“What?”
Emily’s golden eyes widened round.
“The tea is so delicious. I want to get some for my home too.”
Now Emily became the one with a dumbfounded expression. Then a sense of satisfaction sprouted in a corner of Maria’s heart.
‘Oh my, am I a pervert? But Emily, you were way too much.’
Still, the tea was worth asking about even if it made her look like a lady who couldn’t read the room.
The subtle fragrance and sweet taste. If she couldn’t learn the identity of such delicious tea, she’d surely cry for three days and nights in regret.
“It’s a variety called Romantic from Mount Chainey. Though the name Romantic is one, the tea tastes different by grade—this is grade A tea for guests.”
Emily quickly hid her bewilderment and spoke calmly.
“Ah, thank you. I like desserts and tea, so I took the liberty of asking.”
“Not at all. I’ll pack a few bags for you on your way out.”
“Really? Isn’t it expensive tea? Is that alright?”
‘Good heavens, packing this expensive and delicious tea for me. Emily, you’re an angel.’
The uncomfortable feelings toward Emily vanished in an instant, and Maria flared her nostrils with a rapturous expression.
When Maria shot hearts with her eyes, Emily felt uncomfortable. Unlike what she’d expected, the conversation with Maria was becoming increasingly strange.
Emily looked away from Maria in confusion. Maria understood that reaction. She’d probably only dealt with nobles of similar status her whole life. There probably hadn’t been guests like herself either.
Nevertheless, Maria didn’t care how she looked.
From the moment Emily said she’d share this delicious and expensive tea, she was an angel to her.
Maria’s steps were very light as she returned home after receiving tea from Emily. To think such good people existed in the world—nobles truly were generous-hearted.
Maria learned later, but Mount Chainey teas were truly premium teas. For small noble families like Maria’s, it was precious tea they could only occasionally drink when they really wanted to treat themselves, not for guests.
Moreover, since it was grade A of the Romantic variety, by House Certi’s circumstances, it was extremely precious tea they could drink once just before death, both now and in the future.
Yet Emily had readily offered such tea.
‘Emily, you have me.’
Emily had thus unknowingly won Maria over.
Two weeks had already passed since Maria received tea from House Sackelpine.
But Maria was still putting off, and putting off, and continuing to put off the most important matter she needed to handle decisively.
Maria sat by the window sipping the precious tea she’d received from Emily.
Because it was precious, she dipped the tea leaves very briefly before removing them, then added plenty of honey. So the tea Maria drank was essentially honey tea, but that was fine. The very faint rising scent of premium Romantic made her feel good.
Since the tea leaves were very good, she planned to save and save and save them to pass down through generations to her great-grandchildren.
Actually, instead of wasting time on such useless thoughts, she should hurry and go meet Luca Clodence.
‘If I had that kind of courage, I wouldn’t have been holed up at home for four years……’
If she had, she would have met him long ago and begged on her hands and knees.
Luca had definitely invited her to come meet him. But no one knew what might happen if she actually went to meet him.
Of course, Luca didn’t seem like someone who would take stale revenge at this point.
‘Could he be trying to curse me using that genius magic?!’
Honestly, if she were Luca, she would have already folded her once, twice with magic and made her flutter away like a butterfly… not a butterfly but something similar. But Luca hadn’t bothered. Probably because she was too insignificant to feel the need.
“Haa……”
Maria sighed involuntarily.
She hoped her existence would remain insignificant to Luca, as it had been until now and forever would be.
Then the day of reckoning finally dawned.
Because she couldn’t sleep the night before, Maria’s face was swollen and her skin and hair were dull.
“Good heavens, Miss. You’re meeting a friend today—what will you do with such a swollen face? Oh dear, I told you to sleep early yesterday.”
Maria let Sylvie’s nagging go in one ear and out the other as she dunked her face in cold water.
There was nowhere to use looking good to Luca. Looking pitiful was better. If she showed up looking fine, he might say ‘You wench!! How dare you poison me and then show your face looking so fresh?!’ Looking pitiful was better instead.
Maria dressed as drab and gloomy as possible. Sylvie’s nagging about what kind of outfit this was continued throughout the dressing, but it didn’t matter.
Her appearance was somewhat lacking, but she’d prepared a special gift instead.
Full of apologetic feelings, Maria prepared her favorite apple pie made by House Certi’s chef. She’d asked him to make it with special care, so it would taste very good.
‘Goal: pitiful, apologetic, successful.’
“Huu……”
Maria took deep breaths while waiting for Luca in the palace reception room.
Luca was a special high-ranking mage granted research permission at the palace.
So to meet him, she had to formally contact the palace. After receiving permission a few days later, they had to meet in the palace reception room.
It was a cumbersome procedure, but at least she could prepare mentally during that time.
Maria looked around while waiting.
Perhaps because it was a reception room specially prepared in the magic tower, there were truly no ornaments or special-looking decorations even if you searched with washed eyes. The room only had a few chairs, a table, and windows. Mages seemed to pursue practicality over interior design.
