Side Story 3: Ruby and Shire

 

Side Story 3

- Ruby and Shire - 

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Note: There are 3 Chapters in this last SS, but I will be posting them as one in this update so you can go ahead and read it as one. It will be long so be informed.

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Chapter 1

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“What are you doing?”

Anissa couldn’t answer right away when Yuric asked in a low voice.

She was digging her hands in the backyard of the duke’s mansion frantically like someone who didn’t feel the presence of others.

“Anissa, what are you doing in the middle of the night?”

Yuric, who pressed the back of his hand with prominent small and slender joints, spoke like a sigh.

“.....What? I didn’t hear you.” 

“Why are you in such a hurry? Didn’t Baal say he would try to negotiate a compromise himself? 

Everyone already knew that the traces of demons that stuck to Lagrange like ghosts should be erased someday. 

Whether it be Amon, his own demon, Zagan, who was subordinated to Veronica, and Baal, the demon of Dietrich and the lord of all demons. 

‘Otherwise, Dietrich will be devoured.’

Due to the abuse of the shadow demon’s power, half of Dietrich’s soul already belongs to the demon realm. However, Yuric could not imagine the image of the family head having his soul controlled by the demon or something like that.  

‘You never even know if beating all the demons, conquering the demon realm, and returning is something possible.’

Since Hela, who was known as the sun god, disappeared, Euclid’s power gradually waned. 

“Wasn’t it just a matter of matching the speed with Euclid or other ability users so as not to upset the balance?”

“......Because someone’s going to die.”

“What?”

Dietrich was a monster who had already dealt with three demons by the age of eight. 

It didn’t make sense for him to suffer now - after Baal had lost all strength like a toothless tiger.

“Are you saying Dietrich is suffering because of the demon’s trace?”

When Yuric frowned and asked, Anissa nervously raised her head while digging in the backyard and looking for a piece of the demon. 

“It’s me!”

“Huh?”

“I will die….!”

“Eh?”

Anissa, with eyes wide open, grabbed Yuric by the collar, who still did not understand what she was saying.

“I don’t think this belongs to Baal, does it?”

What was thrust in front of his head, which was tilted to the floor, was a piece of a demon, glowing dark red. 

Yuric was in a state where he’s almost losing the ability of the shadow, but judging by his unique senses, the aura felt in the piece was definitely not Baal’s.

‘It’s a bit more dark and damp…’

“Asmodeus?”

“That’s right.”

“Why are you trying to find a piece of Asmodeus at this time of night?”

“I already told you. Because I’m dying!” 

Anissa pouted as she rolled up the lace of her long nightgown. 

“You’re tired because of Asmodeus?”

Yuric started to examine Anissa’s complexion with a chuckle as if he was dumbfounded. Her hair, like a thin silver thread, was disheveled over her white forehead. 

Under the dazzling moonlight, she was certainly beautiful, but the puffy eyes made her look really tired.

‘You’ve got a lot of excuses, you bastard.’

Unlike Zagan, Amon, and Baal who were useful in their own way, Asmodeus was the first demon of Lagrange and had a hostile relationship with Dietrich from the beginning. 

No matter how much Asmodeus was called the demon of lust and the ruler of burning passion, Dietrich would no longer be dominated by Asmodeus’ desire now.
‘But if I tell this to Anissa….’

Dietrich had no interest in the welfare of humans other than Anissa because he was the head who had no blood or tears. 

‘I’d definitely be killed.’

Yuric tilted his head, convinced. “...So you think destroying this piece will make things better?”

‘It’d be useless though.’

Yuric scratched his chin awkwardly and looked down at the fragment of Asmodeus that Anissa had begun to purify.

“That’s right!” Anissa nodded and raised her voice emotionally. “I’m so exhausted, I could die.”

“........”

Yuric pursed his lips, thinking about how to accept Anissa’s words that she would die because the night with her husband was too hot. 

“I-Is that so?”

Anissa frowned, feeling injustice, as she wondered how to interpret Yuric’s sour expression.

