IBOMLEW Ch 9 — You Drive Me Crazy

this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!

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Marquis Celestine peeked at Fervin’s face.

There was no emotion on his face, as if nothing had happened.

Or perhaps he was hiding his emotions.

Since Fervin was a cold person who couldn’t express his feelings very well.

Fervin opened his mouth as he continued to look at his documents.

“And?”

“What do you mean, and? Aren’t you curious about her at all?”

“Lance, don’t you know it’s rude to mention another woman’s name over the wife’s?”

Fervin’s cold eyes met Marquis Celestine’s.

Marquis Celestine touched his nose in embarrassment.

He didn’t know much about his friend’s childhood.

Losing his mother shortly after his birth, coupled with his father’s indifference, Fervin spent his childhood secluded in their country estate with his nanny, Mrs. Tilly.

The person who shared that season with him was the young lady, Stella Bell, who had a manor in the nearby area.

Didn’t they clearly say that you guys were childhood friends? He must have heard that from Young Miss Bell.

However, he didn’t know why Fervin’s reaction was so cold.

“Uh… I see.”

“Then, Lance, if your business here is done, you should go. I think I’ll have to go and see His Majesty the Emperor.”

“But isn’t he enjoying a conversation with the Empress in the rear garden right now?”

Fervin snorted.

“I also want to enjoy having a conversation with my wife too. Whether it’s sweet nothings, or with our bodies.”

“W-What…?”

He disappeared, leaving behind an incomprehensible sentence.

Marquis Celestine, who was left behind, scratched his curly hair.

“It’s clear that the Duchess has undergone a sudden change, but what’s wrong with that guy, Fervin? It’s exactly like when they were newlyweds…”

***

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

“You have to catch his eye in one shot!”

This place, which was filled with excited voices, was the Carlisle mansion.

Countless people were moving about in the large mansion, as if the biggest event was currently being held.

“How long has it been since they spent the night together, surely this time, there’ll be an heir…”

“How great would it be if the baby had the divine blood of Verma and Carlisle?”

“Go get the musk, Marianne. I need to bury it in Madam’s clothes.”

I was now in the middle of cleaning and tidying up my body, surrounded by servants.

Whilst listening to the same old saying of ‘heir’, my ears started to hurt.

They now seemed to be washing and dressing me up like this to ensure that my body was at its best condition for our night together.

My make up was done milky-white to match my skin, and I wore an ivory dress with delicate and bountiful lace all over it, with spritzes of light perfume sprayed all over my body.

Eventually, even the precious and sinister-looking musk appeared as well.

It was when the face of Marianne, who appeared after bringing the musk, melted as if she were enchanted.

The maids who were helping with the dressing up also looked as if they were intoxicated by the smell of the musk.

“Oh my, it smells so good.”

“I want to go and embrace Madam… mmph! Why did I suddenly have this sort of thought?!”

It was when I also felt dizzy from the smell of the musk.

Mrs. Tilly hurriedly hid the musk pouch deep within the pocket of my dress.

I was also unknowingly stuck by her hands which were as fast as lightning.

I searched through my dress in embarrassment, but no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find it due to how well she had hidden it in the fluttering hem.

“You don’t have to go this far, Mrs. Tilly.”

Mrs. Tilly smiled cunningly as she assured me.

“Madam, this is an opportunity that has come for the first time after several years, so of course I have to grab onto it firmly. Marianne, bring me some more rose perfumed hair oil.”

Marianne continued to hang from my arm whilst giving me a contented smile.

“Hehe.”

“What should I do if you get drunk on the scent of the musk?!”

“Yup! Here you go.”

Marianne rubbed her eyes, as if she were trying to come to her senses again.

“The smell of musk was so seductive it made my eyes heat up. I felt as if I had become a wolf.”

“Marianne! How could you say such a thing just because Madam is lenient to you?!”

“No, it’s fine.”

I nodded and tried to smile.

I tried to find the musk by putting my hand into the pocket of the dress, but because the pocket of the dress was so big, I couldn’t fish it out.

Mrs. Tilly applied a little bit of the rose oil to the back of my neck while saying.

“This time, you’ll definitely be able to win over Master’s heart, Madam. I know how hard of a time you’ve had, ever since you married into this place, which is very different from the familiar Verma Principality. Furthermore, all the elders and vassals of the Carlisle family must not have been very pleased with you since Master didn’t love you, nor did you have any children either. So, make sure you take this opportunity to set it in stone. That way, you’ll be able to spend the rest of your life comfortably here.”

