Chapter 38
Because of Iris’ attitude, Duchess Denise Whittle has been pretending to be sick in her room since last night. Either way, she headed to the dining hall at lunch time.
The dining hall in the West building was located in a spacious area with numerous tables spaced out, so it could accommodate a large number of guests.
Today’s lunch was salad with mushroom soup and cheese, pie made with tender minced meat, pasta with fish, and milk pudding for dessert.
The menu wasn’t as big as the one in Duke Whittle’s mansion, but it was still delicious.
“The cooks of this mansion seem to be skilled.”
Britney frowned at Denise’s words.
“The cooks being good isn’t the issue. Dad, are things going well with the Crown Prince you mentioned last time?”
“Yes, Britney. According to the royal family, the Crown Prince’s aides like our family the most.”
“That, is that true?”
“It’s true. The Crown Prince can’t stay still because of the second prince’s movement, so he’ll be in a hurry to marry. The marriage is actually late, and the Emperor also said he was pushing for it, so there should be news soon.”
Britney bit her lower lip.
She had hoped to hear the news right now.
If she marries the Crown Prince, she’ll have a much more luxurious wedding than Iris’.
A dress better than Iris, guests more distinguished than Iris.
At a wedding where everyone will bless her, she wanted to see Iris’ face distort with jealousy.
“Will the Crown Prince come to Iris’ wedding?”
“He won’t come. He’s a very busy man, so the royal family might send the third or fourth prince?”
“I guess that’s to be expected?”
However, her wedding will be different.
It will be the largest wedding on this continent in the Gavizar Empire to the Crown Prince, and no one will refuse the invitation.
As Britney imagined herself standing next to the Crown Prince, the door of the dining hall opened and Venerable Count Green and his wife entered. Reuben and Denise, who didn’t know that the couple was here, looked back in surprise.
Noticing Reuben and Denise, the couple walked slowly towards them as they rose from their seats.
Although their status was higher, their opponent was Venerable Count Green and his wife.
“Venerable Count Green. Venerable Countess Green.”
“Duke Whittle. Duchess Whittle.”
The parents of both families greeted each other with a light nod.
Venerable Count Green and his wife sat at a table next to the Whittle family.
“I didn’t know you were here.”
“My son is getting married, so I had to come and see in advance. If I had known about Duke Whittle’s visit, I would’ve gone and said hello.”
“Oh, no. It just turned out like this.”
There was an awkward silence.
Soon after, a servant came in and set up the meal at the Venerable Count Green’s table.
“By the way…I don’t know if our poor Iris is good enough in your eyes…”
Denise opened her mouth carefully. Helena smiled gracefully.
“What do you mean? Compared to our daughter, our daughter-in-law is perfect. She’s such a lovely and clever child. We think of her as our very own daughter, so you don’t have to worry.”
‘It’s a lie.’
Britney thought as such. She didn’t want to believe that the couple liked Iris.
‘I’m sure she’s just saying that. Because she’s in front of my family.’
Britney’s lips were itching.
‘That bitch is a liar. She’s rotten. Have you seen how she dresses? You should have seen how cheeky she was in front of us.’
Countless words lingered on her tongue.
“Since my daughter lived in the mansion under great care, there are many things she lacks. Maybe she’ll behave rudely in front of Venerable Countess Green, but I hope you can teach her with a generous heart.”
“I just told you she is perfect, so what are you saying that she lacks…? I guess the Duchess wants me to be a mother-in-law who finds fault in Iris’ every action.”
At Helena’s sharp point, Denise became speechless.
Denise and Helena were about the same age, but there was little contact between Helena, princess of the Kingdom of Allor, and Denise, daughter of a Count from the Gavizar Empire.
Denise wasn’t familiar with Helena’s personality.
“By the way, teaching, do you mean beating, Duchess?”
When asked by Helena, Denise turned to look at Reuben with her mouth shut.
“Ha, hahaha. What do you mean? We raised Iris so caringly…We kept her hands from even getting a drop of water on them, and we coddled her. The flower of Duke Whittle. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumor.”
Even after Reuben’s excuse, Helena’s cold expression didn’t loosen.
“I have held her hand and it wasn’t a hand without a drop of water. On the contrary, it was rougher than the maids who do housework every day, so I was wondering if the flower of Duke Whittle was actually a weed.”
Silence fell for a moment.
Denise’s eyes rolled.
“Did our Iris say that?”
“Iris didn’t say it. I’ve only inferred.”
“That’s too much, Countess. To judge our daughter like that, is to insult our family.”
“I just said what I saw. I’m sorry if it’s not true.”
Her cold eyes showed no sign of being sorry.
Reuben coughed dryly.
“Countess, we were just worried about Countess Iris’ reputation. As soon as she entered the Green estate, she became implicated in bad rumors…”
“It was just rumors.”
“Yes, of course it is. Iris wouldn’t be doing that kind of thing. I’m just worried about…I don’t know if I should say this because it sounds like Iris’ weakness, but… Iris has the habit of lying. We should have fixed that before sending her off…”
“Iris has only said nice things about her parents and sister, but you seem to want to gossip about her.”
“G-gossip… We’re just worried…”
“There’s nothing to be worried about. Now Iris is like my daughter. No matter what trouble she causes, and no matter what she lies about, this mother will be responsible for it. If anyone speaks ill of her in the future, I’ll take it as an attack on the Green family.”