Knock knock.
“Yes.”
The door clicked open. The person who entered was a very young-looking man wearing a robe. Too young to call a man—a boy around seventeen years old.
“Who……?”
The boy’s appearance didn’t surprise Maria. Like last time, unexpected people always appeared. Meeting the protagonists was really d*mn difficult.
“Ah, yes. I’m Ian, a magic apprentice. The thing is, Sir Luca Clodence, whom you were scheduled to meet today, is staying at His Grace Duke Claude Sernui Aemon’s residence.”
Had God truly abandoned her?
But Ian’s unbelievable story continued.
“Therefore, Sir Clodence asked that you visit House Aemon directly.”
“What?!”
“Then I’ll be going now.”
Maria watched Ian disappear after finishing his words with a dumbfounded expression.
Maria thought Luca was truly seriously trying to mess with her. No doubt about it. How could he tell her to visit House Aemon of all places?
“D*mn……”
This was really serious.
She couldn’t not go meet Luca, but if she went to meet him, Claude would kill her.
His beloved su had suffered such humiliation and pain because of Maria—he wouldn’t just leave her alone.
Maria thought prayer was needed at this time.
‘God, if you save me, I’ll really go pray every weekend.’
Maria was truly that desperate, but she should be begging Luca, not God.
If she begged Luca on her hands and knees, perhaps he’d appreciate the effort and not kill her painfully…….
The closer she got to House Aemon, the more Maria seemed to see visions of a guillotine coming and going before her eyes.
At House Aemon, which she’d arrived at without knowing what state of mind she was in, Maria was greeted by House Aemon’s butler.
“Miss Certi, I heard from Sir Clodence. I’ll guide you to the research room.”
Maria trudged to Luca’s research room following House Aemon’s butler’s guidance. The butler guiding Maria was polite in speech but his expression wasn’t very good.
The story between Maria and Luca was a famous incident beyond high society to even commoners. The old butler of House Aemon, who’d dealt with nobles extensively, would know about her. Though he didn’t show it, his expression was strangely stiff.
But Maria felt just as unwelcome about House Aemon’s household members. She felt like her blood would dry up and she’d die. Surely Luca’s gentle appearance at the last ball had all been an act. To mess with her today!
“He seems to be in a meeting with His Grace right now, so please wait a moment. You’ll be able to go in soon.”
Maria moved with an expression like a borrowed barley sack, like someone who’d received their death date.
But the place the butler guided her to wasn’t the research room but the innermost room of the mansion where not a single person passed by. It looked like an ordinary door rather than a research room.
Maria just stared blankly at the door. Either way, being properly hated, waiting inside or outside was the same.
Normally she would have been surprised and made a fuss seeing the tremendous interior.
But since Luca would come out soon, she was no different from a death row inmate who’d received their execution date.
Maria hung her head low. The brown carpet beneath her feet was soft but didn’t register at all.
“Huu…… The situation is really shitty.”
Curses came out naturally today.
But since her neck would be chopped off soon anyway, there was no point worrying about her language. She grew increasingly tense, feeling like her head and heart would burst.
But even after a long time passed, no one seemed to think of coming out. She’d thought if Luca was busy, at least Claude would come out, but that wasn’t the case either.
Then suddenly, the sound of something breaking came from inside.
Crash.
She felt increasingly strange. Even though she kept standing, no one passed by, and even the breaking sounds from beyond the room.
Maria perked up her ears and assessed the situation.
After the breaking sounds passed, very faint moaning sounds began to be heard.
‘What……? What is this sound?’
This sound of faint groaning. This was clearly moaning!!! It struck her frontal lobe.
‘Oh my, oh my.’
What on earth was happening to make such suggestive sounds……?
“Ah, right!”
In that moment, Maria recalled the original work.
Right now in the original, Luca and Claude were lovers, but Luca still wasn’t certain of his feelings.
The decisive event that would change their relationship in one stroke was happening today.
Maria tried to step back—eavesdropping wasn’t good. But contrary to her reason, her feet approached the door.
‘I can hear the highlight part of a 19+ masterpiece right now!!!’
Would it be okay to give up this good opportunity?
Right now the protagonists were inside earnestly biting and sucking(?) each other in affectionate acts.
In the original, the two had rather slow skinship progress. The reason was that Claude tried to gently wait for Luca, at least in the beginning. But Luca used himself as an experiment subject and proceeded with new research, and side effects came causing Luca’s mana to go berserk.
Luca rushed at Claude in a state of mana rampage and extreme excitement, and so the two…….
‘Keu.’
She couldn’t miss this situation.
‘Thank you, God. I’ll make an offering.’
“……Haaah.”
Since it had come to this, she’d listen just a bit more.
Translator
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Ravingcrow1118
Maria is a real pervert lol but in all seriousness, the original Maria was only 15 when she poisoned the male lead after being rentlessly bullied. I feel bad for her