“It’s true. I’m so busy these days. I’m telling you I’m so busy I could die!”

“Of course, I know you’re busy.”

Anissa was certainly having a busier time than anyone else in Lagrange. 

Instead of giving up the power of the shadow demons, she chose to defend Lagrange through active trade by waterways and by association with the northern vassals. 

‘Even if they’re vassals, they’re all lords of the North, so there’s a lot of times when they’re picky.’

“If the conference of the elders is bothering you, should I try to talk to them?”

“If that were the case, it would have been resolved when Dietrich overturned the round table.” 

Anissa let out a deep sigh and pressed on the soft soil that wrapped around her hands. 

“There are things that cannot be done with force. Moreover, do you know there’s a tea party or two that I have to organize as the lord’s wife? The office is full of paperwork to deal with.”

Unlike Dietrich, Yuric was on the side of accepting Anissa’s pointless complaints. 

Anissa burst into laughter as if sighing after she stared at Yuric who had nodded eagerly as if to agree with her words.

“I’m so glad you’re in Lagrange, Yuric.”

Dietrich and Veronica were like fire with their temper. 

They would often call the elders and threaten their livers, or break into the imperial family without hesitation, so she could not carelessly express her dissatisfaction in front of them. 

“At least you don’t think of smashing everything.”

“Of course. I don’t think of doing such things.”

Yuric nodded, as if he sympathized with Anissa’s words. 

He might use a spy and secretly take care of things, but he wasn’t ignorant like Dietrich who’d wield a sword out in the open. 

“....You just now, did you just imagine serving poisoned tea to the conference of the elders? Why is your aura so dark?” 

Inadvertently thinking of a plan in front of Anissa, Yuric smiled awkwardly at her who stared at him fiercely. 

“Don’t read my mind without permission.”

“I take back what I just said. Whether it’s you, Dietrich, or Veronica, you’re all the same!”

You’re definitely Lagrange!

Anissa clenched her fist holding the piece of Asmodeus.

“I wondered who Shire took after to conspire like that….”

Rubirence, who went around taking the lead in beating the knights was just Rubirence being Rubirence – though they were afraid of Dietrich so they accepted being hit– but the younger of the twins, Shire, was a little devil who used her good brains to make fun of adults. 

“Well, Shire is kind of like that.”

No matter how much Baal or Lancel pretended to be nannies and help, being a mother to the twins was not usually difficult.

“At least Ruby doesn’t get into trouble like that.” 

“Then what’s the point?! They’re going around breaking arms and legs!” 

Anissa sighed as she recalled the image of a boy who was five years older than Ruby, who had been preparing to become a knight, crying and running away from Ruby. 

“I never thought Ruby was strong enough to break Sir Isaac’s son’s leg.”

“That’s how kids grow up, Dietrich was the same.” 

Yuric didn’t bother reminding Anissa, who was lamenting, that Dietrich had participated in the successor game to eliminate his half-siblings around that time. 

“No.”

“I really do love Rubirence and Shire so much but…”

Anissa looked as if she was about to burst into tears. 

“So shouldn’t Dietrich let me have a good night’s sleep at least?! I’m really exhausted!” 

“....But, won’t it end if you just say no?”

Anissa’s shoulders trembled at Yuric’s words that hit the nail on the head.

“Just tell him to hold hands and sleep. Dietrich isn’t someone who wouldn’t listen to you.”

Anissa buried the piece that had been drained of energy in the ground and hesitated to open her mouth. 

“That…that doesn’t work so well.”

She had been talking flippantly in front of Yuric that she was exhausted because of Dietrich for a long time, it was then that she felt embarrassed and began to blush. “I’m saying it’s to the point that it’s better to get a separate room.”

“Oh my.”

Then, it seemed that it was not just Dietrich’s fault. 

Yuric shrugged his shoulders, glancing at the soul of Asmodeus, who became a pointless scapegoat for a couple whose honeymoon was unlikely to end.

“Then just tell him you want to sleep in separate rooms.”

