Translator and Editor: Lea and Ishy

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Chapter 19

He emphasized those words so gracefully, I was stunned.

He quietly stepped inside the room, calm as ever, despite throwing a huge bomb inside the room.

‘Did he eat something wrong? Or did he develop some kind of grudge against me?’

“L-Lover? Fiancée?” The Viscount stumbled weakly. I could hear the astonishment in his voice as well as he looked back at me.

“Olivia, tell me. What I just heard, is it true?”

“Oh, um....”

“Tell me at once!”

I shot a glimpse at Lennox, who was the spark of this whole situation.

In return, what he did was give me the world’s most elegant smile possible.

“Hah..,” I felt like I should give up on dealing with Lennox.

‘I can’t beat that man.’

While observing my reaction with interest, he turned to the Viscount.

“I did send the Viscount an official proposal from Kravant, didn’t you receive it?”

And his face turned to me again.

“Who.. Who says that..”

The focus began disappearing from the Viscount’s eyes.

“No..,” he repeated through his half-opened lips, murky pupils, and a face devoid of any expression. He was like a doll under control.

“No, no.”

Somehow, I felt a sense of déjà vu.

‘Come to think of it, when the Viscount pounced on me earlier..’

“Not Kravant.”

From what I observed, the Viscount wasn’t against my marriage.

He was trying to stop the marriage.

To be exact, someone was controlling him to stop the marriage.

“No, no, no, no!”

My eyes widened as he stretched out his hand toward me with a devilish glare on his face. But I couldn’t move an inch, just like an elk facing the rushing lights in the middle of the country road at night.

All I could do was close my eyes.

Thud!

I heard the dull sound of something hitting the floor.

But I didn’t feel any pain.

I opened my eyes slowly to the shattered porcelain on the floor.

The only other man—with no expressions on his face now—was looking down at the Viscount he made unconscious lying on the floor.

I fumbled nervously, “H-He’s not dead, is he?”

Bloody red eyes turned toward me. His gaze was so intense that I had the illusion of being attacked with a red arrow. I held my breath and waited for him to answer.

“He’s only unconscious.”

“Whew.. Glad to hear that..”

Lennox tilted his head sharply as I sighed in relief.

“Why would I want to hurt your father?”

“No, I never meant that. I was a little bit startled.”

I bit my lips gently, staring at the fainted body of the Viscount.

‘He couldn’t cope after going through the same thing twice.’

But it was scary.

My heart was still beating like crazy. My palms were clammy.

‘It was like he became a completely different person.’

If I had to compare it, it was more like he became an evil spirit than a person.

‘Would Lennox believe me if I told him that he was being manipulated?’

Usually, one would think that he just lost his reason and got excited.

“Since when?”

“Pardon?”

Before I knew it, Lennox was bending one knee to get a closer look at the Viscount.

“When did the Viscount start acting so strangely?”

Surprised, I asked, “You knew that?”

“You’re a fool if you can’t tell after seeing this with your own eyes.”

He responded indifferently, but I couldn’t hide my joy, “That’s a relief.”

“What?”

“To know that there are people besides me who understand.”

“You’re lucky to have those qualities,” Lennox chuckled jokingly.

But I was serious.

“If I’m being honest, it’s very scary and lonely to know that you’re the only one who is aware.”

“..”

I didn’t belong to this world. I entered another person’s body and now I had to live her life instead.

I couldn’t confess it to anyone, and I would probably carry this secret alone for the rest of my life.

“There are times when you wish someone would know about your feelings even if you can’t reveal them.”

“..”

When I raised my head to his silence, Lennox was staring at me with that persistent gaze of his.

“Oh, I seem to have ruined the atmosphere.”

I waved my hands, realizing I had embarrassed myself.

“I shouldn’t have said that. It doesn’t mean much, so don’t worry.”

“No. You’re right.”

“What?”

“You don’t have to keep secrets to yourself.”

I was stunned by his response,

“It wouldn’t be bad to have at least one person to talk to. You can tell me if need be.”

“..”

“Well, only if you want to.”

