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Chapter 56
The greenhouse was covered with various flower trees, so the inside was not visible from the outside.
‘If I had known this would happen, I would have plucked up all the trees…’
Richard couldn’t even go to the greenhouse directly, so he just stared at it.
After about two hours, the door to the greenhouse finally opened and Ansel and Elisha came out. She saw him off in front of Count Arden’s carriage waiting at the entrance of the Duke’s residence. Ansel lightly kissed Elisha on the back of her hand as a sign of her farewell.
Richard’s eyebrows scrunched as he watched him.
Then Ansel got into the wagon.
Elisha watched Count Arden’s wagon leaving the duke’s house and turned around. Then she looked up, perhaps because she suddenly felt a gaze.
Richard, who suddenly met Elisa and her eyes, was startled. At that time, when he was hesitating not knowing how to react, Elisha first turned her gaze away. After that, he went inside the mansion.
At Elisha’s appearance, Richard’s heart plummeted to the floor.
‘Are you still angry…? How should I make it up…?’
At that thought, his mind went blank.
That night, returning to the bedroom after washing up, Elisha looked around her empty room and tilted her head.
“Richard?”
Usually, while she washed up he always returned to the bedroom first. But she couldn’t see him today.
‘Where did you go?’
Puzzled, she recalled how she got mad at him early in the morning. At the time, she hated him because of the intense emotions due to her hormones, but now that she thinks about it, she felt a little sorry that she cried and got angry with him for nothing. However, she was embarrassed enough to pretend that nothing happened.
So, when she saw Ansel off and turned around, when their eyes met, even at dinner, she treated him cold-heartedly.
Still, when she came back after washing, she wanted to reconcile properly.
‘Is he still in the office?’
She was thinking whether she should go to find him and first reach out to reconciliation, but suddenly, the door opened.
“Richard?”
When Elisha heard the sound and turned around, she looked puzzled at him when she saw what was in his hands. “The Tale of the Little Witch of the Black Forest.” What he had in his hands was a fairy tale book.
“I want to read it to my baby.”
Elisha, who was staring at Richard hesitatingly, only noticed his intention after he spoke. He brought her a children’s book as an excuse to reconcile with her. Elisha replied while holding back her laughter, pretending she didn’t know.
“Really? Then read it.”
The two sat on the bed. Richard opened the book, holding Elisha in his right arm. Then he carefully covered Elisha’s belly with his right hand.
Elisha whispered, placing her hand on her now rather convex belly.
“Baby, daddy will read you a children’s book today. The title is “The Tale of the Little Witch of the Black Forest. Sounds fun, right?”
When Elisha finished speaking, Richard cleared his throat and started reading the fairy tale book.
“…On the north part of Popori Forest, there is a Black Forest that no one goes to.”
Elisha vowed not to laugh at him, but she faced difficulties from the first sentence. Popori. ‘Isn’t the forest name too cute?’
“There was a little witch, Lulu, living in that forest. But all of the forest animals in Popori were afraid of Lulu. Lulu’s hair was so long that it covered her face.”
His low-pitched voice reading the book was sweet, but his tone was awkward and hard.
‘Even if I read a history book, I’ll read it more fun than that!’ Elisha, who had a playful sense of humor, silently scolded Richard.
“Aren’t you reading it too hard? It’s said that it is good to talk to a baby in a way that conveys emotions well…”
“…”
“Read the lines while changing your voice.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Richard, unable to comply with Elisha’s request, unleashed a clumsy storytelling.
“…One day, animal friends decided to play hide-and-seek. Baby rabbit Toto went into the black forest to hide in a place where no one could find him. ‘If I hide here, no one will be able to find me, right?’”
Elisha watched Richard mimic the cute bunny voice as he worked hard in his own way, and she bit her lip so as not to laugh. Although it was still awkward, it was cute to see him read with a serious expression and a slight frown to his handsome brow.
But Toto, who was going deeper away from his friends, tripped over the roots of the tree. ‘Aahk!’ Toto’s knee was bleeding. Toto was scared and hurt… so he cried. Waaaaah.”
Elisha noticed that Richard hesitated for a moment before saying ‘Wuaaaah,’ and eventually, she burst into laughter. Richard paused for a moment before continuing.
