Love Doesn't Matter - Chapter 115
Translator and Editor: Hue and Tea
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Chapter 115 – A Gift from the Gods
“Who?”
“You know him, don’t you? He’s the eldest son of the count who owns a large estate in Grozhang.”
“Ah.”
As if finally understanding, the man nodded, and the other man spoke excitedly.
“My cousin heard this story when he was fox hunting in the area. It seems that he fell ill.”
“Illness?”
“Yes. It has turned their household upside down, from what I have heard. They say it’s just a minor weakness, but the household was in an uproar. It even became the talk of the New World.”
“No, but what kind of illness is it?”
“They say it’s just a slight loss of strength, but the servants…”
Suddenly, the man’s voice dropped to an almost inaudible level, and Grozhang was filled with an uneasy feeling.
It was true.
“It’s the Lovestruck Malady.”
The Lovestruck Malady was one of the passionate topics that had the social circles abuzz.
Incredible.
The Lovestruck Malady…
Everyone was curious and excited.
Grozhang’s head was spinning with news he had never heard before. At the same time, he was filled with deep regret.
He should have taken the young master away sooner…
Grozhang cautiously looked at his master. As expected, he was cold as ice. He felt uneasy at the thought that someone else might notice the master’s cold gaze.
“Who on earth is that person?”
The room fell silent as people exchanged glances.
Grozhang prayed earnestly that the rumors that had once circulated in Cavern Trench and Lwën hadn’t reached this far.
But as always, fate turned a deaf ear to his desperate plea.
“…Well…”
The man’s wandering eyes suddenly focused on him.
He laughed playfully, like a child waiting for a toy hidden under a chair.
“Young Master Meyer should already know…”
The eyes of the audience turned to him, and he sipped his drink with a nonchalant “Hmm.” An evil smile played on his face.
“The person in question is this woman. Meyer’s former fiancée, the commoner.”
Astonishment once again erupted among the bewildered people.
“Wow, that’s impressive.”
“She was said to be beautiful…”
Some men, feeling no need to be cautious since the two had already broken off their engagement, began to gossip without restraint, spinning baseless stories about “that woman” and “Nathan Malvin.”
From Nathan Malvin’s unrequited love to their secret escape to the New World, it was like a novel.
Nasty stories that could torment their master came out again and again.
Still, he was able to maintain his calm expression, thanks to the mask he had cultivated over the years. He laughed lightly, as if he had heard a trivial story, and concentrated on his card game.
His indifferent reaction allowed the boiling pot to cool quickly.
“By the way, have you heard the news? Isabelle Quincy and Duke Haleston have finally split up!”
Fortunately, another person’s mouth spilled even more provocative news.
The people’s attention quickly shifted to the juicy drama.
Not too fast or too slow, just the right amount of time passed, and he rose from his seat.
“Today my luck seems to have run out.”
“Leaving already?”
A nearby man chuckled at him with a disappointed look on his face.
“You, Young Master, are slowly preparing to settle down. Young Lady Reinen, isn’t it? With the engagement approaching, you must be careful, don’t you think?”
He replied with a light laugh. Then he gestured to Grozhang.
“I will have the carriage prepared.”
Soon the two stepped from the building.
As they walked, Hadius gazed silently at the crescent moon hanging alone in the gray sky. When they reached the main street after turning a corner, the carriage, with its lamps already lit, came to a stop.
As soon as they entered it, he opened a window and loosened his tie.
“Grozhang.”
“Please speak.”
“How is your marriage?”
“Excuse me?”
“Do you love each other?”
Grozhang was surprised by the question.
“Well…”
He hesitated, unable to find the words, and the conversation stopped abruptly, like dough being kneaded in silence.
In the heavy silence that fell, Grozhang pondered the word “love” that he had thought he would never hear from Hadius’ mouth.
He loved his wife. He believed that his wife felt the same. They didn’t need to express it verbally; they both knew it. But this man might be different.
While Grozhang was lost in his ambiguous thoughts, Hadius suddenly spoke.
“The disease of love… what a nuisance.”
There was a mocking tone in his voice, but his actions were quite different. He raised his casually resting arm and covered his eyes and forehead as if in agony.
“When the hell is that carriage coming?”
