22 – Grand Duchess’ Birthday Party (4)

Huhu… Father-in-law? Have you finally realized the importance of your daughter-in-law? It’s a pity… This cute Elencia.

Now it’s mine.

Of course, Cain didn’t think so, but Archduke Atrian felt that way.

Feels like Sunae Geum is NTRing her girlfriend!

Burr, clenching her trembling fists, Atrian stared at Cain.

“Who… Are you a father-in-law? This guy….”

That guy is Cain Valencia.

To Atrian, Cain was like a benefactor. She was unreliable at first, but she was grateful to Cain and her family as Illencia gradually changed.

Just now.

Until I saw Illencia jumping into Cain’s arms and smiling brightly.

Anna, who was next to Atrian’s muttering, tilted her head slightly, but he didn’t even notice.

I just kept Cain in my glowing red eyes.

‘Illencia is… my daughter… I can never hand it over to a bastard like that!!’

No, it doesn’t matter if you’re not a bastard!!

#

“hahahaha… ha ha ha….”

Somehow the archduke’s eyes seem to be getting more intense, but it must be my misunderstanding. I let out an awkward laugh as I dropped Illencia, who looked at me in her arms.

“Chi.”

She struggled to stay in my arms, and Illencia clicked her tongue slightly, but that was not the point.

I just felt really alive.

“How about me?”

Unaware of my feelings, Illencia stepped back a couple of steps behind her and asked me with a smile.

I nodded at her with a coquettish smile that said she knew how beautiful she was.

“It’s pretty.”

“Really? How much?”

“Uh… Best in the world?”

There was nothing to be ashamed of this time.

Because it was true. Because no matter how splendidly she dresses up and puts her in front of me, Illensia almost makes me cry more beautifully.

Conversely, it was Illencia who felt ashamed.

As I looked at her as she twisted her body while dyeing her face red, a hearty smile flowed out of her own self.

“You, you look great today too….”

“Oh is that so? Thank you.”

“As usual… It is, but….”

I smiled happily at Illencia, who hesitated, then hurriedly pushed Ilensia into the room, startled and surprised by the intense gaze I felt from somewhere.

“Shall we go in and talk?”

Archduke Atrian, who had been staring at me with strange hostility, finally relaxed his eyes.

… Do you want to pierce a person’s body with your gaze?

“Yes, you have a wife. Come inside.”

Illencia tried to mutter something, but Mrs. Anna stopped her and led us inside her.

Only then did Elencia stop grumbling and quietly lead us into the room.

She must have forgotten that her mother was there… I don’t know why, as soon as she noticed it, she suddenly became courteous.

Illencia, who jumped at me with her cheerfulness earlier, imitated her wise mother and laughed at her as she moved, I was led by her mother’s hand and moved her steps. .

“Nice to meet you, Baroness Clementine.”

“It is an honor to meet you. This is Clementine Valencia.”

“It is an honor to meet you. I am Cain Valencia, the second son of Balenciaga.”

Naturally, this formal greeting was addressed to the highest person present.

Atrian Khan Derdamius….

He is the grand duke who rules the northern part of the country, and is said to have the strongest power in the empire outside of the emperor.

As we quietly bowed our heads in front of him, he looked down at us with polite dry eyes.

As if the person who had been strangely hostile towards me earlier was someone else, he was showing off his monarch’s appearance.

The intimidation of a ruler who naturally suppresses people.

Feeling and admiring it inside, I suddenly realized that the mother next to me was trembling.

Thinking that the grand duke’s momentum might be frightening to a weak mother, I opened my mouth.

“… I think my mother is very cold. Or maybe I should step aside for now.”

Everyone reacted differently to my words.

Mrs. Anna glanced at the Grand Duke as if she noticed something and reached out her hand behind the Grand Duke’s back.

My mother looked at me with her body trembling at my potentially rude words.

Archduke Atrian grasped the meaning of my words and looked at me with interest.

Illencia….

He just tilted his head cutely at the words he didn’t understand.

Yeah, stay like that without knowing anything… !

After sneakily smiling at Illencia, I gazed at Archduke Atrian again. Archduke Atrian looked at me like that.

