Living as the Villain’s Stepmother - Chapter 170 – A Sneaky Guest (1)

Lila said as she thought of the female lead who supported Hir in the original novel. But for some reason, the look on Hir’s face was shocking instead of content. On the other hand Lacias is the one who slowly nodded his head in agreement.

“You have a point there.”

“Mo- mother…? What are you talking about?” He was still putting the puzzle pieces together.

Lila herself was baffled. Huh? Why are these two reacting so differently? Besides, why is Hir looking at me like that?

“How, how can you say that… !” Hir said in a quavering voice. Seeing his eyes becoming teary as if he was deeply hurt, Lila was lost for words.

She quickly turned to Lacias and whispered in his ears. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Well, nothing sounded wrong to me.” Lacias mentioned, trying to defend his wife-to-be. “I guess Hir is a little tired. He might have taken your words sensitively.” Lacias’s smile never disappeared throughout. He almost seemed happy with the situation.

Meanwhile, Hir’s teary-eyed face only grew worse. Lila’s words sounded like a death sentence to him. She was the sun shining in his world, but she was telling him to look for another sun, because she no longer wanted to shine for him anymore. Of course, Lila didn’t mean it that way, but Hir misunderstood.

Lacias actually grasped the misunderstanding on Hir’s part but he had no intention of telling her.

What’s the matter? Lila quickly noticed the change in his mood but couldn’t pinpoint why. With a gloomy look on his face, Hir lowered his head.

“I want to play on the swing….” He didn’t enjoy playing on a swing by himself because he felt lonely, but today was an exception. He wanted to be alone. He missed the sloppy swing in his house.

“Swing? Why all of a sudden? If you’re talking about the one we have at home, it’s not here.”

“I think there is one here.” Lacias butted in.

“What? There is?” She couldn’t understand why Hir was suddenly looking for a swing, but the fact that there was actually a swing at the mansion was even more surprising to her.

“Since this mansion is where I used to live, there should be playground equipment somewhere. I remember there was a swing, and I don’t think I disposed of it.”

He wasn’t speaking in a certain tone, but the swing seemed to exist. Considering his personality, he wouldn’t have brought up something he wasn’t sure of. He probably looked around the mansion while preparing for the wedding.

“Do you really want to play on the swing right now, Hir?” Asked Lila just to be sure.

“Yes… I really want to.”

“I see.”

I left him alone in this boring place for too long. Sitting still must have been difficult for a boy of his age who should be running around.

“You can go play on the swing for a while. But you shouldn’t stay there for too long. Okay?”

“Don’t worry. It’s just that I need… some fresh air.” With that, Hir went to Hizette and tugged slightly on his sleeve. The knight reacted immediately and held the boy in his arms.

“Put me down… I’m not a baby.”

Hizette was a little confused at his sudden urge to be an adult. “…All right.” He obliged.

His words and action didn’t match, but Hizette didn’t bother to point that out. When the two of them were out of sight, Lila’s smile faded.

“Hir seems very tired. Could it be because of me?” She asked, looking at Lacias expectantly.

“He needs to learn to accept that some situations are unavoidable.” Lacias said firmly. When it came to Lila, he was docile and always let her have the right. But regarding others such as Hir, he was never generous.

To make sure that the nobles recognized Hir as Wipere’s successor, Lila made him sit in an uncomfortable spot for a long time. She even didn’t give him attention throughout the ceremony like she usually did.

“That’s true, but….” She let out a short sigh.

Suddenly, she sensed someone approaching them. Of course, long before Lila felt it, Lacias was already keeping his eyes forward.

“Long time no see. Lil-, no. Now, I should call you Duchess of Wipere.”

It was the unforgettable voice of Enrique Ahibalt. When she eventually turned to him her eyes narrowed as if he was an unwelcome guest. Of course, she sent the emperor an invitation card to her wedding, it was just aristocratic etiquette. But since he rejected the invitation she assumed he wouldn’t come.

Why did the emperor come? And when?

The hall couldn’t have been this quiet if the emperor entered. Since no reports had come, Enrique must have entered the hall by blending in with a crowd.

When Lila greeted the emperor with courtesy, Enrique smirked. “How funny.”

“…I don’t quite understand what you mean-” Lacias cut her off before she could finish.

“We will treat you with respect, but if you’re going to keep that attitude, it would be very uncomfortable to listen to you any longer. Actually, it’s already getting uncomfortable.”

His tone was too authoritative to be talking with the emperor, but despite knowing that, Lacas didn’t hesitate to be disrespectful.

Listening to Lacias’s words, Enrique’s mocking smile turned into a frown. He decided to not respond to him and turned his gaze back to Lila.

“Duchess, I would like to talk to you for a moment.” He couldn’t even lift a finger in front of Lacias.

He obviously still looks down on me.

But it wasn’t that she didn’t understand because even if she were him, she would have acted that way to a person who appeared easy to deal with.

Lila did not forget the day she was forced to meet him. It was the same day she found out about their backstory that was not revealed in the original novel. She also didn’t forget that Enrique even called her by an offensive nickname.

What kind of nonsense will he say this time?