“I can’t do that.”

“You can just go to another room.”

“He just broke the entire east wing.” 

“Ah.”

He thought it was a remodeling because the head himself came forward and destroyed the entire mansion. 

Yuric was dumbfounded that he let out a dry laugh.

“...Then how about using a separate bed?”

“I had already asked Lancel to bring one in, you know?”

Anissa sighed and pointed to a corner of the backyard. Only then did Yuric find the abandoned furniture.

“Dietrich tied Lancel to the bed and threw him.”

“...Ah, geez. You really have a great personality, our family head.”

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Chapter 2

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“Young lady Ruby, young lady Ruby!”

“Yeah, Lancel. I’m not hard of hearing so you don’t have to scream.”

“Then please get down from there!”

Lancel, the duchy’s deputy butler, raised his voice as he stamped his feet under the giant tree that cast a shadow over the backyard of the duke’s castle.

“What if there was a serious injury?!

“Hm? Do you think I’ll get hurt if I fall from this height?”

Rubirence snorted, her red eyes flashing exactly like Dietrich’s.

“I’m Rubirence. Rubirence Lagrange.”

Although she was only six years old, she resembled Dietrich and boasted as much physical ability as her father. 

“There’s no need to worry, Lancel.”

Ruby started jumping from branch to branch like a monkey as if to show off her sense of balance.

As the child stomped and stepped on the branches, the giant tree vibrated and the leaves all around began to shake.

“Uwaack!”

At the same time, the cry of a green-haired boy, who looked like a large leaf, rang out in the backyard.

“I’m not talking about young lady Ruby! I’m talking about young master Devonsha! Young master Erich has a fear of heights!”

Lancel looked up at Ruby, who was above him as if boasting, and hurriedly wrapped himself around the giant tree. 

“P-please don’t shake the tree. The young master is already crying!”

“Hm. What’s it to me whether he cries?”

“...It’s the Princess who took him up there so, of course, you should care!!!”

Ruby, a little frightened by Lancel's words, glanced at the boy who was trembling while holding on to a dry branch.

“Hey, are you crying?”

The boy was Erich Devonshire, the maternal nephew of Count Devonshire, who, like Rubirence, learned swordsmanship from Yuric. 

Lancel frowned, fearing that Erich might faint and fall from the tree. 

“But it’s fine if he gets hurt! I mean he cheated when we sparred earlier!” However, Ruby just raised her voice as if she didn’t know her own fault. 

“Are you really just going to watch?” Lancel gave up persuading Ruby who was as stubborn as a mule and turned his head. 

There was only one person who could appease Ruby in this situation.

“Princess Shire.”

Under the trees that cast a thick shadow, the area around the Shire was as quiet as if it were a completely different world.

“Wait. Let me finish reading this first.”

Shire, who had been sitting quietly reading a book as if the commotion on top of the tree was out of her control, leisurely closed her book at the look on Lancel’s face as if he was about to cry.

“Ruby.”

Shire, who got up from her seat, called out to her sister in a soft voice.

“Ye..yeah?”

Ruby trembled at the sight of Shire’s eyes gently folding.It wasn’t a very good sign for Shire, who rarely expresses emotion, to smile like that. 

“Why?”

“Do you remember mommy saying there would be no birthday present if you keep on getting into trouble?”

“But! Erich!” Ruby pouted at Shire’s words that seemed to blame her. 

“He broke the rules and used a sword, I know that.” The two were twins, and Ruby was the older sister by a few minutes, but Shire continued to speak kindly as if to soothe her little sister. “But if cheating is part of sparring as Erich insisted, next time you can do the same, Ruby.”

“That’s right, you can use your sword skills too, Ruby!”When Shire spoke as if taking his side, Erich, who had been trembling while clinging to a tree branch, finally raised his voice. “The reason I started using sword skills in the first place was because you didn’t lose as you promised!” 

Today was the day the youngest daughter of Viscount Sorbet, whom Erich had a crush on, came to watch the sparring. 

