The Blackened Second Male Lead’s Wife

Anne shut the door ruthlessly. 

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I had no intention to listen to my father’s too-much-talk. 

I sighed, leaving the stacked boxes which reached the ceiling behind. 

“Anne, prepare to leave.
Get a carriage ready.
I’m going to Lord Kardien’s mansion.”

Anne asked with a look of disappointment. 

“Are you sure you want to return all the gifts?” 

“I said I would.” 

“You accepted every gift Sir Kardien sent in the past.
This is a bit excessive, but do you really need to return it when he sent them out of kindness?” 

At that time, I thought it was kindness from a friend so I accepted it. 

‘But now it’s completely different.
These are gifts from a man who confessed that he liked me.’

Even if the gifts were the same, they had a different meaning. 

To be honest, this made me feel pressured. 

I kept my mouth shut because I couldn’t tell Anne all that. 

Anne opened her mouth carefully. 

“Did you get a confession from Lord Kardien?” 

I gasped and widened my eyes and looked at Anne. 

I was so surprised that I couldn’t even deny it and stuttered.

“H-how did you know that? Did you watch me like the Emperor did?” 

In contrast to me, Anne replied calmly. 

“No.
I just found out naturally.
You’ve changed a lot since you came to see the Emperor.” 

“Did I?” 

“Yes, you haven’t been able to sleep from that day on.
Whenever you hear Lord Kardien’s name, your shoulders would flinch and your face would turn red like an apple.
Just like now.” 

“….!”

Oh my.
Was I that obvious? 

I hid my heated face with both hands.
Anne looked at me and said, 

“It wasn’t that surprising.
Actually, I knew Lord Kardien was going to confess to you long ago.” 

Anne looked like a completely different person. 

Anne, who had a docile face, looked like a shaman who knew everything about the world. 

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“Is there a god in your body? How the hell did you know that?”

Anne burst into laughter. 

“No way.
If you had been me and looked at Lord Kardien from my perspective, you would’ve known too.
Lord Kardien’s mood changes completely in front of you.” 

“….Is that so?” 

“Yes.” 

Anne nodded firmly.

“Lord Kardien is polite to people like me.
He’s always been kind to us.
But it’s still hard to deal with him.
Even when he’s standing right in front of me, he feels very far away.
But he smiles like a child when he’s with you.
That’s how I was able to tell he likes you.”

“…..” 

“Lord Kardien must think of you as a very special person.” 

Anne’s words penetrated into my head and wouldn’t leave.

Damn it. 

My heart throbbed like it did on the day he confessed to me. 

───── 〔✿〕─────

It’s been a long time since I last came to Lucian’s mansion.
Lucian’s aide, Paul, who I had forgotten about for a while since it had been so long, opened the door. 

“Welcome, Miss Pernia.” 

“You look very tired since I had last seen you.” 

Paul, whose dark circles came down to his chin, wrinkled his eyebrows.

“Of course I am tired.
Every day, I had to find and report to Lucian a gift that Miss Pernia would like.” 

“….Ah.” 

“Do you know how many purchases and bills I have to sort out in a day? I have to check if the goods arrived properly, pay for them, repackage them and send them to Miss Pernia’s house.
I don’t even think two people would be enough for this.
I’m having a harder time than I would on the battlefield.” 

“…I see.
It must be very tiring.”

I’m not the one giving him all that work, why was he telling me all this?

Paul, who followed my eyes, quietly turned away, and said. 

“I dare ask you, please stop Lord Lucian.
If I have to continue doing this, I might collapse from overwork.” 

He looked very desperate.
It wasn’t just a request, it was a life-and-death call for help. 

“Don’t worry.
I’m here to stop him from sending more.” 

Paul’s face lit up immediately at my words.

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Paul led me to where Lucian was with a hopeful face.
He wasn’t as on guard as he was before. 

‘How much work did Lucian give him?’ 

I gulped down and followed Paul into the room.

I was captivated by the spectacular view inside and stopped walking without realizing it. 

‘Wow.’ 

There were many pictures hanging on the walls of the room.
Lucian was staring hard at a painting that covered one of the walls.

His eyes were very focused as he was deep in his thoughts. 

‘A beautiful man standing amidst dozens of paintings.’ 

