Chapter 68
I Want to Make the Same Expression
“This feeling of being good to you without any conditions, no matter how much I think about it, is because I like Lady Laurentia.”
The current Tayshar spoke with unwavering sincerity.
“It’s not a ‘like’ in any other sense. I am confessing my feelings to you, Lady Laurentia, as a man.”
Laurentia momentarily caught her breath sharply.
“You seem very surprised by my confession, Lady Laurentia.”
Tayshar, who had somehow ended up sitting next to Laurentia, whispered in a voice as sweet as cocoa.
“Yes.”
“It is absolutely not because of any obligation as the Serpent that I am good to you.”
“I know.”
The Black Serpent of the Earth’s duty is to protect the Child of Goddess Ella. But everything Tayshar did for her was a kindness that went beyond the scope of mere protection.
“I thought the only unconditional, loving kindness was a mother’s love. But it seems there is another kind of unconditional love besides that. Otherwise, I couldn’t comprehend all of Marquis Tayshar’s kindness.”
Seeing that she seemed to understand his true feelings, Tayshar’s eyes curved beautifully.
“I sincerely like you. Will you accept my confession?”
Laurentia was truly at a loss for words. Tayshar’s confession left her with a complex mix of emotions: embarrassment, a heart pounding madly, and something that felt like happiness.
“If my confession displeased you, I offer my sincere apologies.”
“More than displeasure, I was very surprised.”
At her words implying it wasn’t unpleasant, Tayshar relaxed his tense expression as if relieved. Originally, he had planned to confess in a more splendid place, but his overflowing emotions became uncontrollable. He couldn’t bear it if he didn’t tell her he liked her.
“My question was meant to see if Marquis Tayshar would be uncomfortable, but I ended up receiving a confession instead.”
How did it come to this? Laurentia wondered.
“That is unimportant now.”
Tayshar laughed softly and kissed Laurentia’s temple. He naturally took her hand.
“What’s important to me is that you did not refuse me, Lady Laurentia.”
Bombarded by Tayshar’s sweet words and gestures without rest, Laurentia pursed her lips. What was this feeling of being embarrassed, yet not disliking it? She didn’t dislike being by his side.
Laurentia asked herself. Do I like him? The answer to the question was ‘Yes’. If it weren’t that, she couldn’t explain what her feelings for Tayshar were. Above all, his confession wasn’t unpleasant.
When Tayshar kissed her forehead, her heart tickled and she liked it. In her previous future, she would frown even if Ruants merely touched her. Every time, she was hurt and found herself watching his mood.
Tayshar was different from Ruants. After kissing her forehead, he made a very happy expression. His face, as he incessantly kissed her temples and forehead like a bird pecking at seed and then smiled contentedly, was incredibly beautiful. It was a face she wanted to keep receiving kisses from, a face she wanted to keep looking at.
If she kissed Tayshar, wouldn’t she be able to make that same beautiful expression?
‘I want to make the same expression he does.’
“How could I refuse you?”
Laurentia reached out and stroked his cheek. At the sound of her sweet voice, as if honey were being poured directly into his ears, Tayshar closed his eyes and entrusted his face and body to Laurentia’s hand.
With a soft smack, Laurentia kissed Tayshar’s forehead, and her eyes slowly met his red pupils as they opened.
They were so close they could feel each other’s breath. For a moment, it felt as if time had stopped.
“I like you too, Marquis Tayshar.”
Laurentia brushed her fingers over his temple and cheek. The corners of his eyes and his cheeks flushed red like the evening glow.
“Please be my lover. Marquis Tayshar Spencer.”
To Tayshar, the fact that he and Laurentia were now lovers still felt like a dream.
It felt like he was in a dream. He had never even imagined he would hear the words, ‘I like you, Marquis Tayshar.’ Had he ever been this happy in his life? Absolutely not.
Evan and Amelin were very pleased when they heard he and Laurentia had become lovers.
<Have you set a wedding date?> asked Evan, inquiring about the marriage date of a couple who had just started dating.
<A noble wedding takes at least six months, so we must diligently prepare from now,> said Amelin, already talking about preparing for the wedding, which sounded good to him.
<So, are we in a relationship now? Marquis Tayshar?>
<Yes. We are lovers.>
<What do lovers do?>
<Lovers go on dates.>
<Dates? I’d like that.>
Not only were they lovers, but he had also made a date appointment with Laurentia; Tayshar’s mood felt like it was soaring through the sky.
“You seem to have good news, Marquis Tayshar.”
Adrian tilted his head, seeing Tayshar resting his chin on his hand and smiling as if he had remembered something while looking over documents.
“A dream-like thing has happened.”
“A dream-like thing?”
“Ah, I hadn’t told you yet.”
He had been itching to boast that he and Laurentia were lovers. If Laurentia wished, he could have kept it a secret, but she had said they didn’t need to hide it.
