Chapter 36

Erich's clenched fist had already turned white.

Every time he inhaled and exhaled, his stiff shoulders shook slightly.

After looking at his face, Iona hesitated before opening her mouth.

“Okay, I’ll tell you.”

Only then did Erich's hard expression loosened up a little.

She said in a determined voice.

“It’s a secret, so keep it well. Even if His Highness the crown prince asks, don't tell.”

"Yes, I understand. I won't tell anyone, so let's be honest. What do you want to get by leaving the job you gave your life to?”

Erich sighed as he approached Iona.

Iona took a small deep breath as if she was about to say something she shouldn't have said.

It was the first time when Erich saw Iona's nervous look

Iona finally opened her mouth with her long eyelashes down.

“A happy married life.”

After uttering that, Iona paused for a moment.

It was because she thought she was lacking a little when she actually said it.

It was an opportunity she got by dying and coming back to life, so shouldn't she be more greedy?

Thinking so, Iona added a bit of her secret wish.

"Romantic relationship."

Love… …

It seemed a little too much to ask for that. Because it would be hard for him to have feelings for the wife he got by accident.

She felt like she would be grateful if the other person only moderately recognized her as a member of the opposite sex with a crush on him.

Even if it was not that great, she would be able to experience a few things.

“… … Well, it's like that, so hope you understand. In fact, I wasn’t even a good boss for you to regret my resignation.”

Having come to an appropriate conclusion, Iona looked up at Erich with a sense of humility.

She knew that the reaction would be bad, but when she checked Erich's expression, it was more than she expected.

His face was red and bluish and completely distorted.

He asked, glaring at Iona with a lively look.

"Now… … Are you kidding me?”

"Hmm?"

“Still, I genuinely worried about you, but until this moment, you… …”

Erich gently closed his eyes as if suppressing his anger.

Even so, his anger did not completely go away, and he turned his back on Iona. The loud footsteps seemed to represent his feelings.

Before leaving the terrace, he turned to Iona and shot her with a cool look.

“Alright, yes. Do whatever you like. I wish you a happy honeymoon.”

Then, with a rough hand, he closed the curtains.

Iona stared blankly at the spot where he had disappeared.

'Why was he angry?'

'Did my attitude sound like a joke? But I was really sincere.'

She didn't know.

Those close to her had always been generally angry with her.

So she didn't talk as much as possible when she was with other people. Because it was enough for her to be a good listener in order to blend in with the crowd.

The silence was advantageous in most cases when courting the other person.

However, when she knew someone for a long time, she would often display signs of being different from others. It was like a long-standing habit that had become ingrained in her, and it was not something that could be controlled consciously. Perhaps it was simply the way she was.

Iona tilted her head back loosely. She muttered in a weary voice.

“Will this marriage be successful…?”

"You went away for a while and suddenly became a pessimistic person."

Hearing the voice from the doorway, Iona suddenly raised her head.

In the meantime, did the song already end? Leroy was coming toward her, pushing the curtain with the back of his hand. On the other hand, he was holding two thin, tall champagne glasses stacked on top of each other.

Perhaps because of the alcohol, his face was pale red.

Leroy, who quickly approached Iona, offered her champagne and asked.

“Has anything happened?”

Maybe he didn't see Erich leaving in anger.

There was no need to explain that she was with Erich, but the situation became a bit cumbersome to answer what happened with her.

It was because she never wanted to reveal the conversation she just had with Erich to Leroy.

Taking the glass from him, Iona asked as if changing the topic.

“How did you know I was here?”

“I saw Sir Erich coming out of here with a red face.”

Leroy replied in a plain tone. 

Thinking that it was a futile evasion, she groaned briefly inwardly.

Iona answered calmly.

“I had something to talk about with Erich. Didn't the Duke say that he was a friend with a bad personality? I was fine.”

Instead of asking more about what happened with Erich, Leroy stood next to Iona.

He leaned over the railing like Iona, staring into her face.

Iona tried to ignore his gaze, but after several minutes in that state, the silence became even more uncomfortable.

In the end, it was Iona who surrendered first.

“Why are you looking like that?”

"Because I don't know what the hell you're thinking."

Giving an incomprehensible answer, he quenched his thirst with champagne.

He set the half-empty glass down on the banister and scratched lightly near his neck. He seemed to hesitate whether or not to say what he wanted to say.

After a while, he opened his mouth and threw a topic out of the blue.

“I heard something like this when I was little. If you don't marry the person you really like, you'll be unhappy."

'If you don't marry the person you like, you will be unhappy.'

It seemed that Iona had also thought that way when she was young. Although she had only acquired the mannerisms of her old master rather than making her own judgment.

Seeing Iona being abused under the guise of training at a young age, he often said this.

“Everyone blame your parents. When people without responsibility meet and do things without responsibility, you will get the same results.”

At the same time, he spoke passionately, saying that arranged marriages were a problem and that this was why the aristocrats were chasing skirts while leaving their mistresses behind.

Iona, who was still young, could not fully understand half of his words, but the next request remained in her memory for quite a long time.

“If you grow up and do something like marriage… … . Do it with someone you really like. Marriage doesn't mean eating a lot of delicious food and wearing nice clothes.”

It must have been something he had said because of alcohol, but he fell asleep with only those words remaining.

Iona felt a bit pathetic about her past self, believing that she had lived her life believing the words of such a person as the truth.

Iona asked, swallowing a self-deprecating laugh.

“Does the Duke believe that too?”

"No. But that's what made me question this rather. I wonder if that person is still thinking the same thing.”

“Can’t you ask you directly?”

“It's a little complicated. The age to be honest has long passed.”

Leroy evaded an answer. Was the story he just talked about of the past really true?

Iona sighed and said.

“Well, I’m not sure… … One thing I want to know... Did you hear me talking to Erich?”

Suddenly trying to discuss the correlation between marriage and love. No matter how blind she was, even she could notice that.

It was because she and Erich had been talking exactly about that until just now.

Leroy, who slightly opened his eyes at Iona's question, smiled innocently.

“You tend to be careless. I realize that now.”

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