Chapter 1 - Part 1
Huge thanks to Crissymac for the kofi! (1/3)
***
A few days had passed since Oscar returned.
Lelia recently speculated about the subtle tension that she sensed among her friends.
It was clear that Oscar and Griffith had a very bad relationship, as expected.
Griffith always stared at Oscar with a sharp gaze. Just looking at him made her heart ache.
Oscar seemed to disregard his gaze most of the time, but….
In addition, Kalix secretly began to divide sides.
He tied himself and Oscar to one side and treated Griffith and Romeo as if they were enemies. In fact, this part didn’t bother her that much. This was because it felt like a childish act.
The problem was Oscar and Griffith.
Agonized, Lelia walked slowly. After a walk with her mom, she was on her way back to the room across the garden.
She had a lot of worries.
Since Oscar returned, her anxious mind also found peace.
Now she felt like everything had found its place perfectly.
Of course, she knew that the desire to live happily here with her family and friends was pure greed.
But that was the only thing she wanted. Nothing else matters and that was enough.
Is it still a big desire?
Lelia stopped for a moment and sat on the bench.
Now she could be sure of her feelings about Oscar.
She wanted to be more than a friend to Oscar, she wanted to be the one who could protect him and remain the closest to him throughout her life.
But then…
‘Will my grandfather allow me to get married?’
Just by thinking of the word marriage, her face turned red and her heart started to flutter.
But… Will Griffith stay still?
No, more than that, then?
Perhaps Romeo will support and congratulate her.
But Griffith…
Still, Lelia remembered the shocking things Griffith said.
Recently, he had not shown any such expression at all, but now Lelia knows that Griffith hides his expression to some extent.
But the bigger mountain was Kalix.
She wasn’t confident in winning because she knew he couldn’t be persuaded by anything.
Of course, marriage was not necessary.
‘I’m thankful and happy right now, but…’
Lelia blinked and her eyes shuddered.
Since Oscar’s return, there had been little time to talk alone.
There was no time to kiss or even hold hands like when they reunited.
Somehow, Becky also began to visit the room every night.
There was a “report” saying that Lelia seems to have nightmares every night.
It was probably Griffith.
“I’ll be by your side all night, lady. Don’t worry about anything.”
When she remembered Becky’s sweet voice, she felt grateful and unfair.
Perhaps that was why every time she saw Oscar from afar, she felt anxious and nervous.
She wanted to kiss, hug, and get closer to him like before.
In order to do so, a fundamental solution was needed.
“…”
Oh, come to think of it…
Lelia suddenly wiggled her necklace.
In the past, whenever she had a concern, she would discuss it with alchemy. Lately, there had been no message from alchemy.
When she touched the jewel, a familiar system window appeared. She was checking this and that just in case, but then she noticed something she hadn’t seen.
[Announcement]
– “Alchemy Lottery” Service End Notification –
[10] days are left before the expiration date of this service. I would like to express my gratitude to users who have loved alchemy lottery tickets.
“What?”
She was so surprised that she couldn’t say anything and her body stiffened.
Wait, what is this…?
“Alchemy?”
No matter how much she called alchemy inwardly, there was no answer that came back.
‘What do you mean, the game system is going to disappear? Suddenly? Why?’
She had a lot of questions in my mind.
Lelia looked around and hurried back to her room.
After arriving in her room, she fiddled around the game screen.
“Hey, Alchemy!”
Even if she kept on calling alchemy, there was no answer that came back.
It was when she sat down because her legs went weak.
- [?]
A familiar speech bubble came to mind late and a message appeared.
“What? Why are you coming out now?”
- [ㅇ_ㅇ;;]
Lelia asked anxiously while watching Alchemy’s usual reaction.
“What does that mean?”
- [10 days are left before the alchemy lottery service ends. Thank you for loving me, master. ( ᴗ_ᴗ̩̩ )]
“…Why are you suddenly shutting down the service?”
- [◔3◔]
Alchemy did not answer. He just made a confused face.
Her stomach began to boil.
She updated it a few days ago.
Why all of a sudden?
The moment she tried to open her mouth with the intention of firmly arguing,
Knock, knock
She turned her head at the sound of knocking on the door. After sighing, she got up and walked toward the door.
She opened the door slightly and saw that one of her grandfather’s aides had come.
“What’s going on?”
“Lady, the duke told me to bring you straight to the office.”
“Grandfather?”
“Yes, hurry up and go.”
What the hell was going on. The aide was nervous and was sweating.
Lelia hurried out after him.
