Chapter 22: 12.1

Arms crossed and wearing a mean smile, Lecter provoked Lucy on purpose.

“As they say, Southerners go crazy over nothing. Is appearance that important?”

“I’m from the Middle East! And, this isn’t the South. It’s the Central.”

“It all depends on perspective. To the North, all the people aside from our region are all Southerners.” Lecter shrugged with nonchalance before he agreed. “Well, I’ll try anyway. Whether it’s using proper honorifics or not. I am aware that status matters over here.”

“Even if you’re not used to it, you should be careful.”

“Then, does this mean I don’t have to use honorifics to address you?”

“Yes. Eh? Well–”

When Lucy stammered, Lecter let out a mischievous laugh.

“You looked about the same age as me.”

“Don’t. Please address me with honorifics. We aren’t even close, so informal speech is awkward.”

“Don’t we just need to get closer?”

“How can you say that so openly?”

“Here you are.”

Cherryl looked pleased with the way Lecter and Lucy squabble like children.

But it was time to go home now that the sun had set.

“You two. Let’s all return to the mansion and finish what you want to talk about over there. It’s getting dark, so let’s go home.”

“I don’t want to have any conversation with a guy like this!”

“I don’t want to have any conversation with a girl like this!”

Lecter and Lucy, whose cheeks were red as tomatoes, shouted at the same time.

In any case, she found this outing quite chaotic but she must not forget to pursue her plan with determination.

She had no idea if Cade was in the mansion, but she shouldn’t forget what she was supposed to tell him.

‘I’ve changed my mind, so please marry me.’

That’s what she should tell him.

Cherryl felt like she was about to propose.

He was still a stranger to her so she should only say that when it’s just the two of them.

She had to explain her situation step by step and how she decided to change her mind so that she could convince him to do it.

But up until then, Cherryl  had no idea what will happen in the future after announcing her willingness to marry him in the most embarrassing method.

***

Cherryl hurried the coachman back to the mansion.

However, Cade, whom she had already been waiting for days, still hadn’t returned.

“The butler told me he’d be home by the end of the day.”

Cade’s absence caused a scary thought to cross her mind.

‘Don’t tell me he was gone forever after I told Natasha I was going to marry His Grace.’

If her stepmother caught the lie and sold her off to Count Maxon immediately——

It was the worst of the worst.

No.

He had left Lecter here on purpose so that Cade would come back.

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Considering the Duke’s reckless approach that fateful night, he wasn’t a man who would disappear without notice.

She couldn’t believe she had been waiting for him here in despair.

Cherryl shook her head and went into the kitchen.

She was going to prepare him a snack.

When she heard that Lecter had been guarding outside these past few days under Cade’s command, she wanted to give him some food to eat.

Lecter said he was only there to watch over her, but she still felt sorry for him when he insisted on walking alone despite her insistence to get him on the carriage once they all returned to the Marquis’ Mansion.

Everyone around her needed to see how close she was to Cade, somehow.

She also needed at least one person on her side if she went to the North.

Rather than being calculative about things, she just wanted to take care of Lecter as if he was her younger brother.

Cherryl Serael packed salted meat, boiled potatoes, butter rolls, some apricot jam, and even a milk bottle in her basket.

“He looks like he’s in his growth spurt, so I have to feed him a lot.”

As she was about to deliver the heavy food basket to Lucy, who was waiting for her outside the kitchen, the door at the end of the hallway on the first floor suddenly opened to reveal her frustrated stepmother.

Natasha, who was staying in a small room on the first floor rather than the couple’s bedroom due to the recent fire, was too sensitive of her own comfort.

She found her bed unfamiliar and much to her annoyance, Cherryl had walked away from her early in the evening without Natasha having the last word.

Sure that the sound in the kitchen was Cherryl’s doing,  she kicked out the door.

The sight of Cherryl handing the basket full of food to her maid was all captured in Natasha’s meddlesome eyes.

Frown lines marred Natasha’s forehead in a heartbeat as she pointed to the basket.

“What’s that thing in your hand?” ]

“It’s none of your business.”

Fed up with her shrill voice, Cherryl turned around and slightly pushed Lucy’s back to start moving.

It was a sign to bring the basket to Lecter.

Unfortunately, Natasha’s imperial voice held Lucy in her place.

“You! Stop right there!”

“Ma– Ma’am!”

“Give me that basket now! Where are you taking all those sweet food?”

Her nitpicking was ridiculous at this point.

How shameless of her to do this when she bought all kinds of luxury goods and paid for useless assets to maintain her dignity as a noble?

Cherryl thumped away when her stepmother began to approach her.

“It’s a snack for a cute puppy I met on the street. Isn’t caring for hungry animals an aristocrat’s virtue?”

“Puppy? Are you out of your mind?”

“Never ask the other person to repeat the same thing. You aren’t very noble-like, aren’t you? I bet you commit at least five mistakes a day, mother.”

“You! What did you say?”

“I just warned you about asking twice. Thrice. Anyway, Lucy. Please go out and give the food to the dog.”

She couldn’t offer this food to the man who was watching the mansion for Cade without her pretending it was for a puppy.

That had struck a chord with Natasha, who was already angry due to her inferiority complex of her status that Cherryl had triggered over and over again.

‘You always rebuke me for not being an aristocrat.’ Natasha trembled as she watched Lucy scramble out of the mansion.

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