I’m Not Doing This With A Friend Chapter 164 - Side Story 3

So, the Duke was the one who bought all those remote villages?

 

The puzzle finally fits together.

 

Only two people knew where I was trying to escape from Rex Begonia.

 

Hans, who had business ties to me, and the Duke, who had been consulting for love.

 

“Was it father?”

 

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

The Duke still couldn’t make eye contact with me.

 

“Don’t play dumb, just answer me. Was it Father who prevented me from leaving?”

 

“…Perhaps.”

 

I glared at the Duke, then quickly turned my head to look at Carson.

 

“Caon, did you know that I was trying to run away to that place?”

 

He quickly held up his hands, pleading his innocence.

 

“I had no idea, which is why I went to your dormitory every day during vacation when you weren’t there.”

 

Right. Carson hadn’t known.

 

The Duchess would never have gone to such extreme measures, so it had to be the Duke’s own doing.

 

“What a predicament I was in then, so close to graduation and nowhere to go!”

 

“That’s why I came to visit you at graduation. I was going to bring you into the family.”

 

“…You came to my graduation?”

 

“Of course, but I didn’t see you. So I was wondering how to find you, and then I came back to the house and there you were.”

 

He hadn’t come to congratulate his son, Carson, on his graduation, but to fetch me.

 

“The Duke was truly trying to claim me as his daughter.”

 

I looked at the Duke with newfound astonishment, and he nodded proudly.

 

“I still can’t help but think you’re a waste, but at least you call me father, so we’ve succeeded in becoming a family.”

 

Look, your daughter and daughter-in-law are so different.

 

“The village is cozy and nice. You can stay there for your honeymoon, and since you own most of the houses in the village, you can pick your favorite.”

 

I smirked, understanding for the hundredth time what the overwhelmed duchess was thinking.

 

“Dozens of houses… It must have been a sparsely populated village, and now it’s empty.”

 

There must have been dozens of empty houses in that small town.

 

Rumors of a tycoon buying their homes for many times the price had apparently caused the people who lived there to sell.

 

“That’s all the better, we can have some alone time.”

 

If inevitable, enjoy it.

 

Or rather, if it hadn’t been for the Duke’s interruption, I still might not have escaped Rex Begonia.

 

Perhaps coming to Lysianthus had brought me to this peaceful place.

 

The corners of my mouth lifted in gratitude.

 

“Thank you for the gift, but the next time you pull this kind of nonsense, I’m going to seduce the Duchess so we can sleep together, just the two of us.”

 

“Oh, I’m looking forward to that.”

 

The Duchess clapped her hands and agreed that it was a good idea.

 

At the mention of forced separation, the Duke’s face turned pensive.

 

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

“Leen, I didn’t do anything?”

 

Carson protested, but it didn’t work.

 

“You’d better be careful if you don’t want to see the Duke tinkering around the edges because of you.”

 

💫

 

The dress Jane had sent to be altered had arrived.

 

Now that the supplies had arrived, it was time to start preparing for ‘it.’ The wedding was now a week away, and time was short.

 

“Come to think of it, it’s fashionable nowadays to take wedding photos before the wedding.”

 

Perhaps it would be a good idea to get some practice shots.

 

So, yeah.

 

What I’m about to do next…

 

I was going to make sure Carson didn’t pass out, have a nosebleed, or petrify at the wedding when he saw me in my wedding dress.

 

With a serious tone, I thought about the right intensity.

 

“…If I sneak it on and show it to him, will he faint?”

 

No, he might not pass out. After all, he already saw it once at the prom.

 

Besides, it’s been a while since I’ve been in bed with Carson…

 

But in the end, I decided to simply hold back and play it safe.

 

It was literally ‘practice,’ so he needed to be comfortable with the lower levels.

 

“I’m going to start with my bare face in the wedding dress in case someone has a heart attack.”

 

I gathered a few people to help with the removal and put on the wedding dress.

 

A pure white, bell-bottomed dress with tons of embroidered leaves and vines.

 

As a testament to Jane’s gritted teeth, it was a beautiful dress that I admired all over again.

