WLYV 65

Chapter 65

Since We’ve Moved the Plan Up

At her question, Taishar recalled a book his late mother often read to him, called ‘Day and Night’. It was a book she frequently read to him before he fell asleep.

“For me……”
<There lived a boy named Night and a girl named Nazra, who loved each other very much. They…….>
“It’s the book ‘Day and Night’.”

“I also read it recently. It was such a sad story. But thinking about the two of them, who said they were happy just to be able to gaze at each other’s faces once a day in the dim twilight, left me with a heavy heart and a lingering impression.”
“I feel the same. I liked that because the impression lingered, I could imagine the后续 story myself.”
“That’s right.”

The book ‘Day and Night’ is an adaptation of a myth related to the main god of this world. It was adapted with an open ending, making it a book that leaves a long-lasting impression in various ways each time you read it, which is why Taishar liked it too.

“Actually, that book ‘Day and Night’ was one my mother often read to me.”
“Your mother, the Marquis?”
“Yes. It was a book she read to me even before she passed away.”
“Ah……”

Seeing Lorensia rolling her eyes with a look of regret for asking and being cautious, Taishar gently stroked her head.
“Please don’t make that expression.”
“But still…”
“The love I received from my mother is as wide and deep as the ocean, and I intend to return it to someone, just as much as I received.”
“To whom?”
“I’ll tell you later.”

Taishar, who let out a low laugh, stroked Lorensia’s soft cheek and spoke. In the past, he denied that falling deeply in love made one become like ‘Night’, but now, after meeting Lorensia, his thoughts had changed.

“I want to become like Night.”
“Like Night? Why?”

[Night said to Day: Whenever I think of you, I become the sea. A sea of unfathomable depth.
Why? Day asked Night.]

Recalling the line written in the book ‘Day and Night,’ Taishar blushed and said.
“Because I became terribly envious of Night, who could say he would embrace and comfort the lonely and hurt Day like a vast ocean.”

A smile bloomed on Taishar’s lips. He thought that if he spoke like this, his feelings might be discovered. His persistently racing heart was becoming increasingly noisy. It seemed his heart had no intention of quieting down. It felt as if his heart was thumping loudly, confessing on his behalf to Lorensia.

“I think that having someone you can protect, and the act of protecting that person, must have been a tremendous blessing for Night.”
“Hearing you say that, it doesn’t seem like ‘Day and Night’ is just a sad story after all.”
“Night was happy because he could protect Day, and since Day came to know that Night’s feelings were sincere, I believe the end result was them loving each other.”

Taishar met Lorensia’s gaze. His look towards her deepened, and just as he wanted to show all the emotions piled up in his heart, feeling like his blood was boiling up to the roots of his hair.

-Knock knock.

A sound he absolutely did not want to hear. He wished it was an auditory hallucination.

-Knock knock.
“Marquis Spencer. His Highness Adrian is urgently looking for you.”

At the twice-sounded knock and the attendant’s voice, Taishar let out a frustrated sigh. And on the other hand, he felt it was fortunate. If he had stayed like that any longer, he felt he wouldn’t have been able to hold back and would have confessed.

He hadn’t known hiding his feelings would be this difficult. He was desperately eager to speak, yet simultaneously afraid of being rejected. Still, he wanted to show his feelings.

Desperately.

“Miss Lorensia. I’ll take my leave now.”
“Yes. Please come back safely.”

Swallowing his regret, Taishar let his hand, which had been stroking Lorensia, fall away. Merely removing his hand made his fingertips feel cold, as if a chill had gathered there.
“When you return, let’s talk about fairy tales again.”
“Of course. Miss Lorensia, I’d like you to remember just one thing.”

Lorensia tilted her head.
“That the place I will always return to is by your side, Miss Lorensia.”
“Yes. Then I will wait. Marquis Taishar.”

Taishar, who had been intently staring at Lorensia’s face, swallowed a sigh at the urging from outside the door to come out quickly and forced himself to rise from his seat.

Taishar wondered why Adrian was suddenly summoning him and hurriedly headed to his office.

He also felt a sense of anticipation—perhaps Ilina had revealed something else about Luance.

<‘It’s true that I sent him a letter. But I only sent the letter; the person who killed Lord Loriols is Prince Luance.’>
<‘I didn’t kill him. I don’t know why I have to be treated like this. I’m so unhappy.’>

Ilina wept bitterly and confessed that Luance was the main culprit. Whatever Luance had said to her, her face was one of extreme hurt. Normally, one should feel at least a little pity when a wounded woman cries, but Taishar felt no sympathy whatsoever for Ilina.

She was one of the people who tormented Lorensia. And she did it viciously.

