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Chapter 22: The Hwa Empire
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Your face doesn’t say it’s nothing….”
I hurriedly hid the letter behind my back.
“……I forgot my mother asked me to come back early today. I’ll have to hurry up.”
“Oh… sure.”
Fortunately, Toby accepted my clumsy lie without hesitation.
So we started to walk again. We didn’t hold hands again.
“Miss Melissa.”
“…..yes?”
I was more surprised than I needed to be. Tobias will also know that I have been acting suspiciously since earlier. Somehow, my heart was in agony.
“To Mrs. Collins…….”
“My mother?”
“When will I be able to greet her?”
“Oh…”
It’s been a while since my mother asked me to introduce him to her as well. I’m just avoiding it.
As for the reason, I’m afraid if I introduce Tobias Miller to my mother, we’ll admit that we’re lovers on that day.
I’m afraid of us becoming each other’s most important person. I’m afraid that a kind of obligatory relationship will be established and I’ll have to disclose everything about me—completely exposed.
I’m afraid that once he gets to know me he will finally leave me, and I’m afraid that there will be no one else to give me blind affection.
I’m afraid of starting a relationship without confidence. Oh, there’s no need to be afraid of this. There won’t be anything like that in the first place, I’m sure of it.
(T/N: as in she’s confident this won’t even progress into a serious relationship in the first place)
People say. In order to love someone, you must first love yourself.  Otherwise, it’s not true love.
It’s not that I don’t love myself, but in fact, I only love a small part of myself. I have affection for my enigmatic [like poetic or esoteric] and delicate sensibility, but I am incapable of loving my inferior exterior.
The external includes not only the appearance but also all the background and conditions surrounding me. Even the outward personality.
It’s sad that I don’t have confidence in myself because of these external factors. Because it is this external realm that defines a human being.
That’s what life is. In the end, people tend to judge your outward appearance.
Will there ever be a single person in this whole wide world who will find my faint and delicate soul hidden deep inside my thin shell and deeply love it?
When I was still a teenager, I had such similar thoughts.
But now I have become a person who knows very well that it is a vain hope. Even if you try to believe that fairies or mermaids exist, you can’t do that anymore.
“Ms. Melissa?”
“…..Next time, Toby.”
“Ah… As expected, I was in a hurry.….”
When I saw Tobias, who was sincerely sorry, my heart ached. This feeling, at least, kept my mood from going to the worst.
“No, my mother is a very shy person.”
Even though I’m lying, I haven’t hit bottom yet…….
* * *
“Sir Alan!”
When Alan entered the mansion’s parlor, the Longhorn’s eldest son was already waiting for him.  Malcolm jumped up from his seat and spoke politely.
“You were looking for me? I wonder if I arrived too late.….”
It wasn’t something that someone who was waiting should say. To that extent, he had a low posture, and his standing posture was also not upright, possibly due to his slightly bent back.
Alan, who subtly crumpled his forehead, replied to Malcolm, who wet his lips nervously.
“No, let’s sit down.”
Soon after, a hot steaming teacup was placed in front of Alan.  A porcelain teacup with a blue bird and a vine plant painted in soft colors. Malcolm watched enchantedly as the elegant fingers wrapped in his black gloves clasped the cup.
“…is this an offering of negotiations?”
“That’s right. This tea is to broker negotiations”
Alan sighed with his eyes closed and brought the teacup to his lips.
The Hwa Empire was a great power in the East that had just started trading with the Sorne Kingdom.  The culture of the East, which was elegant and organized in a new way that had never been seen before, created a sensation as soon as it was introduced to the royal family.
There were still very limited exchanges going on, and it was the Leopold family who was leading the exchange business on behalf of the royal family.
“The tea is very good, Sir Alan. You’re leading the exchange with Hwa—”
“Stop running your mouth.”
In response to the cold response, Malcolm smoothed his dark brown hair as if embarrassed.
“Oh, is that so….”
The Longhorn family, engaged in the textile business, was a family that had been making uniforms for a long time. In recent years, they have been expanding their business by starting to get acquainted with the capital’s large dressing rooms, but recently, they have been struggling to make the royal family their business partner.
For them, the recognition of Leopold, who received absolute trust from the royal family, was nothing more than a gateway to enter the royal palace.
It was not a short period of time that the eldest son of the Longhorn family, Malcolm, had been working hard to please Leopold’s successor.  But, Alan, who had never looked at him for a second, suddenly called him directly like this.
“I have something to check today, so I invited you.”
Malcolm thought Alan wanted to talk about business.
“Yes Sir Alan. What is it?”
“Have you recently gifted an outfit under Longhorn’s name?”
“What?”
Malcolm, who was asked an unexpected question, was briefly lost in thought.
“If it’s an outfit gift…….”
I had sent a dress to a lady, to whom I had disrespect at the victory ball the other day, as an apology, but how did he know?
No, I mean, did that matter in the first place?
“I sent a dress to a person to whom I had disrespected but why are you asking?”
