When A Villain Meets A Villain - Chapter 73

The grand duchess lying on top of the grand duke with a flushed face. She’d even said a weird line like, ‘I want to do it right now.’

It was a situation that’s perfect for causing misunderstandings.

Upon discovering them, Atalante’s face crumpled like never before. ‘Do something about him,’ was within her eyes. However…

‘They should be doing it right away, but you must be angry that we’d interrupted you.’

The maid paled as she interpreted her expression differently, and trembled.

“I, I’m sorry. It’s noon and you haven’t called for us, and so w—we were worried, m—my apologies for interrupting you!”

“What do you mean interrupting? Wait a minute, aren’t you misunderstanding something……”

“Please call for me if there’s anything you may require! I’ll tell the other servants to keep a distance from here!”

The maids, who completely ignored her calls for them to wait a moment, left the door with bowed heads.

Atalante wasn’t so stupid as to be unaware of the reason for their flushed faces.

With a sigh, Atalante turned her gaze towards Paul, who was still standing in place. It was clear that he, who hated Atalante, would definitely do his utmost to keep her away from the grand duke.

“Paul, they seem to have misunderstood something, it’s not like that.”

“…I wish you both a pleasant time.”

However, even Paul, who she’d trusted, bowed his head respectfully and left the room. His subdued eyes were evidently whispering, ‘traitor,’ to Atalante.

Wait! It’s not like that!”

The flustered Atalante tried to follow them, but that was impossible.

It was because Lionel sneaked an arm around the waist of Atalante, who was on top of him.

His mouth was strangely crooked, like he was trying to suppress a burst of laughter.

“What are you doing? Let me go.”

“I’m scared of the cold.”

“Isn’t the Blanc grand duchy one of the coldest places in the entire world?”

Even passing dogs would laugh if they heard that the head of that place was sensitive to the cold.

Additionally, the Blanc grand duchy had good enough heating for people to forget about the seasons, so it only felt disconcertingly pleasant, much less cold.

“But it feels much warmer when we’re close together like this.”

However, it didn’t seem like the grand duke, who claimed to be cold, had any intention of letting her go.

‘Should I grab him by the collar and knock him over? Or should I bend his arm and hit a vital point to make him faint?’

Lionel came up with a compromise, perhaps expecting that Atalante was about to use her strength.

“I’ll let you go once we exchange morning greetings, like a married couple.”

“Haah, do whatever you want.”

As Atalante let out a sigh and murderous intent, she looked down with a dissatisfied gaze.

Lionel, who responded to her sharp gaze with a friendly smile, gave her a ‘married couple-esque morning greeting’ first.

“Good morning, my wife.”

Atalante thought that it’d be better to cooperate with his childishness and get out of his domain quickly. Because it felt like her face was about to turn red.

‘It’s not like I don’t have immunity to men, so why am I only being like this in front of this man?’

Atalante, who stared at his white face and slightly dishevelled silver hair one after another, spoke in a small voice.

“…Good morning, Grand Duke.”

“Grand duke?”

The grand duke didn’t seem to like the name he was called with.

“Didn’t you tell me to call you whatever you want? Don’t go around changing your words now.”

“That may be true, but it’s a little sad to be called the grand duke when there’s just the two of us here.”

“Okay, okay, good morning, Lionel.”

“Mm, you spoke so quickly that I didn’t understand.”

With an obnoxious smile, Lionel pulled the arm that was wrapped around her even closer. It was a clear action that demanded her to try again.

After failing to pass despite several attempts, Atalante, who had a crumpled face, eventually exposed him.

“What the hell am I supposed to do? Do you want me to call you by a nickname, like Leo?”

However, Lionel gave an unexpected response to what she’d said out of irritation.

Lionel, who blinked his round eyes slowly, opened his mouth admiringly.

“That’ll be good.”

“What?”

“Please call me Leo, my beloved Atalante.”

She was rendered speechless by that face filled with anticipation. She should pretend that she didn’t win, and just mutter it emotionlessly, shouldn’t she?

“Then, shall we try again? Good morning, my wife.”

“Truthfully, it’s a little late to be called morning,” Lionel added with a laugh. However, Atalante could not laugh along with him.

His unfamiliar nickname was still stuck in her mouth.

All she had to do was recite a fixed line. Atalante, who repeated the same words to herself, swallowed her saliva lightly to moisten her parched mouth.

“Good morning, Leo.”

Perhaps Lionel was finally satisfied with the morning greeting, as his arms around her waist disappeared.

Instead, he gently pulled Atalante’s hand and pressed his lips on the back of the hand, like touching the tip of a brush on it.

“You didn’t forget about the bet, did you? I hope you’ll like me from today onwards.”

My wife, Atalante.

After calling her twice burdensome, Lionel’s blue eyes emitted a strange glow.

Atalante, who looked down at his dangerous face for a moment, whispered with a similar smile instead of panicking.

