The Elorance family's carriage has an extremely noble and classic design, blending silver trim with emerald green and blue patterns. Through the window with a slightly rounded frame, an elegant wine-colored velvet curtain fluttered gently, obscuring the view inside.
"Daughter."
Before setting off to return home, Louisa stopped in front of the carriage and turned around. She lovingly caressed her daughter's cheek.
“I'll see you again soon.”
"Yes, mother. Be careful when you come home."
Irel smiled brightly and hugged Louisa tightly. To prepare for the upcoming wedding, she still has a lot of work to do. But with Louisa as a strong ally, she doesn't have much to worry about.
"We will always be on your side. Don't forget that."
Calver escorted Louisa to the carriage and also spoke. His hands, rough and calloused from protecting the border and his family for so long, gently patted his daughter's shoulder.
“Maintain good health.”
Eyes as blue as the northern sky, never dimmed by the passage of time, looked down at her daughter. Facing him, Irel smiled brightly.
"I'll be fine, father. Please have a safe journey."
Seeing her parents return, Irel's heart filled with warmth. However, another entity coldly looked down at her status and whispered.
‘You are so scary. You never thought that they were really your family, did you?'
If
‘Real Ireland’
is looking at her from somewhere, what will she think? About the woman from another world who is possessing my body, arbitrarily deciding on marriage and even pretending to be the family's favorite daughter.
Someone once said that humans are adaptive animals. Now, Irel Elorance's life has become more familiar than Raeyeon's before. That's why she became more and more immersed in this body, as if she were living her own life.
‘Even from the beginning, this is just a game world, not reality.’
Irel sighed and opened the mission window for the rare time. Immediately, a series of blurry, semi-transparent system notifications appeared before her eyes.
[Main Quest ‘Stop the Destruction’: Achieve 80 or more favorability with Varkan Ha Mash (52/80).]
[Side Quest ‘I Thought I Was Normal, But I Thought I Was Competent?’: Exploit Receiver's potential, neutralize Masaka's power three times (1/3). Special rewards will be given upon success.]
How could she consider this reality when she saw these lines? While Irel was standing in a daze, a hot warmth suddenly touched her shoulder. Varkan pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.
"Let's go in. It's cold outside."
Dưới ánh nền của bầu trời đêm, khuôn mặt Varkan hiện ra vẫn tuyệt đẹp ngay cả khi cô ngước nhìn từ dưới lên. Đặc biệt, ngũ quan của hắn dường như được phác họa một cách tinh tế nhất, bằng cách gượng ép gom lại và nén chặt những đường nét rắn rỏi.
Một khuôn mặt toát ra sức mạnh cường tráng, cứ như có thể bùng nổ bất cứ lúc nào, nhưng khi nhìn kỹ từng chi tiết lại đẹp đến kinh ngạc. The fact that this man was about to become her husband made her feel strange again.
"Um? Why are you looking at me like that?"
He pretended to ask, but his smiling eyes looked mischievous. She sensed his intention to tease or pressure her.
“It's just… because you're beautiful.”
"Beautiful... what? Me?"
Varkan asked again in surprise. Irel once again affirmed.
"Yes."
He frowned and looked back at his height of nearly 1m9 and his muscular, toned body thanks to his daily training. This extremely masculine appearance, no matter how you look at it, has nothing to do with words
“beautiful”
at all.
"There's nothing you can do. In my eyes, you're only beautiful."
Irel was no longer afraid of Varkan like before, smiling brightly. Giờ đã nhận được sự chấp thuận kết hôn, cô tin tưởng rằng Varkan sẽ không dễ dàng động đến gia đình cô nữa.
Gương mặt cô, nơi nỗi sợ hãi từng nhuốm màu u ám giờ đã được gột rửa trong veo, kiều diễm như đóa mẫu đơn trắng. Varkan nhìn cô chằm chằm bằng đôi mắt nheo lại như bị mê hoặc, rồi đột nhiên nghiêng đầu, hỏi bằng một giọng điệu đầy ẩn ý.
“Speaking of which, what were you talking about just now?”
"Yes?"
“Bá tước phu nhân Elorance… à, giờ là nhạc mẫu của ta rồi. Dù sao thì, em đã nói chuyện riêng với bà ấy đúng không?”
“Ah, right.”
Irel understood what he meant and smiled wryly. It's awkward to answer this question.
‘You have been a very good child since childhood.’
