Our Make-Believe Ends Here - Chapter 37

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“The young master… is studying abroad?”

“Yes. The other day, I wondered why he was wasting time seeing off Pesche, who’s leaving for the Academy. Well, it turns out he went to secure a letter of recommendation for the Academy. I was so startled when I heard that.”

It was clearly a pleasant surprise. The Marchioness no longer hid her smile. Luirene dully chewed over the conversation she’d had with him. Her question about whether he had a clever plan—his answer had been… Roughly. Was that roughly studying abroad? Saying he wouldn’t go. Saying how could he leave when she was here.

“Hearing that convinced me. That there’s no relationship between you two.”

As if relieved of a burden, she continued in a refreshed tone.

“Men sometimes become blindly obsessed with trivial things. Especially when blinded by love. If you two were truly in a deep relationship, he wouldn’t leave you behind during such a passionate time. That’s what I thought.”

“…….”

“And that child, who never once raised his voice, getting so angry…”

The Marchioness looked proud. The more Luirene listened, the heavier her heart grew. If he went abroad to study, they would be apart for at least several years. She would have to wait—but Hitaon was essentially throwing away the present for a future with her.

She had expected he wouldn’t just end things with words, but she hadn’t imagined he would choose a direction he himself didn’t want.

If he had resolved himself, then she must steel her own resolve as well. Until the day the young master returned, she would not break. She had to endure.

“I see. Understood.”

“You’re calm. You could be resentful of what I did to you.”

“Not at all. I’m relieved the Marchioness’s misunderstanding has been cleared.”

Pleased with her obedient attitude, the Marchioness’s eye-smile deepened. It was the only feature she had discovered that resembled Hitaon. From now on, whenever she thought of the Marchioness, she decided to store only that eye-smile in her memory.

“What will you do about your work? For my part, I’d like you to continue attending to Grandmother, but if you dislike it, I won’t stop you.”

“No. I’ll continue. It’s become something I find rewarding as well.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll speak to my husband and have your wages increased.”

“I feel I’m already receiving more than enough. I don’t wish to be greedy, so I’ll accept the same amount.”

“Now that I see, you’re quite sharp. If you were a man, I would have given you separate education and kept you by our Hita’s side.”

Luirene smiled silently.

“Then is there something else you want? If you wish, I’ll have that leg of yours receive professional treatment.”

She already knew the wound was severe enough to scar. The Marchioness was a woman herself, so she must understand what it meant to have scars on one’s skin. Sometimes in books, nobles are depicted as cold-blooded beings with blue blood running through their veins. She thought she understood why that perspective existed.

And also, why she had so easily opened her heart to Hitaon. It was partly because of his beauty, which could disarm any woman—but also because he lacked the sense of superiority typical of the privileged class.

Always at the same eye level, honestly expressing his emotions, he radiated a curiosity like her own. Like a human with red blood flowing through them. From the perspective of that other world, the young master was probably the strange and peculiar one.

“I don’t need treatment.”

This scar was her feeling for him, and the sense of responsibility he had shown her. So she would not erase it. Just like the resolve Hitaon had promised her, she would cherish and keep it forever.

“Instead, I’d like to move rooms.”

“Rooms?”

“I would like one on the first floor.”

“That’s not a difficult request.”

Luirene nodded in thanks and looked out the window. The summer sunlight was breaking brilliantly. She remembered the crisp sensation of grass crushed underfoot that day. No matter how well one could climb through windows, going back and forth from the third floor like that would make injury unavoidable. That was her worry, so she made the request.

But to her relief, after that day, Hitaon never came to her room again. Nor to his grandmother’s bedroom, where their first meeting had taken place. Instead, he left a trace.