I Became The Stepmother Of An Irrevocable Dark Family - Chapter 92

Unlike me, who was overwhelmed by so many books in front of me, Luca moved swiftly in search of books as if he already found his objective

“I think it’s this way I’m sure the book that contains the patient’s report is very thick”

He led me through a small hallway until we arrived in front of a huge pillar

This place had a very different atmosphere from the library earlier

“I think the patient’s records will most likely be stored here The books here are different from what we saw earlier, you see”

Indeed, the other books were bound neatly, but the books here were only made from compiling the paper together

It looked very sloppy, but surely the content itself was far from careless

“I think so”

“Then shall we look for it now?”

“Luca, you…”

“Yes?”

“You seem to be familiar with Rere’s illness even though you barely talk about it”

His eyes shook for a moment

“Because I’m a knight of this family…?”

“That’s right But still”

He didn’t even question Rere’s illness Seeing how eager he was to find the book, I was certain of one thing now

Luca was the Duke He knew his daughter’s illness better than anyone else

“I feel like Luca cares a lot about Rere”

“Of course I care about Miss Rebecca more than anybody else”

“Yeah, that seems to be the case”

“I also think Leona cares a lot about Rere Honestly, I never thought that there would be an approach like this”

So I looked at him silently and I could tell that Luca was in a good mood He was as excited as a child discovering something new

“I guess the Duke doesn’t even think of looking for another method, huh?”

“Because there are times when he only believes what he thinks is right”

“I think so”

“That’s why he only does that much But I think it’s a relief that Leona is here I have faith that Miss Rebecca is going to be healthy”

“Do you know that you look very happy right now?”

“You’re right I’m very happy”

A smile spread across his face And looking at him made me smile, too

“It feels strange”

“Strange?”

“I don’t know if I can smile along when I watch someone smiling I thought I only felt this way whenever I saw Rere, but I also felt this way when I saw you”

Luca took a step forward, leaned closer and matched his gaze with mine His breath brushed against my skin as he got closer

“Same here Leona is the first person that could make me so happy That’s why I’m really happy The woman I love and the woman who loves me back is right in front of me”

“Luca…”

“Being this close when we’re stuck in a place with only two of us alone…It’s driving me crazy”

His fingers began to trace my cheeks

“Can I…Can I be a little more greedy? My feelings for you are growing and it’s driving me crazy”

“Luca…me too…”

I put my hand over the lean fingers that caressed my cheeks I feel like my body was as hot as his heated hand Just when we were slowly closing our distance, the door suddenly burst open

“Duchess Are you here?!”

It was the High Priest’s voice Just like ignorant parents who burst into their children’s room, the High Priest was looking for me with a very loud voice

“…It’s an unexpected distraction”

“…That’s true But I’m glad to know that we felt the same way”

Standing on tiptoe, I gave him a peck on the lips

“L-Leona?”

“We still have a lot of time”

When I smiled at Luca, the High Priest quickly approached us

“Oh, I knew that you were here”

The High Priest then glanced at Luca with a very displeased look I could feel his hostility, but I tried to brush it off and approached him

“Ah, Your Holiness I didn’t know that you’d look for us here”

“I was just wondering if there’s anything I can help you with, but it seems you’ve already found what you’re looking for”

“This is the place where patient’s records are stored, right?”

He nodded with a light smile

“Yes, that’s right Can I help you find it?”

“How can I bother Your Holiness even more? I’m fine”

“Alright then”

He briefly touched the bookshelf and nodded as if he was already done with his business

“Then I’ll excuse myself”

“Did you come only for that?”

“Yes, there’s no other reason”

“I see Speaking of which…rather than simply believing Isaac’s words, you had been listening to the argument earlier from the start, weren’t you?”

“I’m not sure I can’t remember well because I’m getting old Then, I’ll excuse myself I have business to take care of

”

He just left after saying everything he wanted to say Why on earth did he come here if that’s all he wanted to do? I think he won’t be coming here unless he gets worried that we’re going to do something else

Luca and I watched him leave absentmindedly We looked at the door where he came in for a long time I thought he’d come again, but the High Priest didn’t return as if he was truly done dealing with us

“I think we should start looking”

“Alright, Luca”

The tense and heated atmosphere had disappeared along with the disruption, and since then, we diligently looked for the information However, even after quite a long time, none of us found any patient that had similar symptoms to Rere’s

“There are way too many for us to find it immediately today Let’s just check this bookshelf today and check the other bookshelf next time”

“Alright No one comes here anyway, so the books’ arrangement will stay exactly like when we left”

It was a pity, but looking at numerous people who had different diseases, there was small expectation that I could eventually find a cure for Rere’s illness

“Let’s go back”

Just like how we entered, I held Luca’s hand as we left While we were inside, new knights who replaced the punished knights were guarding the door enthusiastically The same was true of Isaac

“Have you come out?!”

“Have you been waiting all this time?”

“Yes Because I’d still have to escort you out when you completed your business”

“Thank you”

Isaac led the way with a very wide grin on his face Before long, we finally arrived at the carriage

“I look forward to seeing you again”

“If anything happens again, you can just come to find me You’ll be welcome anytime”

“You don’t have to worry After the Duchess entered the library, the High Priest looked for me”

“Is that so?”

“Yes And I think I can show you a better side of me next time”

“I’ll look forward to it”

After saying our farewell, I entered the carriage He bowed to me for the last time as the coachman came to close the carriage door

“Are we going back to the duchy, madam?”

“No I want to go to the market”

“Then I’ll take you there”

The coachman briefly looked at me as if finding my request unusual before closing the door completely

“Aren’t you going to return immediately today?”

“I’m going to drop by the market first It must have stopped raining by now, and I have a game I want to play with Rere”

“Are you going to buy stuff for the young lady?”

“Yes”

“Is it some sort of gift?”

I made eye contact with Luca before I turned my gaze out the window

“It is a gift, but I’m only going to pick gifts that Rere can’t have”

“Is there a gift that my young lady can’t have?”

“She’s so used to getting everything handed to her so perfectly But there must be something that Rere doesn’t have”

Just in case, I already looked at every toy Rere had in her room for a few days So I was confident this time

After a while, the carriage slowed down gradually Sitting in the carriage, I pulled back the curtains and looked out the window

It was the empire’s market that Leona had visited countless times But it was the first for me The difference between just visualizing it in my head and actually experiencing it was quite vast

Just like now

So I tried to hide my surprise and casually looked at the market without hesitation

“Shall we get off then?” Luca said

“Y-Yeah!”

***

A place bustling with people

I already had seen people from this country at the party, but the people in here looked very different Even the commoners

I thought that people wouldn’t be that different no matter where they lived, but I was surprised once again because their clothes were very different from what I had seen

And the most surprising thing was those who kept begging relentlessly Maybe because there were too many people begging for money, the passers-by didn’t even spare a glance at them

“You look like a child who saw the market for the first time, Leona”

“Huh?”

“You were dazedly looking at people”

“Ah…Is that so?”

I looked alternately between him and the passers-by

“They look very different from the people I saw at the Duke’s party, you see”

“I suppose so”

“I can feel the reality that there’s a huge status difference in this society I didn’t know there would be so many beggars”

Luca took my hand without saying a word

“There’s this side of society anywhere I’ve heard the emperor tried a lot of ways to save them, but it didn’t work”

“What did he do?”

“Gave out donations and relocated them”

“…It will never work that way Rather, they’d think they don’t have to work anymore since money will come to them They’ll become foolish people who wait under the apple tree for an apple to fall”