I diligently tried to hide my embarrassment. 

Marianne, who was doing up and adorning my hair, looked in the mirror with an ecstatic expression.

She, who often met up with the maids of the other nearby noble families in the market, added on excitedly.

“Even though all the other kids say that their own madams and young misses are the prettiest, I don’t think that’s the case at all. Madam, can’t you go out for social gatherings held at other noblewives’ house instead of staying at home all the time?”

I shrugged.

“Even if I don’t, I’ll have to go to the ball at the Imperial Palace next week anyway.”

Mrs. Tilly let out an “oops,” and slapped her own thigh.

“Oh my, then shouldn’t I go and order a dress immediately? Which boutique should I contact… Everyone should be anxious to tailor for us, so we’ll have to choose carefully. Since this is your first deal, I’ll have to be especially careful…”

I remembered the closet in my room. Although there were only dresses with intense colors such as black and red, the amount of dresses in there still wasn’t any small amount.

“There are still a lot of clothes in my closet, Mrs. Tilly. Do we really need to buy anymore?”

At my words, Mrs. Tilly had a nuance in her words, as if saying that absolutely wouldn’t do.

“The clothes madam wore when you just got married have long gone out of fashion. It’s already been four years. You have to get brand new ones. All of them! It’d be better for you to buy some accessories this time too. You’ll be doing activities outside of the mansion this time, so you won’t be able to live with just that silver bracelet forever. And…”

It was when I was wondering when the Mrs. Tilly, who never stopped chatting, would stop.

A butler who came from the imperial palace with a message knocked on the door.

“It’s a message from the master.”

“Oh gosh, it’s probably a message from the master telling you to dress yourself up and wait for him!”

Although I, as the wife, calmly stayed in my place, the maids who were next to me instead, were making more of a fuss than I was.

I quickly opened the message.

And then I breathed a sigh of relief.

“He told me to go to sleep first.”

“…Pardon?”

“There’s no way that can be true. That passionate look in the master’s eyes, it was clearly saying he would definitely hold you in his arms tonight!”

“There’s no way that the master, who had such a romantic gaze in his eyes, would break his promise! Please read it again, madam.”

In this situation where the maids were fired up and unable to believe the authenticity of what was written in the letter, I shrugged and started to read the letter aloud.

“It’s written down like this. On the emperor’s orders, I have to work overtime, so don’t wait up for me and go to sleep first.”

The servants all sighed, as if they were already used to it.

“Ah… it’s overtime again…”

“Just why does His Majesty the Emperor treat our master like that… I mean, order him to work…”

“The dark circles under his eyes only seem to get darker…”

Then, they glanced toward the me, which was the result of their few hours of effort after detaining me.

I stood up abruptly and tried to let my hair loose and put on a more comfortable dress instead of a fancy one.

However, the maids surrounded me and actively tried to dissuade me.

“Can’t you just dress like this until you go to sleep, madam? No, I wouldn’t have any regrets, even if you just wore this until the evening!”

“Even though you look pretty without any makeup or dressing up, you don’t know how dazzling you are when you dress up like this, Madam. If you could just bless our eyes for a little longer…”

“This hairstyle is my life’s masterpiece! Please leave it for just a little longer…”

The maids’ eyes sparkled around me.

It was somewhat awkward for them to treat me as if I were a work of art they had created, which they were all filled with affection for.

Well, winning over their hearts was also a part of escaping from my evil impression.

I nodded readily.

“Let’s leave it like this until the evening, then.”

The maids all put their hands together and looked ecstatic.

“Thank you!”

“I’m so lucky to be able to see a living work of art with my very own eyes…!”

“Then I’ll see you all later in the evening. I’d like to spend some time in the garden.”

Mrs. Tilly hurried forward.

“I’ll go with you, madam.”

“I’d like to go alone so I can organise my thoughts.”

With a look of ‘oh, I see,’ Mrs. Tilly smiled at me with a kind look. 

It seemed as if I looked sad since the plan to have a meal with my husband had fallen through.

“Oh, go ahead then. The bell at the rear door will ring when dinner is ready, so please come back when you hear it.”

“Alright.”

I opened the door and stepped outside. 

*** 

When the long-awaited night between the Duke and Duchess fell through, the heartbroken maids left the first floor dejectedly.

Marieanne grumbled wholeheartedly to her aunt, Mrs. Tilly.

“His Majesty is so indifferent, it’s not their first night together after several days, but several years, yet he’s still holding master back at work.”

Mrs. Tilly turned her bewildered eyes to the sky before replying back.

