Chapter 25 - Not A Dream

On the other hand, he could only laugh about her situation because it was just so ridiculous. He wondered how she had been able to live in such hell, and why she set the contract specifically for a month after surviving this far.

‘Was she trying to not be greedy?’

He was now getting anxious, and at the same time, he was sure she would die if she continued to live like this. It wasn’t even too much of a stretch to say that she could even die right now.

“I can’t let her die like this.”

He didn’t know why, but he just couldn’t let it happen. He couldn’t leave her alone, she was just too good. Venio stood up right away and dressed in formal attire.

“It’ll be necessary to change the contract a little,” he muttered, a menacing smile growing on his face.

* * *

It was afternoon. Laila was summoned by Duke Estevan because of the Grand Duke’s visit. After she returned, she couldn’t even bring herself to think about going out of her dwelling.

Laila was not crying, but she couldn’t help sighing constantly. She crouched in one corner as if hiding herself, then buried her face in between her knees. She didn’t have the courage to look at anything.

She didn’t have the courage to love anyone or anything. She didn’t know what she had to do. It was hard to understand why she was so sick, especially today. She was already used to it and she already knew that she couldn’t be loved.

‘Because I’m not lovely.’

Actually, it was a sin for her to stay alive. She knew that, so she had decided to not be a burden by staying quiet until her death. But, if she was really going to do that…

“Oh…”

She groaned at the sudden thought that popped up in her head. She was going to die in a month anyway, and if she was going to stay quiet, she shouldn’t have left her dwelling at all back then. But she did, and she had offered a contract to the beautiful person. She had no idea what she was thinking and why she did such a thing so shamelessly.

“Wuuu…”

She sighed. She couldn’t understand why she was crying like a child. She thought her heart had hardened with the passing of time, but now, it seemed to have gone soft again. The moment Laila thought of Grand Duke, she shut her mouth shut and wept.

“It was… warm…”

She clutched her chest as she heard the words she unconsciously let slip.

“Wuuu, heugh…” she sobbed out loud. The sound of her crying seemed pathetic to her.

After a period of sobbing, she lost consciousness, exhausted from crying too much. A while later, a shadowed figure entered her dwelling.

“…”

After looking around, the figure couldn’t say anything but grit his teeth. The Grand Duke Venio sighed, glaring in the direction of the duke’s family outside her dwelling with eyes full of rage. He held the soft blanket that he brought and carefully looked inside. He tilted his head, but when he glanced at one corner, he frowned automatically.

“I was wondering what I was doing.”

He moved gracefully and stepped inside. Then, he approached a motionless lady who was crouched in one corner and knelt down on one knee.

“As I expected, I am perfect so there’s no way I’ve made a mistake. Right, Laila?”

As soon as he laid his eyes on her, there was a gentle warmth in them. He had spoken in a soft, joking manner, then silently looked at Laila with a slight smile on his face. Then, he shook Laila carefully with determination in his eyes.

“My lady.”

“Oh….”

Laila opened her eyes after a while. Venio’s face was slightly blurry in Laila’s exhausted eyes. She looked at him with sad eyes, then all of sudden, started crying.

“How did you… again…”

“Laila.”

It seemed that she believed she was in a dream again. But he couldn’t understand why she was crying. He hesitated at first, then sighed and said in a low voice, “Laila, look at me.”

“…Oh”

“This is not a dream.”

“…”

Laila’s tears stopped falling as she felt the warmth on her hand. The last bit of tears were wiped away by his gentle touch. Laila was startled and looked at him as if she saw a ghost.

Venio laughed quietly at her reaction, then said, “Let’s go on a date.”

“Did you just say ‘date’?”

Laila’s mouth hung agape—she hadn’t even had the chance to ask him what brought him to her place. Venio gave a somewhat dangerous laugh, then nodded with a smile. Laila felt she was about to cry at his friendly gaze that warmed her heart. She asked, “What kind of date?”