Chapter 1 - Part 1
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***
It’s been a long time since she has been in front of the crowd, so she was nervous.
Of course, there were some who were friendly to Lelia, but there were more who were not.
Superion’s retainers were thoroughly united people centered around the duke.
All the relatives of each other are connected.
[Basically, loyalty to the lord is tremendous.]
That’s why stories about Lelia’s existence have not spread to the capital.
Basically, the vassals were both awe-inspired and fearful of the Duke of Superion.
The Duke made some achievements when he was young, but the main reason was that the Duke of Superion was a genius in politics.
He knows how to use carrots and sticks.
While terrorizing the household lords, he showed great, unexpected consideration and generosity to make them loyal.
However, in the original story when the family lost power due to the death of her grandfather and her uncles and aunts, they were confused. The main spindle that always gathered them has disappeared.
As a result, their always-consistent views began to diverge. Everything from small to big.
They were starting to disagree. That was the biggest problem.
So Lelia was nervous.
Currently, the vassals are divided over the existence of “Lelia.”
So far there has been no problem because Lelia is young.
But now she is of age, and there will be vassals who develop anxiety one by one.
Grandfather, grandmother, uncles and aunt were trusting her.
[… It may be only a matter of time before it is known to the capital.]
You never know when any of the vassals will betray you. Of course, it’s not a betrayal.
All they do is leave this estate, since that’s all they could do.
Lelia also instinctively knew that she could never hide it.
[Still, everything has to be done after solving the magic of golden words.]
“Lady, it’s done.”
At Becky’s words, Lelia stood up with her determined fist relaxed.
And she stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself.
***
Meanwhile, the atmosphere of the vassals was a little different from what Lelia had expected. The household vassals, who were not friendly to Lelia, appeared to think that it should not be like this.
Lelia would have been confused by this.
The vassals exchanged information in their conversations with each other while smiling.
There was a strange rumor going around among them today.
“Lady Lelia may marry one of the guests of Sir Carius? They’re all precious heroes who saved the continent!”
“I told you so. Sir Carius mentioned it himself.”
“Really?”
“He left Lady Lelia’s partner to someone else today. I’m sure it’s one of the guests. What does that mean?”
“It’s before the coming-of-age banquet, and if you have a partner in advance… It means they have already been set up as a marriage partner.”
“That’s what it is!”
“Oh, my God. No, wait. Aren’t some of those heroes from other countries?”
“Yeah, so you can’t ignore Lady Lelia forever.”
“… Hmm.”
Now, most of the vassals were treating Lelia as a duckling who may be chosen, but they didn’t know what would happen in the future for certain.
Now, even those who weren’t friendly to Lelia acted as if she were a natural part of the household.
After all, what if she marries a royal family member?
Only those who were friendly to Lelia would benefit.
“……”
Likewise, Baroness Creek, who heard the news, could not hide her disappointment.
Before Miss Lelia’s coming-of-age banquet, somehow, she was going to push her son in…
Her son, who recently said he would visit Lelia, did not say a word when he returned.
He was crying, he was stuck in bed. Even today, he woke up late after drinking and was a mess.
Tsk tsk.
Baroness clicked her tongue at her son, who was haunting her in the distance.
***
Lelia blinked at the blue dress in the mirror.
Thanks to the maids, she looked much better than usual.
The material of the beautiful dress played a part in the atmosphere.
“She’s so beautiful. I’m sure everyone will want to propose to you!”
Becky said with a look that she wanted to propose more than anyone else. Lelia thanked her and walked along holding the hem of her dress.
“You’ll be surprised to see who’s out there.”
With that, Becky opened the door.
“Oh…”
As Becky said, Lelia blinked in surprise. Wondering how long he had been waiting, Kalix was standing in front of the door.
“……”
Kalix lowered his eyes as soon as he made eye contact with her. Like he didn’t want to look at her.
Lelia looked at him in a sullen mood. Dressed up in banquet clothes, Kalix didn’t look like a tough mercenary.
Perhaps thanks to the dark skin and mysterious eye color, he exuded an atmosphere of the exotic royal family.
Lelia looked closely into the eyes of Kalix. Even though one eye would be dark, Kalix didn’t show any signs of that. So Lelia was more heartbroken.
“Let’s go.”
Kalix held out his arm mechanically. Before escorting someone, the cumbersome etiquette of kissing the back of the hand was lightly omitted.
Knowing that, Lelia put her hand on his arm regardless.
His arm tilted for a moment when she placed her hand on it, but soon held her firmly.