“He was probably unaware of the fact that this was the first time the master was spending the night with her ever since their first night.”

“That should be it, right?”

“There’s no way he would’ve ordered the master to work overtime if he knew, right? Yeah, of course.”

Although the tone she spoke in clearly didn’t place any blame on the emperor, the fire in her eyes clearly placed all the blame on the emperor.

“Why are you interfering with our master’s happy married life? Just because you’re the emperor…!”

…Was what her gaze said, which showed she was as indignant as Marianne. 

“No, I’m sure you knew! The son who inherits the sacred blood of Verma and Carlisle could be the successor to the throne! Right now, there are only daughters being born from Her Majesty the Empress, but isn’t our master also a distant relative of the imperial family? Isn’t that the reason why the current successor, His Highness the Duke of Sibelom, continues to keep master in check? His Highness, Duke Sibelom, isn’t married yet and doesn’t have any children either, so if madam gives birth to the only son of the Carlisle family, then the heir to the imperial family could be right here…”

“Stop it! Don’t just say that anywhere, do you know just how loyal our master is to the imperial family…”

Mrs Tilly shut the mouth of her rash niece. 

The moment they were about to enter the kitchen. 

Alfred, who had received a message from a messenger sent from the imperial palace at the front door, ran to see her.

Mrs. Tilly cocked her head to one side, as if the sight was very strange.

“Did you only just get the message from the imperial palace, Alfred?”

“It’s because the master sent another message. Just where in the world is madam?”

“She went out for a walk in the garden. Why? Is it urgent?”

“No, it’s not exactly urgent, but…”

Alfred scratched his head and delivered the message he had heard from the message.

“It said that he’ll arrive home on time since he moved his schedule back. Just what in the world is going on…”

*** 

I decided to have some free time by myself. 

I left the mansion and wandered around the vast garden by myself. 

To think that my heart would be so at ease just because Fervin would return from the palace after doing overtime.

Perhaps it was because she was avoiding spending the night together with him, or because her heart was finally relieved, but her whole body was brimming with energy.

Despite him only being a contractual husband, it was still burdensome for her to have sex with a man who she doesn’t really know yet.

Of course, while Fervin was seriously good looking and was in good shape, those were all just her indecent desires.

Anyway, if it was thought about rationally, Fervin didn’t like me, and I didn’t like him either.

Although I was flustered and nervous for a whole day, objectively thinking, it was highly likely that he had only suggested that we spend the night together since the servants had been listening. But that wasn’t to say that we’d actually have sex.

I couldn’t forget that my final goal was to fulfil the full length of the contract marriage, then peacefully get a divorce.

I wandered about the garden aimlessly. 

It looked like a lot of effort had been put into making this, since it looked both elegant and cozy.

I admired the flowers that had clearly been well maintained by the gardener as I came across them for a moment.

Once I arrived at the edge of the garden, I knew I would have to go back to the mansion soon.

But as I was about to turn around, I spotted a small cottage nestled deep in that secluded area.

“…What is that?”

I cautiously approached the cottage.

The door had been slightly left open.

I knocked on the door and spoke softly.

“Is there anyone here?”

Inside, there was only a small table, a small bed, as well as a fireplace that hadn’t been lit.

Seeing as there was no sign of anyone inside, I cautiously went in.

Overall, the house was neat, with a single speck of dust in it, as if someone had lived in it yesterday.

A faded red carpet lay on the floor.

A large tree branch protruded from the wall, and a cozy blanket was placed on the bed.

I carefully sniffed the light blue handkerchief with an embroidered white lily of the valley on it which was on the drawer next to the bed.

It seemed to smell like grass for some reason.

“…Is this the gardener’s house?”

Just as I was about to hurry outside, I heard a faint cry from somewhere.

“Meow~!”

I turned my head. 

A kitten covered in black fur was mewing in the corner.

“Oh my, what should I do with you…”

I quietly approached the kitten in the corner and knelt down.

The black kitten came towards me, looking at me with its twinkling green eyes.

I hurriedly avoided the kitten as it kept coming towards me, as if it were trying to touch me.

“No, if I pet you, your mom might abandon you since you smell like humans.”

The kitten soon flopped down onto the floor, as if it had given up, and looked at me.

I also sat down on the floor and stared at the cat. 

I decided to look after the kitten until the mother cat came. 

I began to doze off in the warm atmosphere that enveloped the cottage.

My back would hurt when I tried to sit down, so I carefully laid myself down on the carpet instead.

At some point in time, evening had passed, and it was almost 8 o’clock at night, but I couldn’t wake up and ended up falling asleep on the floor.