When there were only two people left, that was the first thing Louisa said.
'Unlike naughty Michael, ever since I was a baby, I rarely cried. I don't nag or ask for anything, sometimes I think I'm holding a doll.'
‘Really?’
Irel laughed. But she silently broke into a cold sweat when she heard stories about the past that she did not know. Louisa did not know that, but continued to monologue as if talking to herself.
'That doesn't change even when you grow up. She is a gentle daughter, not stubborn and always listens to her parents, but... there is something very faint. Like a child missing something precious that every human being should have.'
‘…’
‘Mom was very worried about it. A beautiful child like you who doesn't have clear opinions of her own will often have to live a hard life.'
Louisa's voice, as she sighed softly, was filled with a mother's concern. Hearing that, Irel, or rather Raeyeon, suddenly thought.
'That's probably why I possessed this body without her even realizing it.'
If Irel Elorance had a strong personality, she would have been exposed long ago. She was about to breathe a sigh of relief when…
‘But these days you have changed. It's not the same anymore.'
Louisa's next words made her heart clench.
‘You accepted the proposal on your own, refusing to submit until the end, regardless of our wishes. I even ran away from home in the process. I thought you had become someone else's daughter.'
At this point, Irel was almost holding his breath. She froze in place, not even daring to roll her eyes. Afraid that with just eye contact, Louisa would recognize her
‘Raeyeon’
inside her.
'But it's strange.'
Luckily, before she had a heart attack, Louisa smiled softly. She raised her thoughtful eyes and looked straight at Irel.
‘I can still feel it. You are my daughter.'
Irel did not understand what these words meant. She unconsciously raised her head to look at Louisa. However, Louisa's face was filled with an incomprehensible conviction.
'Even if the actions are different, I still feel that it's you. Irel Elorance. Mommy's little and adorable shrew.'
As always when calling her intimate name, Louisa's index finger gently touched the tip of her nose. At this moment, Irel let out the long breath he had been holding. But unlike her empty lungs, her heart was still heavy.
“…Rell. Lady Irel.”
While immersed in memories, Irel was startled by the hand touching her cheek. She looked up like a scared mouse, meeting Varkan with a frown.
"What are you worried about? It's just a trivial question."
Question? What… Ah. Irel suddenly remembered. He asked her
'What to talk about with Louisa when we're alone'
.
"Ah, sorry. Maybe I was absent-minded because I had too many thoughts after agreeing to get married."
"So, what's the answer? You wouldn't say it's a secret between women, would you?"
For some reason, Varkan looked unhappy. Perhaps he thought Louisa had singled her out to speak ill of him.
“It's nothing important.”
"Then you can tell me. What did you two say?"
His fingers cupped Irel's chin, lifting her face up. His breath and face came closer, smelling faintly of cigars. At a distance so close that they could see the patterns on each other's irises, Irel bit her lip, avoiding his eyes. She quickly made up a lie, pretending to be embarrassed.
“It's just… Mom said I've changed.”
"Change? In what direction?"
“It's… a bit embarrassing to say, but… it's like I've fallen in love with you a lot…”
Half is a lie, half is the truth. Anyway, Louisa thinks the reason Irel changed is because she fell in love.
Maybe because his face is too close? Or because the eyes staring at her right in front of her were so intense and seductive? When she said the word
‘love’
, she actually felt her cheeks burning.
Irel covered her hot face with her hand and glanced at him. She thought he would laugh as usual, but Varkan showed unexpected surprise.
He blinked a few times as if trying to remember what he had just heard. Then he looked down at Irel's small, pink face being held tightly in his arms. His eyes were clearly wavering.
“You, this girl, are really…”
After a moment of silence, Varkan spoke up.
“…very good at lying.”
Irel's blue pupils widened at those words. She looked up at him with an expression about to cry, and Varkan whispered softly
“Shh,”
then placed his lips on her eyelids.
"I hate people who try to deceive me. If anyone dares to lie, I will rip out their mouth, spit out their tongue, and throw it to the dogs."
Contrary to the seemingly gentle tone, the content of the words was extremely scary. Irel
Haha
cried out, shrinking back in fear.
It seems she got too used to Varkan and became less afraid of him. She had forgotten that the people he slaughtered were not only Kitan.
Right at that moment. He gently rubbed his smooth lips on her eyelids, then whispered quietly.
"But why? I don't hate your lies."