ILLYML – 19.1

“Which of these would you like to wear?”

The maid presented several articles of clothing in front of me.

It was a little ridiculous to prepare several outfits and give me a choice. It’s just a negligee. That’s not a big deal.

Even though I lived as the duchy’s young lady, I still wasn’t used to being served.

My memories of living in Korea as an ordinary person were nonetheless strong, so after becoming Serina, I refused maids to attend to me and service me all the time.

Until now.

“I’ll take this one.”

I chose clothes with as few decorations and frills as possible. I didn’t want clothes that were cumbersome to sleep in.

‘Why am I here?’

I somehow teleported from the cabin to the estate of the Duke of Agernia.

Alastair insisted that Igelto stay at his mansion, saying that Duke Melford, my mother, shouldn’t know his brainwashing was being erased.

‘I’ll take good care of Igelto.’

Alastair, who said that seemed to have ulterior intentions, but I had no reason I could object.

And to be honest, he was right; this way Igelto would be the safest and go unnoticed by Duke Melford.

‘I’m going to have to send a letter to the mansion tomorrow morning.’

I’m going to be staying here for a while.

Previously the Duke of Melford ordered me to stay here to spy on Alastair. It was the excuse I was going to use for my stay.

“Where is Alastair?”

“He will be in the bedroom.”

I wondered awkwardly as the maid cleaned up.

Will I go secretly go visit him later?

The idea that a young noblewoman visiting a man’s mansion in the middle of the night–nevermind his bedroom, was beyond brazen.

But it wasn’t too daring for me.

I’ve been sleeping with Alastair since his days at Duke Melford’s mansion.

What’s wrong with visiting his bedroom? [TN: Ummm…]

“I will be leaving now, my lady.”

I nodded shortly and watched the maid go quietly.

I lay down on the bed, giving up my worries about whether or not to go see Alastair.

The bed, which felt quite different from my room, was quite fluffy.

I laid down on a comfortable bed and settled in a comfortable position for a while.

I was tired from running around so hard today…..

I slowly blinked…

How long have you been lying down?

After getting a little relief from my fatigue, I woke up.

The night was deep. It was time to go to see Alastair.

Knock, knock.

“Serina, it’s me. Can I come in?”

Just in time—it was when I grabbed the doorknob to meet him. It was really fantastic timing.

I responded by opening the door instead of talking.

When I opened the door, Alastair promptly walked in as if he had waited.

He was dressed in a more comfortable-looking outfit.

The black shirt he was wearing contrasted with the white negligee I wore.

Alastair usually wore black, and I preferred white.

There was a bottle of wine and glasses in his hand.

It was a wine I preferred.

“Would you like to join me for a drink?”

“Sure.”

Alastair put the wine on the table as I sat in the chair across from him and watched him set the table.

“I think I was too angry earlier.”

“It’s fine.”

“But I don’t regret my words.”

“I’m sure.”

Alastair sat down, opened the cork, and poured the wine into a glass for me.

The wine filled the glass with a refreshing sound. I slowly savored a taste as I sipped it and inhaled its aroma.

There was a suggestive silence between us, perhaps because of that.

Even the air surrounding us was strange.

It was as if it shouldn’t be touched.

We were silent with each other, and no one opened their mouths first. I felt like heavy air was weighing me down.

I gulped down my drink.

The extremely sweet liquor was the exact opposite of the tense situation I was in now.

I fiddled with the glass in my hand.

Alcohol has a strange power. It made the taut mood not as intimidating.

Was I drunk already?

“Serina, shall we play a light game?”

At that moment, Alastair suggested.

“A game?”

“Yes. The loser has to obey the winner for an hour. How about it?

“Okay.”

I emptied the last drop of wine from my glass.

“You can decide on the game.”

“Well… how about chess?”

“Okay, let’s do that then.”

As the sport was decided, the chessboard was ready in no time.

With the quick preparations, I wondered if he had decided this in advance and had come prepared.

I was confident in chess.

When Alastair was in the Duke of Melford’s estate, I played chess with him.

Almost every time I won against him

‘Huh?’

An hour later, after three matches, I had lost all three games.

It was such a perfect defeat that I had nothing left to say.

He beat me fair and square without even a tiny trick.

Rather, I did all kinds of cheating and fraud. He smiled and pretended not to see anything.

Then beyond that, I asked for a re-do several times, and as expected, Alastair smiled and agreed.

Regardless, I failed.

‘When did you become so skilled?’

“I lost.”

I admitted my complete defeat and raised both hands and feet. This wasn’t something that could be solved just by re-doing a turn.

I realized I would lose even if I shouted “re-do!” a few thousand times.

“So, what are you going to ask me to do for an hour?” [mwhahaha *laughs in pervert* >_> I know y’all will enjoy the next chapters ^_*]

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