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Episode 66: Happy Birthday (V)
‘He is going to explode.’
I shook my head, clasping Rixus’ hand tightly.
It meant to listen for now.
Anger wouldn’t change a negative vote to a positive vote…
Now was an opportunity to hear more about what the margrave was thinking.
Wouldn’t that make it easier to persuade later?
“…….”
As if swallowing ten lumps that were burning inside, Rixus looked at my face and managed to suppress his anger.
Yuria seemed startled for a moment, but then she just shook her head in denial without saying anything.
Both of her cheeks suddenly reminded me of red rubies. It was as if she had imagined her married life with Rixus, even for a moment.
The middle-aged knight, who was as big as the city wall, spoke directly without hesitation.
“If customs and lifestyles don’t match, love will run across the sea.”
His tone became harsher.
“The predetermined discord between the two of you will ruin Aktoum with war!”
‘Predetermined discord’.
At that provocative expression, Rixus’ eyes lit up like an active volcano.
Whoosh–
Rixus grabbed the armrest of the chair like he was about to crush it.
Veins protruded from his strong arms.
‘I’m nervous.’
It felt like Rixus was already using 105% of his patience.
Fortunately, he was enduring like crazy because of me.
The margrave’s cold eyes shuddered.
“In the end, it is self-evident that the two of you will become like ‘death’ to each other.”
“!”
Bang! In the blink of an eye, Rixus got up and swung his sword.
He hardly made any movement to draw the sword, but when I came to my senses, the tip of the sword was aimed precisely at the aging but thick neck of the margrave.
The sharp blade of the sword shone eerily.
Yuria screamed in shock, and I opened my eyes wide with tension.
At last, things were pushed to the brink.
I felt dizzy, the view in front of my eyes was swaying.
“Okay, Your Highness…”
However, even at this moment, the margrave did not waver, and exclaimed vigorously with his piercing eyes.
“Take my head off at once, and stop this pretentious marriage!”
“…….”
Rixus looked down at him with innocent eyes, like a child taking off a dragonfly’s wings, and drew his sword a little closer.
Whiiik–
His silvery beard was cut off bit by bit.
On the neck of the old knight, a thin red line appeared because of the blade that cut through the neck folds.
Yuria’s crying voice was heard.
However, it seemed that she could not intervene between the two of them.
“…It’s just a bluff…”
Rixus looked down at him with blazing blue eyes.
His eyes sank, and his languid voice deepened like hell.
I felt my heart beating faster and faster as I watched the situation.
“The Margrave knows it too. That your remarks have long crossed the line.”
As Rixus twisted his sword sharply, blood-red veins popped up on his neck.
Even though the margrave frowned, he finally met his gaze.
“Nevertheless, there is only one reason why the Margrave’s head is still attached to the body.”
“…Is it because of my status as the border’s guardian?”
Rixus’ eyes narrowed like a sneer. He looked as if he heard a really funny joke.
“No.”
“…Then, what is it?”
“The mercy of my wife.”
“!”
“Because my merciful and beautiful wife told me to be patient.”
The margrave’s eyes shook for the first time.
He seemed surprised, for these weren’t words an arrogant and proud crown prince would say.
Either way, Rixus lowered his broad back and made eye contact with the margrave, smiling and whispering.
“My wife treats me like a dog…”
“…….”
“Again, I’m a very good listener.”
Rixus snorted softly.
“So I don’t want the Margrave’s poor family life to be projected onto me and my lovely wife.”
Hearing his relaxed and somewhat sweet tone at a time like this gave me goosebumps.
“Especially when you asked a man who was already engaged to get another woman…”
Rixus’ eyes turned briefly to Yuria, who had turned white.
Then it returned to the margrave.
“It’s very disgusting.”
“!”
Yuria’s eyes momentarily lost focus due to shock.
However, without any correction, Rixus simply put his sword back neatly and elegantly.
I felt as if I was standing and staring blankly at the scorched and burned ruins of my house.
‘How am I supposed to fix this?’
My stomach was burning black.
‘I just want to die.’
‘With the way things are going, it’s going to end like this.’
The moment when I need to change the mood somehow.
“…….”
After I take a slow deep breath.
I picked up a wine glass and poured it over Rixus.
“…?”
Rixus looked at me with a puzzled face.
I said casually.
“Oh my. What should I do?”
It was just like an AI machine was speaking.
“My hand slipped and your clothes are a mess.”
