Certainly, here’s the translation for the passage you provided:
“Only for those who are interested.”
Mark said indifferently as he sipped his tea.
Adel too made an indifferent face as if she didn’t hear.
But being alone with a man who had confessed to being interested in her was too awkward and disconcerting.
“By the way, how is Jade?”
“Yes, the lad is always cheerful.”
Jade was Mark’s son. His wife had died giving birth to Jade.
“May I pack the remaining pie for you to take? Jade might like it.”
“He will certainly like it. But it sounds like you want me to leave already.”
Adel couldn’t say no.
Then, collecting his royal bag, Mark coolly stood up.
“Since I’ve enjoyed delicious pie, I’ll now head out with energy.”
Adel carefully said as she stood up to follow him.
“I’m sorry. It’s still awkward being alone.”
Mark laughed heartily.
His large lips revealed neat and bright teeth that were pleasant to look at.
“Actually, I’m also very awkward.”
At his honest answer, Adel felt relieved.
“So I’ll come to play again when there’s time. Then it will be less awkward.”
Adel couldn’t answer promptly and just smiled ambiguously.
He seemed like a better man than she thought. She felt sorry for dragging him in to quash rumors with Christine.
“Yes, come again next time. Bring Jade along.”
Then it would be a little less awkward.
“Ha ha, Jade would really like that, wouldn’t he?”
But what she really liked seemed to be Mark.
Adel carefully wrapped the remaining pie in greaseproof paper and tied it neatly with a ribbon. It felt like the only way to alleviate her guilt.
That’s when it happened.
The sound of a carriage was heard from outside the garden.
“……!”
Adel’s face froze as she peered out the window to see who had come.
The man who alighted from the carriage approached her house without hesitation.
“Who is it?”
Mark, sensing the unusual atmosphere, asked.
Knock, knock.
The next moment, there was a knock, and the door opened.
[Star Icon][Star Icon][Star Icon]“What are you doing here without notice?”
When Adel asked in surprise, Christine furrowed his brow and asked.
“Did I interrupt a good time?”
He would understand by now what he was misunderstanding. But Adel didn’t bother to correct him.
“Say hello. This is Baron Mark Castler. And you are……”
“The Earl of Vice? I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Mark greeted with his characteristic gentle expression.
But Christine only looked at him. His face was expressionless, but his light gray eyes were sharp and cold.
“Chris……”
Adel called cautiously.
“It’s regrettable. I have not heard about the baron.”
“How rude, Chris.”
Adel scolded in embarrassment, but Christine laughed. His mouth smiled, but his eyes looking at Mark were sharper than before.
“You should have told me in advance, Adel. That the man you are meeting is a mere baron.”
“Chris!”
“Still, you were once the wife of the former Duke. Shouldn’t you be meeting someone of a certain rank?”
“Christine, Earl of Vice!”
Christine turned to look at Adel at her sharp voice, still smiling with his mouth.
As the atmosphere grew tense, Mark awkwardly intervened.
“Let’s greet each other formally next time. I’ll come with Jade later, Adel.”
Then……
Smack!
He kissed Adel’s cheek.
“……!”
An entirely unexpected move.
Too astonished, Adel only opened her eyes wide, unable to say anything.
During that time, Mark briskly left the mansion.
Now only Adel and Christine were left inside the house.
The evening settled outside the window.
[Star Icon][Star Icon][Star Icon]“It’s an invitation from the princess.”
The one who broke the silence was Christine.
He nonchalantly laid a pink envelope on the table.
Inside, when Adel opened the envelope, was an invitation with the royal seal.
It was for a tea time together this weekend afternoon. Coincidentally, it was the day she had agreed to deliver desserts to the royal family.
“Did you come to give this?”
“To check if you forgot the appointment.”
“The appointment? Ah… the apple pie.”
Adel, tilting her head, said as if she just remembered.
But how could she forget?
She was researching daily to make an apple pie that tasted just like her mother’s. Once she achieved a similar taste, she had intended to invite him. But now, she didn’t want to tell the truth.
Certainly! Here’s the translated passage:
She was angry at his rudeness.
In the meantime, Christine had discovered a wrapped apple pie on the table.
It was something Adel hadn’t been able to tell him because she was surprised by Mark’s unexpected action.
“It doesn’t look like it was made knowing I was coming… Is it his?”
He spoke arrogantly, leaning against the sofa and resting his arm on the backrest.
“It’s wrapped to give it to his child.”
“He had a child too?”
His straight brow furrowed deeply.
“I was married once.”
“Well, the first marriage was with an old count, so marrying a baronet with a child wouldn’t be strange.”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
