41. At the Royal Castle (Dylan’s POV)

 By Antoinette Vanessa December 12, 2022

A few days later, Dylan visited the royal castle.

He came to see the crown prince—Lawrence, who was also his distant relative. To Dylan, he was akin to a brother he never had. Of course, the visit itself was related to the previous petition.

“…Therefore, I’d like to highlight this particular clause. If we confront the matter head-on, there’s a chance it will fail. As such, I suggest for us to start moving in advance.”

“How did you spot that clause?”

When Lawrence asked briskly, Dylan maintained his calm.

“My fiancée offered me her insight.”

“So, Avril Allingham…?”

“That’s right. When I consulted this with her, she came up with this plan straight away.”

“This clause was added earlier this year. Good job spotting it. If I may ask, you didn’t do this in an attempt to test if she’s qualified to serve as the Duchess of Lancester, right?”

“Of course not. I was—as a matter of fact, troubled. Hence why I asked her.”

“Hee…”

 Lawrence seemed to be satisfied. “Certainly, if there’s a clause that acknowledges such an exception, I can freely play my cards.” He didn’t seem to care about Dylan, whose expression was eclipsed by his profound gaze.

“She’s truly amazing.”

“Indeed, I can’t believe she was treated as incompetent by the family of Count of Allingham.”

“No, it’s not about that. I’m talking about how she succeeded in opening your heart. Usually, you wouldn’t have consulted someone else about your problems.”

“That’s…”

Caught off guard, Dylan—trying to display the least amount of emotion as possible—became speechless.

Dylan didn’t trust people all that much.

As a matter of course, he trusted his close aide—Chris, and the servants of the mansion. However, he carefully maintained a boundary between them.

Lawrence, his brother figure since childhood, knew that the reason was because of the environment in which Dylan was born and raised in. Due to that reason, he became profoundly interested in Dylan’s relationship with Avril.

“Dylan, the truth is, I always believed you had decided to marry simply to keep your family in order. However, once I met the two of you in person, I saw how close you were. No, rather than close—never mind… More importantly, isn’t your relationship going well?”

Lawrence grinned, while Dylan couldn’t quite manage to hide his embarrassment.

“…Lawrence, if you spend a few days around her—no, even if you only spend a day with her, you’ll come to understand how unique and ador—I mean, fascinating she is. Even though she wasn’t exactly born in a blessed environment, how was she able to turn out that way?”

“Actually, I figured that in a few hours. When we were playing chess, she was rather absentminded. Yet somehow, she still managed to make a complete fool out of me. It’s not every day that you get to meet such a lovely young lady. I’m quite fond of her, too. If Alexandra allows it, I might make her my mistress?”

“…Ha?”

“It’s a joke—a joke. I’m sorry, I didn’t expect you to get so angry.”

Apparently, Lawrence was being mischievous. Even after becoming an adult, Dylan’s brother figure still treated him like a child.

“Anyway, in regard to this petition, the credit should rightfully belong to Avril.”

“In many ways, Ms. Avril seems to be a great match to the Duke of Lancester. Although, for some reasons, she insists on being a villain…? However, since I find her interesting, I opted to not pursue the matter and instead keep an eye on her for a bit longer. Still, it begs the question—how on earth did she end up like that?”

“That’s…”

Even Dylan didn’t know the answer to that.

In the first place, Lawrence was unaware their marriage was contractual in nature.

At the beginning, Dylan thought of informing Lawrence of it sooner or later. Yet, before that could happen, Avril became an indispensable presence in the family of the Duke of Lancester.

As such, Avril no longer had any need to continue with her ruse while the contract marriage itself could be put to an end.

The frustrating part, though, was that Avril didn’t seem to be interested in him in that way. Furthermore, when he was about to tell her that he knew she wasn’t a villain, she seemed incredibly sad.

…Thanks to that, Dylan spent his days praising Avril for her supposed tyranny. He was aware that Chris was wheezing behind them, but Dylan couldn’t help want to see Avril smiling.

What a happy quagmire…

As Dylan contemplated his answer, Lawrence spoke.

“Come to think of it, the last time I played chess with her, I wagered something important. Well, it was a total defeat on my part, so I had to hand it over… What do you think that something is?”

“I have no clue.”

“It’s the seal—the wax seal that belongs to the Duchess of Lancester.”

“…Did that happen? Avril hasn’t told me anything about it.”

“I knew it. The cute villainess seems to be a smart and sharp child. As such, she probably sensed there are underlying circumstances to it, and is waiting for you to bring it up.”

—Why won’t she realize how I feel?

Leaving aside that pitiful question, Dylan exhaled.

“At last, I understand the reason for your sudden visit. Is that all it was about?”

“It’s an important seal that you had entrusted to me for all this time. I didn’t expect that I’d turn it over to her so quickly, though…”

“Next time, I’ll talk to Avril. Not about the seal, but about myself.”

“That’s a great idea.” Lawrence continued, narrowing his eyes.

“By the way, rumors that you’re into bad girls are circulating in the social circles. Recently, at a tea party Alexandra attended, revealing dresses and heavy makeup seemed to be the trend.”

“…I don’t care about that. As long as Avril is there, that’s all that matters.”

“Haha, of course.”

As Lawrence released that gleeful laugh, Dylan had no choice but to hide his own discomfort with a wry smile.

***T/N: Dylan transforming into a wife guy.