From the day he started swordsmanship until now, the boy who had never defeated Ruby had been promised victory in return for serving Ruby as an errand boy for a year. 

“But there was no opportunity that was worth losing, so what was I supposed to do!” 

“........”

“Even if I tried to create loopholes, your posture was too full of loopholes instead!” At Ruby’s words, who seemed to be shouting injustice, Erich lost his spirits again and hung his head down gloomily while hanging from a tree branch.

“....I’m that bad?”

It was unbelievable that it was that hard to lose. 

For a moment, Erich fell into a sense of shame, forgetting that he was in the air that he was so afraid of.

“I’m also good at using swords at home…but Ruby is just so great.”

In fact, Erich’s argument with pouting lips wasn’t wrong. People without talent in swordsmanship couldn’t even handle a sword in the first place. 

“At any rate, Erich, you cowardly used your sword skills!”

Ruby and Erich were gifted enough to handle swordsmanship at a very young age. 

However, swords were sharp enough to tear even if it just brushed against the skin, so it was dangerous for inexperienced children to use, and their swordsmanship teacher, Yuric, strictly prohibited the use of the sword during the sparring.  

‘That’s why I was holding back on my moves!’

“Ruby, you can stop bullying Erich in this way, and you can break the rules on the next spar.” 

Shire looked up at Ruby, who was breathing hard, as if to soothe her and added, “Either put a medicine that can cause stomachache on Erich’s meal, tie Erich’s shadow with Baal, or you can ask Aunt Veronica to put a curse on him.”

“...Shire, did I do something wrong to you?”Erich felt a chill run down his spire at Shire’s words which seemed to be aiming for his own life. 

“Fine!”Ruby smiled, liking Shire’s proposal and grabbed Erich by the collar. The child landed lightly on the ground carrying the boy who was a head taller than herself. 

“What should I do first?”

“There’s this curse in the book that I’m reading right now…”

At Shire’s whispered words, Lancel hurriedly snatched the book from the child’s hands.

“Lancel, how dare you snatch my book, the daughter of the family head, without my permission?” Asking coldly, Shire slowly blinked her uncharacteristically calm eyes. 

The sunlight shining through her thick eyelashes made her seem like a doll, but Lancel swallowed his saliva as Shire looked like a young Dietrich. 

“....If the Countess of Devonshire comes to visit because of young master Erich, only the madam will be in trouble.” 

“Mommy will be in trouble?” Ruby shrugged her shoulders, startled by Lancel’s words. “Okay, Lancel. I won’t bully Erich.”

Ruby stepped forward in place of Shire, who was crumpling her forehead as if Lancel’s behavior of snatching her book was unpleasant. 

“Is that true?”

“Yeah. I don’t lie.”

“Then I’ll check if the county of Devonshire has sent a carriage and come back so you have to stay here calmly!”

Ruby saw off Lancel, who kept looking back as if she couldn’t believe them, then looked back at Shire with a hard face. 

“Shire, like you said, our birthday isn’t far away–”

“So we need to look good in front of mommy,” Shire muttered as if continuing Ruby’s words and nodded. “Mommy said she’d give us the presents we’d like for this birthday.”   

Anissa was surprisingly a strict parent, so she wasn’t the type to do a favor just because the children were throwing a tantrum.

Ruby and Shire had vowed to each other to remain as modest as possible until their birthday in order to seize that rare opportunity. 

‘If it weren’t for Erich, I wouldn’t have caused any trouble!’ Ruby raised her eyes at Erich, who used his sword during the sparring, for the nonsensical reason of wanting to impress Sorbet’s daughter. “You better watch out if mom says she won’t give us presents because of you!”

“Just for the sake of some gifts? If the Duchess doesn’t give it to you, can’t you just ask His Grace for it?” Erich frowned as he didn’t understand Ruby’s words.

It was already a well-known fact that Dietrich Lagrange, the great lord of the North and their father, was a doting parent to the extent that he would bring all the toy craftsmen of the empire to Lagrange - either through appeasement or kidnapping – for the sake of the twin princesses.