I didn’t even know that Fervin, who had gotten off from work from the imperial palace, had been desperately looking for me.

*** 

Fervin asserted his right to a ‘healthy family life’ to the emperor, who was chatting to the empress, and smoothly withdrew from his overtime.

He resisted the emperor’s orders, which were to have dinner with him in the imperial palace.

“Irwen is waiting for me. I have to go back now.”

He resolutely informed the emperor whilst twirling his heart-shaped cufflinks.

The emperor looked at the impatient Fervin, who was in a state of extreme urgency to return home, as if it was amusing.

“You really want to go home? What’s the matter?”

“Irwen hasn’t even eaten dinner yet and is still waiting for me. I have to go back quickly.”

“You’re having dinner with the Duchess? In the past, wasn’t it you who used whatever reason you had to stay in the imperial palace since you didn’t want to go back into that house? Gosh… a lot has changed.”

“Then I’ll take my leave now.”

“I heard that the chef baked some delicious bread today, so I was going to enjoy it with you. I’ll wrap it up for you so you can take it home with you.” 

Fervin took the loaf of bread that the emperor had prepared for him and hurriedly ran toward his horse.

He arrived home in a hurry, but the house that should’ve been quite while dinner was being prepared had now descended into chaos.

“Madam, where are you!”

“What are we going to do? How could we lose Madam in this large mansion?!”

Fervin dismounted from his horse and stopped Mrs. Tilly, who was running at him with her face deathly pale.

In this scene of chaos, she was the only one who was directing several people, as if she was the only one who still had her wits with her.

“What happened?”

“Master, madam went out to the garden, saying that she wanted to take a walk for a while, but at dinner time, no matter how much we rang the bell or shouted, she still hasn’t come back.”

“Have you dispatched someone to go and find her?”

“Yes, although we tried to find her, we couldn’t find her anywhere in the mansion.”

Fervin’s pale face grew even paler.

Where did Irwen go?

Since she had always locked herself up in her room, she wouldn’t know the geography around this area very well.

If she did run away, the possibility of finding her around here was…

No, why would you already assume that she’s run away?

Fervin violently shook his head at that unimaginable thought.

Mrs. tilly anxiously reported how Irwen’s mood had seemed according to her observations earlier.

“Come to think of it, I was going to follow madam on her walk in the garden, but she seemed to be tired and said that she had something to think about on her own.”

“…Something to think about on her own?”

“Yes, even though we dressed her up beautifully, she seemed to be deeply troubled. It was my first time seeing such a deep worry on her face…”

She said that she had something that she wanted to think about on her own, and went on a walk by herself worriedly?

…As expected, was her appearance during this time all just an act? 

Fervin let out a sigh and said, “I’ll go and look for her, so you go ahead and finish preparing the meal.”

“But…”

“I said that I would go find her and that you don’t have to worry. She wouldn’t have been able to go very far, since she doesn’t know this area very well anyway.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you, master.”

Mrs. Tilly bowed her head before retreating back into the mansion with the other servants.

Fervin took a good look at the ground before beginning to slowly navigate his way through the garden.

She must’ve been wearing shoes since they had said that she had gone out whilst being dressed up.

There you go, there are some shoe prints visible over there.

Fervin, who was using a common technique he used on the battlefield when pursuing enemies, hurried along.

“…Just how did you get here…” 

The place where Irwen’s steps finally stopped was in front of a small cottage.

It was a kind of villa he occasionally used when he wanted to take a break.

Though naturally, it was too small and shabby to be called a villa.

He must have forgotten to lock the door after using it a few days ago.

Fervin opened the door which was slightly open and went inside.

There on the floor that had been warmed by the sun, was Irwen, who was sleeping soundly.

Fervin knelt down on his knees and was about to wake her up.

His hand, that was heading toward her, paused for a moment.

Her face, which was reflected in the rays of the evening sunset, was so beautiful that he almost forgot to breathe for a moment.

Her white face glowed with a reddish flush, and her black hair flowed down to her waist, like lustrous silk.

In the tranquility that made it seem as if time had stopped, Fervin moved his lips slightly.

“…Mine.” 

A remark that was full of possessiveness suddenly burst out of nowhere.

Fervin hastily covered his mouth with his hand. 

Irwen was still sleeping and breathing evenly. 

Fervin thought while hugging his knees.

When did he become so… bold?

When she wakes up, not even mentioning these sort of sentiments.

He didn’t have the courage to say these things in front of her yet. 

