When The Count’s Illegitimate Daughter Gets Married

Chapter 90

Inside the dark closet, Ian put a hand behind Laritte’s neck. There was only one piece of maids’ uniform inside the closet. It brushed past his hair as he leaned down and hugged Laritte. He seemed to be committing a very dangerous crime, merely by hugging her.

The space was narrow, so they had no choice but to stick their bodies together. ‘Okay, I finished my goal for today,’ Laritte thought. ‘It’s going very smoothly. Everything is going according to plan.’ They held thirty times until the thirtieth day of dating. Today was the thirty-first. The day they stepped into the next level, that is, the hugging stage.

Laritte was satisfied. While she recalled the contents of the book of dating advice, Ian was also immersed in his own thoughts. She said they had to hug and kiss for thirty more days. Then wouldn’t it be okay to kiss?

At that time, Olivia’s faint voice was heard in the hallway outside. “There was something here…..,” she groaned as she approached the closet. Ian and Laritte held their breath. Olivia’s shadow obscured the light coming through the crack of the door. Ian and Laritte exchanged looks. ……If they were caught doing terrible things.

Laritte still had her head raised. Ian had leaned down to hug her, but the space was so tight that she had to lift her heels. Still, she was timid to put her head on his shoulder. She glanced at Olivia’s shadow passing by.

She carefully moved her hand, relying on her senses. Ian also felt her touch. Why was she holding his hand? He could hear his own breaths now. “L-Laritte?”

“Shhh,” Laritte quieted him. She put her heels back on the floor, leaning on Ian’s chest. This position was more comfortable. But then, Ian was more likely to have a heart attack. He froze, their hands interlocked……

Eventually, Olivia left again. Ian and Laritte made sure she was nowhere around. Then, Laritte opened the door, after a while of fumbling to find the handle on the wooden surface of the door. She escaped the narrow closet first. Ian asked when she stepped into the hallway. “Why the hand…..?” Laritte had an indifferent expression as if it was obvious.

“Yes? We’re dating, can’t we even hold hands?” It was obvious. But Ian was still curious.

“Did the book say anything like that?” Laritte took advice from a book to make her first date a success. Ian also Ackles and followed her obsession, but she was suddenly straying away from the path the book led.

Even Laritte couldn’t understand him. “Of course, books are the best guides.” The author was an excellent orator, so it became more influential as the chapters went on.

“But the reality is not a book, right?” Laritte’s frown was visible on her face. Wasn’t it strange to be obsessed with what books told you to do?

But it was natural. Besides, the book didn’t forbid holding hands on the thirty-first day so it was fine. Rather, was it him who was obsessed with books and tried to be affectionate through books? While the book kept its faithful advice on when and where to touch! He felt cheated somehow.

“Then I’ll go first. We shall have dinner together after a while.” With that, Laritte left with the light sounds of her footsteps echoing through the hall. She had never hummed before, so she only flashed a faint smile. She saw her reflection on the knight armor kept at the side of the hallway. Good! Her relationship was perfectly ordinary. She could finally understand how people dated in the world. She had never heard of other people dating before, so there was a subtle difference.

She would continue like this for the future. At that time, Ian was left alone in the closet. When Laritte left, he shut the door back and fell into a deep silence. He felt cheated, but he was also in a good mood. Simple. Because he hugged her. He thought he would lose the lingering feeling of it if he got out of the closet.

***
Ava wasn’t very fond of Olivia’s, who was allowed in the mansion today. Everyone felt the same. The maids prepared the meals, voicing their complaints about Olivia.

“Isn’t she a little too shameless? If it were me, I wouldn’t have stepped into the mansion out of shame! Of course, I wouldn’t have abandoned my child either. Isn’t that right?!” The maid aggressively cut the potatoes in half on the chopping board.

Ava silently walked around the kitchen. She wanted to yell at Olivia, who wandered around the mansion like it was her home, but she controlled herself. The Duke and Madam must have their reasons. Ava picked up a frilled white apron lying by the sink, “what is this?”