“We did some research, but it seems we need mommy’s permission to get what we want.” Shire wrinkled her nose as she recalled her conversation with Yuric.

“What is it you want that is so great?” 

The children glanced at the curious boy’s eyes and quickly pressed on his small lips like dandelion puffs with their small index fingers. 

“If we tell you, can you keep the secret? It’s a secret from dad.” 

“Of course. If I don’t keep it, you’re going to put me on top of the tree again, right?”

Erich shrugged his shoulders as he squeezed his arm, which was tense from holding on to the tree branch. 

“Fine, it’s our birthday soon anyway, so I’ll tell you.” 

 Ruby and Shire, who bent down to close the gap with Erich, smiled and clasped each other’s hands.  

“We’re going to ask mom to buy us a younger sibling.” 

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Chapter 3

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“Yuric, where do they sell a younger sibling?”

Yuric tilted his head at Shire’s absurd question.

“People are not bought and sold, Shire.”

“But a few decades ago, there was a market in Lagrange where people were bought and sold.”

Shire opened a history book the size of her body at Yuric’s lukewarm reply. 

“See, it’s right here.”

Yuric checked the yellow paper fluttering in the spring breeze through the window with his fingertips and frowned at the illustration depicting a slave tied by a leash. 

“This is a thing of the past. Besides, a younger sibling is not like a slave. Just like how you are a precious existence to Ruby.” 

“But aren’t you dad’s younger brother, Yuric?”

“Well, that’s how it is. Afterall, his birthday is earlier than mine.”

Shire raised her eyebrows as if she couldn’t believe Yuric’s explanation.

“But dad said uncle is like a slave.”

“.....Subordinate. He probably means like a subordinate.”

“No, he said a slave.”

Shire shook her head firmly at Yuric, who tried to deny his situation. 

‘His personality is really…’

It wasn’t a surprise, so Yuric sighed lightly and shrugged his shoulders. 

“Anyway, a younger sibling is not something you can buy and sell.”

“Then how can I have it? Erich keeps bragging about it. We want one too!”

Yuric patted the top of Ruby’s round head as she suddenly poked her head over Shire’s back and pursed her lips. 

“Hm, how?”

“Yeah, how?”

There was no way that Yuric, who was not married, let alone have children, had any experience explaining the process of making a baby to a child.

“A baby is…uh, so the stork…” Embarrassed, he stammered as he opened his mouth, and Shire patted the back of his hand while prettily wrinkling her nose. 

“Uncle, do you think we’re stupid?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t tell the obvious lie that storks bring babies.” 

The story of a stork carrying a baby was already used by Marilyn.

Various birds lived in the forest near Lagrange, and the ‘stork’ that Shire and Ruby identified was not a magnificent and wonderful bird to carry Lagrange’s baby, who would later rule the North.

“How could a mere stork carry a Lagrange?”

“If it’s a demon though, who knows.”

Ruby tilted her small head at Shire’s reply.

“But mommy’s getting rid of all the demons. Then there’s no demon who would bring us a younger sibling?”

Yuric shook his head at the momentum of the twins who would even go looking for the missing Baal.

“You don’t need a demon to make a baby. A baby is…so when a man falls in love with a woman…”

A man and a woman?

This was the first time they’d heard of it. 

Shire, who loved acquiring new knowledge, put her face like a puppy on Yuric’s lap, her eyes twinkling. 

“If they fall in love?”

“They’re going to spend the night together. Then ta-da! A baby is made.”

“The night?”

“Ah, but it doesn’t have to be at night.”

“Even if it’s not night, can they spend the night? What does that mean?”

Yuric was a very good swordsmanship teacher, but he was not good with words. Shire pouted at Yuric’s meager explanation.

“Doesn’t ‘to spend’ mean to say your greetings?”

“Huh? Yeah. So it’s like a greeting. They can just give their greetings.” [보내다 - means to spend/send/deliver. The kids are mistaking ‘to spend’ as meaning to also send one’s greeting thus confusion.]

