The Unlikely Imprint of the Villainess and the Male Lead - Chapter 69
Chapter 69
Translator: Yonnee
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“Have you been well all this time?”
The moment her eyes met his, her large, blossoming eyes gently closed.
It was a fresh and fragrant smile befitting the season when new life sprouted, yet Richt stared at Deborah with emotionless indifference, as if viewing a black-and-white world.
“I told you not to call out to me for no reason. Have you forgotten already?”
“Huh? Ah…”
His cold gaze would have been enough, but Richt displayed an unnecessarily sharp attitude.
Perhaps because he detected a distinct fondness in the eyes that were looking at him. As befits a descendant of a race that recognizes only one life partner in a lifetime, he instinctively felt disgust—and grew endlessly cold.
“I, I’m sorry if I upset you. It was just my joy getting the better of me…”
Did something unpleasant happen?
He had always been prickly, but his chilly tone struck like thorns. It was as if, rather than a human being, he was dealing with a particularly annoying stone that had struck his foot.
“Tch. You could have just nodded and left, but you always act like that.”
The indifferent gaze visible through her naturally falling black hair seemed to speak of the distance between them.
After all the steadfast advances and expressions of interest… could he really remain so unyieldingly unmoved?
Deborah, looking at Richt who showed no sign of opening his heart to her, wore a dejected expression, but soon gathered her wits and steeled herself.
‘It’s too soon to give up! How lucky it is to have bumped into the Duke by chance today. I still have things left to say!’
Emboldened, Deborah clenched her fists and looked up at Richt with sparkling eyes.
“Um, Your Grace!”
“……”
Far from backing down despite his own warning, Richt’s brow furrowed slightly at her lively appearance.
“Would you perhaps become my glorious partner at the upcoming Spring Festival…?!”
I finally said it!
Deborah, who had burst out speaking without pausing for breath, clutched her chest—pounding as if it might burst from tension—and trembled uncontrollably.
Her rosy cheeks and tightly closed eyes were as lovely as a girl confessing her first love.
‘…Why isn’t there any response?’
Through her cautiously squinted eyes, hints of purple irises gradually emerged.
She worried that he might ignore her words and simply leave, but fortunately, Richt remained seated, silently watching.
“That’s a question not even worth answering.”
“……!”
Even though her trembling proposal to become partners was mercilessly rejected.
“W-Why?!”
Startled by his knife-edged response, Deborah inadvertently shouted back.
‘I already knew that he might not accept the proposal. But even if it’s the Duke, for him to outright reject it…!’
But still, to think you’d say no without even a second’s hesitation…?
‘Ah! Could it be…’
At the moment her lips drooped like a wilted puppy in despair, suddenly a thought flashed through her mind.
Clasping her hands together as if in prayer, Deborah asked cautiously in a voice tinged with anxiety,
“Could it be that you already have a partner…?”
“Enough.”
The moment she mentioned the word ‘partner’, Richt’s expression immediately hardened.
“!”
At that, Deborah was forced to shut her mouth as if dead, for the steady, low warning in his gaze left no room for further words.
It would be better if she said nothing further.
His gaze, devoid of any warmth, seemed to roar at Deborah.
Upset by her even more pitiable state than usual, her puppy-like eyes quickly filled with tears.
“Ah… um, I’ve kept you too long, Duke. I know you’re busy… I’ll be on my way now.”
Her very feeling cried out for him to stop holding her back any longer.
‘What is this? Why…?’
Her heart pounded as if she had swallowed poison. Without even knowing what she was saying, Deborah bade him farewell and left.
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