“Something like that will never happen, but do your best.”

“I’ll do my best.”

The two, who’d just become a married couple while harbouring different thoughts, looked at each other for a long while.

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“Atalante, I heard you’re with child!”

Jenna, who began spouting nonsense the moment she arrived at the grand duchy’s drawing room, only closed her mouth when she was faced with Atalante’s murderous gaze.

“What original nonsense is that? A child?”

Atalante, who was meeting the Argo executives for the first time in a long while, had to question Jenna without even having the time to feel joyful.

At her irritated question, Jenna opened her mouth like she couldn’t wait anymore.

“There are rumours in the Grand Duchy. The grand duke and duchess share such a harmonious married life that they’re already expecting a child. Even us, who were confined in the annex, also knew about it, so I asked you.”

“Is Jenna saying the truth?”

Atalante, who crossed her legs oppressively, looked at the other executives with a suspicion-filled gaze.

“That the rumour has certainly reached our ears, Boss.”

Upon hearing Mia’s answer, Atalante swept up her hair irritably.

The source of the rumour was probably one of the servants that entered their room on the day after their wedding night. Or perhaps it could be all of them.

“It hasn’t even been a week since I got married though? What child…”

“Life always arrives suddenly, Atalante.”

Mia and Devon nodded at Jenna’s words one after the other.

“I heard that the boss ate the grand duke up completely? Do cut him some slack. Aristocrats require sufficient recuperation.”

“I heard that it’s the other way around. The grand duke won’t let Atalante go. I heard that once they enter the bedroom, they’ll spend half a day there.”

That’s because a fierce physical fight would unfold with him for the sake of the ‘custom’.

Unfortunately, Atalante had yet to successfully fulfil the simple custom of kissing his cheek.

“Well… You don’t have to hide it from us. First of all, should I… congratulate you, Boss?”

It was absurd that such a ridiculous rumour has spreaded, and that they seemed to believe this rumour. Devon took over Mia’s careful question with shining eyes.

“I hope that it’ll be a strong girl like you, so when she grows up, I’ll hire her as a bodyguard.”

“You fool, why would a grand princess guard a guy like you?”

“Wait a minute, do you guys really believe that rumour?”

The trio nodded simultaneously at Atalante’s question.

Even before she could ask why, Jenna shrugged and opened her mouth.

“Actually, I wasn’t too sure until I saw it in person. I thought there was a secret between you two. Like the boss had caught the grand duke’s weakness or something.”

If only that was the case.

Jenna went on without minding the gloomy look on the boss’s face.

“But I became certain at the wedding. That the grand duke and the boss like each other.”

“What do you mean you like it! The grand duke doesn’t like me! The man is…!”

Atalante, who was about to explain the love potion inadvertently, closed her mouth.

“How much can she say? What about the emperor’s assassination commission? And that the grand duke married me because of the love potion? What if it puts the executives in danger? In the first place, would they believe it if she told them about it?’

The story of the grand duke, who was enamoured by the assassin that was commissioned to kill him, and eventually married said assassin, couldn’t be explained without mentioning the special device, love potion.

But aside from Esma, the person who manufactured the drug, it was unlikely for them to believe in the existence of such an absurd drug.

Because if she hadn’t personally experienced it, Atalante wouldn’t have believed it.

“What do you mean he doesn’t like you? What does that mean?”

Unable to endure the short silence, Jenna urged for Atalante’s answer again.

‘It wouldn’t be too late to talk about it after Esma completed the antidote, would it?’

Atalante, who decided to withhold the truth for now, spoke in a shrinking voice.

“What I mean is… he doesn’t like me… That man loves me.”

I want to die.

That was the only thought in Atalante’s head as she said those words.

Her face immediately flushed with shame.

As soon as she finished speaking, the executives’ faces hardened.

They’ve been with Atalante for quite some time, but they’d never seen her like this before.

Instead of death, Atalante spoke of love. No, now, she was Atalante Blanc.

‘The so-called power of love.’

Having misunderstood the appearance of the boss, whose ears were also flushed, in a different sense, they just looked at the unfamiliar Atalante dazedly.

As they admired the power of love that they’d only heard of. At the same time, they mistakenly thought that the rumours of her having a baby were true.

“Rather than that, what about Yuffie?”

Atalante, who felt the void belatedly, tilted her head.

“Come to think of it, his hand was stained with something before coming here, and he followed a maid?”

In the past, Yuffie had always stuck close to Atalante, like a large dog.

When she went to fulfil commissions, he kept hovering in front of Atalante’s door all night.

Even after hearing harsh words to not wander in front of the room as he pleased, Yuffie wasn’t able to break this habit easily.

It looked like a duckling following a mother duck.

It was because Yuffie considered her to be his saviour. And that was actually true to some extent.

“Shall we go find him? He might be lost.”

A look of worry was on Jenna’s face as it’s already been a while since they’d separated from Yuffie.

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