Chapter 25

Iris sat on her bed and continued where she had left off in the history book.

[The first beastmen revolt was a failure, but Benedict didn’t give up. Having barely survived, he hid in the dark and gathered people to help him quietly.

Benedict said, “beastmen are also humans, and being able to transform into animals is just a natural talent, not a curse from God. The Holy Father persecutes the children of God because he has a sense of inferiority for having not received God’s gift.”

Benedict also went on to say, “God’s gift wasn’t only given to beastmen, but also to wizards. It was beastmen first. Where will the Holy Father’s eyes go next after beastmen are gone? The Holy Father also has no magical talent, so the fall of the wizards will be the future ahead.”

Most of the wizards snorted, but faithless wizards sympathized with Benedict’s will. Benedict, who instigated the gifted with such lies, started the second beastmen revolt. It was a war of death, with the East Amatsu Sea stained with blood.]

At the sound of the door opening, Iris folded the book and put it on the bedside table.

“You can keep reading, Irie.”

Keivrand said so and took off his clothes in front of the closet.

When his strong back muscles were revealed, Iris quickly lowered her gaze.

After changing into his gown, Keivrand walked over and sat down next to Iris.

He snatched up the tip of Iris’ hair and kissed it as if it was a natural thing to do.

“It smells good.”

“Thanks to you.”

Somehow Keivrand looked a little embarrassed.

There was something he wanted to say, but it seemed difficult to say, so he repeatedly opened and closed his mouth.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“Something has come up.”

Keivrand said, as if he had been waiting for her to ask.

“Tell me.”

“My parents are very angry.”

A chill swept down Iris’ spine. Without showing any sign of it, she spoke.

“Of course they are. We got married without telling them.”

“They have never even asked how I was doing, so I didn’t think they were interested in what I did. I didn’t expect them to be this angry. I think they’ll be here in about two days.”

“I see.”

“I’ve never been with another woman or introduced one to them before, so I can’t predict how they’ll react.”

Iris stared at him.

Keivrand tilted his head to the side.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’ve really never been with another woman?”

“No. Why would I lie about that?”

“But…”

Iris unwittingly reached for his cheek. Running her hand down his soft cheek to his beard, she spoke.

“You’re so handsome.”

Keivrand’s eyes widened. He stared straight at Iris, and then grabbed her by the wrist.

“Am I really handsome?”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you that?”

“No. Do I really look handsome in your eyes?”

Iris was dumbfounded.

Of course he looks handsome. He was too perfect.

At a loss for words, she nodded while Keivrand avoided her gaze. Seeing his ears turn red, Iris thought she probably saw wrong.

Keivrand, who turned back to meet her eyes again, spoke.

“I want to kiss you. Can I?”

Somehow, his eyes and voice stimulated not only her hearing but also her sense of touch.

Rolling her eyes sideways in embarrassment, she replied.

“So far, you’ve done it without asking…”

Before she could finish, her lips were swallowed by Keivrand.

Keivrand’s lips, desiring Iris, were a little rough.

His weight made her falter, and his body odor made her drunk.

On the bed, Iris and Keivrand became entangled by the blankets.

Even in a state of intense kissing and delirium, she couldn’t understand why Keivrand was so excited all of a sudden.

‘Because…I said he was handsome? That can’t be it. He must hear that a lot.’

The longer the kiss went on, the more short of breath Iris became. Her heartbeat that felt as if it was going to burst didn’t feel unpleasant because it overlapped with Keivrand’s heartbeat. She couldn’t even tell if the sound of the heartbeat was hers or his.

She felt dizzy as their skins rubbed against one another. Driving her fingernails into Keivrand’s back, her breath spilled out.

She thought she could feel Keivrand’s muscles stiffening, but suddenly Keivrand took off his lips and hugged her tightly.

Her face was pressed against his chest and it became hard to breathe, but she didn’t hate the feeling of being hugged so strongly. His arms even felt safe.

“I’m going to stop it as much as I can, but maybe my parents will hurt you, Irie.”

Suddenly, Keivrand went back to the original subject.

In the midst of this, Iris was amazed by Keivrand who was able to talk calmly.

She had no idea how hard Keivrand was holding onto reason.

“Kei. I’m not a glass flower. A few words or strokes won’t hurt me.”

Iris whispered, and Keivrand’s arm tightened.

Keivrand buried his face against her head.

“You can’t do that, Irie. I don’t like my wife getting used to those things.”

“But I’m used to it.”

“You’re sprouting new flesh, Irie.”

His palm gently swept Iris’ back.

“On that new soft skin, I won’t let you get even a tiny scratch.”

It was a good speech.

So Iris giggled with her face buried in his chest.

“Do you want me to be a lady who is so vulnerable that she would cry?”

For some reason, Iris’ laugh now sounded like she was crying.

Thinking that he wanted to give her all his warmth, Keivrand replied.

“If you want to. If you want to, Irie.”

* * *

Britney crumpled up the wedding invitation, threw it away, and picked it up again and repeatedly read it.

No matter how many times she looked at it, the name ‘Countess Melanie Jennel’ at the top of the host list didn’t disappear.

The name ‘Celestine Green’ below it didn’t even catch her eyes.