Rixus had an unreadable expression on his face, I didn’t know if he was surprised by the performance of my feet or by the wine.
Of course, the probability of the former was overwhelmingly high.
I smiled embarrassedly and pretended to open his collar.
I just pretended. Because I didn’t like getting wine on my hands.
“I’m sorry, Rixus.”
“…….”
I looked at Yuria as if I was sheepish.
“It would be nice to have a change of clothes.”
Yuria, who had not been able to get out of her shock until then, barely came to her senses and whispered.
“…There will be clothes in our mansion that fit His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Thank you.”
I smiled and got up first from the table and started walking.
“Let’s go, Rixus. Before you change clothes, you should clean up at least a little.”
It seemed Rixus’ fever from the margrave hadn’t gone down yet, as he shook his clothes slightly and said,
“It’s okay. I’m going to change anyway.”
“…Really? I was going to clean you myself.”
Rixus jumped up and followed me.
‘What, why does it work so well?’
‘Saying I will wipe him up myself, it’s like he’s going to chase me to hell.’
Anyway, I led him and brought him behind a wall where there was no one around.
Rixus said, his eyes looking at me with some sort of expectation.
“Wipe me, Candy.”
I answered bluntly.
“It’s okay. You’re going to change anyway.”
“!”
Rixus’ expression was as if he had been wronged, like a puppy who had been scammed with snacks.
Either way, I ignored him and started talking about what I wanted.
“Rather than that, Rixus, come and change your clothes, and don’t look for the Margrave for a while.”
“…Why?”
He asked me, with a face still full of resentment.
“Because I’ll try to convince him myself.”
Now, a strong question of ‘how?’ was engraved in Rixus’ eyes.
“The Margrave is a strict and fiery old man. You wouldn’t know how it would turn out if you talk to him alone.”
“I think I know how it will turn out…?”
At my confident answer, Rixus raised his eyebrows in interest.
‘I’m sure Rixus would doubt my words.’
Didn’t we just see him, an old man who behaved as if he didn’t understand language, as though he had his ears nailed shut.
He seemed to be saying that. He slowly folded his arms and looked down at me.
“Is my wife that great? I’m getting curious.”
“I think I’ve played the role of a beloved wife enough in front of nobles, so now it’s my turn to play my real role.”
He seemed to like my confident answer.
I ran my index finger along his damp shirt, gently supporting his sharp jawline, and said,
“So go calmly and change your clothes.”
He let out a low laugh at the command.
Then he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer, lips between my cheek and my ear, whispering,
“You just got so damn sexy. Queen.”
“……”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
* * *
‘What kind of dog-like story did she hear that made her face look like a corpse’s?’
Deborah looked at Yuria’s face and wondered.
She had seen her sitting with the margrave, Rixius and Berylia earlier.
As soon as the couple left their seats, Yuria dropped down like a boiled vegetable.
That was a bad sign. That her pawn was dying.
Even if she bit Berylia in a fresh and nimble manner, it wouldn’t be enough.
Deborah asked with a very worried face.
“Lady Yuria, why are you so gloomy…?”
Yuria lowered her head while fiddling with the hem of her dress that was like fairy wings.
Then she bit her parched lips.
“He said it was disgusting.”
“…….”
“His Highness the Crown Prince said it was disgusting to associate with me…”
Her pitiful eyes looked like they were about to burst into tears.
‘It’s disgusting… He had said it frankly.’
Deborah sighed inwardly and clicked her tongue.
It was just like that arrogant prince to talk like that in front of a woman who liked him.
If it was Deborah herself, she would have abandoned such a man right away. But Yuria just looked hurt.
‘Foolish bitch.’
Although she instinctively felt contempt for such Yuria, Deborah held her hand tightly without showing any expression.
And she said it as if her heart really hurt.
“The Crown Prince, isn’t he in a situation where he has no choice but to say that?”
“……Is that so?”
Yuria then raised her head.
“He firmly believes that this marriage is the only way out of the war.”
“……”
“But, since the Margrave is so opposed to it, he has no choice but to keep his tears in his eyes and speak cruelly.”
It was questionable whether the madman had tears in his eyes.
‘Will she fall for this sloppy cheer?’
Deborah had her doubts. The crown prince was so decisive that she could not offer more consolation than this.
But Yuria shook her head and said,
“…That’s what I thought too.”
“…….”
“Since he’s not the kind of person to tell me that seriously.”
It’s crossed. Disillusionment flashed in Deborah’s eyes.