“Ah.”
Alan, with his long legs slowly crossed, buried himself deeply in the antique mahogany chair and opened his mouth.
“One day, a woman who is always dressed in shabby looking clothes suddenly appeared in an expensive dress and credited Longhorn.”
“…….”
“Aren’t my close aides stationed all over the street?”
Alan Leopold has led various charitable projects that even the royal family had neglected, such as relief projects for the poor and support for childcare centers across the country, not matching his cold atmosphere.
Even the royal family admired the anecdote that the beggars, who seemed to dominate the street, were impressed by the good faith, stopped their evil deeds, and became loyal to the Leopold family.
“I wondered if the recent pickpocket case was raising its head again, but fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be.”
“Yes… I did give her a gift.”
Even though he was ten years younger than Malcolm, he couldn’t help but admire his magnanimity in caring for street security.  At that moment, Alan’s lips opened in a beautiful arc like a painting.
“Do you have anything else to apologize for?”
“…..What?”
Malcolm, who did not understand the intention of the question, thought for a moment whether he heard it correctly. By chance, are you reprimanding or warning me for doing something that irritates you?
“No sir, it’s not a particularly special attachment—just a one-time fluke….….”
Fortunately, Alan, who muttered softly, drank the tea. In a straight, yet strangely overbearing attitude without any disturbance.
Malcolm couldn’t even fathom what was fortunate, but he couldn’t help but shudder.
“Your business is over, so you can go back.”
Alan, who had put the cup down before he knew it, got up. A nice smile hung around his mouth.
Malcolm hurriedly opened his mouth.
“Excuse me, Sir Alan! The uniform of the Royal Guard……!”
But even before his words were over, Alan left the parlor.
* * *
Returning home, I went straight up to my room. It was clear that Julia would follow in, so first, I hid the stalker’s letter between the books in the bookshelf.
“I’ll help you take off your clothes!”
As expected, the door opened wide and Julia entered.
“Yes, please.”
There is no more expensive dress in my closet than this one. Perhaps that’s why Julia handled my clothes with a more careful touch than usual. It was the same when she dressed me, with a light excitement read in the movements of her hands.
“Julia.”
“Yes, lady.”
“Do you want to try this on?”
Julia stopped moving at my words.
“Me, me, me?”
“Pfft…”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her stunned response. I never had the bearings and attitude of a rich lady towards a maid. Julia knows that.
First of all, I am not a rich lady, and I have never had a dress like this before, and Julia was not exactly a maid.
Once our house had several servants, there was a widow working as a maid with a child. She ended up dying in a carriage accident. When my family declined and all the servants left, the only remaining one was the late widow’s orphaned child who could not stand on her own feet and that child was Julia.
She’s too clumsy to officially call her a maid, and technically, it’s not even an employment relationship, so she’s closer to a family than a servant.  Julia is such a child.
“After you try it on, just put it well in the closet. Do you want me to help you wear it?”
“I, I think I can wear this much by myself.”
Unhidden excitement was reflected in Julia’s voice.
“….Thank you.”
“Don’t Mention it.”
When I smiled brightly, Julia, who hugged the red velvet dress to her chest, hurriedly left the room. whoo, After sighing a little, I finally pulled out the letter I had stuck between the books.
For a letter sent by a stalker, it was quite full-fledged and sealed with wax. It was my first time seeing a seal, but it seemed to have the word  “Elwood.” written on it. My Lunoa language skills are not perfect, but they are probably right.
Elwood. It’s a name I’ve never heard of. Like Tobias, he may be a nobleman who hasn’t been in the capital for a while, or who doesn’t often appear in society.
Anyway, as I received this letter, I became a little more convinced in the idea that the stalker would be a person who has settled down here in Florin to some extent. There is also a possibility that he may be a Lunoa person or a person based in Lunoa.
However, the moment I opened the letter, my eyes opened wide. It was because I encountered completely unexpected content.
This was more of a one-sided requirement than a letter.
The letter, which was ambiguous to call it a letter, ended with an unknown sentence.
“Mel! Melissa!”
At first, Mrs. Kearney’s cry that called me came. I shivered as if I had seen a nightmare.
“Come on down!”
Anxiety was read in a somewhat urgent voice. As I rushed down to the first floor, I saw an old gentleman standing on the front door.
“Melissa…”
It was the father of Viola, Mr. Graham.
“Mr. Graham? What brings you here….”
“Melissa, please…… Please meet Viola……!”
With his red eyes, he shed a trembling voice.
“She’s going to die right away.….”
“What…..?”
“Please, please…….”
***
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Comments from Korean readers:
Apart from male Lead’s behavior, female lead also isn’t likable because it feels like she’s using Toby too much. She’s not trying to forget Alan. If she weren’t the main character, she’d get cursed so much…
Honestly, male lead is just a real stalker. Can he be like this? Really?
Did viola get a broken heart? Alan, you’re such an insidious person.
I thought something was between Alan and Malcolm well it’s not ig I feel sorry for that guy