“How does one do that greeting? Can we do it, too?”

Ruby and Shire, who wanted to do everything that adults do, joined their hands and started to make puppy eyes. 

“Maybe you can make it too. Once you’re all grown up…”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

If there were people in this world who could overcome Dietrich’s various checks and persecutions. 

Yuric swallowed his backbite and turned away from the children’s eyes, which sparkled more than the stars scattered in the night sky.

“But you’d better tell Anissa about this. Your problem about your younger sibling is up to your mother after all.”

He was just about to explain why it was up to Anissa to make the ‘younger sibling’.

“Yuric.”

Hic.

Step, step. 

Soon, the owner of the voice moved his long legs and started approaching quickly. 

“What are you talking about with my daughters?”

“We…weren’t talking about anything?”

Dietrich’s eyes narrowed as if he was suspicious of Yuric, who was sweating.

“Daddy!”

“Yeah.”

His large hand pressed down on Shire’s black hair. 

“Did you have fun?”

Marilyn’s elaborate hairdo in the morning now looked disheveled, but Shire loved Dietrich stroking her hair the most in the world. 

“Yeah!”

“Me too, me too!”

Even Ruby, who was in Yuric’s arms, ran to her father, abandoning her uncle like throwing him away.

She was a tomboy who used to destroy the drill hall and make her friend Erich cry whenever she had the chance, but in front of Dietrich, she was more calm than anyone else in the world. 

‘Because daddy loves me so much!’

Ruby never wanted to disappoint Dietrich.

Dietrich was a father who praised her saying, “It’s good to be strong,” when Ruby destroyed the main building. 

“Daddy, uncle was teaching us the way to make a baby right now.” [Poor Yuric. That came out so wrong.]

“....What?”

“We want a younger sibling!” 

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“...What did you say that you wanted?” Anissa couldn’t help but be bewildered at the children’s sparkling eyes like stars. “I think mommy heard it wrong.” 

“No, mommy.”

“A younger sibling. We want a younger sibling.”

Anissa, who heard the clear voice of Shire and Ruby, let out a low sigh. 

“That’s not something your mommy can give you at will, Rubirence.”

The second generation had to be planned carefully. 

Although she had quite adapted to the role of the lady of Lagrange, that did not mean that her schedule had become leisurely. 

“No, Uncle Yuric said it was something that mommy could buy.”

“That’s not true, Ruby. Uncle Yuric just said it’s for mommy to decide.”

“Then, is it something that mommy can get?”

“Can’t daddy get it?”

“…….”

Moreover, Anissa didn’t think that the twins were old enough to welcome a younger sibling. 

‘Usually, when a second child is born, the first child will become very depressed.’ 

Ruby and Shire were fortunately born as twins and grew up relying on each other, but the younger sibling could be different. 

“Daddy thinks it’s a good idea.” Dietrich, who had been quietly listening to the children’s conversation, suddenly opened his mouth.

Anissa looked askance at her husband, feeling like he was being mean to her for no reason.

“...I just think it is.”

 

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The fact that the twins wanted a younger brother for their birthday was a pretty good excuse for Dietrich who had been informed by Anissa that they were to sleep in separate rooms. 

“Anissa.”

Knock, knock.

Anissa looked at the bedroom door, where there was a leisurely knock, and then at the pile of papers on the desk, then bit her lip. 

‘I have to be firm.’

Dietrich looked especially handsome at times during the night, so she had to be careful. 

“What is it? We were supposed to sleep separately starting today.”

“I want to go in for a while.”

“Say what you want from there.” 

Peeking, Anissa stuck her head out through the gap of the door that was barely open to show her face.

Dietrich chuckled at her nervous face, which seemed to be wary of him. 

“I have something to give you, so open the door.” [Like a devil whispering sweet nothings to get what he wants. Lol.]

“...What is it?”

“If you open the door, I’ll show you.”

At Dietrich’s urging, Anissa was forced to step away from the door. 

