I Became the Villain’s Wife

~ Chapter 45 ~

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Translator: Lioness

Editor: Lioness

Pulling her hand with a bright expression on his face, he put her on the sofa.

She wordlessly followed him all the way to the sofa while wondering what he wanted to ask.
She didn’t have much of a guess.

Tashian folded his arms, which made the atmosphere heavy almost like they were negotiating.

“Now.
You’re the one who brought it up, so you say your suggestion first.”

Eun-woo took a deep breath.
Hesitantly looking at her, she opened his mouth.

“Well, I’d like to ask you to be straightforward.”

She paused, and his eyes were fixed on her as if urging her to continue.
Eun-woo moved her lips slowly as he say it without avoiding his gaze.

“… I’d like to invite Lady Wellwood to the duke’s house.”

She then noticed the perplexing look on his eyes.

“What does that mean? Lady Wellwood, she visited you three or four times a week.”

“What I am saying is… it wasn’t just a simple invitation, rather a form invitation.”

There was a light of understanding in his eyes.

“Do you want Lady Wellwood to be your maid?”

Eun-woo waved in surprise at his explicit words.

“No, I won’t! What do you mean by a maid?”

But he frowned and couldn’t comprehend her words and reaction.
He began explaining.

“Why? Millers’ are powerful enough to keep someone a lowly nobleman as a maid, and actually, it would be an honor for her.
No one would say anything.
Rather, they will ask you to keep their daughter.”

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What he said was true.

She proposed to Selena as her companion only, she was relaxed on expressing that she wanted her to be with her when studying, but in the end, she became a maid.

The upper class newborns in Hellasium were raised mainly in the arms of a nanny as soon as they were born.
And unless they were wealthy enough, the rest of the children, except for the first child to take over the family, were treated like scoundrels as they grew up.

Commonly, men and women inherit the lineage of other families, marry the Lord, and become one of the members of the family.
The worst that could happen is to be sent to the military, or a covenant due to their single status.
If not, it was a case of meeting someone whom he/she fell for a long way like Selena and had a hard time.

Mostly, parents would naturally dream of having their children to have a good relationship with their family too.
In order to do so, there will be necessary actions, such as making acquaintances as their connections unless a prestigious family guarantees a prosperous future for their daughter.

Noble children were often sent to high-status families in the name of learning manners if given the opportunity.
Some nobles leave their mothers’ arms at a very young age.
And there had been many cases where they came in as friends.

Either way, the social world highly admires young people for staying in powerful families and interacting with the children.
It was the same context that aristocrats thought of companions while studying as a sponsorship.
The perception that they were talented people recognized by good families doubled the chances that marriage and politics will come to them sooner and easily.

In this way, the maids from noble families and from commoners were simply different.
While the maids born as commoners do chores, what they were going would be simple and entertaining.
It would be reading books for the person they were serving, taking walks, playing puzzles, or simply being someone who’s there.

“I just need a companion to study with.”

“Maids or companions, after all, they are the same thing.”

Tashian calmly spewed.

Eun-woo frowned at the heterogeneity of the word maid said by him.
But he was still right.

She bit her lips slightly to hide her feelings inside being complicated.

Selena was the daughter of an unknown baron, but such status meant nothing to Eun-woo.
Selena was the first friend she had ever made in this world.
It was uncomfortable for her to define their relationship differently aside from being friends.

But she couldn’t help it.
Selena needed an excuse to live by her side.

Eun-woo glanced up at Tashian.
There was a little tension between them.
She closely observed his expression to withdraw, as if implying, ‘I shouldn’t have asked you to do so.’ But his answer was unexpectedly quick and concise.

“Let it be so.

She even thought that she misheard him.
Looking at him with her widened eyes, she asked him back to affirm.

“Really?”

He was delighted to see her reaction and replied to her.

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“Then was that fake?”

“But…”

“I was afraid you’d be bored here, but I’m glad you brought a friend first.”

He swept his hand through his hair as if her request was nothing.
His eyes, which looked sleepy, became clear before she knew it.

She couldn’t think of anything to say to him, thus remained motionless.
She never thought that asking for permission would be this easy.

She hesitated and finally uttered a word.

“Uhm… Thank you, Tashian.”

“Is that all?”

She opened her eyes to his sudden question.

