Episode 50: Correcting Misunderstandings

‘What could be wrong with Caelan?’

After Caelan left for the palace, Bliss had tea with Leonard. Since Leonard said he wasn’t in a hurry, they had plenty of time for tea, and Latte had already left earlier.

‘Latte said she greeted Caelan, but why didn’t they have a longer conversation?’

Through the butler, she heard about Latte and Caelan’s conversation. Latte had approached first to greet him, and Caelan had shown his bad mood, but then he left without much further conversation.

‘Why is everything getting so tangled?’

Even though the original story didn’t detail every moment of the protagonist’s time, it contained information about how the story would unfold. But while one or two things seemed to match at first, now everything was going off course.

“My lady?”

“Yes? Oh, I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind…”

“It’s fine with me. Rather, I’m happy to be able to have tea with you like this.”

“What did you want to tell me?”

When Bliss signaled for him to get to the point, Leonard set down his teacup.

“I was rude last time.”

As Leonard bowed his head in apology, Bliss recalled her memory with him.

“I thoughtlessly pressed the necklace on you without knowing it would burden you.”

“That’s not something to apologize for. Rather, I was the one who pushed away what you gave with good intentions.”

“You’re right.”

As Leonard continued to blame himself for that day’s events, Bliss showed a slightly troubled expression.

“If you’re going to keep talking about that day, I won’t be able to say anything.”

“I’m sorr… I’ll stop.”

Leonard caught himself about to apologize again and changed his words midway. Then, after looking around briefly, he began speaking.

“I missed you.”

At this greeting that was as burdensome as his apologies, Bliss gave an awkward smile. She hadn’t separated Latte to hear such words from Leonard.

“I arranged this private meeting because I have a favor to ask of you.”

“I’ll do anything you ask.”

“After refusing the necklace you gave me, here I am making a similar request. I’m sorry.”

“Please don’t apologize.”

Fearing it might repeat again, Bliss followed Leonard’s words.

“Then, I was wondering if you could recommend a craftsman? The necklace I saw then was really beautiful. I know Viscount Jimilta has exceptional taste…”

Bliss looked at Leonard’s face while adding a bit of flattery. However, Leonard’s expression became even worse than before as he slowly opened his mouth. Though she expected him to either agree to introduce a craftsman or refuse, he came out with something completely different.

“So you’re saying my taste is good? Viscount Jimilta, that is, my, Leonard’s, eye for things?”

“…Yes.”

She understood why his expression had worsened. It was because she had called him Viscount Jimilta instead of his name. Sometimes it seemed to bother him when she kept her distance.

Thinking she should go along with him for now, Bliss nodded.

“May I ask why?”

At Leonard’s question, Bliss pretended to think while keeping her mouth shut.

Looking for a craftsman was just an excuse.

‘I need information from Leonard.’

He was the one who had investigated her death when she died. Therefore, she needed the information he had.

‘Since I can’t tell the truth.’

She had no other excuse besides asking for a craftsman recommendation, but he readily agreed. Only adding a slight question.

“Actually, I have something I need and I need someone to entrust it to…”

As Bliss was about to explain why she needed a craftsman, the door suddenly burst open. It was opened with such force that it created what felt like a gust of wind. When Bliss and Leonard turned their heads simultaneously, Caelan was standing there holding the doorknob, breathing heavily.

“Bliss, we need to talk.”

After leaving saying he was going to the palace, he suddenly barged in, which was quite startling for Bliss. What could have happened for him to suddenly appear…

“We were in the middle of a conversation?”

Leonard raised his hand to block Bliss. The good atmosphere that had existed with Bliss until just now was shattered in an instant.

“Even though this is the Marquis’s residence, barging in like this seems quite rude. Please leave right now.”

“So you know this is my house. That’s right. Everything in this house belongs to me.”

“At least not the people. Whether to stay by your side or not is their own choice.”

Leonard showed strong wariness, as if he wouldn’t let it slide if Caelan took even one step closer. He intended to absolutely prevent him from taking Bliss away from here. As Caelan and Leonard stared at each other with Bliss between them, the employees who had been holding their breath began to watch nervously.

Though she wanted to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere somehow, she couldn’t leave carelessly with Caelan blocking the door.

