Chapter 48
Iobet, who got off the carriage, made eye contact with the only woman who was looking at him, while everyone else had their heads lowered.
‘Britney Whittle.’
Britney had a shocked expression as if she hadn’t expected to make eye contact, and then she blushed and bowed her head.
‘She looks like a doll.’
Perhaps because Duke Whittle was handsome, his daughter Britney was also quite beautiful.
He thought it didn’t matter who became the Crown Princess, but it would be useful if she was beautiful.
‘But rather than that…’
Iobet looked up.
He noticed the curtains on the second floor of the mansion building shaking. As if someone was standing behind it and looking down here a while ago.
‘Was it the flower of Duke Whittle?’
Although he has seen portraits of Iris, he has never actually seen her in person.
Duke Whittle has sent the beautiful Britney into high society, so he was very curious about what Iris looked like for him to keep hiding her with the excuse that she was too beautiful.
Although it is common for guests to stay in the West building, the Crown Prince was escorted to a special room in the main building because he was a special guest.
The master of the mansion, Count Keivrand Green, guided him personally.
“Do you like your accommodation?”
“It’s great.”
“Please make yourself at home.”
As Keivrand was just about to leave, Iobet grabbed his wrist.
“Count Green. You’re just going to leave?”
“Do you have any orders for me, Crown Prince?”
Iobet winked at his aid, Sydney, to go out.
After Sydney left, Iobet stared at Keivrand.
“If you use that grotesque tone one more time, I’ll kick your ass.”
“Oh, my. That fiery temper is still there, Crown Prince.”
“Keivrand Green. If you keep doing this, I’m going to leave.”
As Iobet gritted his teeth, Keivrand grinned.
“You still have a short temper, Crown Prince.”
When Iobet was young, he studied at the Academy for a while before he became Crown Prince.
While everyone else was uncomfortable around him, Keivrand was the only one who treated him, the prince, freely. For Iobet, who was born as a royal prince and had to survive all kinds of conspiracy by the royal family, Keivrand was the only friend he could trust with his back.
“Explain.”
“What?”
“About this marriage.”
“I’m already 27, Your Highness. It was even stranger not to get married at this age.”
“Do you want me to tell you what’s even weirder? You ignored Princess Mary even though she followed you around like that. And out of nowhere, the flower of Duke Whittle?”
Princess Mary Cataven of the Kingdom of Minasery.
To speak of a beauty on the continent of Eleron, she would be the first name to come up.
It was an open secret that Mary liked Keivrand Green, and she had even followed him around saying she wanted to marry him.
A few years ago, she came to Keivrand’s mansion with her luggage packed. However, she found out that he wasn’t in the mansion, so she went to the mansion where Kevirand’s parents lived and stayed a long time before leaving.
At that time, there were rumors among the nobles that Mary was trying to coax Keivrand’s parent into approving their marriage. After that, when nothing happened, the rumors slowly disappeared.
“Oh. It’s not the flower of Duke Whittle but the flower of Count Green. You know I’ve already registered our marriage at the government office.”
“Duke Whittle is a lousy fellow.”
“And you have Duke Whittle’s eldest daughter in mind for the Crown Princess seat.”
“Of course I should. I’d rather have lousy relatives. But you’re different and don’t have to worry about your position, Kei. Princess Mary would have been more helpful to your family than the youngest daughter of Duke Whittle.”
“Well. My wife is already a big help to our family. Naturally, even if she’s helpful, that wasn’t the reason why we got married.”
“If you’re going to say that the flower of Duke Whittle is helpful to you, at least you should have stopped the rumor that you had bought her for a gold mine from circulating. Do you know what people are saying about your marriage?”
“I know. After all, Count Green is a man of rumors. People are going to talk no matter what.”
“Was it worth it?”
“More than worth it, Io. It’s overflowing.”
A sweet smile spreads across Keivrand’s lips.
For a moment, Iobet doubted his eyes.
He had never seen him smile like that.
Keivrand’s smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
“Oh. I’m sorry if you think I just chose my wife because I’m possessed by her looks.”
It was something else.
Iobet knew that Keivrand wasn’t like that.
“And Io. It wasn’t my choice.”
Keivrand approached Iobet and whispered in his ear.
“She chose me.”
* * *
Unlike the bride’s preparation of just looking pretty, the groom had a lot more work to do.
After Celestine and Melanie grabbed and tried on a dress to wear for tomorrow, they had little to do after getting their hair and accessories checked.
Iris was reading a small book.
“Irie. You should go to bed early.”
Christina lectured Iris on why she should go to bed early for a healthier skin.
She had no choice but to lie in bed, but she fell asleep unexpectedly quickly.
Pa.
Feeling something touch her forehead, she opened her eyes and saw Keivrand. She liked the calm grayish-blue eyes facing her way.
“Sorry to wake you up.”
The low pitched voice was also good to hear.
“No, it’s fine. Are you done with your work?”
“Yes.”
Keivrand came into the blanket. His warm body temperature permitted under the one blanket, and it made Iris feel strange.
Lying not too close or too far away, Keivrand didn’t approach Iris.
‘I think he slept closer before.’
From some point, Keivrand was no longer close to Iris more than he had to be.
‘When did it start?’
It became burdensome thinking about it, so she stopped. Rather, she wanted to embrace Keivrand.