Countess Melanie Jennel.

A social goddess who is so famous that even the Empress wants to be close.

Britney couldn’t believe that she was the host of Iris’ wedding.

‘Why? Why would she host that bitch’s wedding?’

She couldn’t understand what Countess Melanie Jennel was thinking.

Countess Melanie was a woman who shone with her own reputation, and she wasn’t particularly friends with the Green family. So why is she going out of her way to host Iris’ wedding who is full of bad rumors?

Britney threw the wedding invitation again, then gallantly headed to Duchess Denise Whittle’s room.

Denise had called in a famous designer and was looking at a catalog of her designs.

Denise winked, and the designer quietly went outside.

“Mom. Let’s go see Iris.”

“What?”

“Didn’t we get Iris’ wedding invitation? We’re going to the wedding anyway, so let’s go a little early.”

Britney wanted to see with her eyes what was going on in the Green’s estate and how Iris was treated.

If Keivrand is being deceived by Iris and is treating her dearly, she has to help him come to his senses.

It would be too late after the wedding.

“Why do you want to go there early? It’s a good thing that she’s getting married.”

“It’s not a good thing, so I’ll go check it out first. Find out how she coaxed Count Green.”

“Brie. There’s nothing to mess with. Thanks to the gold mine Count Green gave us, our lives are better these days. What if Count Green asks us to return the gold mine when he says he’s canceling the marriage?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought of it? Rather, if we go later and they find out how easy and stupid Iris is, they could blame us.”

“Well.”

Britney grabbed Denise’ arm and shook it.

“So, mom. Let’s go. We’re Iris’ family. I’m sure no one would blame us for arriving a few days early? We’ll take this opportunity to look around Count Green’s mansion.”

* * *

Venerable Count Green and his wife have arrived at the Green’s estate.

Helena Green, once the lady of this mansion, looked around fiercely.

Very little has changed from when she lived here.

Next, her line of sight moved to Iris and Keivrand, who had come out to greet them.

What caught her eyes at first, of course, was the big Keivrand.

Keivrand had a troubled smile on his face, which Helena didn’t seem to like.

Smiling like that in front of one’s parents.

It was as if they had done something wrong.

Helena then turned to Iris.

Iris was sizing up the late Countess in an elegant but courteous manner with her hands in front of her.

The expressionless face was like a doll, or a statue made by God.

Silver hair that looks light pink and was half tied and flowing down her shoulders, large eyes and violet pupils below her drawn eyebrows. Thick red lips that go well with the nose, neckline that comes down nicely from the delicate face and shoulder line that smoothly connects.

Despite wearing a modest dress, Iris was glowing.

‘The flower of Duke Whittle…’

Iris deserves to be given that title, she thought.

There was nothing to point out about her appearance. She looked like a woman who had never done anything bad and had grown up with precious treatment.

Maybe Duke Whittle really cared about his youngest daughter so much that he didn’t show her to the world.

After the greetings, they moved into the main building.

In front of the drawing room, Helena looked up at Keivrand and spoke.

“We’d like to talk to Lady Whittle privately. You go and do what you have to do.”

“I can’t do that, mother.”

Keivrand firmly refused and held Iris’ hand.

Helena looked at Iris’ face, wondering how she would feel holding Keivrand’s hand, but she couldn’t read anything from her sculptural face.

“Keivrand Green, you got married without telling your parents. Are you saying you can’t even give us this much?”

“It’s my fault that I got married without telling you. But this is a different matter. My mother calls my wife Lady Whittle, how am I supposed to let her go alone?”

Helena was furious.

She felt frustrated at the ominous premonition that Keivrand really might have given a gold mine and forced Iris to come here.

Unlike Keivrand, who seemed to be infatuated with Iris, it was hard to read how Iris felt.

“Keivrand Green.”

“Dear.”

At Helena’s angry voice, Wyvern stopped her.

Wyvern, who had been quietly observing Iris, lightly placed his hand on Helena’s arm and spoke.

“Kei has a point, so let them go in together.”

“But…”

Wyvern smiled lightly as he looked at Helena trying to protest.

Helena realized that Wyvern liked Iris.

And it wasn’t just because of her pretty looks.

It was a belief that her husband didn’t judge a person by their appearance.

‘What does he like about her?”

Helena didn’t hate Iris either. She just didn’t like the situation that Keivrand might have forced her.

Wyvern entered the drawing room first, followed by Helena.

On the sofa in the drawing room, the late Countess and Iris sat facing each other.

“Lady Whittle.”

Helena decided to get straight to the point.

Iris, who was still staring at Helena, opened her mouth for the first time.

“Venerable Count Green, Venerable Countess Green. Please call me Irie. Or you can call me Iris Green.”

It was a polite but determined tone.

Helena became convinced that Iris wasn’t just a precious flower that grew up in a greenhouse.

With a light smile, Iris added.

“And feel comfortable around me.”

The smile was so sweet and gentle that Helena thought it would have been nice to have a daughter like Iris.

Celestine Green on the other hand was too rough.

== Translator’s Note ==

1. Please report any typos, grammatical/spelling errors, sentences you find weird, and other etc…in the comment section .