“I was washing the dishes earlier, and it got dirty, so I took it off.”

“I’ll bring you something clean,” the maid insisted, but Ava draped the apron over her short, fleshy arms.

“It’s fine, I’ll feel less irritable if I’m busy.” Ava recalled about the closet where the maids kept their clothes. One of them was on vacation, so there was an extra suit, right? She walked down the quiet hallway without hesitation and arrived at the closet.

Naturally, she opened the door, expecting that there would be a maid uniform. She was horrified at what she saw. Ian was still there…. “Oh my gosh!” Ava lost her balance. Ian, who had been sitting alone inside the closet, jumped up and saved the old woman from falling.

“Ah,” Ava’s surprise turned into anger and absurdity. “What the hell are you doing here? You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“…..Are you feeling okay?” She carefully checked his condition before leaving. Ian went out into the hallway, his face dry.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t the time to spend time reminiscing over his actions with Laritte. Even at this moment, her lifeline was shrinking. All dragon artifacts in the Duchy and the Imperial Palace were collected. However, every time Laritte consumed an item, he grew anxious. How much time had she left?

Depending on the dragon’s part used to make those objects, the amount of time they protected Laritte was different. Some worked for a week and some for hours, but it wasn’t helping. Humans had little information on mana. He was impatient because of the limit of analysis conducted by humans.

Seta still hadn’t been found….. He sighed, walking over to the window. He looked up at the sky, sweeping the frame with his fingers. Day by day, his mood changed for the worse. He was all happy and smiling one moment, and the next, he would feel suffocated as he would pray and swear.

‘Laritte, I can do anything as long as you’re okay with it.’

Meanwhile, Olivia finally found Ian standing from afar, “Duke!”

“But there’s something more annoying,” he murmured grimly. He turned his eyes away from the ‘annoying’ object. He had to do what he could. He thought about sending a letter.

***
Emperor Oscar Iassa, the man with the highest position in the Empire of Iassa, the leader and the master of all, had a headache. It was due to the meeting that was held every Wednesday morning in the First Imperial Grand Conference Hall. He held a letter in his hand, contemplating his position.

The protests of the ministers were reaching their climax. The Minister of Foreign Affairs chimed in. “It wasn’t enough to give the Duke a place in the Imperial Palace for a few months……”

“….Even all the royal treasures were sent as he demanded….,” the General slammed his fist on the desk. The last one was so displeasing that no one knew who said it.

“Now does it make sense to even send a letter to borrow the Emperor’s powers? The Duke is clearly crossing the line!”

Oscar read the letter Ian had sent again. He was going to send items believed to be dragons’ remains from all over the Empire to the Imperial Palace. Oscar was an orthodox descendant of the imperial bloodline—a distant descendant of dragons. He had the ability to determine whether the claimed dragon artifacts were real or fake. In other words, he was asked to evaluate the objects.

The ministers participating in the Imperial meet were the main figures of the Imperial Palace. They each occupied a position in the palace. Since their honor was nothing but their money, the Duke had no choice but to be a thorn in their eyes.

“You must punish the Duke!”

“He appears to be challenging the throne!”

Oscar sighed quietly. ‘It’s just an honest request Ian made, but I can’t help it.’ When he was the Crown Prince, he could not help Ian much. He felt nothing but helpless. But, now that he had become the Emperor, he had decided to accept even unreasonable requests.

As he looked at Ian’s letter, he sighed again. ‘Isn’t he looking at me as a tool just for identifying objects?!’ He was his old friend! He could have at least said hello! Was he an idiot?

Oscar stood up from his chair. In any case, the opinions of the ministers were always ignored. “Maybe you don’t like the Duke…..,” he sighed for the third time. It had only been a while since he ascended to the throne, but he had a rough mouth whenever he spoke, “but are you the Emperor?”

That’s right. That stopped them.

Oscar walked out of the conference hall. As long as the Duke had the Emperor on his side, no one across the seas could harm him.

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