<Ilina forced the death of small animals, including birds.>

The young tree that opened its heart told him one by one about the things it had endured. And it did so as if they were ordinary, everyday occurrences.

<After being hit, you know where on your body the wound is, right? For example, if I get hit on the cheek, I know my cheek hurts. When I put my hand on my stinging cheek, the pain subsides, right? But every time I heard verbal abuse, I couldn’t tell which part of my body hurt, I couldn’t see it, so I couldn’t soothe it. So I screamed on purpose to get hit, and I didn’t hesitate to do crazy things too.>
<Sometimes I think that. It’s better to be beaten than to suffer verbal abuse.>

Seeing Lorensia speak so indifferently, as if it were nothing, his heart grew heavy. It felt as if the blood was draining coldly from his body. That’s why, even if Ilina cried with the face of the most unhappy person, not a shred of sympathy, even the size of a fingernail, could arise in any corner of his heart.

She had to live, repaying more than the wounds she inflicted on Lorensia, including Anne’s share, who had committed suicide.

Taishar passed through the long corridor and stood in front of Adrian’s office. He knocked and opened the door. He saw Adrian, Renslon, and Magnus sitting on the sofa. After greeting them and sitting opposite Magnus, Adrian took a seat at the head of the table.

“Why do you have such a dissatisfied expression, Marquis Taishar?”

Finding Adrian, who was asking while knowing full well, utterly annoying, Taishar glared at him instead of answering.
“So, why did you call me here?”
“It seems that the engagement with Charlotte will be impossible, after all.”
“What do you mean by that?”

At his incomprehensible words, Taishar’s voice rose slightly.
“Please explain so that I can understand, Your Highness Adrian.”

“Charlotte needs to take care of her health for a while, you see. So, it seems better for her to go safely to the Poloid Empire.”
“Your Highness Adrian was the one who brought it up every day, saying you wanted to get married quickly. So what is the sudden meaning of this?”

Charlotte and Adrian were soon to have their engagement ceremony. It was none other than Adrian who had said he wanted to quickly drive out Luance and then have a peaceful wedding.

“I want to get married. I want to so badly. But…”

In the middle of the serious conversation, the corners of Adrian’s mouth kept turning up. Now that he thought about it, he felt Adrian’s expression was different from usual today. Taishar examined his face. It was a strangely excited face. He kept bursting into laughter and clearing his throat every time he spoke.
“We really were careful, you know.”
“Yes.”
“Marquis Taishar, you might think ‘we were careful’ sounds like an excuse, but please just know that Charlotte and I tried our best.”
“Please get to the point quickly.”
“Actually, Charlotte is carrying my child.”
“A child? You mean Her Highness is pregnant?”
“We both tried to be careful so it wouldn’t happen. But it did.”

As if struck by sudden lightning, Taishar’s face became painted with astonishment. Adrian’s face, with slightly reddened cheeks, looked utterly thrilled. But soon, he let out a long sigh and then stiffly changed his expression.
“It’s clearly a cause for celebration, but we have to hide the fact that she’s carrying my child. So, rather than keeping her here, it’s better to send her to the safe Poloid Empire. After all, this place might soon become a battlefield.”
“What do you plan to do then?”
“It seems we need to move our plan up sooner than we thought.”
“Move the plan up?”
“Taishar.”

Magnus called Taishar.
“Yes, Father.”
“I’m returning to the Poloid Empire today.”
“You’re returning?”

Taishar’s red pupils shook. Moving the plan up meant returning to the Poloid Empire with Lorensia. In other words, it meant he could no longer wake up at dawn to prepare food and snacks for Lorensia, comb her hair, choose and buy clothes, dresses, and shoes, or make her cocoa.

“Since we’ve moved the plan up, I need to go back and prepare the Duke of Digloston’s household to welcome Miss Lorensia, don’t you think?”

At the thought of not being able to attend to Lorensia anymore, Taishar felt he couldn’t breathe and couldn’t close his mouth.
“Why are you acting like this, Taishar? Is there some problem bothering you?”
“No, Father.”

Taishar answered weakly. His head was spinning. The thought of being separated from Lorensia made the corners of his eyes begin to grow moist.

After the meeting about the moved-up plan concluded, Magnus immediately left for the Poloid Empire. Taishar couldn’t hide his troubled heart.
“Please also convey part of the plan to Miss Lorensia, Marquis Taishar.”
“Yes, Your Highness Adrian.”
“But why do you look so listless?”
“It’s nothing.”

Taishar wanted to shout ‘How can you not know?’ several times, but not wanting to react to Adrian, who seemed to be teasing him, he kept his mouth shut.

Could he live apart from Lorensia? He already felt unsure. Then, he needed to think of a way to be together without being separated.