She wanted to bury her face in his hard chest for the first time in a long time and inhale his body odor to the fullest.
She felt embarrassed and even ashamed.
‘What’s wrong with me?’
Keivrand laid on his back and had his eyes closed. Both hands laid gently on his chest.
His thick knuckles were pretty. She wanted to wrap her fingers around his.
‘What’s wrong with me?’
Iris closed her eyes tightly.
‘Let’s just sleep.’
Nevertheless, she couldn’t get over the disappointment, so she mumbled out loud.
“I like doggies.”
Since Keivrand is a wolf, she can hug him under the pretext of his fur being soft.
When she opened her eyes slightly, she could see Keivrand smiling with his eyes closed.
With a blink of an eye, a giant black wolf was laying still where Keivrand was. The wolf still had his eyes closed, but Iris knew that the lovely black wolf wasn’t asleep.
Pretending she didn’t know, she put her arm on the wolf’s waist.
She buried her face in the wolf’s soft fur.
And wondered what was the reason for this feeling as if everything is right again.
However, her concern didn’t last long. She fell asleep, hugging the wolf.
* * *
Iris was sitting in the living room reading a book when Christina and Elly arrived.
Next to Iris was a trolley containing bread and soup, fruit jam and butter, salad and braised meat sent by Keivrand.
“You’re early.”
As Iris greeted them and reached for the bread, Christina quickly ran and pushed the trolley aside.
Iris looked up at Christina with her eyes wide open.
Although she was surprised when the food was suddenly cleaned up, she was more surprised by how fast Christina moved.
“How much breakfast did you have, Miss Iris?”
“A bread and an orange?”
“That’s enough.”
“Are you going to starve me to death, Christina?”
“It can’t be helped. The party starts at 4p.m. If you want to wear the most beautiful dress, you shouldn’t have eaten anything today. You’ve already eaten so there’s nothing we can do, but still…”
Iris swallowed a sigh.
She had forgotten that she had to starve before she put on the dresses.
That’s why she didn’t like to attend parties in her previous life.
“There’s nothing I can do even if you make that face. Today’s star is Miss Iris, so you have to shine more brightly than anyone else.”
“A wolf’s hair…”
At that time, Elly murmured, staring at a black hair she had picked up from the floor.
Iris looked back at her in surprise.
Elly’s eyes were shining more sharply than ever.
“Miss Iris. Looks like a wolf came into this room last night. It seems to be a black wolf, are you hurt anywhere?”
“What? Oh…I didn’t see any wolf coming in or out…”
“Another wolf hair.”
Elly picked up another hair from the floor.
Iris swallowed her dry saliva.
“It looks like it’s a big guy by the way…”
“A wolf, does it make sense for wolves to enter the mansion?”
Christina rebuked, but Elly’s eyes were still sharp.
“Look, Tina. This is a wolf’s hair. Take a look.”
Elly put the two hairs in front of Christina.
Christina, who squinted and checked the shape of the hair, frowned.
“You’re right. Miss Iris, are you hurt…? Did you get the feeling that something broke in last night?”
“Oh…not at all. Nothing…”
“Maybe it’s hiding here. Please wait a minute. Miss Iris.”
Elly moved before Iris could stop her.
She combed for places where the wolf could hide.
Iris felt embarrassed.
She couldn’t tell them it’s Keivrand’s fur.
Elly, who searched the room for a long time, returned with a curious look.
“There was a lot of hair near the door to the bedroom…Miss Iris, may I go into your bedroom and check?”
“No, you can’t.”
Iris said firmly.
“But…it’s a big deal if it’s a wolf coming in and out. Hungry wolves are especially dangerous. This is a matter worth informing the Count.”
Iris wondered what kind of expression Keivrand would make when she reported it to him.
Christina, who had disappeared somewhere, returned with Jamie while Iris followed Elly’s movement.
“Excuse me, Miss Iris. I heard something big happened.”
“Look at this, Sir Jamie.”
Elly put some wolf hair in front of Jamie’s eyes.
“It’s wolf hair. I think a wolf came and went into Miss Iris’ bedroom. I’m sure it’s a black wolf.”
“Oh.”
Jamie hardened and his lips slightly open. It looked like he had stopped moving as if to stop himself from bursting out laughing.
“It must be hungry. I guess it was wandering around to find something to eat. If this guy bites Iris, her fragile neck will break.”
“Oh…that’s a big problem if it bites her.”
“We need to strengthen our vigilance. It might be hiding in the bedroom. I’d like to go and look for it, but it’s the bedroom. We better at least let the Count know so he can take a look inside.”
“Yes. I’ll look into it. I’ll talk to the Count.”
“And, look here. The fact that there’s a lot of hair in front of the bedroom door means it must have rolled around in front of it before entering it.”
Elly pointed to the front of the bedroom door and said.
Jamie’s face crumbled as if he was in pain. Because he couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“Do you think it’s molting?”
At Elly’s serious question, Jamie choked while holding back his laughter.
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Eventually, Jamie, who had kept his head down for a while, managed to answer back.
“Well, maybe it’s a coquettish wolf.”
== Translator’s Note ==
1. Please report any typos, grammatical/spelling errors, sentences you find weird, and other etc…in the comment section .
2. Author wrote Christina’s nickname as Tina, whereas before it was written as Christy.