“…… No you don’t have to I tell you to warm up the room.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Archduke Atrian gathered his momentum as he finished his words.

Within the room, where the peace returned in an instant, I bowed my head slightly and thanked him.

The mother also let out a small breath and lowered her head as if she had gotten better.

“Clementine? Cain? Thank you so much for coming to celebrate our Elencia’s birthday.”

“No, Grand Duchess. We are honored to have invited you.”

Lady Anna stepped forward and spoke to us to ventilate the air in the room, which had become a little chilly thanks to Archduke Atrian’s momentum.

The mother, who felt more at ease, also answered Mrs. Anna’s words with a smile.

Just like Illencia and I, who spent quite a long time together, my mother and Mrs. Anna also became very close to each other.

Mother liked Mrs. Anna, who had a very low sense of authority, and Mrs. Anna also liked her mother, who was not greedy and had a good character.

However, since Archduke Atrian was in front of them, they only treated each other with respect.

“I’m also happy to be able to congratulate Illencia on her birthday, so you don’t have to say that.”

When I answered Mrs. Anna’s words, she looked at me with her happy eyes and smiled.

She was very fond of me for changing Illencia’s personality, which she thought was impossible to change.

“Huh, thank you for saying that, Cain. So….”

The lady Anna I’ve seen so far is a dignified and sophisticated person befitting the fact that she is the hostess of the grand duke’s family.

But as for me, there were many times when she had a very mischievous smile, and when that happened, something always happened.

Just like now.

“Illensia’s debut in the social world. Can Cain take the seat next to you?”

Socialite.

As I said, my family is a low-ranking family that counts from the bottom much faster than from the top.

In addition to that, my father and mother had very little greed, so they tended not to think about going up.

Along with that, being in the position of the second son not inheriting the baronet’s place, I was far from a socialite.

Of course, as an aristocrat, he was saying that he didn’t know much about the social world, except for a little etiquette.

Even I knew what it meant to be next to a young lady from an aristocratic family who was officially debuting in the social world.

The family that is closest to the young lady or the family that is closest to that family.

Only a child from such a family could occupy the seat next to him.

Illencia Khan Derdamius.

I couldn’t help but lower my eyes at Lady Anna’s words that she would give me the seat next to her, the heir to the Grand Duchess and her only child.

… Isn’t this dangerous?

What would happen if the second son of a baron family took the seat next to Illencia, a member of the grand ducal family?

None of the things that came to mind were normal.

Even so, it was not a position that could easily be refused, and when I saw Ellensia with her eyes shining next to Mrs. Anna, her mouth couldn’t move.

“You don’t have to be too pressured. After all, at least there is no one here who would think of combining the Derdamius family and the Valencian family.”

Archduke Atrian opened his mouth as if to organize my thoughts.

In fact, there was no way that others would not know that Illencia and I have been together since childhood.

All those who came here were the only ones who were more sensitive to the news of the grand duke’s family than anyone else.

So there will be no people who will weave us ‘that way’.

Archduke Atrian looked very dissatisfied when he said that, but I could only nod my head.

“I will be grateful.”

The grand duke’s hostess and owner all came forward to talk about it, but it wasn’t a situation where they could refuse.

I mysteriously looked at Illensia’s expression, which brightened noticeably at my answer, then sighed slightly.

Yes, this was the location of Illencia and I.

No matter how young we grew up together, even if we were like childhood friends, or even if we were the same nobles, there was a wall we couldn’t overcome.

I also thought about that from the moment I found out Illencia’s true identity.

However, as time passed and the time spent with Illencia grew longer, that thought gradually faded.

And now, once again, I was clearly aware of that fact.

I was just a friend to fix Illencia’s personality, and it was just time to wrap up that role.

For some reason, the moment I recalled that fact once again, my heart sank heavily.

I smiled at Illencia, who approached to move with me, trying to hide that thought, and moved heavily.

“Let’s go Cain!”

“I get it, I get it. Go slow, will you fall?”

“If you feel like falling, Cain can catch you!!”

With Illencia’s smile shining brighter than the sun in the sky, they melted their heavy hearts and moved to the party together.

In order to enjoy this role, which may end at any time, even a little more.

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