When she arrived in front of the office, an aide opened the door himself. Present inside were her grandfather, uncles, and aunts with serious facial expressions.
“What’s up?”
As she got closer, Uncle Karius took Lelia’s hand and sat down.
“Lelia.”
“Yes, grandfather. Tell me. Did something happen?”
Lelia became anxious. It was because her grandfather, uncles, and aunt looked very serious.
Suddenly, her heart started pounding. She was nervous because she thought that the peace so far was about to break.
“Cedric and Demian are coming here.”
“What?”
Lelia wrinkled her forehead.
“I think they learned about Elizabeth’s existence. I wasn’t going to call them until Elizabeth’s memory came back…”
“…”
Lelia tried to calm down her pounding heart.
She thought the same way.
If her mother’s memory returns, it will be inevitable to meet the two princes at that time.
Of course, they did not want to meet her…
However, she had no intention of preventing the meeting between her mother and the princes.
Because those two are precious to her mother.
But she couldn’t believe they found out before her mother could even regain her memory…
“And…”
Grandfather stopped trying to say something.
Then he shook his head.
“No, this is fine. First of all, they said they will arrive around tomorrow. I called to let you know in advance.”
“Yes, grandfather.”
“If you don’t want to run into them, you can go to Zenon’s mansion for a while.”
At that, Lelia shook her head.
“No, I’ll be by your side.”
“…Okay.”
Grandfather nodded with a pitiful gaze.
At that time, Uncle Karius said, putting a big hand on the back of Lelia’s hand.
“Don’t worry about anything, Lelia. This uncle is on your side. Okay?
“…”
Lelia laughed without saying a word. He was an uncle who understood her better than anyone else, and knew that she didn’t get along with the twin princes.
“Is that why you look so serious?”
“I’m fine, so don’t worry about anything.”
Lelia tried hard to speak bravely. The family looked at her without giving an answer.
“More than that, I’m worried that my mother, who hasn’t fully recovered her memory yet, will be surprised.”
“I know.”
Grandfather agreed with Lelia.
He sighed and said, “Let’s get out of here.”
Lelia stood up answering, “Okay.”
The facial expressions of the family were still serious. In addition to the fact that the twin princes were coming here, it was clear that there were other problems.
Lelia noticed that the problem was about the emperor.
But she didn’t ask. She didn’t want to know, rather, she didn’t think she should know.
When she opened the office door and left, an unexpected figure was waiting for her.
“Oscar.”
As soon as she saw Oscar’s face, her eyes became teary for no reason. She felt like her heart was pounding.
She pretended to be fine in front of her family, but in fact, she was very afraid.
Oscar suddenly held Lellia’s hand and led her. He seemed to be conscious of the people standing in front of the office.
The place where he took Lelia was a narrow corridor next to the stairs which no one used.
“Are you okay? You look like you’re about to cry.”
Oscar stroked Lelia’s cheek, letting her lean against the wall.
Lelia bowed her head with her lips closed. She didn’t know why she felt like she was going to cry all of a sudden.
“…”
To be honest, she was worried about what had happened to the emperor. She was curious about the emperor’s news, but she didn’t want to know.
She was also anxious that Cedric and Damian would come and take her mom away from her.
Many emotions bothered her.
At that time, the cold lips gently touched hers.
She liked the cold sensation that brought her back to her senses.
The lips only touched each other, but they did not come close. It was similar to the sad act where young animals would rub each other’s cheeks and comfort each other.
“At times like this, it’s a little disappointing. I want to steal you again to a place where there can be only two of you.”
The words made her laugh quietly.
“We’re alone right now…”
“Well, it’s going to be very short. Your stalkers are bothering me these days.”
At Oscar’s words, Lelia crumpled her forehead.
Stalker?
She thought he meant Kalix, Romeo, and Griffith. Recently, those three have been persistently following Oscar.
As if to interrupt something. Because of that, Lelia had no time to be alone with Oscar.
“That’s too bad.”
Oscar whispered softly with his lips together.
Soft and cold lips touched and fell shortly.
Lelia raised her head. Oscar’s eyes were filled with passion. She didn’t know the meaning behind those eyes.
Lelia looked into Oscar’s eyes and asked impulsively.
“Do you want to get married?”
“…”
It was a really impulsive remark.
She was surprised by what she said.
However, unexpectedly, he was calm.
When she said it out loud, she was sure.
“Ahh… Shall we get married, Oscar?”
***
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed what you have read, do consider tipping us a little through: https://ko-fi.com/rainofsnow . Once we receive 7$, an advance chapter will be posted as a thank you. Don’t forget to mention the series that you’re supporting!