“Sir…”
“Emilia had my child.”
“…!”
“It is my child.”
Thanks to this “child,” all the turmoil and conflict had come to an end, and peace had finally come. But it seemed he was not satisfied with that.
Wasn’t he a man who would still leave crumbs for that cat, just to take care of it?
“I can bear it. I can bear it. Even if it feels like crap.”
Listening to the incoherent muttering, Grozhang gradually realized.
He was drunk. He was so drunk that he might not even know what he was saying.
In a few minutes, Grozhang discovered the amazing fact that his master had fallen asleep in the carriage.
That, too, was a first. Even inebriated, he never made a slip of the tongue and fell asleep in the carriage.
“My goodness…”
Grozhang muttered blankly as he stared at the sleeping man’s face.
His usually upright body leaned against the carriage wall, and his eyes and mouth were tightly shut as he slumped down.
He didn’t look like a person who had passed out after drinking, but he definitely seemed to be fast asleep, with no intention of waking up.
As Grozhang stared at the man sleeping as if he were dead, a strange feeling began to melt his heart like wax.
Grozhang tossed his hair helplessly, then scratched his throat several times. While he couldn’t fathom the reason for this inexplicable emotion, after a few breaths, he decided to do something unthinkable for the first time in his life.
“Roan.”
He pulled the reins to summon the coachman.
“Turn the carriage around. Head for the lime grove.”
When Grozhang appeared carrying his drunken master on his back, Emilia was in the middle of sewing with her stepmother, Kallia.
Startled by the dog’s barking, Kallia wet the curtains and peeked outside.
The first person she saw was the stable boy holding a lamp. He exchanged greetings with Beppi, and then Grozhang came into view, carrying someone.
As Kallia confirmed the identity of the person being carried, she couldn’t help but hold her breath. Even Emilia, who had belatedly come to the window, froze completely.
As Kallia hurriedly opened the door, Grozhang spoke abruptly without a greeting.
“…He seems to be quite drunk.”
Unable to close her mouth, Kallia stammered, “Ah… please come in,” as she hurriedly turned around.
“Is there a place for him to lie down?”
Strangely, he addressed the question not to Kallia, but to Emilia. She noted her daughter blinking and not moving, and Kallia stepped forward again.
“For now… over here.”
A little later, the tall, slender man’s body completely occupied Emilia’s small bed as he lay on his side.
“Well then, please take good care of him. I would appreciate it.”
Grozhang bowed his head and turned to the stableboy without giving mother and daughter a chance to speak.
“Roan, let’s go.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, just a moment, would you at least like a drink…?”
Kallia had no time to stop them. For some reason, the two disappeared like an arrow before her eyes.
Thunk. Staring blankly at the closed door, Kallia turned toward her daughter sitting on the edge of the bed.
What really startled Kallia was what happened next.
Emilia had rushed into her room without her noticing, and was now in the process of loosening his tie.
While Emilia tended to him, Kallia, who couldn’t see her, leaned against the wall. Her heart raced as if she had been caught stealing.
Sitting on the edge of the bed without a care in the world, Emilia suddenly looked at the sleeping man’s face.
Even intoxicated, his breath was clean, and the sound of his breathing was pleasant to hear.
Unable to resist her curiosity, her fingertips reached out and brushed his nose. It tickled, and his forehead furrowed slightly.
“How cute.”
She whispered softly, smiling unintentionally, and carefully climbed onto the bed beside him.
With her elbow bent inward and her head resting on her hand, she began to study the sleeping man in earnest.
The tiny birthmark on his earlobe, the lashes that fluttered down when he closed his eyes, the curve of his lips…
It felt like a treasure hunt.
Even if she looked at him all day, she wouldn’t get bored, she thought with a smile. Her heart grew warm and sweet blood seemed to flow through her entire body.
As Kallia watched the two people lying on the cramped bed, she suddenly had a shocking realization.
Why was she so needlessly worried?
There was no need to ask…
Kallia remembered the feeling of unease that had gripped her heart, but now, looking at the way her daughter looked at the sleeping man, how else could one explain it? Observing them, she remembered what Charlotte had said: “A gift from the gods.”
Yes, for Emilia, he was a “gift.”
A gift so precious and heavy that she didn’t dare accept it.
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