On the way to the banquet hall, Lelia glanced at Kalix the whole time.
Today she was going to reveal one secret to her friends.
Romeo told her that she didn’t have to explain everything right now, but… Lelia was
nervous.
Romeo, left alone, must be thinking this is quite strange. She was being treated as their own granddaughter here.
She can’t elaborate on that, but she was going to reveal right away that she knew how to use alchemy.
That way, she can explain to Kalis that she’s a woman.
Confessing it, she will also tell Kalix there’s a way to fix his eyes.
[Then you’ll be able to easily cooperate. You’d freak out if I said we had to kiss each other, but…]
It was a good way to ease the guilt of Kalix and her other friends, fix his eyes, and get ingredients easily.
She had a headache worrying about this all night last night.
Lelia was to confess after the banquet and ask Kalis to place his lips on hers.
And as soon as the update is complete, she could produce the medicine.
She wanted to fix Kalix’s eyes quickly so that she could concentrate on solving her aunt’s issue.
Wait a minute, Kalix.
Lelia glanced at Kalix, thinking inwardly. Kalix didn’t even look at her.
[You don’t seem to like me very much…]
Today’s plan had to be successful in order to resolve the misunderstanding of her being a man dressed as a woman as soon as possible.
Kalix had no idea what Lelia was thinking. Likewise, Lelia had no idea what Kalix was thinking.
Kalix was serious now.
‘I’m sure it’s heart disease.’
He diagnosed his illness. He was certain.
[T/N: I- I’m speechless. That’s it.]
‘I’ll have to leave tomorrow right away.’
He needs to find a man named Yongha and cure this disease. His eyes will never be cured, but the heart disease may be in its infancy and can be cured.
He didn’t give a glance to Lelia, the cause of the disease, but his nerves were all directed at him.
Ahem, Ahem
Whenever he heard a bump of the hem of the dress, his throat tightened. Like he had a sore throat.
As they entered the banquet hall, all the people opened their eyes wide and looked at the two.
Lelia wondered at the eyes of all the friendly vassals directed at her. What’s wrong with them?
While looking away like that, she found her friends standing at the railing on the second floor.
They were all staring at Lelia with a cold look on their faces.
In particular, she was scared of Oscar as if blood had formed in his red eyes.
Lelia quickly patted Kalix on the shoulder, avoiding eye contact.
“… What.”
Kalix, who had not said a word all along, poured a glass of alcohol into his mouth and glanced at her.
Lelia gestured as if to put his ear closer.
“……”
Kalix looked at her like a suspicious person and soon lowered his head.
Lelia whispered in his ear.
“At the end of the banquet, please come with Romeo, Oscar and Griffith outside.”
“Ugh…”
“… What’s wrong?”
“Uh, oh, nothing.”
Kalix scratched his ear in agony.
“I’m sorry. Anyway, please come.”
“Okay, stop touching me.”
When Lelia pulled her hand off his shoulder, Kalix turned his head breathing hard.
[… That’s so mean.]
Lelia thought. She was hurt because she thought that he really hated her that much.
It was just a whisper… but he behaved as if it was horrible.
“……”
Lelia looked at Kalix and turned away. Her grandfather found her and walked over as he approached her.
“Ha…”
Kalix, who was left alone, loosened his cravat a little as if he were stiff.
His ear, where Lelia’s breathing was felt intensely, was still burning.
It’s strange. Blood circulates quickly and the fever rises from head to toe.
‘Wake up, he’s a man. He’s a man.’
Kalix closed his eyes and shook his head.
Nevertheless, the feeling of being possessed by a pervert cross-dressing man still lingered.
As he turned his head, he saw Lelia smiling with her arms folded.
‘How can a man smile so beautifully? How does he do that?’
Then Kalix frowned.
When the Duchess turned her head for a moment, he saw Lelia’s expression.
He could see the difficulty of forcing herself to smile for her sick grandmother.
‘Oh, my heart is weird again.’
In an instant, he felt sorry for Lelia.
As time went by slowly, he could only see Lelia. Only around that face was a pretty light like a breaking wave.
It was pitiful and sad that her expression showed her concern and effort for her grandmother.
‘How sad and afraid he must be.’
For the first time in his life, he sympathized with someone like this. He stared blankly at Lelia and bit his lip.
“Yes, it’s all for his grandmother that he dresses like that. By the way, why did I get so angry… That’s right.”
Kalix nodded his head as if determined.
He had no idea his friends were staring at him like a fool on the railing upstairs.
***
NOTE: New kofi shop for September has been opened. The previous shop is deleted.