“I have arranged to go on a date with Lady Laurentia.”
“What? A date? Did I hear the word ‘date’ correctly, Marquis Tayshar?”
A look of bewilderment flashed in Adrian’s eyes. He had thought Tayshar was destined to suffer from love denial.
“Yes, a date is correct.”
“The kind of date that lovers go on?”
“I am going on the kind of date that lovers go on.”
“Which means you confessed to Lady Laurentia and became lovers?”
“That’s right. Lady Laurentia is now my lover.”
Saying this, Tayshar began to chuckle. He had a face that looked utterly delighted.
<‘I like you too, Marquis Tayshar.’>
Laurentia’s words kept surfacing in his mind. Tayshar kept giggling. Remembering Laurentia saying she liked him, he quickly covered his mouth. If he hadn’t, he might have screamed with joy.
He was so excited he couldn’t sleep properly. Even if he were to return to the Poloid Empire like this, the thought that he could frequently visit the Duke of Gloston’s residence under the pretext of being her lover put his mind somewhat at ease.
He planned to leave all the busy work that would arise at the Marquisate to his father, Magnus, and visit the Duke of Gloston’s residence every day.
“I’m so happy I feel like my heart might stop.”
“Congratulations.”
“Actually, there was something I wanted to ask Your Highness Adrian.”
“I will tell you what I can within reason.”
“Could you tell me about places famous as date spots within the capital of the Isther Empire? I would also appreciate it if you could tell me the location of that dessert cafe you went to with Princess Charlotte last time.”
“I will tell you, Marquis Tayshar.”
“Thank you.”
Adrian said he would tell him everything he wanted to know. Tayshar, as a strategist of the Poloid Empire, had seemed interested in nothing but subjugating monsters. He had thought he was a man whose expression never changed, but that was a miscalculation. He had changed after meeting her. He treated Laurentia with various expressions. To anyone seeing him, he was a man in love.
“Congratulations on achieving your first love, Marquis Tayshar.”
Ruants couldn’t believe the report he had just read.
“That monster of mine and Marquis Spencer are lovers?”
“Yes. It wasn’t just one or two people who saw Marquis Spencer attending to Lady Laurentia at that dessert cafe only couples go to.”
“Don’t spout nonsense. Does this make any sense?”
He swept the items off his desk with both arms, sending them crashing to the floor. Despite the sudden shattering of objects, no one reacted easily.
Black ink from the shattered ink bottle seeped into the carpet on the floor, staining it dark.
“Please calm down, Your Highness Ruants.”
“Do I look like I’m calm?!”
Ruants continued throwing things to the floor, breaking them, and shouting. The floor was becoming a mess. Karlien, his aide, swallowing a sigh inwardly, kept trying to calm Ruants down.
After destroying a considerable number of things, Ruants sat down, breathing heavily.
“What is my monster thinking, going outside? Karlien.”
“I’m not sure either—”
Karlien couldn’t finish her sentence. With a thud, an object thrown by Ruants hit her head. Blood immediately began to flow from Karlien’s head.
She could have easily avoided the object Ruants threw. But she knew Ruants’s temperament well; he needed to see blood. She knew he would hit less if she showed signs of pain and suffering, so she deliberately let herself be hit.
“Shut up with that ‘I’m not sure’ nonsense!”
Pulling a handkerchief from her pocket, Karlien wiped the blood flowing down her forehead and cheek. Ever since she took on the role of aiding and protecting Ruants, she had endured this kind of violence. He was inherently vicious and violent by nature. Whether something good happened or something bad, he would throw and break things.
He would raise his voice and frown. She could understand that the person she served could be like that. But the one thing Karlien couldn’t understand was Ruants’s way of speaking. The person who taught him his manner of speech was his maternal grandfather, Daniel. His daughter, Concubine Pelena, also used speech that efficiently cornered people, making one lose confidence when talking to her.
“You have the expression of someone who doesn’t know what they did wrong, Sir Karlien.”
“I shouldn’t have said I wasn’t sure, but I did. I apologize, Your Highness Ruants.”
“Right. The reason I’m angry is because of you, Sir Karlien.”
Ruants blames everyone else for anything that goes wrong. He never blames himself. In other words, he never engages in self-reflection.
“Did you have to bring me such trashy news and ruin my mood?”
Talking to him eroded one’s self-esteem and was utterly exhausting.
“A date with that trash Spencer? Where did you hear such nonsense?! Laurentia loves me. That monster needs me. She’s mine. And you’re telling me she’s on a date with that trash Marquis Spencer?”
Ruants began biting his thumbnail with an anxious face.
“Your Highness Ruants, you mustn’t bite your nails.”
“Exactly. So why did you create a situation that makes me bite my nails like this?”
