Try Begging - Chapter 6

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Chapter 6

However, as the speeches of the Grand Lady continued without end, he couldn’t keep thinking of the maid.

“You won’t be able to smell alcohol today. Don’t worry, Grand Lady.”

The woman stared at him.

Did she have more to say? She wiggled her hand nervously as she gripped the tiny crystal and tassel-studded evening bag. Seeing that, Leon tilted his head at an angle and urged her to open her mouth.

“…Please, call me Rosalind.”

He lost his words for a moment at the least unexpected request. The woman who was acting like a chihuahua barking to keep from being caught up in fear just a moment ago was suddenly trying to close the distance.

However, they were supposed to live as husband and wife, anyway. A distance they would have to narrow down someday. It would be a big disrespect if the other person did not hold the hand that was reached out first.

“….”

But, even when he opened his lips to call out the name, those three simple syllables did not come out of Leon’s mouth.

Rosalind Aldrich.

…Rosalind. Rosalind. The name didn’t stick to his mouth. She was as old-fashioned as her old-fashioned name. In addition, her teaching-like tone and monastic mood made her luxurious evening dress like a nun’s robe.

Come to think of it, there was a person in the Winston family who had the same tone and atmosphere and made a high-class suit into a police suit.

‘Don’t you get along better with Jerome than with me?’

Although it wasn’t Jerome, who might one day receive the title, so, in the marriage talk with the Grand Duchy, his younger brother was not considered from the beginning.

“If you could call me Leon instead of Captain Winston, I would be glad.”

Leon smiled slyly as if he had played a dirty trick on the woman. Of course, he wouldn’t do that kind of trick.

She was a woman with a timid corner, so it was the card that he handed out, knowing that there was no way to call him by name first. Besides, she was so knowledgeable that she would not be pleased with the man’s light trick.

As expected.

The Grand Lady hesitated for a moment before only smiling awkwardly. Her gaze turned to look out the window again, and silence fell inside the car again. Consequently, he managed to get the woman to withdraw her firsthand without being rude.

The car stopped at the marina dyed with the red sunset. The river overflows with gold, and the luxury cruise ships dazzle in the orange lights.

Leon crossed over to the other side of the car and opened the door. On the way to lead the Grand Lady to the cruise ship, he took out the ticket Pierce had given him.

The departure time of the cruise ship was four hours later. It was like a mother’s message to get up earlier than what was written on the ticket.

‘It’s going to be a boring night.’

Following the servant in a black uniform, he got on the elevator to the top floor of the cruise ship. The driver lowered the lever and the elevator, which had been sliding uphill, came to a rough stop as soon as the lever was raised again and shook violently.

“Ah…”

Leon’s arm was gripped by a hand that had been resting like a ghost on his arm. The Grand Lady made a slightly bewildered face, and she immediately withdrew the grip from her hand.

The driver behind winked with one eye at Leon and smiled. It was apparently a surprise show for the men and women who were dating.

‘What a useless thing to do…’

It looked like the driver wanted a tip, though he just looked away coldly.

The lattice door of the elevator opened, and the servant walked along the soft carpeted hallway. The moment the massive door at the end of the hallway opened on both sides, the sound of music blew out, leaving Leon smiling lightly at it.

A man in a tuxedo slid his fingers over the keys on a grand piano in the corner of the restaurant hall. It was classical music, not jazz, which his mother said was disgusting.

A chair lined with dark mahogany and floral fabric. Columns and frescoes adorned with patches and feathers… The classic interior was completely to his mother’s taste.

At a time when corsets were becoming obsolete, she was still a conservative person who insisted on wearing corsets made of whalebone. Thinking back, even the prospective fiancée followed his mother’s taste.

Eventually, the two sat down at the table by the window and accepted the menu brought by the waiter. The wine menu was returned immediately, and the dishes were picked.

“What would you like?”

“I will take what you recommend.”

Did she grow up with an old-fashioned education to not reveal her intentions and be quiet…?

The Grand Lady wasn’t very helpful in choosing the dinner menu. It was completely different from when she said she didn’t like alcohol a while ago. She was a mysterious woman, though he was not even interested in finding out more about her.

Leon ordered the most expensive thing and started chatting nonsense—today’s weather, the scenery outside the window, the Grand Duke’s health… The conversation often got cut off and scrambled.

He was already bored.

“What are you doing these days?”

The Grand Lady’s question was unexpected. She must already know his nickname and asked what he was doing.