No, he couldn’t even admit it yet. 

He couldn’t bear to admit that his own resolution to be apathetic toward her, who had lashed out so harshly to him, could be so easily shaken by her.

He didn’t know how many minutes had already passed.

As the light from the sky gradually faded into darkness, and a humid wind blew in, Fervin finally decided to wake Irwen up.

The weather forecast had said it might rain tonight. 

Because of the heavy rain, the two of them should head back to the mansion before they ended up being trapped in this cottage all alone.

At that moment, his eyes glistened, as if he were hesitating.

No, did he really have to wake her up?

It would be a good opportunity for them to spend a private night alone in the cottage with just the two of them.

*** 

I felt someone touch my body. 

It was a careful gesture, as if what he were touching would break.

However, to me, it just seemed ticklish, so I squirmed and turned around.

Then, someone shook me a bit stronger.

“Mm…”

I let out a sleepy moan, barely opening my eyes.

However, what I saw in front of me was a stiff-faced Fervin.

He, who was wearing the same uniform he had used to go to work in the imperial palace, was sitting next to me, staring at me.

Flustered, I got up in a hurry.

“Fervin, why are you here…”

“This is my own personal space. A safe haven where I often go to take breaks. Anyway, that’s not important.”

Fervin grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

“Let’s go back to the mansion.”

I instinctively pulled my hand from his when he looked at me.

“I don’t want to.”

I didn’t know why this sort of sentence suddenly came out.

However, this much was clear.

I was clearly feeling a lot of pressure to sleep with Fervin.

A lot, much more than necessary.

Although I knew he didn’t have any bad intentions or ulterior motives in doing anything to me, I still didn’t really know why he was doing this.

So I wanted to make sure that he really only wanted to sleep.

Fervin opened his eyes sharply at my rigid reaction.

“Why don’t you want to?”

“Because I have to sleep with you.”

“You mean you don’t want to do that? But Irwen, isn’t it natural for a married couple with a good relationship to sleep in the same bed?”

Why are you so shameless for a man who’s only spending his first night with his wife ever since that first night?

His calm face contrasted greatly with my nervous reaction.

My voice rose slightly without me realising it.

“Let’s make it clear right here, Fervin. You don’t want my child anyway. We’re going to get divorced in a year anyway, so why do we really need to sleep together?”

“I wasn’t the one who wanted to first, it was because you said that you’d do your duty.”

“But you don’t want a child from me, Fervin.”

Fervin’s eyes glowed. 

Those green eyes that looked at me darkened dangerously, but I didn’t even notice any of those signs since I thought that I had to make everything clear here.

“Anyway, let’s make this clear right here and move on from this. Even if we share the same room, we won’t be sharing the same bed. Besides, just the fact that we’re sharing the same room makes the servants go into a frenzy, as if the child has already been born. I understand that you don’t like me, and I know that you don’t hold any expectations in having children between us even more, but…”

“…I’ve never been like that.”

“What did you say?” 

Fervin looked me straight in the face, then whipped his head away. 

Muffled whispers flowed out from his face which had reddened to the tips of his ears.

“It’s not that I don’t want to.”

I was frustrated at the fact I couldn’t hear him, so I moved closer toward him.

“I can’t hear you. Speak up a bit.”

Far from answering my question, Fervin clenched his lips together tightly. 

However, his face gradually flared up. 

He glanced at me, clenching his fists as if trying not to come any closer. 

I could see the veins bulging out from the back of his hand.

For some reason, he seemed to be holding something back.

But why do you keep looking at me? 

I stepped back involuntarily.

As if he were in pain or frustrated, Fervin bit his lip.

A low moan escaped his lips, which were as red as a ripe apple.

“You… what the hell did you do to your body?”

“What are you talking about… oh my!”

Fervin placed his hand on my back and buried his face in my shoulder.

“The scent of your body is driving me crazy.”

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omg i can’t deal with this rn fervin is such a softie i love him so much THE DEDICATION HGSLDKFJ fervin deadass raised my standards not even kidding rn.

n e ways, i was sort of annoyed at mrs tilly but i also understand why she did it. she’s been waiting for so long for this opportunity to his household that she’s so loyal to and doesn’t know when the next chance will be, but i’m still annoyed that she’d put a musk pouch that’s sort of like an aphrodisiac on irwen like ???? u alr know ur master doesn’t like her (or at least tries to show that) ????? don’t you think that could cause misunderstandings between them ???

n e ways, this chapter was a phat one so unless there’s a kofi sponsored chapter, i’ll see yawl in two weeks !!