The Whittle family looked at Helena with their eyes wide open.
No one expected that Helena would come out like this. They thought she would feel sorry for her son who got married on a whim, but now Helena’s attitude seemed to be protecting Iris like she was her own daughter.
But they couldn’t say that when the mother-in-law wanted to care for her daughter-in-law. From the perspective of the parents, it was something to be grateful for.
“I-I’m grateful that you care so much about our daughter.”
Helena smiled at Reuben’s words.
It was the first smile she showed since the couple got here, but the Whittle family didn’t find the smile pleasant at all. Because it was a cold smile sharp enough to kill.
“You don’t look grateful, but I’m sure it’s my imagination. Miss Britney, in particular, looks like she’s dying of anger. You don’t want your sister to be loved, Lady Whittle?”
Britney’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly put on an innocent look and blinked as if she knew nothing.
“What do you mean, Countess Green? I love Iris dearly.”
“That’s right. She cried every day after Iris left the mansion, saying she wanted to see her.”
Added Denise.
Helena smirked and spoke.
“I see. My eyesight must have gotten worse because I’m old. Let’s go ahead and eat.”
* * *
Late at night, Iris changed into a slip dress and stood by the window, looking down at the dark garden.
‘I should hear news about the gold mine after the wedding.’
But that was only the beginning.
‘I have a lot of work to do. I don’t know what’s going to happen by changing the future, so I need someone without a lot of information. And I need to set up trade with the Kingdom of Thale.’
It wasn’t easy to open a trade route with the Kingdom of Thale, an island nation.
‘I need someone to help me with my plan.’
She was lost in thought and hadn’t noticed Keivrand approaching. It wasn’t until his thick arms were wrapped around her waist that she noticed.
Keivrand’s lips touched Iris’ earlobe and neck once before coming off. Even though it was only a very short contact, the area where it touched burned.
“Kei. You’re early today.”
“I finished work early. What were you thinking about that you didn’t even hear me coming in?”
“Well. I was thinking about buying my husband this and that?”
Keivrand chuckled with his lips on Iris’ neck.
Iris loved the sound of his laughter, but every time his breath grazed the back of her neck, she felt strange and flustered.
She slipped away from his arms and headed for bed.
Keivrand sat next to Iris.
“Irie, I want to talk to you about today.”
“Go ahead.”
“It was a lot of fun going on our date to the lake. Let’s go again next time. We’ll pack lunch then.”
“Okay.”
“And Windy…”
“Kei. Don’t beat around the bush and say what you want to say.”
“Can you see the future?”
“Huh?”
“I mean the gold mine thing. You weren’t shocked to hear that the gold mine was blocked, and you were confident when you told Gauser to detonate the bomb. You were certain that there will be something behind the gold mine, and no one will die in the process.”
She knew Keivrand would have doubts about this.
“Can you see the future? I mean…The power of prophecy, is there such a thing?”
“I can’t predict the future.”
The future will continue to change.
Keivrand believes Iris has the power of prophecy, however she knew that wasn’t the case and that he couldn’t lean on her.
“Then how do you know?”
“I calculated.”
“Calculated…”
“If you know the past and the present, you can guess.”
“It wasn’t just a guess.”
“I guessed. It’s just that I believe in myself.”
She knew this excuse wouldn’t work. But she also knew Keivrand wouldn’t pry any deeper.
Keivrand has yet to question how Iris knew his secret, and it was the same for this.
“You’re such a mysterious woman, Irie.”
Keivrand wrapped the tip of Iris’ hair around his index finger, kissed it, and spoke.
“You know I don’t believe your excuses, right?”
“I know.”
“Are you going to tell me the truth one day?”
She couldn’t answer this question straight away.
Will the day come when she can tell him everything she has been through?
Whatever she might say, will this man believe her?
“Depends.”
At Iris’ firm answer, Keivrand burst into laughter.
“Oh, my. Irie, Irie. You play with my feelings.”
“So you don’t like it?”
“No.”
Keivrand supported Iris’ back onto the bed, and then climbed on top of her.
“I love it.”
Keivrand buried his face in the upper part of Iris’ chest like a big puppy.
His black hair tickled her chin.
Iris smiled and stroked his head.
“Me too. I like it when you bare your teeth like a dog.”
“What do you mean a dog? A wolf and a dog are completely different, Irie.”
“But now you’re like a dog wagging its tail.”
“At least say I’m a puppy, Irie.”
His breath, which began from the top of her chest, came down and penetrated the thin slip dress.
The invisible breath swept down her chest as if she was being stroked, and it felt as strange as when their lips touched.
Every time he spoke and every breath he exhaled, a dull heat spread out. Keivrand was just having fun acting like a puppy, so why was she overwhelmed with such a strange feeling?
Iris couldn’t believe she felt this way.
In her previous life, any contact with a man was just a terrible experience for her.
Having become a couple with Keivrand, she was ready to accept it, but she didn’t know she would be the one to want him first.
‘Yes, I want this man.’
Like an arrow, realization struck her head.
‘With Kei…’
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She wants to be one.
She wants to be connected.
She wants to seep into him without missing a single part.
== Translator’s Note ==
1. Please report any typos, grammatical/spelling errors, sentences you find weird, and other etc…in the comment section .