IELNDMH - Chapter 81 < I Can't Even Kiss You >

IELNDMH - Chapter 81 < I Can't Even Kiss You >

I Ended Up Living Up Next Door With My Ex-Husband

I slowly put down the glass of water and looked around carefully.

'Of course, I knew it would be like this, but it's more suffocating than I thought...'

Me, Bianca, Cedric, and High Priest Diat.

The air in the dinner room where four people were gathered was extremely heavy.

However, that atmosphere did not originate entirely from us.

If we were to find the cause of that atmosphere, should we say that it is because of the vitality radiating from the employees?

As usual, they were standing around the banquet table, each glaring at High Priest Diat with frost-like eyes.

High Priest Diat seemed to be trying to ignore the gazes and concentrating on his meal, but his hands were trembling as he cut.

'Still, I'm still a guest, so how can't I eat properly like that?'

I secretly sent a signal to Cedric to stop the workers.

However, he just continued eating with a carefree face, as if he didn't understand my signal.

Thanks to the indifferent owner, High Priest Diat's complexion became increasingly pale as time went by.

“...Kuhhh, khuhhh!”

In the end, a violent cough poured out of High Priest Diat's mouth.

He quickly covered his mouth with a napkin and couldn't stop coughing for a while.

"Oh! High Priest Diat, are you okay?”

“...High Priest!”

Even at that moment, the only people paying attention to that poor man were me and Bianca.

All the employees just watched the suffering High Priest Diat with indifference.

Some even laughed at him, as if accusing him of accusation.

'Weird? No matter how bad he is with Cedric, there's no way the servants would treat a guest who visits the Grand Duke's castle like this...'

As they have a sense of duty to work for the Twins family, employees have always performed their duties politely.

They treated the guests coldly, and Cedric just watched them.

After looking at them curiously for a moment, I turned my head towards High Priest Diat again.

For now, I felt like taking care of my guests comes first.

‘They said they’ll give the ugly guy one more piece of rice cake. Moreover, he came here as a representative of the Pope.'

I forced my eyes to smile and pushed the glass of water closer to him.

“I’m worried that northern cuisine doesn’t suit your taste.”

Then he barely stopped coughing and shook his head, covering his mouth.

“It’s not like that. On the contrary, I am eating very well...”

It was clear that the High Priest who spoke like that did not even know what he had eaten a moment ago, or whether the food went into his mouth or nose.

I decided to continue the conversation with him a little longer.

This is because I wanted to lighten the dreary atmosphere and reveal his intentions.

“You came to deliver blessings to the north, right? But since I don’t know anything about religion, I’m curious about how you plan to spend your time.”

After quickly quenching his thirst with wine, High Priest Diat wiped his mouth with a napkin and immediately removed his lips.

“I plan to visit the Central Grand Shrine in the North every day while I’m here.”

“The Northern Central Grand Shrine is the temple in the city, right?”

"That's right. We had already delivered the news through the diocese that we were going to deliver the consecration as a representative of the Pope, so the Grand Shrine would have already promoted that fact to believers in the north.”

“Ah, then many believers from the north will flock to the Great Hall like a cloud to receive the Pope’s blessing. It’s been a while since you came all the way to the north, but you can’t even rest and you must be busy the whole time.”

“Yes, I guess so...”

High Priest Diat's words were slurred, and something he had forgotten suddenly appeared on his face.

After keeping his mouth shut for a moment with a seemingly solemn expression, he spoke again with force.

“But there is nothing to worry about. Other than the few hours I have to spend in the Great Hall, I plan to stay inside the Twins Castle.”

This meant that there should not be any expectation that surveillance would be neglected.

At the same time, the momentary feeling of pity for him slowly disappeared.

'As expected, this person is unlucky.'

High Priest Diat slowly took his gaze away from me, who was forcing a smile, and looked at Cedric.

“By the way, is it true that you two are still living separately?”

As High Priest Diat asked that question, a cool-headed aura appeared in his eyes.

His expression was quite different from before when he was very scared.

In a moment, he seemed to be reminded again of the reason he had come to the Twins Castle.

“For several months now, I heard that His Highness the Grand Duke is residing here in the Mansion of Light, and Her Highness is residing in the Mansion of Darkness. I wonder if you are still living that way... ?”

To those who didn't know the circumstances of Cedric and I's divorce, it would have sounded like the High Priest was worried about our discord.

But the faces of Cedric and I slowly hardened as we knew the real gist of the question.

The corners of Cedric's lips twisted up after taking a sip of wine.

“That’s right.”

In response to his answer, High Priest Diat slowly nodded.

“Then you two will have fewer encounters. This is so... It is a concern.”

The face that said that was quite different from that of someone worried.

After letting out a long sigh of relief, the habitual suspicion once again seeped into High Priest Diat's eyes.

***

That night.

Several hours have passed since dinner ended and we returned to the dark mansion.

A time that would normally have been spent with Cedric.

I was lying on the bed and looking through documents.

It was a document listing the attendees of a masquerade ball to be held to promote the futures investment agency.

This promotional banquet invited all celebrities from all over the country.

