbed my head in Bleon’s arms.

“Did you miss me?”

“Yes… I missed you.”

“If you want to see me, you should have just come to the study.”

“…I don’t think I should disturb you, Wife…”

“What disturbance, you can come whenever you want to see me.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

I lifted my head and smiled bashfully at Bleon, and he whispered in my ear with a soft voice.

“I want to kiss you…”

“Kiss?”

“Yes. Can I…?”

“You did it this morning.”

“…I want to…”

I craned my neck and stared into Bleon’s blue eyes, then lowered my gaze to his bright red lips.

“Bleon’s lips aren’t swollen.”

Saying so, I put my hand to his lips and gently caressed them.

“I’ll be gentle…”

Bleon gently grabbed my hand that had stayed near his lips, looked into my eyes and kissed the palm of my hand.

Instantly, I felt an electric current running through my entire body, and I trembled without realizing it.

“Wife…”

He called me and when I came to my senses, I was already devouring his lips like crazy.

The next morning, whatever the urgency, an invitation had already arrived at the mansion, and it was written that we should come out to dinner two days later. They had invited Bleon, too.

‘It’s much sooner than I thought…’

Yesterday’s kiss was so distracting that I forgot to tell Bleon that I had something to ask McCain. So, while I was having breakfast now, I spoke to Bleon.

“Duke.”

“Yes, Wife…”

“I have something to talk about with Sir McCain, so I will meet him after dinner.”

“…The knight commander?”

Again, I could feel Bleon’s unsettled tone.

“Yes. It should be about an hour.”

“An hour…?”

I meant it would only take an hour, but Bleon was asking if it would take as long as an hour.

“It might take a little less.”

“…Can’t I go with you?”

“There is nothing wrong with that, but I think the two of you will be uncomfortable with each other. And I’d be a little worried about it too, so I’d rather just go and do it quickly.”

“…I see.”

After answering yes, Bleon hardly ate any food. I was about to say one more word while looking at him like that, but I just bit my mouth.

“I will go then.”

“…Wife.”

“Yes?”

“…Nothing.”

Oh, it’s bothering me too much. I took a deep breath and walked over to Bleon. Then I reached out and hugged him tightly.

“Just wait for me. Read a book or take a walk in the garden. Okay?”

I’ll be back soon… I whispered to him as I added those words, and Bleon nodded his head slightly. I took a step that somehow did not falter, and I arrived at McCain’s room where he had been staying all the time in Hares.

Knock, knock.

“Who is it?”

I knocked on the door, and McCain’s voice came from inside.

“It’s Astell Einer.”

Strangely, no answer came from inside. Just as I was about to speak again because I thought he might not have heard, the door suddenly opened and McCain appeared.

“Madam. Ah, Duchess.”

Remembering I told him not to call me Madam, he changed the title.

“There is something I want to ask you Sir.”

I immediately brought out the reason for coming to him.

“Come in.”

He set his body aside. I glanced at McCain once and passed him into the room.

“Please sit here.”

I walked over to the sofa he was pointing to and sat down.

“I told the maid to prepare tea and snacks, and she will be here soon.”

It wouldn’t be that long, but it was very disrespectful to come to have a conversation without a cup of tea. Moments later I noticed that the maid who came in with tea and snacks left the table with two cups of tea and a plate with some cookies on it.

“Do you have any questions for me?”

He asked me with a pleasant smile.

“To be precise, I am not curious about you, Sir.”

I hurriedly corrected his words. His face, which had a disappointed expression for a moment at my words, returned to a smirk again.

“Well…”

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