‘Why are they acting like this?’

Bliss glared at Leonard, the source of this trouble. Once his mood turned sour, he was acting completely as he pleased.

“It would be better if you waited for our conversation to end.”

Though Leonard pressured Caelan to wait outside, the situation didn’t go as he wanted.

“I think we need to have a deep conversation.”

Caelan spoke while maintaining his gaze on Leonard. Realizing he was speaking to her, Bliss looked at him questioningly.

“What kind of conversation?”

“The suspicion that I could kill you.”

“…”

Caelan’s words, more intense than expected, shook Bliss greatly. She couldn’t continue her conversation with Leonard any longer. As Bliss stood up, a surprised Leonard stood up with her.

“I’m sorry. I’ll visit Viscount Jimilta soon.”

“But our conversation isn’t finished yet.”

Leonard reached out to grab Bliss, but the distance had already widened. Bliss sent Leonard a brief glance before looking up directly at Caelan.

“Let’s go.”

Caelan placed his hand on Bliss’s back as he turned around.

After the two left and all the employees had gone out, Leonard, left alone, roughly struck the sofa.

“To have Bliss taken away right before my eyes.”

Bliss was his person. Unable to contain his anger, Leonard punched the sofa several times.

***

They didn’t exchange any words from the reception room to their room. Though unspoken, they knew how important their conversation would be, so they held their words in places where others were present.

The place Caelan took Bliss to was their room. It was also the most appropriate place for a private conversation without having to go far. After sending out all the employees, Caelan closed the door and took Bliss’s arm, leading her inside.

“Who did you entrust it to?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The paper with my signature.”

“Oh, that?”

Sitting in a chair, Bliss fell into thought. She worried that if she told him who she had entrusted it to, he might go to retrieve it.

‘No. Even if it’s with the princess, he won’t be able to take it as he pleases.’

What if she told him she gave it to Princess Jasmin, as if challenging him to try and take it?

As Bliss’s contemplation lengthened, Caelan’s gaze grew increasingly intense. Due to his determination to hear the answer no matter what, Bliss sighed. Caelan’s words from earlier when he came looking for her away from Leonard wouldn’t leave her mind.

[The suspicion that I could kill you.]

The reason Bliss had been wary of Caelan. She had been afraid he might kill her at any time, but now she couldn’t even be sure of that. She had died wearing a necklace tainted with poison, but Caelan despised poison, so that too was diverging from the original story.

“You want us to be honest? Fine. That paper, I have it.”

At Bliss’s answer, Caelan couldn’t believe it right away and rather gave her a sideways glance.

“I’m saying we should reveal everything.”

“It’s true.”

“I saw it in Princess Jasmin’s room. You entrusted it to her, didn’t you?”

‘So that’s why he came looking for me.’

“What exactly did you see?”

“Well, the book where you inserted the paper that day…”

Caelan’s voice faded as he answered.

Bliss nodded.

“That was also a trap. I thought if I entrusted the book to Her Highness, you wouldn’t be able to easily take it. Of course, it was just a deception.”

She hadn’t expected to reveal it so anticlimactically, but it couldn’t be helped. Bliss took out a book and retrieved the paper hidden inside it. She not only placed it on the table but also gestured for Caelan to look at it. While Caelan obediently unfolded and checked the paper, Bliss sighed internally several times.

‘I was planning to keep it hidden and use it later…’

She hadn’t expected to use it to show Caelan her true feelings.

“Now that I’ve proven it, we don’t need to say more, right?”

“I wasn’t expecting this kind of answer.”

Even knowing that she knew he had gone to the princess, Bliss had thought about deceiving him once or twice more. However, there was a reason she revealed it so anticlimactically like this.

“Since it’s come to this, let’s lay everything out in the open. I’ve wanted to reveal everything like this at some point.”

Because she had been suffering alone all this time, she had imagined having an open conversation with Caelan. Now that it was actually happening, it felt surprisingly natural, and instead, questions she had for him started coming to mind one by one.

“We have a lot to talk about.”

—
T/N: Anybody else pissed at Leonard for having the nerve to call a married woman “his person”? THE AUDACITY. LIKE WHERE IS HE PULLING ALL THIS CONFIDENCE FROM