“But then, Lulu appeared. Toto thought she was a ghost and screamed. ‘Waaah! it’s a ghost!’ But isn’t Lulu putting herbs on Toto’s injured knee? Toto then…”
Red eyes shining with the subtle light of glowstone, long eyelashes hanging over them, a sharp nose that stands out when viewed from the side, and below…
Lips drawing cool lines. She vividly remembered the soft and gentle touch of those lips.
Elisha reached out her hand to his lips as if possessed by something.
“…?”
Richard, who was eagerly reading the children’s book, was surprised by her sudden action and turned to look at her.
She realized what she had done only when she met his eyes. Her heart plummeted.
‘I must be crazy!’
At that time, she blinked, not knowing how to deal with this situation, and suddenly she thought of a trick to rectify the situation.
“Because the hair is attached…”
Elisha pretended to be pulling a non-existent hair, and she touched his lips. It was a brief moment, but she could feel the soft, tender skin with her fingertips. That feeling was terrifying. So much that her heart was pounding.
At the same time, she began to be very conscious about his strong arms that hugged her back, his stout body she was leaning on, and the warmth that touched her.
Thump, Thump,
In the stillness of silence, only the sound of her heart seemed to be pounding loudly. Elisha stared blankly into his eyes. Somehow, his eyes seemed to have darkened strangely.
At the moment when the arm holding Elisha pressed her a bit, she hurriedly turned away from his gaze.
“It, it would be better to read the children’s book tomorrow.”
Elisha covered the storybook that Richard was holding and set it aside. Then she lay down on the bed without saying anything.
“I’m going to the temple tomorrow, so I’ll go to bed early.”
She could feel his gaze on her, but Elisha did not look back.
Thump, Thump. She was afraid he would hear her beating heart. On top of Elisha, who was trying to close her eyes, could feel Richard’s hand gently moving the blanket.
“Good night.”
Eventually, along with his soft voice, his warmth that is now familiar embraced Elisha.
‘It’s uncomfortable.’
But, oddly enough, she didn’t like the discomfort. Rather, she was relieved. Elisha eventually fell asleep without knowing the meaning of the gap in between.
The next day, Elisha visited the temple.
‘This is a temple.’
The temple was the most prominent building on the outskirts of the archipelago. This was because it was the only one in the slums, where the houses built in soil color, were built with pure white marble, and its scale was so large that it was comparable to a Count castle.
Elisha had lived in Rubellin all the time, and even though she occasionally came down to the archipelago, she went back to Rubellin immediately after her business was finished, so this was the first time she had visited this temple.
As she looked around the temple, she went inside and found the fountain in front of her.
‘Is this the fountain of purification?’
High priest Aiden, after returning from the canyon more than twenty years ago, poured out his divine power to create this spring. There were a total of four more springs in the outer area outside the temple. It was created so that the weak and the poor could be protected from the invasion of monsters.
‘The Holy Father is a great man. At that time, even though it was a difficult time after losing his family, he thought of the weak first.’
While Elisha was walking around the Fountain of Purification, a priest passing by her came to her.
“Welcome. Madam, why did you come to the temple?”
“I’m here for an appointment. Could you please tell me the way to the west chapel?”
“It’s not far from here. Follow me.”
The priest readily began to guide the way. Elisa followed after him.
It was Olivia who Elisha promised to meet here today. A few days ago, Elisha, who heard that Olivia was close to the temple during the hunting festival, had promised to visit the temple with Olivia.
The purpose of Elisha’s visit to the temple was clear. To build a reputation by donating money to the temple in the name of Rubellin. Furthermore, relying on the reputation of the temple to increase Rubellin’s influence within the capital.
“You can go this way.”
The priest, who arrived in front of the western chapel before she knew it, pointed to the chapel entrance. Elisha nodded to thank him and headed towards the chapel. At that moment, two loud voices were heard from the hallway outside the chapel. Elisha unintentionally looked around and stopped walking.
There, a handsome blond man who looked about the same age as Olivia was talking.
‘That person…’ Elisha knew instantly who he was.
High priest Aiden Serriott. He was the purpose of Elisha’s visit to the temple today. At the moment when Elisha was about to call Olivia, Aiden looked back at her, perhaps feeling his popularity.
Suddenly, Elisha met Aiden’s blue eyes.
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