How to Live as the Terminally Ill Younger Sister of the Villain - Chapter 27
He wondered if perhaps she was too skilled and hadn’t noticed.
But no matter how he thought about it, it was a one-sided conversation where only he got what he wanted, and she gained nothing.
“I’ve troubled Miss Flaubert several times.”
He had said many things that could have been offensive, but she had accepted them all. Without showing any sign of displeasure, she had instead been considerate of him.
“Miss Flaubert…”
Even for someone uninterested, basic curiosity like ‘Why didn’t you use the Tower’s path’ should have arisen.
She didn’t even have that.
It was frustratingly strange, so Blake couldn’t let her go.
If it had been another noble he usually met, he wouldn’t have felt this way. He would have gladly turned his back, having gained an advantage.
But with her, he couldn’t do that.
Because her life of being ‘deceived’ by everyone around her overlapped with his own pathetic past.
Because it felt like the cunning Marquis Flaubert was manipulating her, who was pure and untainted by the world.
“Why do you think so, Your Grace? You’ve never troubled me at all.”
Even these small considerations of hers bothered him to the point of irritation.
Had she perhaps lived a life where such sacrifices were taken for granted?
“Why don’t you…”
Even the fact that both her hands could fit entirely in one of his seemed to weigh on his mind.
“Although I didn’t ask many questions, I’ve learned a lot about you, Your Grace.”
Unaware of how upset Blake was, Angelina spoke in a rather innocent voice.
“I learned that you don’t seem to be picky about food, whether it’s meat or yogurt, and that you value promises very highly, even when it involves something as precious as an heirloom.”
“Miss Flaubert, that’s not…”
There was no way such trivial things could compare to the weighty questions he had asked her.
But how could he explain this?
He could see the absurdity of it, but could she, who was thoroughly ingrained with self-sacrifice, even understand this?
As Blake was at a loss for words, Angelina spoke up.
“And that Your Grace is a very thoughtful person.”
“…Pardon?”
“What you’re saying now, and your words about repaying what happened at the auction…”
Angelina suddenly chuckled as she spoke. Then she added in a gentle voice.
“You keep worrying that I might be at a disadvantage, don’t you?”
In other words, he was trying to make situations that were advantageous to him fair, potentially incurring losses.
“Most people, when things flow in a direction that benefits them, don’t try to correct it.”
“…”
“But Your Grace is being mindful of that. That’s really not an easy thing to do.”
Blake was at a loss for words at her comments, accompanied by a comfortable smile.
Even at a moment like this, rather than feeling wronged, she was praising him.
What on earth could one say to someone like this?
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
Angelina said in a voice that felt deeply sincere.
“And if I’ve offended you by asking too few questions, I apologize. I’ve only ever conversed with my brother and maids, so I’m a bit awkward in conversation.”
At these added words, Blake felt something welling up from deep within his chest.
But if he indulged in this emotion, he felt he might blurt out words he really shouldn’t say, so Blake bit his lower lip hard.
“Miss Flaubert.”
He managed to compose himself and spoke.
“I’ve never been offended. Not at all.”
It was a feeling he had never experienced before, and he had to struggle to suppress it.
“It was I who asked unnecessary things, so please don’t feel sorry.”
Feeling like he had been rude again, Blake bowed his head.
“Please do as you feel comfortable.”
Worried that she might fret over asking questions because of his words, he whispered as if pleading.
“Have a peaceful night.”
Blake kissed the back of her small hand and stepped back.
Angelina looked at him for a moment with a slightly confused gaze. But soon she smiled, gave a small curtsy, and disappeared into the carriage.
Even after she disappeared from view, Blake remained rooted to the spot like a statue.
His mind was in turmoil.
What he had expected from her was to create a connection with Marquis Flaubert through her. If done well, Marquis Flaubert might come rolling in, vine and all.
Just a few hours ago, he had been salivating at this possibility.
But now, he was reluctant.
Wasn’t it too cruel for him to deceive her when she was already surrounded by those who were deceiving her?
He kept seeing his past self overlapping with her, which irritated and frustrated him.
So unlike a few hours ago, he now couldn’t decide how to treat her.
“Your Grace, is there anything you need?”
As he stared at the carriage with darkening eyes, Haley approached and asked.
Though she asked with a bright smile, he couldn’t miss the underlying message to leave.
“Grrrr.”
Even the fox familiar guarding the front of the carriage snorted as if telling him to get lost.
“No.”
Blake willingly retreated. His gaze lingered on the carriage for a few more seconds, but after hearing the fox familiar’s snort once more, he turned away.
It seemed it would be a night of much contemplation.
And there was someone watching Blake from afar as he moved away from the carriage and returned to his camp.
At a distance where the Flaubert party looked smaller than ants, a man sat perched on a tree, idly twirling a dagger in one hand.
“Hmm~?”
Although it seemed that the leaves were completely obscuring his view, he was seeing everything clearly through scrying and x-ray magic.
“Just what are you plotting?”
His low mutter carried a chilling aura.
As if sensing the killing intent, the monsters devouring something ravenously below the tree looked up. Their mouths were smeared with red blood, not purple.
And upon discovering another human hanging upside down there, they opened their mouths wide.
“Mmph, mmph!!”
The man tied up and hanging upside down writhed in terror, feeling as if his head might be torn off at any moment.
But apart from wriggling like a silkworm, there was nothing he could do.
As if responding to the sound, the man in the tree glanced down slightly.
“What do you think?”
Though the voice asking with his chin resting on his arm propped on his knee was gentle, it was cold.
“Mmph…! Mmph!”
The man, who had turned pale and was desperately crying out, was one of the ruffians who had been rude to Angelina in an alley a few weeks ago.
“I guess it’s better to kill him, right? How dare he approach my Lina?”
At these words, the struggling man’s flailing intensified.
Perhaps annoyed by the noise, the man in the tree sighed and cut the vines with the dagger he was holding.
“Mmmmph!!”
Guooo-! Kyaaak!
The bound ruffian fell with a thud among the monsters.
Ante, watching the red blood below the tree become even more copious, sighed again.
“Well, this just means giving the Empress one more person to pick a fight with.”
In truth, if Blake Kadenhart had been someone who could be easily killed, he would have long ago covered him with monsters and killed him when he was struggling in the Dark Forest.
In a forest where all sorts of strange things happen, the world wouldn’t think it odd if a duke died here.
But the problem was the Empress.
While the world might be fooled, it wouldn’t work on the Empress who knew the truth of the Dark Forest.
And that meant giving the already troublesome Empress one more thing to harp on about, which wasn’t a very wise move.
Though displeased, he concluded that for now, he could only watch. His gaze returned to Angelina’s carriage.
More precisely, he was looking at the familiar curled up at the entrance of the carriage.
“And that’s truly a species I’ve never seen before.”
When he first received the report from Haley, he was skeptical. He thought there couldn’t be anything in the Dark Forest that he didn’t know about.
But that thought had been arrogant.
“…It’s the first I’ve heard of a familiar that can use holy power.”
Ante could sense that the familiar was full of holy power. And it was also enveloping Angelina completely.
That was the reason Ante didn’t immediately rush over to cut down the familiar.
Whatever species it was, it was clear that it was friendly towards Angelina and trying to protect her.
But after staring at it with furrowed brows for a long time, Ante let out a deep groan.
“Holy power is… not quite compatible.”
He muttered in a low voice.
At that moment, the ears of the curled-up familiar twitched slightly, and it raised its head. Then it looked directly at where Ante was.