I don't know if it was because invitations were sent out in advance before the Emperor's birthday banquet, or because it was the first banquet held in a long time by party fanatic Rebecca, but fortunately, many people accepted the invitation.

“I thought not many people would come from the northern or capital city nobles, but they came from far away southern countries, there were a lot more people than I expected, right?”

The fact that the banquet organizer is from the South may also have an impact.

At that time, I was going through the list of Southern celebrities who had expressed their intention to attend the banquet.

― James Bold.

My eyebrows furrowed slightly at the familiar name.

'That's right, Duke Bold. Since he has an external eye, of course, I should invite him.'

I realized that I had completely forgotten about him after the Emperor's birthday party.

How could that be?

I was deep in thought for a moment. I realized once again that I had not heard from Duke Bold ever since I returned from the Emperor's Birthday Banquet.

That day, Duke Bold moved away with Cedric and was not seen for a while.

It was some time after Henry's body was discovered that he reappeared.

For some reason, the face of Duke Bold, who was glancing at Cedric with a scared face, came to mind.

'At the time, I thought it was just because they were surprised to see Henry dead... Did something happen with Cedric during that time?'

I hoped so.

In the original work, he colluded with the evil woman Camilla and committed all kinds of evil deeds.

Thanks to that, Rebecca in the original work, who was still, was hit by a spark and died.

It would be best to keep my distance from Duke Bold somehow.

I once again felt the presence of Cedric, who sensed my intention and secretly helped me so that he could not approach me easily.

And... Even his empty space.

'Maybe it's because we've been together for so many days that I feel even more empty.'

As soon as I felt the depressed feelings rising, I quickly shook my head.

And it was that time when I was looking at the list of banquet attendees again.

Knock, knock.

A small sound was heard from the window.

Suddenly, when I turned my head, a black cat sitting politely outside the window caught my eye.

"Uh? What a cat... ”

As soon as it made eye contact with me, it knocked on the window as if it had been waiting.

Knock, knock.

It was a sound I heard a little while ago.

The cat that suddenly appeared sat down politely, knocked on the window and slowly blinked its eyes while looking at me.

'Are you asking me to open the window?'

I slowly opened the window, and the cat entered the bedroom with graceful steps.

Shiny black fur and cute sticking-out ears.

I paused to put my hand on him, wondering if he would scratch me, and the cat rubbed his head against my hand as if he had been waiting.

So I moved my hand and scratched under his chin and stroked his head.

The cat seemed to be in a better mood as it closed its blue eyes and purred.

“You really like people, right? You’re cute.”

At a time when I was feeling empty, such a cute guest came by.

Feeling happy and grateful, I looked around to find something to repay, but there was no way there was anything like cat food in the bedroom.

I closed the window that had been slightly open until then and looked at the cat again.

“Don’t run away, just wait a moment. I’ll go out and see if there’s anything I can give you.”

When I withdrew my hand, the cat kept pushing his head towards me with an expression of regret.

"Hang in there. I’ll be right back, okay?”

And just as I was barely able to take a few steps towards the bedroom door.

A sudden sense of déjà vu made me tilt my head.

First meeting with Vincent, a brown cat. A black cat, and... Blue eyes...

'No way... ?'

The moment when I slowly turned my head towards the place where the cat was sitting just a moment ago.

"You...!”

I immediately made eye contact with Cedric, who was sitting by the window with his long legs crossed.

He looked at me and raised the corners of his mouth, then clicked his tongue as if he was disappointed.

“Have you already noticed how boring it is? I was also looking forward to being touched here and there for a long time like Vincent.”

“My, when did I touch this place for so long again! What are you talking about?”

I was so angry that I shouted for a while.

When I suddenly remembered that this was the surveillance period for High Priest Diat, I hurriedly lowered my voice.

“Cedric, how on earth did you get here?”

Cedric's brow furrowed slightly at my question.

“As you can see, I came with the body of a cat. It looked too cute and shameful to be the Grand Duke of the Western Empire.”

“...Not that one. I’m asking why you went to such lengths to come here.”

“Of course...”

Blue eyes slowly rolled to the side.

“Because I missed you.”

After staring at him blankly as he said that, I quickly shook my head.

To say that with such a beautiful face and such a pitiful expression.

I almost passed on by myself.

But what time is now? It was a time when being careful wasn't enough.

“Then what are you going to do if you catch High Priest Diat’s attention? It seems like I have to draw a portrait for a crying child. This is really....”

It was clearly something I said in a harsh tone, but Cedric's expression became quite serious.

“Well, I guess it wouldn’t be that bad if I could see your face.”

“No, Cedric...”

“But a portrait is just a portrait, it’s not you.”

He jumped down from the window and slowly walked in front of me.

Then he naturally wrapped one arm around my waist and hugged me.

“I can’t touch you like this.”

Cedric kissed me lightly.

“I can’t kiss you like this.”

He lightly kissed my eyes, nose, and cheek and spoke as if pleading.

“So please take a look, Rebecca. It’s a pity that I came here acting so ridiculous.”

When I finally nodded in response to his earnest voice, a smile slowly spread across his lips.

And not long after, the tip of his sweet tongue delved into the gaping gap as if he had been waiting.

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