Chapter 31

 

Yvonne immediately pushed Iona aside.

 

“Okay, if you can do it, I can do it. Get out of the way!”

 

“Yvonne!”

 

Yvonne, who opened the door abruptly, and Iona, who tried to catch up with Yvonne, were frozen like stone statues the next moment.

 

Because the cause of all this quarrel was standing in front of their eyes.

 

“Oh, duke… …?”

 

“… …What do you mean by all of this?”

 

Iona prayed that he hadn't heard their conversation properly though it was useless.

 

“Dame Iona was Count Mordov's adopted daughter, not his illegitimate daughter, right?”

 

Leroy tried to check the facts straight away with a frighteningly hard face.

 

Feeling the pressure, Yvonne hesitated and stepped back. But she thought that it was a good opportunity, and she soon raised her voice excitedly.

 

“I'm sorry, Duke! I really didn't want to cheat. Really. I kept trying to tell the truth, but my sister came out so brazenly... …”

 

Iona's face turned completely pale.

 

No excuses could be made in this situation.

 

How does she explain that everything Yvonne said was true?

 

Iona was an illegitimate child who did not know who her mother was, and she tried to marry the duke while not telling this fact.

 

Even if he took this as a problem and buried her in the aristocratic society, She had nothing to say.

 

Leroy looked at Iona this time and asked.

 

“Dame Iona, answer yourself. Is this story true?”

 

“Duke, if you have any questions, you can ask me. I am… …”

 

“You better go back to your seat, Yvonne.”

 

Leroy, who firmly refused Yvonne's interference, stepped in front of Iona.

 

Yvonne, who was impatient with the thought of tickling him, seemed a little disappointed, but she quickly got over her feelings of regret.

 

Anyway, at this moment, the marriage conversation between the duke and Iona was as good as broken.

 

“Then feel free to talk.”

 

Having achieved her goal, Yvonne walked away with light steps.

 

Finally, only the two of them were left in the dark hallway.

 

Leroy asked with an incomprehensible face.

 

“Please explain this situation in a way I can understand, Dame Iona.”

 

“… … I have nothing to say. Everything you've heard is true. I am… … .”

 

Iona's chin trembled, so she put strength on the tip of her tongue before she could finally form her words.

 

“… … I'm the illegitimate daughter of Count Mordov.”

 

Only silence remained.

 

Leroy just stared at Iona's stiff face for a long time.

 

Unable to face his gaze, Iona lowered her head.

 

Above her head, his low voice fell like a sentence.

 

“You tried to trick me.”

 

“… …”

 

“It must not have been because of inferiority that Nils Modlov broke your leg.”

 

Iona thought he wouldn't know because it happened when he wasn't in the capital, but it didn't seem to be difficult to find out information for someone like him.

 

There was a hint of anger flowing through his voice.

 

She was terrified that at any moment he would demand that this marriage was never going to happen.

 

For Iona, who always survived by proving her usefulness, this failure was like a death sentence.

 

Wasn't obeying her lord the only value she possessed?

 

If she couldn't fulfill Richard's order, she might be completely abandoned this time.

 

Fear blinded her eyes.

 

Iona said urgently, clenching her fists.

 

“Please don’t break the marriage.”

 

Iona knew very well that she was doing something pointless.

 

In the first place, Leroy had never promised to marry her.

 

In the meantime, he even learned the secret of her messy birth, so there was no possibility that he would accept her.

 

She couldn't change his mind at her pleas, and Iona knew that all too well, but she had to beg him for mercy this time.

 

Because that was the only thing she could do in this situation.

 

"Please. I'll make sure no one knows. Yvonne, I will do anything to get her to shut down. In fact, I don't think she had any intention of exposing this matter to the outside world either. She just hates me... … Yes, so that's all. Please don’t break the marriage.”

 

Iona rubbed her eyes to wipe away the cold sweat. She felt a strange chill run through her body.

 

She felt that she was talking nonsense unlike usual, but she didn't have the spirit left to deal with it.

 

Iona bowed her head in front of him, talking about anything.

 

“I know very well that a marriage like this is really absurd for someone like the Duke. That my birth would be regarded with great contempt by the Duke. For an illegitimate child to become a duchess, simply out of luck, but, still… …”

 

“… …”

 

“To me… … Ugh, can't you just give me one chance? If there is anything you want, I will listen to it all. I will make sure that the ducal family's reputation is never damaged by this. I'll do my best not to offend the duke as much as possible, please... … .”

 

'please… …'

 

Iona's eyes closed tightly.

 

Despite her earnest whispers, there was still no reply from him.

 

Everything was a mess. Desperately, Iona tried to kneel before him.

 

She was even willing to lick his boots if he wanted to. Had he not stretched out his hand and restrained her, she would have done it already.

 

"Stop."

 

“… …”

 

“Because I know… … Enough now, stop it.”

 

Saying that Leroy put his hand on top of her cold hand. Then he stood closer to her so that Iona could lean on him.

 

It wasn't until Iona buried her face in his chest that she realized she was shaking. It was clear that Leroy was still, but her vision was shaking like crazy.

 

She wanted to apologize to him for the rudeness, but she was gasping for breath and no more voice came out.

 

Iona inhaled and exhaled air repeatedly in sync with Leroy's breathing.

 

Finally, when Iona's breathing became as usual, he said reassuringly to her.

 

“I will not break it.”

 

“… …”

 

“I will marry you.”

 

Then, slowly and very carefully kneaded her stiff fingertips.

 

Iona will probably never forget that moment even if her whole life goes by.

 

The faint smell of perfume on his collar, the feel of the cloth on her forehead, the slow rise and fall of his chest, and the sound of his heart beyond that.

 

That ridiculously strange feeling of being valued by someone.

 

It was definitely a perfect moment to fall in love.

 

If Iona were like other normal people, she might have started a hopeless unrequited love. She would have gone so far as to presumptuously mistaken that he, too, had the same feelings for her.

 

But Iona knew perfectly well why he changed his mind so late.

 

At first, she was hesitant, but as time went by and she looked deeper into him, she gradually became convinced.

 

It was sympathy.

 

If he hadn't married her, she would have been abandoned in this hellish house.

 

It was obvious how she would be treated for failing to get married.

 

He was so weak to this unfortunate woman that he risked a failed marriage and even risked his life to save his false wife.

 

Iona parasitized on his kindness and brazenly ate away at his share of happiness. That was the nature of their relationship.

 

Iona was sure that if she shed tears as she revealed her past of being abused, he would gladly share the ring with her this time as well.

}

 

'But I can't.'

 

Iona didn't propose to marry him just to repeat the past.

 

This time, on the contrary, she herself wanted it.

 

She was determined not to make anything unfair from the beginning so that he would never be able to sympathize with her again.

 

In the meantime, Leroy, who had finished applying the medicine, removed his hand from her cheeks and held her chin from another hand as if to hold her well. She immediately tightened her neck at that and said.

 

“As you might think, I’m not the type to live only with suffering.”

 

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