“What?”

“Is that all?”

He asked with a mischievous smile.
She glared at him with an upset look on her face.

What else is she trying to say when he’s making fun of her?

Tashian burst into laughter just by looking at her reaction and raised his hands, contemplating his expression.
Eventually, he confessed the reason behind his mischievous smile.

“You’re not going to ask me what my request is?”

Only then did Eun-Woo quickly fix her posture and sat down.
Her cheeks turned red before she knew it.
Looking at her, Tashian, leaning against her back, murmured as if he was truly disappointed.

“I guess you weren’t very curious.”

Eun-woo hastily disagreed.

“No, I was curious.
Tell me.
What do you want me to do?“

In fact, she forgot about his request for a while since she was focused on putting Selena in the Duke’s house, but the fact that he asked her too, stimulated her curiosity.

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Eun-woo leaned toward Tashian, who pretended to be heartbroken and tapped his arm.
She mimicked the one he had done to her before and tried to twist his expression in a subtle way.

“What is it? I’ll help you as much as I can, come on.“

Her words instantly changed Tashian’s gaze.
Eun-woo, on his face as if became alive from the dead, wondered if she had made a mistake.

He asked again as if he hadn’t received a definite answer.

“Really? As far as you can?”

“Of, of course.”

He folded his arms with a meaningful smile.

“So what I am saying is…”

Eun-woo faced his smile, feeling the illusion that a cold sweat was flowing down on her back.
She didn’t know what that was, but it was seemingly just a mistake.

She wiggled her fingers in frustration and he jumped to his feet.
Eun-woo watched his behavior with surprise like a rabbit that first came up the tunnel.

He stopped at his desk without going anywhere.
Then he started to search on the desk skillfully, messing up the documents, and she couldn’t know where or what was it, but somehow, he took out something.

“Why don’t you come with me here?”

He trudged back to where they were sitting, and said.
He opened something at the top.
It was an invitation.

“What is this…??“

Eun-woo murmured as she touched the luxurious paper he had taken out with his finger.

It seemed to be an invitation for high-ranking aristocrats.
The wax that had been already torn on the gold-rimmed red paper was flabby.

She looked at him and pulled out the white paper in the envelope carefully.
She spread the parchment paper with a crackling sound.
At the very top was the Duke’s full name in antique writing.

Eun-woo made a sound and said the name of the sender who invited the Duke.

“…The Royal Opera?”

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Eun-woo looked up from the invitation and stared at Tashian with her suspicious eyes.
He smiled as innocently as he could and raised his arms, making him look proud.
Then he opened his mouth.

“It’s an opera performance.
Let’s go together.”

Eun-woo looked at him with a puzzled look on her face.
She raised her eyebrows.

“Why?”

“Is that really it?”

“I’m sorry if you thought there would be more.
But this is all.”

Tashian took back the invitation she had in her hand and said it as if it was nothing.

“If you don’t want to go, don’t force yourself to go.”

Eun-woo hurriedly held his hand as he collected the invitation.

She has never been into an opera.
She never even remembers watching street performances for a long time, let alone opera.
However, the proposal to go to the opera was quite tempting.
She was interested in the performance itself, putting aside the reason why he asked her to go with him under the pretext of Selena’s life in Duke’s mansion.

She said quickly, squeezing the invitation out of his finger.

“I, I will go! I never said I wouldn’t go.”

His expression changed for a moment, but Eun-woo didn’t notice.
He smiled softly and opened his mouth.

“Well, then, let’s conclude our contract.”

“Very well.”

He held out one hand playfully.
Eun-woo blinked because she didn’t know what it meant, and gently put her hand on his hand.
Tashian laughed softly, gently wrapped his hand on hers, and shook it slightly.
They seemed to shake hands.

***

“Duke, look at that ripe bunch of grapes.
Isn’t it like the freshness of missing the lips of the woman you love?”

The owner of the voice, as he walked through the Imperial garden rang throughout the lush vine.

The Crown Prince, who was as handsome as the sunlight shining on the coveted grain, was looking at the vineyard of the Imperial Palace with his servant, the Duke of Verk.

They had just finished a six-hour meeting, and it had been a long time since they had breathed in the fresh air, but neither of them was having a very bright day yet.
For the one whom they were anxiously waiting for has not yet arrived.