Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Translator: Effe

Editor: Yonnee

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Erich shook his head. He found himself tongue-tied during the times that her eyes looked like hot steel like that. In the end, he just rolled around his words in his mouth and held them back.

“Anyway.”

He changed the subject. His voice originally carried much charisma, so that alone had the power to divert people’s attention.

“I thought you were negligent, but I was surprised to hear that.”

“I know. I didn’t plan to live this diligently either, but I have a child to raise. Should I call it a milk buff?”

That night five years ago, when Elisa came home, blue and terrified while covered in blood, Claire was determined to muster all the power she could—

To protect her family.

“Because I have nowhere else to turn. It’s not like my family is particularly high up on the hierarchy. I should at least have some money.”

Erich did not answer.

The conversation came to a lull right then. Claire emptied the tea, feeling satisfied. She didn’t know how long ago was the last time she had a conversation with Erich without any shouting.

She was in a good mood, but on the contrary, Erich looked down at her with an uneasy face.

“Did you ever think of contacting me?”

“That would just be a mere daydream.”

Claire was frustrated. Still, she couldn’t reveal all the circumstances.

‘I don’t mean that Senior is unreliable, but…’

When it came to secrets, the fewer the people who knew, the better.

Erich had a close relationship with the imperial family. The emperor was his uncle on his mother’s side, and the empress was also a relative of his. The ruling families of the empire were all connected by close-knit marriages.

So she couldn’t tell him the truth. Whether he was close with the empress or not, he was much too close to the danger zone.

Even if that wasn’t the case, Claire couldn’t get him to move for her. It was her responsibility to protect Elisa and Elliot—it had nothing to do with him.

He’s misunderstanding the situation with Elliot, but in the end, he wasn’t connected to them at all.

“Claire.”

Claire was lost in thought for some reason, but when she heard her name called, she looked up.

Erich’s hand lifted her chin and fixed her gaze on him. At some point, he came close enough for his clothes to touch her.

Claire got startled. Her breath hitched sharply. She hoped he would not find out about it.

“I’m not talking about Elliot.”

Erich’s voice, which had been speaking quietly since earlier, became even lower. She wasn’t sure if he was being careful not to be heard or if he was trying to suppress his emotions.

But Claire could feel the boiling heat beneath his voice. She had already heard such a voice from him before.

“I am the man who’s been trying to court you. Did you really never think of me when you needed a place to turn to?”

“That’s… what you’re upset about?”

“Am I really nothing to you? I thought, at least between us…”

Erich continued with a wavering voice.

“I thought our hearts were quite close to each other compared to others.”

“Well. Even if that’s true…”

Unable to pronounce the word love, Claire inhaled. And she backed away, trying to push him away, but before that, Erich grabbed her hand.

“You seem to have forgotten, but I want you.”

He pressed his lips lightly against the back of Claire’s hand and then let her go. The movements were so smooth and natural that he made it look like the ballroom of the imperial palace rather than the break room of a toy store.

“You said I didn’t have to marry you like I was rectifying a mistake. I’m sick of it now. How long do we have to talk about this?”

Claire squeezed out her hoarse voice. She shouldn’t be like this, but her thoughts kept going to the wrong place. The temperature of the palm held, the arm wrapped around her waist.

Erich had a solid palm for a noble. Claire shuddered at the thought of it.

“When I said it was a mistake, I wasn’t talking about holding you, it was that the order was wrong.”

He bowed his head towards Claire. Claire opened her mouth and looked at Erich. His sonorous voice almost reached Claire’s lips.

“I should have courted you first.”

After Claire graduated, he was going to be in line as one of her suitors, but as soon as Claire got her diploma, she left for her family’s estate.

After returning to the capital after a few years and reuniting again, she spouted some nonsense and touted him as a shameless man in one night, then ran away again.

Erich didn’t have any intentions of being foolishly absent-minded until now.

“This place, Senior. Where do you think we are now?”

“Sure, the rumors—they should already be out of control by now. But what can I gain by keeping my mouth shut to protect your honor? To please others? To lose a child?”

“That’s not it.”

Then came Elliot’s screaming.

“Auntie and Uncle are kissing!”

Even though the adults had their ears up, they were being polite, and no one spoke directly. But children were different.

The children followed Elliott as if they were seeing something very exciting, and spoke in unison.

“Kiss!!”

“They kissed!”

Claire turned red and pushed Erich away. Erich didn’t care about other people’s eyes on him, but he let her go.

“What are you people doing in public?”

Roger, who had been carrying Elliot on his shoulders, scolded them. Pavel and Martha, who followed Elliot behind him, were looking embarrassed.

Claire covered her face with her palms. This was too embarrassing.

“We didn’t.”

“No, I saw it!”

Elliot shouted. He struggled to get off Roger’s shoulders.

Claire went and tried to hold him, but Erich reached out before her and lifted Elliot lightly. Although, it did look more like he was pulling Elliot away from Roger rather than purely just carrying him.

As he gently tried to set him down on the floor, Elliot struggled with his feet and whipped himself into the air.

“Careful.”

“Ack!”

As soon as his feet touched the floor, Elliot ran over and grabbed Claire’s leg.

“Auntie!”

Erich didn’t know what to say, so he shut his mouth and looked at Elliot. Elliot rubbed his face against Claire’s skirt.

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