The Villain Wants to Live Quietly chapter 23

Chapter 3. Different Dreams (7)

his sudden call.

Sophia moved her steps after being guided by Paula, who had come to her room.

It must be because of his mood that he felt that the light in the hallway was shaking.

As I stood in front of the door, Paula knocked and asked for permission, and the door opened when I heard the owner’s voice.

“I’m sorry for asking you to come all of a sudden. Sophia.”

“No, brother. What did you call me for?”

“I thought we should talk.”

As if she had even prepared tea herself, the fragrant aroma of tea tickled Sophia’s nose as she entered the room.

The man she admired had many hobbies that were quite feminine for a man. Being good at tea ceremony was one of them.

“This car… Did you prepare it yourself?”

“Because it is your favorite car. I enjoy drinking too.”

Tea that exudes a fragrant apple scent and short cinnamon sticks are served in a teacup that is slightly larger than a normal teacup.

This tea is commonly called cinnamon apple tea, and it was a tea that Sofia, who prefers fruit tea to black tea made from tea leaves, often drank.

Ludwig, after watching her drink it a few times, made his own apple cider or dried apples and brewed this tea.

‘It smells good… … .’

Even if I had prepared tea, I would have thought that I would have made this by hand.

It’s a new fact, but he was also a man who was far away from the men he knew.

Of course, those were the factors that gradually inflated his mind.

“Is Sophia good at eating sweets?”

“Yeah. I like it.”

It was a simple question of taste, but Sophia was able to infer a fact from his words.

‘The princess of Baiemurn seems to hate sweets.’

The fact that he liked sweets was not new information to Ludwig.

Nevertheless, asking as if to confirm this situation would mean that she recently met someone who hates sweets.

Who is that? Of course there could be more, but she guessed there was only one answer.

‘Does my brother have feelings for the princess of Bayemurn?’

The unique scent of apple cider and cinnamon dissolved in hot water.

As if savoring the delicate scent, Sophia sniffed the teacup, took a sip, and thought about it.

I had never heard of Ludwig taking an interest in a particular woman, or that he was so kind to the servants that rumors circulated.

He is infinitely kind to those who deserve his attention. However, on the contrary, he was quite cold and cold to the opponent who was not interested.

This is a fact that Sophia, who has been with him for over ten years, can guarantee more than anyone else.

So I was sure. Even if he didn’t have feelings for him right away, he would fall for a woman named Emilia Bayemurn someday.

If she was just a daughter of an ordinary aristocratic family, she might not have noticed.

However, even if they only met briefly, Sophia could see that she had a unique magic that caught the attention of others.

Because in my life, I existed sometimes.

As if from the moment they were born, they were determined to be the leaders of the world, and they seemed to have received a call from heaven and appeared.

The man she loves will definitely prefer someone special like her. I thought so.

“Sophia, I need to ask you something.”

“Tell me please.”

“Sir Adolf said that you and I look good and asked if we were going to promote an engagement. What is your opinion?”

When he asked, referring to a conversation he hadn’t even had, Sophia’s thoughts broke and her eyes widened.

‘You really said it.’

I had been told in advance, but I did not know that it would come true.

I had to answer as best as possible here. Because now is the only opportunity given to you.

“If you like it… I like it too.”

“Wouldn’t that be too sudden?”

It must be sudden. Sophia had to swallow the words that almost jumped out of her throat.

His lines were predictable. Since they had never seen themselves as members of the opposite sex, and they were only siblings, this reaction might have been natural.

Are you going to back off like this? It couldn’t be.

It was because there was no place for her to back down from her position as she had a huge enemy named Emilia right in front of her eyes.

Could it be because he was conscious of that? Uncharacteristic words came out of Sophia’s mouth.

“It’s just a simple engagement. I don’t think there is a need to dwell too much on it.”

“… yes?”

At her answer, Ludwig’s eyes twitched for an instant.

It was a very slight shaking, so Sofia didn’t seem to notice.

After that story, engagement was no longer a topic of conversation. Rather, even when Sophia tried to comment, he would openly change the subject.

‘The Princess of Baiemurn must be bothered… … .’

Seeing the series of actions, Sophia pointed it out like that.

If so, it would be best to go out stronger here.

“Brother.”

“yes?”

The question was her own way to confirm his mind and at the same time prepare a foothold for herself to advance.

“My brother… Are you interested in the princess of Baiemurn?”

“Me to Emilia?”

“Yeah.”

From Ludwig’s point of view, it was quite an embarrassing question.

Maybe it’s because I’m at an age where I’m more interested in dating. I didn’t expect you to suddenly ask such a question.

But I did understand. Paul and Matilda had asked him the same question.

From a third person’s point of view, he must be just an ordinary man who fell for Emilia without fail. I’m sure Sofia asked the question to resolve such a small curiosity.

“… Brother?”

“… … ?”

“Please answer me.”

But why? There was a hint of desperation in her eyes as she looked at him.

As if wishing it were a lie. As if you want to be relieved to hear his answer.

He met Sophia’s eyes in silence. It wasn’t that long.

“Sophia.”

“Yeah.”

Sophia responded with a firm face and a nod at the voice calling her.

Like a warrior on the verge of a decisive battle, the firm will in his eyes.

As if he would not be shaken no matter what answer he heard, his eyes spoke for her.

“Do you have any answers you want?”

