Chapter 173: Chapter 88.1

yernia, who had just begun to acknowledge her feelings, was embarrassed by cassian, who already seemed to be thinking of a baby. cassian and their baby? previously, cassian had hinted at when they would have a child, but her feelings were very different from then. she was surprised and embarrassed in the past, but now she wanted to hide for some reason. nevertheless, yernia kept her expression blank in order not to show it. cassian must have mentioned a child because the lecardo family needed a successor. she should calm down so that she wouldn’t misunderstand.

“no. let’s give this to herena.”

although it was certainly harsh, yernia decided to give this house to herena after much consideration.

“you couldn’t even take your eyes off of it. is it alright for you to give it away so easily?”

“we don’t have to live here. it’ll be troublesome too, and i have to meet my parents often. it’s nice because it’s secluded, but it’s far from the capital.”

after returning to the capital, yernia had yet to meet her parents because she had no extra time after dealing with vicil’s visit to the hospital. she also had to reply to the backlog of letters. still, it wasn’t a bad idea to stay close to each other since they weren’t going to be forever, anyway.

“we can use it like a villa.”

“you already own a lot of villas.”

“i don’t mind adding a few more.”

“no. it’s not necessary.”

as the lady of the household, yernia learned how many lands and buildings the lecardo family owned. there were only a few villas he was teasing at, so adding more here was just luxury.

when yernia and cassian, who were looking at the house well, had a scuffle, the broker, who was observing the two, asked anxiously.  “are you going to sign a contract?” he seemed restless as if he was afraid they would say that they would leave without signing a contract after seeing enough.

“i’ll just put a down payment on it for now, and we’ll make the contract later.”

“why, my lady? do you want to meet and talk to the future owner of this villa beforehand?”

“no. i haven’t even spoken to the future owner about this yet.”

she decided to get a house solely for herena, but she hadn’t gotten her permission yet.

“you’re going to hand it over to her?”

cassian was displeased that yernia, who had examined every corner of the villa with sparkling eyes, would hand this over to another woman, the slave she met by chance a few days ago, instead of him. it was a pity that the woman had an accident when she hit their carriage but that’s it. he complied with yernia’s strange request to not let her be sent to the hospital, made her stay at their mansion, and asked their doctor to look after her. despite hearing that there was nothing wrong with her, he held back from kicking the slave out because of yernia.

“why are you so nice to her?”

“you’re not being nice to her, either. herena might not like it if i’m being too greedy.”

“why do you have to care if she doesn’t like it?”

cassian wanted yernia’s thoughts to be all about him but now a stranger had stepped in and dominated her mind. sometimes, cassian had to suppress the urge to kick the woman out at once.

“in any case, this house will be given to herena. she couldn’t possibly hate living here.”

yernia laughed guiltily as she looked at cassian, who must have thought that her actions had stemmed from complete good faith. yernia wasn’t being nice to her. she just didn’t want herena to interfere. yernia hoped that cassian wouldn’t know her thoughts.

***

“oh, you got a good card.”

before she knew it, the sun had already set when she finished looking at the room. if both of them had returned now, cassian and yernia might arrive at their residence around midnight or dawn. it would be hard for cassian to return immediately so they decided to leave tomorrow at dawn.

“this card isn’t easy to get. it will bring good luck to the gentleman.”

now, they’re looking at fortune-telling. pruna, a rural town far from the capital, was currently in a festive season. as she turned her head towards the various attractions, an old man caught yernia’s gaze. as they watched the old man spread his cards on a small wooden board while people were squatting in front of it, yernia pulled cassian there. he had looked at cassian’s fortune and he found good cards about him.

“that’s what a passing dog would say. a fortuneteller is worse than that.”

cassian snorted and laughed at the old man. it was a bit harsh for him to say that the fortuneteller was worse than a passing dog, but it was something anyone could say.

“i’m not done yet. i said he was lucky to have picked this card, but it will bring death.”

“death?”

yernia was the one who first showed her interest in the bleak word.

“yes. if the lady hadn’t chosen him, she would have lost her life before long.”

“how can you say that?”

“your home and family are involved in this too. since this lucky gentleman has the power to prevent that death, this card will serve as the shield she holds.”

as they listened to the old man deciphering the cards, it appeared like good things were about to happen to cassian sooner or later. when she asked for more information, he replied that he would either win love, wealth, or honor.

“i want to try it too.”

“don’t do it. i don’t like it.”

“why? he just told you that something good was going to happen. it might sound like an assumption but you know this is just for fun, right?”

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