“I will guarantee the life you want. If you want to be alone, then alone, or if you want to become a noble, whether through adoption or marriage, I will introduce you to the family you hope for. I will also provide everything you need afterwards. As I said before, as sincerely as possible.”

The Count’s voice remained monotonous, but its content was radical.

So this was a promise to become a guardian.

A promise to take responsibility for her future as if she were a younger sister or daughter.

Evie could neither like nor dislike this excessive proposal, and asked,

“I, it’s too generous an offer; why go so far for me…?”

“You owe a debt. To the person who asked me.”

“Who is that person?”

Evie really didn’t know, so she asked.

She had thought about it since hearing it earlier, but nothing came to mind.

A person who would ask for Evie’s protection.

At the same time, a person who would owe a debt to Count Philip Morris.

In Evie’s past life, there was definitely no such familiar and competent person.

So she asked honestly, but Count Philip Morris’s eyes narrowed again.

Count Philip Morris looked at Evie as if tolerating something unpleasant, then avoided the question with strange words.

“If you don’t know, there’s no need to know. I don’t want you to know either.”

It doesn’t make sense to accept a request without needing to know who made it. It was nonsense.

So Evie wondered if there might be a secret to her birth.

She thought she was an orphan from Heaven, but in fact had tremendous parents who found her late.

This too was too convenient an explanation. Still, Evie couldn’t help but be intrigued.

She didn’t know what was what yet, but if Count Philip Morris’s words were true, Evie’s future was certainly bright.

It goes without saying that the wrong she committed at the banquet yesterday will be nullified, and Evie’s shaky status will instead be strengthened. More importantly, Duke Laurel, who opposes Evie’s selection as a saintess because of his sister, might change his mind.

If so, the saintess’s position would be secured, and this annoying curse would no longer be a problem.

“It’s good…?”

Evie unconsciously bit her lip, trying not to laugh frivolously.

Then, as if reading Evie’s thoughts, Count Philip Morris added,

“There is a condition, however.”

“Just tell me.”

“Give up becoming a saintess.”

At that moment, Evie’s bubbling joy stopped abruptly.

“A saintess…?”

At Evie’s counterquestion, Count Philip Morris nodded. So Evie’s briefly elated mind found its place again.

Why did he need such a condition to give up becoming a saintess?

Evie asked Count Philip Morris, hiding her suspicion.

“May I ask why?”

“Why do you want to become a saintess?”

But the impudent Count answered the question with a question. So Evie reflexively answered.

“I want to be a difficult person. …Being a difficult person means, that is, being a person who struggles. To dedicate oneself to the world and people, because that’s the role of a saintess.”

Unknowingly pouring out her true feelings, Evie hurriedly covered up. Then she desperately hoped that Count Philip Morris didn’t understand her true feelings, or even if he did, that he would let it go lightly.

But the Count, with no tact, asked again.

Certainly, here’s the translated passage with all the characters’ names and genders translated accurately:

“Do you want to suffer?”

“No, I’m sick of suffering now. …But no matter how sick I am of it, if everyone needs it, I’ll gladly do it. Yes.”

“Who is everyone?”

“I don’t know. …So many people I don’t know?”

As the questions continued, a curse danced on the tip of her tongue. Thanks to that, Evie wanted to vomit more and more as she spoke.

She thought she could handle it if she just kept her mind clear, but Evie’s curse was more wicked than she had thought.

Babbling and exposing her true thoughts, Evie swallowed her selfloathing and looked for the count’s reaction.

Fortunately, the count didn’t laugh or frown. He was just watching Evie with a slanted gaze.

“If you’re sick of suffering, it would be better for you to live as my ward rather than as a saint.”

‘Damn…’

At the count’s emotionless voice, Evie solemnly swallowed her curse.

The count, who was said to be clumsy in socializing, seemed to have truly understood Evie’s sincerity.

Evie shook her head at this unfixable mess, and the count finally explained his reason.

“My reason for telling you to give up the saint position is firstly, being a saint and belonging to the tower is bothersome, secondly, the saint must regularly go down to Bis, which is troublesome to protect, and thirdly, a commoner saint may be threatened, which is also troublesome to protect.”

Unlike Evie’s nonsense, the count’s reasons were clear.

With that, Evie, who had heard the word “bothersome” three times, smiled a burnedout smile with a pale face.

But it wasn’t over yet.

“And fourthly, most importantly, it doesn’t suit you. Being a saint is not for you at all.”

Count Zion Laurel was clearly awkward in socializing.

Otherwise, he couldn’t have so effectively shattered the other’s pride.

.

.

.

“I’ll hear your answer in three days, as you’ll need time to think.”

The count left his seat after leaving these words. Then, Evie Ariate just nodded her head and smiled kindly.

The count returned to Laurel Castle after noon.

“Where have you been since morning? You’re even dressed like that.”

A low voice came from the top of the stairs as he entered the main hall.

There, a blackhaired man resembling the count was leaning on the railing. It was his halfbrother, the Grand Duke of Laurel.

The count stepped up the stairs without saying anything to his brother.

“I heard about it. There was an incident while I was away.”

But the Grand Duke continued, unfazed, then rather scolded his younger brother for his affairs.

“I’m going to send a protest to the tower. So that Evie Ariate, who insulted you, can no longer walk around, I will seek a close punishment…”

“Don’t.”

But suddenly, the count, Zion, stopped him.

At his brother’s firm voice, the Grand Duke was startled into silence.

“What?”

“Don’t touch that child.”

Zion warned his bewildered brother again, and then coldly passed him by.

The flustered Grand Duke called after Zion, but Zion ignored him again.

Zion Laurel hated everything in Tienda. That’s why he never wanted to come back.

But there was only one reason he had been forced to return.

Evie Ariate. A debt that had to be repaid somehow.

With a cold face, Zion, crossing the corridor, unknowingly frowned.

Evie Ariate, whom he had put off meeting again and again, turned out to be a fool.

She seemed to be pretending at the banquet, but suddenly she was fussing about being impulsive, not cutting off other people’s words, and suddenly accusing him of being a pervert. Then she was flustered, saying it was a mistake.

Zion couldn’t figure out how someone like her had survived in the harsh Tienda.

Of course, he didn’t need to know. He didn’t want to know. It’s over as soon as the debt is repaid.

Thinking this way, Zion erased Evie Ariate’s existence, which was like a splinter in his fingertip, from his mind.

It was a fact known to no one, but Zion Laurel had a huge debt.

And that revolving debt had to be repaid to Evie Ariate.

Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me

One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.

Synopsis:

Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.

But this is still far from enough.

He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.

_____

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