When The Count’s Illegitimate Daughter Gets Married

Chapter 115

It was when Ian sat alone in the office and seriously contemplated, ‘How can I change Laritte to my lover.’ The spring breeze from outside the window enveloped the papers piled up on the work desk.

Thanks to that, the topmost letter fell next to his left hand.

“What?”

It was sent by Ian’s only close friend, Emperor Oscar Iasa. He was so stressed about the skinship that he couldn’t remember what was in the letter for a moment.

…What?

Combining frustration and irritation, he brushed his black hair and opened the letter using only one hand.

‘Oh, right. They said they had a party to wish Laritte to always be healthy.’

Oscar was delighted with Laritte’s revival and said that he would hold a celebratory banquet directly at the capital’s castle. It was very unusual, and it was an opportunity to confirm Laritte’s power to all nobles.

However, Ian was not happy at all. It was because even without such a party, she was already the best! This meant nothing! Everyone would look at them with envy, but in reality, Laritte and he were like friends.

Now, Ian was the most negative person in the world.

At that moment, a very good idea ran through his mind.

‘That’s it.’

This banquet would set the atmosphere… and that would be when he would propose to Laritte. Of course, they were married though there were many events during that time, so they didn’t get to have a wedding.

‘If I ask her to get married, will she like it? Normal people don’t put much meaning to a wedding.’

Then, they would kiss while holding out their wedding ring.

…It was a chance to reclaim life as a true couple!

He didn’t know who used the expression ‘reclaim’ the life as a true couple. After a long time, Ian burned with enthusiasm.

Obviously, Laritte was a hundred times more important to Ian than his own lust or her greed. If she said she didn’t want to go to the capital’s banquets, he was going to follow suit. While it was a birthday party for Laritte that Emperor Oscar himself said he would host… well, they could not go.

Ian knocked on the door to her room and entered with her permission. Laritte, who was sitting sat at the desk, lifted her face.

“Welcome. What’s going on?”

She was writing a letter to Olivia.

“You didn’t come to my room?”

With those words, Ian set his vain gaze on the distant field outside the window. It was because he remembered the past when he only slept alone and lonely when he came to her room.

“Haha…”

“I thought Seta or Ikar had come. They tend to knock on the window rather than knock on the door.”

Laritte placed the pen next to her ink, thinking of Seta and Ikar. They have been visiting her mansion irregularly since she came back to life. Seta wanted to see Laritte’s face, and Ikar’s purpose was to see the cat.

Ian explained his purpose.

Surprisingly, Laritte’s reaction was positive.

“Oh, good.”

Laritte, who was writing a letter to Olivia, readily responded positively. The maids quickly left the room so that Ian and Laritte could be together.

When they left, Ian even closed the door himself.

“I thought it would be annoying, but I was surprised.”

“Because it’s been a while since I can see Prince— Emperor Oscar. In fact, he wrote to me as well.”

Saying so, he held out a letter, which was neatly placed in her drawer. Ian read the middle part of the letter in a mutter.

[ “When the secretary told me that the Duchess had risen, I thought it was a joke.” ]

Or, a certain faction rebelled against the imperial power and took control of the castle, and even the secretary belonged to that group.

[ “That’s why they’re joking with me before they kill me…” ]

“Isn’t it interesting?”

“It was interesting except for the following passage; His Majesty was so surprised that, when he actually asked that, the secretary slammed his head to the ground in denial.”

“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, and they even received a vacation, so it’s a good ending.”

Anyway, the party was to welcome Laritte in many ways. The ladies of the hobby club with great power wouldn’t be missing out on such a big party. Perhaps, she could greet the ladies.

As she thought about what she would need to go to the party, Laritte frowned.

“I can’t wear ‘that dress’ this time, right?”

Ian understood the meaning of the word at once.
The dress that former Duchess Selena Reinhardt got when she got married. Because the dragon’s scales were used, it did not look worn out. However, because of Laritte, it lost its magical powers.

Well, that was an old story.

Olivia’s new scales have made it possible to resurrect.

“It will take a long time to process a new one, and it will take time for repairs such as placing it on a dress, so meeting the deadline would be unreasonable.”

“That’s too bad.”

“There will be opportunities later.”

It was a dress that Laritte didn’t want to wear even if she died. She promised Ian that she would cherish it for the rest of her life, as wearing it would make it lose its magical powers. But now, Laritte could come forward and said that she wanted to wear it.

