Chapter 24: Chapter 24

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‘why did i do that? why did i say i was dating antes?’

even more, she shouted out that they would date for thousands and tens of thousands of years and even get married. luna was pulling her hair at the thought of the chilling situation.

‘if i had said that when we were alone, i could have said it was a slip of the tongue, i could reconsider it.’

but, she shouted it in front of everyone. quick-witted antes had even nailed it down, and after that, luna was taken away by antes without a chance to refute.

antes, who held luna in one hand and the baron’s hand in the other, looked as if he had won the world.

in the carriage returning to the baron’s house, luna regretted that she didn’t know how many times already.

“when did that happen? i’m pretty sure i heard you weren’t dating just two days ago.”

“the truth is, i have been pursuing her, but it was more like the young lady made the decision just now.”

“ha ha, i see! i thought it would be nice if a man like the young lord would be luna’s partner, and now it’s reality!”

“you flatter me.”

moreover, now that the baron knows, it was irreversible. the people of the duke’s family were tight-lipped and may not spread rumors. even if luna said later it was a slip of the tongue, they were the type to let it go.

but the baron was the problem.

for luna to date a man. no, it was her first time dating a male creature other than fersen, so the baron was extremely excited and firing cannons.

if she said no now, it seemed like he would stop eating and drinking out of shock.

“i know it’s a bit awkward to say this since you just started dating, but luna is my precious daughter. if you plan to date her as a fleeting amusement, i will not forgive you.”

…father. stop, please stop. please.

embarrassed, luna fixed her gaze out the carriage window and bit her lip tightly, pleading in her mind.

“your lordship, you’re worrying over nothing. how could i date a beautiful and intelligent woman like the young lady luna as a fleeting amusement?”

the baron was overwhelming enough, but antes added fuel to the fire. it wasn’t for no reason that rumors of him being a madman were circulating. he seemed to find this situation very enjoyable.

“haha. yes, that’s right. she has become a mature adult now, but i still remember her childhood, as small as my palm, so i tend to worry like an old man.”

“don’t worry, baron. nothing you’re worried about will ever happen. i’ll stick around her until the lady decides to slap me in the face because she dislikes me.”

in response to antes’s answer, luna wanted to slap him right then and there and break up.

“hehe, what are you saying? you have to be careful not to make her say she doesn’t like you. if you already think like that, what will you do?”

“i misspoke. i‘ll engrave the baron’s words deep in my heart.”

…luna wanted them to stop babbling, but it was she who had sowed the seed, watered it, and made it bloom.

with their non-stop babbling, the opportunity to claim it was a slip of the tongue had long since passed.

finally, luna dried her face with the palm of her hand, thinking whatever happens, will happen, and focused on the landscape outside the window, giving up and pretending that she was dreaming.

she thought she could endure just this time, somehow.

but when she rode the uncomfortable carriage back to the mansion, there was a bigger disaster waiting for her.

“emma, laura! did you hear? our luna has a boyfriend!”

“what!?”

“baron, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”

as soon as the baron got off the carriage, he informed the two ladies who had come to greet him about luna’s dating situation.

“haha! of course you didn’t know? it just happened!”

as the surprised ladies asked with wide eyes, the baron laughed heartily and patted antes’s shoulder, who was getting off the carriage after him.

antes, seeming pleased, smiled along with the baron and confirmed that he was the one luna was dating.

“oh my, i knew it would be like this!”

“kyaa! me too! i knew it when sir vincent started pursuing the young lady!”

“really!? is that true!?”

startled, henry belatedly joined the two ladies.

“just a moment, father! please stop!”

fearing that he might rush out to the bustling streets and announce her dating news to the whole neighborhood, luna urgently intervened.

“stop? it’s just sharing good news with our family. why do you say that?”

“there are circumstances, so there’s no need to make such a fuss.”

“circumstances?”

“circumstances, miss?”

the eyes of the baron, emma, laura, and henry all four pairs, focused on luna.

they seemed to say, if you’re dating, you’re dating. what are you talking about?

‘no, it’s because… i agreed because he said he’d help with my messed-up life due to fersen.’

even before calculating the profit and loss and making a proper decision, it happened because she was upset. it was all because of fersen.

however, she could not say it.

while she was agonizing over it, antes asked luna with a shocked face somewhere.

“do you, by any chance… allowed it even though you dislike me?”

“excuse me?”

wait a minute. what are you doing right now? why are you asking that when you know all the circumstances?

she questioned back with a dumbfounded look, antes opened his mouth again with a miserable face, as if pouring fuel on the fire.

“that’s… possible. you’re so kind-hearted that you might do that. grant mercy to even the people you don’t like so they don’t get hurt. even if it’s a lie.”

“what? no way! miss, it’s not true for you, right? dating someone on false pretenses!”

just as antes’ acting was about to end, emma, who was completely on antes’ side, asked with a disbelieving face. there’s no way our kind miss could do that.

“oh no! what’s the misunderstanding? our miss is not the type of person to play with people’s feelings!”

laura chimed in. luna, surprised, denied the distorted fact.

“who played with people’s feelings!”

she had no such intention. from the beginning, there was no such thing as feelings in the relationship. if there was, it was only suspicion.

moreover, it wasn’t her who was playing with someone’s feelings, but antes. the hearts of the baron and the people right in front of him.

“as expected! i told you, our miss is not like that!”

“so what. our miss is such a kind and beautiful person!”

“i must have misunderstood because i was unnecessarily anxious. i apologize, my lady.”

“i never doubted our luna from the beginning.”

despite looking quite anxious, the baron who had suddenly changed his attitude said confidently that he never doubted his daughter.

“then we should have a party today. it’s the day our miss got her first boyfriend.”

“ah, i’ll help too, emma!”

“then first, can you fetch fresh water and clean the kitchen? baron, i’ll go buy the food ingredients.”

“do so. bring only the finest ones.”

“yes. i’ll have to put in a little extra effort today.”

emma rolled up her sleeves as if to say trust in her and went to work. henry returned to the stable to prepare to go out, and laura took the baron’s coat and disappeared into the mansion.

“everyone wait! hold on! no, it’s not! there’s a situation… no, not a situation, there’s no situation, so, no! it’s not! it’s not!”

luna, still not knowing what to say, only repeated incoherently. it wasn’t a proper sentence. it was more like a babble.

the baron, who had been looking strangely at luna, turned his gaze to antes, thinking she would calm down and speak properly as time passed.

“would you like to have some wine with me until the meal is ready, young lord?”

“i should have asked first, but if you would offer, i couldn’t ask for more.”

i’m going crazy. luna stared at antes, scratching her head at the situation that was going smoothly to ruin.

antes, who had finished answering the baron with the beauty circuit on, asked luna quietly before following the baron walking in front.

“i know the most competent lawyer on the continent, would you like me to introduce you? he’s the one who handled things smoothly when i broke fersen’s leg, he knows a lot about the duke’s house.”

how can he make it so there’s no way out? if he couldn’t help, i’d rather scream that i hate it.

he had even prevented her from answering that she wanted to cancel the relationship by picking out only the necessary things.

“…do whatever you want.”

i might as well take full advantage of this situation now that it’s come to this.

it seemed like luna would feel better if she used antes since it was too late to turn back.

you’ll see. i’m going to milk you dry for suggesting this, so much so you’ll regret it.

luna, who no longer cared about the not-so-functional beauty circuit, gave a very positive but vaguely ambiguous answer that made her seem like she wanted to bow down in gratitude, but didn’t want to appear positive. then she disappeared into the mansion with big strides.