 

I’m admiring the dress in the mirror. Suddenly, the door burst open and Carson walked in.

 

This happened because I changed right in my room, not in the dressing room.

 

“…Leen?”

Carson stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted me.

 

He stared at me blankly, then buried his face in his hands, his cheeks slowly turning red.

 

Then, with his head bowed deeply, he spoke in a hoarse, raspy voice.

 

“…You’re so beautiful, Leen.”

 

And no petrification, no fainting, no nosebleeds.

 

Holy moly. I hadn’t expected him to snap out of it so quickly, even though I was barefaced and wearing a wedding dress.

 

He even took the time to compliment me…!

 

“You’ve improved, Caon!”

 

Overjoyed, I walked over to Carson and kissed him all over his face in a gesture of gratitude.

 

“Oh my.”

 

I could hear the surprised voices of the people behind me, but I didn’t care.

 

Satisfied, I slowly backed away.

 

But something was wrong.

 

The man who had been standing so well earlier swayed, lost his balance, and fell to the ground. His legs seemed to collapse.

 

“Ah.”

 

I stared at Carson in disbelief as he collapsed on the ground.

 

Seeing was believing.

 

💫

 

After a few days of practicing with Carson, I finally decided to borrow his magic for the wedding.

Sure enough, it worked.

 

I even got a picture of Carson holding my waist in my wedding dress and smiling.

 

The control enchantment was just in case.

 

After all I’d done, I didn’t want anything unexpected to happen on the day.

 

At the very least, I didn’t want my husband to collapse in the middle of the ceremony and ruin the wedding.

 

With all the wedding preparations complete, a guest arrived at the Lysianthus estate. This guest was the Grand Duke of Caris.

 

So… my maternal grandfather came to Lagras a few days early to attend my wedding.

 

When I heard that the Grand Duke had agreed to stay in Lysianthus, I dropped everything I was doing and quickly made my way to the gates.

 

My body reacted first, so I guess I was actually expecting him.

 

“How have you been, Grandpa?”

 

The Grand Duke blushed at the title of grandfather.

 

“Very well, since my beautiful granddaughter has begged… no, threatened… the Emperor to absolve me of my sins.”

 

“I’m glad to hear it, then.”

 

I had heard that the Emperor of Abascanthus had pardoned the Grand Duke’s transgressions, but it was a relief to see him unharmed in person.

 

“Thank you for inviting me to the wedding, Leen. I was going to take it sweetly if I never saw you again, but…”

 

I smiled bitterly and quickly changed the subject.

 

“There was a place I wanted to go with you when I see Grandpa again, and that’s why I had been putting it off…”

 

“…A place you wanted to take me?”

 

“Yes. But we have to do it before the wedding, so if you have time, will you come with me?”

 

The Grand Duke didn’t even have time to think before he followed me into the carriage.

 

Out of concern, I suggested that he take a day off, but he flatly refused.

 

After all, he’s a Sword Master and a war hero, he shouldn’t be tired after traveling halfway across the country.

 

The Grand Duke and I traveled awkwardly in the rattling carriage for a long time in silence.

 

It was the Grand Duke who ended the long silence.

 

“…Leen, you know, my title is hereditary, not short-lived.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“I originally intended to pass my title on to Kun, who never became crown prince, but this seat is yours by right. Do you want it?”

 

“No. I will never go to Abascanthus again.”

 

“…I see.”

 

The Grand Duke nodded in acceptance, but with a hint of regret.

 

“Still, I will always keep your seat vacant, and if you should ever need it, come and see me.”

 

“Your offer is gratefully accepted.”

 

But I would not be taking Kun’s place. I may be going to pay my debt to my friend Kun.

 

I chatted with the Grand Duke, and before I knew it, we had arrived at our destination.

 

“This is…”

 

Grand Duke Caris’s eyes twitched slightly. He seemed to recognize the place from the window.

 

I smiled faintly and tugged on his hand.

 

“Come, you must say hello to your son and daughter-in-law, whom you haven’t seen in twenty years.”

 

Indeed.

 

I brought him to the cemetery where my parents were buried.