“Solio sent wine produced by the Royal Monastery as a sign of friendship.”

As soon as he entered the bedroom, he opened the lid, and the fragrant smell of wine stung her nose. 

“Wine?”

She tightened the shawl over her chemise and furrowed one eyebrow.

“...Are you saying we should drink right now? I have work to do. I’m busy.”

To be honest, it wasn’t that she had delayed work to the point that she had to work at night - if she were too busy, Dietrich, the head of the house, would have been busier - but Anissa raised her eyes pointedly like a porcupine with a lot of thorns.

“Isn’t it okay to take a short break?” As if to appease her, Dietrich smiled with one eyebrow raised. “If you’re really busy, I can also help you.” 

‘Why did he come wearing only a shirt?’

Anissa gulped as she faced Dietrich, who had pulled her to the bedside table before she knew it. 

The moonlight softly seeping through the window illuminated his well-trained body. 

Her husband, who was particularly handsome today, was dressed in not just pajamas, but a crisp shirt with no wrinkles. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing.”

Anissa stared at Dietrich’s white shirt, which was subtly see-through, then hurriedly looked away. 

‘I don’t think I ever told him I liked the white shirt.’

How did he even find out about her taste?

“Well, one glass should be fine.”

She blushed in embarrassment and gestured at the wine bottle that Dietrich was carrying with her chin. 

“Give it here.”

Anissa, even as she was unable to take her eyes off Dietrich while leisurely pouring the red wine into her glass, began repeating the order in her mind to stay vigilant. 

‘Let’s sing the national anthem, the national anthem!’

The east sea and mount Baekdu…

‘I think it was something like that.’

Dietrich held out a half-filled wine glass in front of Anissa, who was recalling vague memories. 

“Ah, it looks like there’s a little bit of wine here.” 

Long, white fingers soon lingered between Dietrich’s red lips as he murmured briefly. 

Anissa closed her eyes tightly because the way his tongue licked his fingers felt particularly erotic. 

‘No, isn’t it just a day when I said we were going to use separate rooms?’ 

She was a little dumbfounded because she thought she had been determined. 

“Are you sleepy?”

“Oh, no…it’s not that.”

In the end, Anissa didn’t have the confidence to face Dietrich, so she began to gulp down the wine lying on the table with half-lidded eyes. 

‘Let’s drink it quickly so I can send him away.’

However, the moment the smooth liquid, which had a sweet scent, went down her throat, Anissa realized her mistake.

‘I’m not good at drinking.’

No matter how sweet it was, close to being a dessert wine, it didn’t change the nature of alcohol.

Alcohol clouded the mind.

Dietrich gently stroked Anissa’s cheek as she bit her lips, regretting her momentary choice. 

Hesitating, she pushed away her husband’s chest - solid in that moment - and grabbed the last string of rationality.

“Why on earth do you want a third one? Are you saying Ruby and Shire aren’t enough?”

“That’s not it.”

Dietrich lifted the troubled Anissa and seated her on his lap, lowering his head at an angle.

“...Both of them look like me.”

As he said, Ruby and Shire were children who looked exactly like Dietrich.

Although they were blessed with great beauty, they didn’t have a soft impression like Anissa.

“I just wish I had at least one child who looked like you.”

“........”

Oh.

She couldn’t bear to avoid his lips as they approached slowly, considerate enough that she could avoid them if she wanted to. 

<The Precious Sister of the Villainous Grand Duke>  Side Story - The End

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Thank you so much for sticking through all the chaotic schedules and radio silence everyone. I appreciate you all. See you around as a mere reader (not sure if I will be around the translation scene though). 

╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

If you can, please consider supporting the author of this novel by purchasing the original book. You can purchase or wait 12 hours to view chapter-by-chapter on KakaoPage or by volume on Ridibooks. Read the official manhwa in T-apa-s as well! 

KakaoPage: https://page.kakao.com/home?seriesId=54347563

Ridibooks: https://ridibooks.com/books/3092010101