“Oh, no… never anything like that… … .”

“… yes?”

The moment he saw Sophia avoiding his eyes and pursed his lips, Ludwig felt a strange sensation for the first time in his life.

Until now, he had been very poor at noticing the goodwill of others. This was especially true in the case of the opposite sex.

I was thinking that I wasn’t very sensible myself, and it was a life that had nothing to do with dating, regardless of whether it was in the other world or this world.

I was able to notice it nonetheless. That this child is feeling feelings of admiration for him.

I thought about whether it was excessive self-consciousness, but this time I felt certain.

She was a child who had expressed her aspirations, saying that she wanted to marry her when she grew up, from the time she laughed while rolling around in a flower garden. I just let it go because I was a child.

Ludwig laughed when he realized that even though he was just a girl who would become an adult next year, he could have eyes like this when he reflected his heart.

‘I only saw him as a child.’

The reason for calling Sophia to his room in the first place was simple.

It occurred to him that if Adolf, his father, was hiding a plot, he might have overheard something she had heard.

But no. It was the wrong idea in the first place.

As he put the puzzles together in his head one by one, Ludwig came to a conclusion.

‘The reason Sir Adolf pushed for the marriage so much was because of Sophia.’

The word “because” might not be appropriate.

To be precise, Adolf must have tried to take advantage of his daughter Sophia’s love for Ludwig when he found out about it.

At the same time as his daughter being the family of the person he loves, he is a family that he can be vigilant enough for because he has built up trust over the years.

From Adolf’s point of view, it was clear that the moment the two conditions met, he would have had the idea to pursue the plan.

Even if he doesn’t get much different results, the moment Sophia connects with Ludwig, he becomes the son-in-law of the next head of the Ipretz family. It would be satisfying to have her daughter marry the person she wanted.

If he could go further and use Sophia to shake the person named Ludwig, it would be possible to wield the authority of the Ipretz family.

It’s a business that either side has nothing to lose.

“Sophia, did you hear anything else from Sir Adolf?”

“… … .”

Staring at Sofia, who answered silently, he nodded as if thinking about something.

‘You knew.’

Only now did I become convinced.

Uncharacteristically for Sofia, she spoke lightly of the serious matter of engagement.

The fact that I tried to confirm the feelings I had for Emilia.

That it’s all the result of feelings for me.

Humans want to lay the groundwork before making big decisions.

For example, if there is someone you like, make sure to build trust and like yourself as much as possible before confessing.

In that respect, Sophia and Sir Adolf must have had a good relationship of interests.

If Sir Adolf can somehow improve the relationship between me and Sophia even a little bit, it will be good for her to build a deeper relationship until she confesses her feelings.

As for Sir Adolf, even if he doesn’t do it himself, his daughter-in-law will try to connect with me somehow, so there’s no need for further maneuvering.

“Since when? Sophia.”

“You’re asking me now… It’s shameful, brother.”

“… I guess so.”

The story of when she first fell in love with her. It was something I should have known about and asked about.

In this situation where all the background information was revealed, it was not very pleasant to ask either her or Ludwig himself.

Realizing his mistake, Ludwig poured the remaining contents of the teacup into his mouth.

In the cold tea water, the sweet scent of apples was gone, and only the bitter aftertaste unique to cinnamon was felt.

“Sorry. For not knowing until now.”

“… … .”

At this point, Sophia wasn’t stupid enough to not know what it meant to hand over an apology.

If he had the will to respond to his heart, he would have stood up right away and hugged him.

‘sorry.’ It’s not just the words you said about not recognizing your feelings.

The moment she realized the meaning, a drop of dew fell from Sophia’s eyes onto the back of her hand.

“Brother, I will always… Brother’s breath… She must be a precious little sister… … ?”

“Of course.”

To the man who answered seriously without hesitation, Sophia clenched her fists and raised her head.

“swimming… sorry. I didn’t want to cry… … .”

It wasn’t just tears of sadness.

Contrary to popular opinion, the man named Adolf was not an easy-going person who was neither aloof from power nor obsessed with money, and Sophia was well aware of that fact.

There was no way that the intelligent Sophia would not know what her father meant by saying that.

It was ignored nonetheless. Because I want to be with him more.

My father said he was doing it to support his love. He said that nothing would happen as long as he had a relationship with him.

That’s how he deceived himself and turned a blind eye.

Most of all, I was ashamed of that fact, so I had no face to see him.

“You can cry more. Cry enough to make me hate you.”

Her emotions finally exploded at the whispering voice as she held her in her arms.

“Huh… ! Whoa… … !”

As the tears she had been holding back burst out at his words, Sophia began to weep in his arms.

There was no way I would hate it. You know that’s impossible. Even so, I hated you for saying it.

My father who had a dirty mind, you who did not accept my heart, and the princess of the Bayemurn family who stole your attention.

But it was me who hated it more than anyone else.

I couldn’t tell my father.

I couldn’t even convey my heart to you properly.

I was jealous of the princess of the Bayemurn family and couldn’t win in the end.

I long for this moment to last forever in your arms, forgetting even the shame before I knew it.

In the end, I couldn’t become your favorite moonflower, or a violet that would always be by your side.

The moment I recognized that fact, the tears that had stopped welled up again.

Even if there are enough tears to fill the sea, not even a single violet that has been lost will bloom again.