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‘Do that girl really want to hear it?’

How much trouble the Western Command suffered because of a rat of the Blanchard rebels that was caught three years after infiltrating as the knight of the Western Command… He spent days and nights trying to figure out what information had been leaked.

And, how the cunning man trembled with fear.

How funny it was to be foaming at the mouth when he plucked the little fingernail of his right hand.

‘If I tell her, that woman will turn blue.’

Oh, one more thing. How ridiculous it was that the commander’s scruffy face had become thin like a mummy these days.

If he told her, would she laugh or would she be offended?

It turned out that one of the commander’s numerous mistresses was also a rebel spy, so he was in danger of being summoned to the royal court.

What about the mistress?

The spy was a woman. Besides, they are prostitutes in the name of the Revolutionary Army. Leon felt dirty, so he handed it over to the superiors to take care of.

Mean people who used women for dangerous and dirty work… Though could he do it without being a mean person? Because he didn’t think the superiors know how to deal with women, it was enough as long as he didn’t get his hands dirty.

A Lady who wrote poetry and embroidered in the corner of the room didn’t need to know about such dirty things.

“It would be a boring story.”

At his euphemistic refusal, the Grand Lady misunderstood and blushed her face.

“Ah, this… It’s like I’m asking for a military secret.”

“It’s no secret that the Western Commander resembles a frog.”

At the silly joke, the Grand Princess laughed innocently.

He was utterly bored, hoping that the work of adding one more ‘Mrs. Winston’ to the family would be completed soon.

It was like something one would say when buying a watchdog. After marriage, his duties as the eldest son of the family would be completed. It meant that he didn’t have to waste time on such frivolous ‘dates.’

‘Looking at the slowness, there must be a formidable battle going on.’

Leon didn’t know how far the engagement discussions had progressed. This was because the terms of the engagement were being discussed only by the elders of the family, away from the parties involved. Besides, he wasn’t really interested, so he never asked.

“Leon, you do your job. This is my job.”

Even though he had no intention of getting involved, his mother used to say, with a serious face, like how the main character would say while rolling up their sleeves. It was the attitude regarding his marriage as her own masterpiece.

That was understandable.

Elizabeth Winston. Before she became Mrs. Winston, she was called the Count’s Lady.

She married his father, who she firmly believed would soon receive the title, though when her son grew up, she was still only ‘Mrs. Winston.’ Since she was born as a Count’s Lady, she was told that she would die as a Countess, like how a terminal tuberculosis patient vomits blood.

‘I’m out of luck.’

All of Winston’s predecessors Madam had died as Countesses.

From generation to generation, the Winston family was Count Winston. However, as the royal family fled abroad after being chased by a rebellion under the guise of a ‘revolution,’ the payment was cut off.

His grandfather, who was a count at the time, abandoned the royal family at once and took the hand of the rebels. His father often sneered, recalling that his grandfather pretended to be the prophet that said a new world had arrived.

The new world he spoke of was a world in which capital, not status, became power. His grandfather raked in his fortune from a business he had run as a dog of the first ‘revolutionary government.’

At the time, his father, who was a vigorous cadet, despised his grandfather and followed the royal family abroad. He said it was like hearing the voice of a blind person who couldn’t see the future and was blocked in front and behind.

However, the blind person who could not see the future was his grandfather.

The ‘revolutionary government’ had disintegrated within a decade. Their ideals were very lax, and individual understanding easily seeps into the gap.

Evidence of this was that even rats who still support the rebel ideology throw away their ideology after spending three or four days in the torture chamber. Ideology was not going to help them when they got whipped and had their nails pulled out.

The royal family and the royalists could not miss the chaos. The monarchy was restored in an instant, and the ‘Republic of Lippon’ became the ‘Kingdom of Lippon’ again.

As soon as the royal family returned, it was only natural that they set out to punish the traitors.

Fortunately, his father made a significant contribution to the restoration of the monarchy. The Winston family was only deprived of their Count title. They were able to defend his position and property as a wealthy landowner in the Camden area.

The royal family made a promise to his father, who was then young. They said they would return the title if he did a good job in eradicating the remnants of the rebels. It was said that his father, who was originally a royal dog, had since become a more loyal royal dog.

And, around this time, a Count with a title but no money made his daughter Mrs. Winston, saying it was a prospective investment.

‘…Everyone is so stupid.’

Because that promise has yet to be kept.

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