The Girl Who Was Forced by Her Stepsister to Marry the Cursed Duke

Chapter 24: 《Bhadra’s POV》The Shape of an Awkward Love 

T/N: A pic of the automata working hard to maintain this huge mansion! 

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The next morning, Miltia’s eyes sparkled when she noticed the tub.
As the girl breathlessly ran back to her bedroom while clutching on a tub full of shrimp and shellfish, her cheeks were adorned with the colour of cherry blossom. 

…… It’s great that she’s happy.
Right, young master? Figuratively speaking… If this is not Miltia we’re talking about, our young master’s action can be considered as bullying, right? 

……… Or rather.
You.
You’ve proposed to her but you two are still sleeping in separate bedrooms? 

But of course these thoughts were only reserved for me only, never to see the daylight. 

“Ma-Maricle-sama?! What’s with this assortment of fresh seafood?!”

“It’s… It’s nothing.
I mean, just because I’m not cursed anymore, it doesn’t mean we can’t get any fresh seafood anymore.”

“H-How wonderful!!”

When Miltia looked at the young master with sparkles in her eyes… I guess… I could sort of understand why he wanted to surprise her. 

“…….
But… Maybe it’d be better if you don’t put shrimps in a normal temperature overnight….”

“Huh?! Is that so?!”

OKAY OKAY YOU TWO! Stop looking so disappointed in front of a tub full of seafood!

“L-Leave it to me! Miltia, if it’s just seafood then I can create a new one in no time!”

“Whoa! Really?! ….But… That means we need to dispose of the one in this tub then….”

Was it just my imagination or did I really see the word ‘what a waste’ literally written on her face?

“Ugh….! T-then! With 『space-time magic』I… I will turn back time to the time when the seafood was still fresh!”

“S-Such incredible magic like that is…?!”

『Oi , hold it.』

I accidentally spoke informally. 

After all this time, our young master… He was the type of guy that was too good to be true so of course he was assaulted by women left and right.
So I never realised he was the type that would go down this low in order to show off his selling point… To be honest I was completely baffled to see this.  

…..Is this… Because I didn’t educate him enough? Maybe I should’ve let him play around with women some more? No, but… Before he was cursed, women would throw themselves at him aggressively and contrary to their expectations, young master instead grew tired of their relentless approach… But who would’ve thought that young master would end up in this state?

In the first place, young master’s 『space-time magic』is the trump card of Lönnrot family.
Furthermore, unlike 『time stopping』, 『time reversal』has several restrictions and requires an enormous amount of magic.
In fact, that magic is still in the experimental stage.
It should never, ever be used to keep a food fresh. 

…….That train of thoughts flashed through my brain.

『Ah… More importantly, young master, shouldn’t you go and give your report to the royal family at the earliest opportunity?  Prince Ars must be eagerly waiting for young master to visit him.』

“…..
You’re right.
Because of Miltia’s sister, the denunciation was only halfway through but still, the fabrication of the『rostering』is not something that we can overlook.
We should go to the royal capital and report this case promptly.”

『Oh my? I was sure you were going to overlook it? 』

I teased him through the automaton but the smile on my face was evident from my voice.
Young master then scowled his eyebrows, looking slightly displeased.

“Bhadra… Do you really think I’d let them be and allow them to continue ridiculing Miltia?”

A smile appeared on his face.
He looked like a ruthless angel, ready to announce the apocalypse.