The scene was so beautiful that it’s bound to attract one’s attention. 

I managed to come to my senses and opened my mouth carefully. 

“Lord Kardien.”

Lucian turned his head in surprise at my voice.
Lucian, who saw me, shouted with an incredulous face. 

“Lady Pernia, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to talk to you.
I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you in advance.” 

“It’s okay.
I did say you can come to see me anytime.” 

Lucian smiled, his face full of joy from the fact that I had come to visit him. 

Despite his warm welcome, I approached him with a sheepish face. 

“What’s all this? Have you started collecting paintings?” 

Even though I knew nothing about art, I recognized a few famous paintings among the walls.

I said, pointing to a portrait of a man without eyebrows with a subtle smile on his face.

“This is Monario, right? Is it real?” 

“Yes.” 

Lucian’s answer increased my admiration. 

I’ve seen the imitation a few times, but it was the first time I’ve seen the original. 

“The real thing looks really different.”

The form and color were much more beautiful, and most of all, the aura exuding from the painting was more ethereal. 

And there was a unique ambience that made my heart feel strange? 

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Lucian smiled softly at me, who was absorbed in the painting. 

“I’m glad the lady likes it.
It’s one of the paintings I was thinking of sending to the lady.”

Only one of the paintings? 

‘No way…’ 

I asked in a trembling voice.

“You’re not going to send me all the paintings in this room, are you?” 

“I am.” 

Lucian looked at me with a proud look and smiled, as he looked at me. 

My mouth dropped to the ground. 

‘Monario’s paintings cost just as much as one mansion.
If I count all the other paintings…’

It came to be an astronomical amount.
If I ever had that amount, I wouldn’t ever envy lottery winners. 

‘I won’t have to work again,’ barely holding back those words, I said.

“Lord Kardien, I cannot accept this gift.
If we hang all these paintings in our old mansion, the walls will collapse.” 

“I see, should I contact an architect I know? They have restored many hundreds-year-old mansions, so they can fix the lady’s mansion and it’ll feel just like a new one.” 

Name a man who would revamp your home just so you could accept the gifts he sends you. 

If he went one step further, he would actually build a new mansion for me. 

It was a very tempting offer, but I shook my head.

“That’s not the problem.
I feel pressured from having to accept such gifts from you.”

“…….”

“So please take back all the gifts you’ve sent these few days.
I came here to tell you that.” 

It was clear that my words meant that his feelings for me were burdensome. 

Lucian’s face darkened when he realized what I meant. 

After a while, Lucian said.

“One day, the lady said that no lady would hate it if I were to confess to them, and that they would shout “Awesome” no matter what.” 

“Well….” 

Lucian said before I became too embarrassed to continue. 

“If you meant it, then that means you, at least, don’t hate that I have feelings for you, right?” 

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“…..”

I didn’t expect him to ask me this question. 

I bit my lips hard.

How could I hate being confessed to by such a handsome, pretty, beautiful, and kind person? 

So I nodded my head. 

“I don’t hate it.” 

Lucian’s face relaxed at my words. 

“Then can’t you just accept the gifts? The gifts have nothing to do with my confession.
I just wanted to give it to the lady.” 

Lucian continued, lovingly lowering his eyes.

“To give the lady all the pretty and wonderful things in the world.” 

As soon as his voice, sweet as whipped cream, penetrated into my ears, my mind went blank.

I couldn’t answer anything and just looked at Lucian.
My heart began to pound like crazy due to his shiny red eyes. 

‘This mood is dangerous.’ 

Why was Lucian looking at me with such tender eyes? Why was my gaze directed at his plump lips?

Why was I getting closer to him? 

When I gulped down saliva from my parched mouth, Paul’s voice came in from outside the door. 

“Sir Lucian, the Saintess has arrived.” 

“….!” 

Only then did I come to my senses and close my mouth. 

‘Oh my God.
What was I going to do?’ 

My heart fluttered as if I had done something wrong.

Lucian looked calm, as if he hadn’t noticed what I was going to do. 

“May Miss Estelle come in?” 

“Of course.” 

I nodded as if nothing had happened. 

Estelle entered the room.
She looked at me and her eyes widened. 

“I didn’t expect to see Miss Nia here.
Are you here to play with us as well?”