The change was good.

Laritte and Ian looked at each other while thinking the same thing. Then, they shared a smile. It was a peaceful time. It was so peaceful that Ian wanted to say, “Shall we kiss? But, didn’t you say we should touch each other step-by-step last time? Right?”

…The problem was that he couldn’t ask.

Wasn’t it like becoming an unscrupulous beast crazy about ‘that’?

‘Damn it!’

He had to somehow create a plausible atmosphere…

Time passed, and the day came when the Emperor was throwing a party for the Duchess.

In fact, it had only been a few weeks. This was because it is held in succession to the foundation day banquet scheduled for early spring. It meant a lot to hold a banquet for the Duchess before such a great day — to show that the Emperor and the Duchy were one and the same.

There was no family that dared to break them up.

Since broad daylight, numerous nobles entered the Imperial Palace in advance and chatted while waiting for the party. Two male nobles, who were hard to be seen as middle-aged, also talked in the corridor.

“I don’t know with this rate if the Duchy will have a higher status than the Imperial Family.”

The male noble, bulging belly and short in stature, spoke sharply. Everyone was jealous of the relationship between the imperial family and the Duchy. They settled their minds by talking behind the scenes.

The tall male nobleman also nodded.

“Well, maybe it’s because the Emperor trusts people too much.”

“Thanks to that, only the Duchess will have high spirits. She drew a very good card.”

“Oh my! What if someone hears it?”

They laughed nonetheless.

Now, they had to say something about the illegitimate wife though their snake’s insides had calmed down.

‘Well, in the absence of the Emperor, you can swear at the Emperor.’

Laritte’s actions were truly unusual in the noble world. They thought she would retreat to the back room if the Duke’s interest in his illegitimate wife, ceased…

They remembered last winter.

On the days when it was announced that Laritte was dead, the noble society was also shaken. It was because the Duchy temporarily halted most of its business. Even small companies that they thought had nothing to do with the Duchy did not operate normally.

It was then that the nobles realized how massive Duchy Reinhardt was and what Laritte meant to Ian, both emotionally and financially.

The short-statured nobleman sighed.

“Even though it had only been a few days, I really thought she was going to die. If the Duchess had not been resurrected, they would have closed some businesses.”

Laritte was now an undisputed noble. The Emperor and the Duke were also behind her. And, as she belonged to a hobby club, the social world belonged to Laritte… when she was just an illegitimate child!

Most of the nobles wagged their tails to her in winter though some of the true nobles did not know that it was a waste of life, and they still hated Laritte.

“I don’t even know if it’s real that I’m here. Haha, a party for a wife of unusual descent! Of course, that doesn’t mean anything bad, right?”

Literally, it was difficult to believe that they had come to a place because of an illegitimate child.

As they were sharing sarcastic, low laughter about Laritte, several prevalent figures gradually approached from afar. The two men quickly closed their mouths and turned around, pretending to be looking at the garden.

And yet, they saw someone approaching…

…Huh, was that the Ducal couple?

Today’s stars walked proudly, showing off their gorgeous dresses and jewels to match them. After that, several knights followed, including Redra. Seeing that, the men greeted Ian and Laritte while sharing their ‘oh no’ gaze.

They thought they probably wouldn’t have heard it this far anyway.

“Oh, who is this? I hear you have been sick for a long time, but you look healthy, madam!”

They also greeted the Duke with great rhetoric.

Ian nodded his head lightly.

“Right.”

When the Ducal couple walked away into the opposite corridor, the two male nobles breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Whenever I see that person, it’s really scary… It’s like facing a hungry lion.’

Redra, who was following Ian, opened his cold eyes and whispered to his master.

“Shall I go back and cut them down?”

While Ian was a sword master with excellent five senses, Redra was a candidate for a sword master. He naturally heard what the nobles had said.

“It’s too extreme.”

Ian pretended to stop Redra, and spoke even colder.

“There are still those kinds of bastards. Investigate their information and give it to them. The three generations of their family will cry.”

…It was equally extreme.

Meanwhile, Laritte tilted her head, not knowing what they were talking about. Ian just smiled, saying it was nothing, before fiddling with something inside the expensive suit. There was a pair of wedding rings to hold out after setting the atmosphere.

‘We can’t see blood already before the event.’

Finally, it was today.

He would surely reclaim his lover’s life back.

—