I didn’t expect such kindness from him. His words calmed my mind, and certain unfamiliar feelings warmed up my body.

“I will.”

His sharp gaze softened for a moment as he smiled at my reply.

Then, he returned to his usual expressionless face.

“Since when did the Viscount start acting like this?”

“I don’t know. He looked alright a few days ago, but he was certainly strange with his behavior today.”

“Then it hasn’t been long.” he gently pressed Viscount’s neck with his long fingers.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to find the cause.”

Red swirling lines flowed out of his fingertips to reach his neck.

After a while of observation, his handsome forehead crumpled with dissatisfaction.

“A marionette, they chose a very classic method for him.”

“Marionette?”

“It’s a kind of sorcery that prevents you from performing certain actions. It digs into human consciousness and instills a kind of possesion. It’s triggered when certain conditions are met during your usual activities.”

“I think I understand what you mean.”

The Viscount wanted to find a rich and high-ranking man as my marriage partner. But to oppose Lennox as my husband, who met all the conditions? That wasn’t very logical.

“Looks like someone is displeased by our marriage.”

“Their plans to turn me into an evil spirit would have been disrupted. I don’t know who it is, but they want to prevent my marriage with Your Highness by any means necessary.”

Lennox was the only one who could beat the evil spirits and recognize the Qualum leaves from the woods of Rutoru.

“I thought the probability of having a sorcerer as the real criminal was low, but it seems like I should reconsider my judgment.”

He pressed his forehead, a look of clear annoyance on his face.

“The Prince will be shocked to hear this news.”

“Because there’s still one sorcerer left?”

Lennox nodded. “Well, there can be descendants who were lucky to survive. However, it’s quite a serious problem to have passed on different methods of sorcery from generation to generation.”

“They’ve only increased my work for no reason,” he muttered bitterly, heavily bothered by this situation.

“So, what about the Viscou- my father? Can he be cured?”

Since he had recognized his condition, he must’ve known how to cure it.

“No, you can’t cure him unless you’re the one who cast that spell.”

“Then it’s difficult. I require his permission as the head of the family, but just speaking of my marriage with Your Highness makes his eyes flip.”

I was distressed, but Lennox was as calm as ever.

“Even if you can’t lift the spell, you will be able to invalidate it.”

“How so?”

“You want to know?”

“Of course I do!”

At that moment, his face glowed like that of a naughty child before playing some dumb joke. But whenever this man made that face, it meant he had his dream come true.

“Olivia Brienne.”

“W-What?”

Sure enough, he asked with a smirk on his face.

“Do you like playing games?”

It was a voice reminiscent of, “Let’s start the game now.”

“No, I don’t like games!”

“A strong denial means a positive affirmation.”

“No, I said no.” No matter how much I tried to get out of his trap, he wasn’t someone to let his prey enjoy its freedom.

“If you win, I’ll tell you how to invalidate the spell.”

I knew this would happen.

“Let us start. Right this moment.”

***

The servants could not hide their embarrassment while alternating their eyes between the collapsed form of the Viscount, Lennox, and me.

But, they moved quickly to my instructions.

“Hurry, take my father to his bed. And call for the doctor.”

Right after he was taken care of, Lennox and I returned to the room together.

And now, he and I were sitting face to face with a table in between.

“Is this really necessary?”

I was growing curious and impatient about how I could treat the Viscount.

“We both need the spell to be lifted, so what happens if you just tell me?”

“It’s not fun if you get it that easily.”

“I’m not like that. I just like to take an easy road. Why choose a difficult path when you already know a simpler way?”

“Let me know whenever you want to give up. It’ll be enough if you just close your eyes.”

“When did I say that I’d give up?”

When I shot back, glaring at him, he only chuckled softly.

‘Whatever, I hate you.’

“Ha..”

The rules were simple.

My victory was to prevent his victory.

But Lennox couldn’t be tackled in the game so easily.

My ominous foreboding was bound to be correct, so I made three rounds in a row.

“What should I do now..”

I concentrated on where to move my warriors on the chessboard.

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