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Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Chapter 90
The next day, Margaret still hadn’t taken off her glasses.
She nervously watched Alex’s slightly furrowed brow, and mustered the courage she’d been gathering all night to whisper, “I… I’m not used to it…” Her voice was so soft that Margaret didn’t dare look up, so she wasn’t sure if Alex had heard her. She gripped her fork tightly, like a prisoner awaiting sentencing, mechanically and quickly stuffing the bread from her plate into her mouth.
A moment later, she heard the man across the table say calmly, “Eat slowly, be careful not to choke.”
Margaret breathed a sigh of relief— her glasses were safe.
As a countess with over a decade of aristocratic education, etiquette was ingrained in Margaret’s very being. Though nervous and uneasy, she still finished her breakfast with elegance. Besides, she didn’t want to appear disrespectful in front of Alex, even though they had only eaten breakfast together three times in the six months since their marriage, two of which were in the presence of the Duke of Malbland.
However… Margaret frowned at the onions on her plate. Showing pickiness in front of others wasn’t a good thing. Silently holding her breath, she reluctantly swallowed the strangely flavoured purple bits. When she looked up again, she found Alex seemed to be watching her.
Margaret quickly lowered her head, nervously fidgeting with her fork. Alex suddenly stood up, his silver knife scraping against the edge of his plate with a hissing sound. He rudely tossed aside his napkin and said coldly, “Let’s go.”
Huh? Wait, I haven’t finished eating… Margaret glanced at the remaining salad on her plate, but ultimately said nothing, silently following behind Alex.
Sitting opposite each other in the carriage, the two remained silent.
Margaret wanted to ask Alex why he had suddenly decided to drive her to work. However, seeing the man’s cold face, she swallowed her words in timidity. Sometimes she truly hated her own cowardice, but she had no way to change it. Despite being married to that person and despite all the favourable circumstances, Margaret still couldn’t express her feelings.
She and Ye Xuan were completely different people. When Ye Xuan first transmigrated into this timid girl’s body, she felt somewhat uncomfortable. This was normal. Even with the system’s powerful empathy function, if an extroverted person suddenly became taciturn, like a medical rejection reaction, the transmigrator affected by the empathy would still feel uncomfortable. In past years of the Transmigration Academy’s exams, there had even been cases where the rejection reaction between the examinee and the host was too strong, leading to empathy failure.
But, strangely, aside from the initial awkwardness, Ye Xuan’s consciousness quickly accepted the magician Margaret’s empathy. She even felt that Margaret’s sensitivities and insecurities stemmed from the deepest emotions within her, amplified to an extreme, creating the eccentric and withdrawn “Ye Xuan.”
Ye Xuan had always harboured doubts about this testing system. After all, she herself had been tricked into it by Gu Yincheng. As she experienced more missions, this supposedly newly developed system revealed more and more differences. Why did Gu Yincheng send her here in the first place? It couldn’t just be his twisted sense of humour, could it?
Anyway, further discussion was pointless. The most important thing right now was to find a way to stop Alex from staring at her. Under the man’s focused gaze, Margaret was practically trembling.
Margaret had no idea what Alex was thinking. Was it because he wasn’t familiar with his wife and wanted to observe her closely…? Little did she know, Alex was also quite displeased. He noticed that Margaret had been lost in thought ever since they boarded the carriage. Although the girl kept her head down, Alex could sense her absent-mindedness.
His lips twitched slightly. He hesitated for a moment, then coughed lightly twice, feigning nonchalance, and said casually, “You seem afraid of me?”
“Huh?” Margaret was startled, then suddenly jumped up like a startled rabbit. She hurriedly waved her hands, “No, no, how could I… how could I be afraid of you?” Joking aside, being treated like a monster by his wife would make any man angry. To make her answer more believable, Margaret forced a smile, but it was so stiff that it was apparent she was lying.
Alex stared at her for a while, until the girl’s smile was almost gone, before looking away and muttering in a somewhat frustrated voice, “Never mind.”
The carriage stopped just then. Margaret didn’t hear the man’s whisper. She hurriedly stood up, wanting to leave this place that made her so uneasy. Alex, however, reached out and stopped her. Still a little confused, she saw Alex get out of the carriage first and extend his hand towards her.
This action startled Margaret. It wasn’t until Alex raised his long eyebrows that she understood his meaning. For some reason, Margaret’s cheeks instantly burned. Silently telling herself it was just Alex’s gentlemanly manners, she timidly reached out and placed her hand in the man’s. Alex grasped her delicate hand in return and, with a gentle pull, lifted the girl from the carriage.
This was merely the most ordinary social etiquette between a man and a woman. Yet, the moment her hand was held in that warm, large hand, Margaret’s heart pounded like a drum. Years of sword practice had left many calluses on Alex’s palms, unlike the pampered hands of aristocrats. Still, that rough texture against the girl’s skin felt both comfortable and warm.
While she was still stunned, a crowd of passersby gathered around the carriage. The carriage belonging to the Farman family was already eye-catching. When a tall, handsome man stepped out, it immediately sparked a flurry of discussion. Keen-eyed observers recognised the blond man as the renowned Grand Master of the Temple Knights, further amplifying the murmurs. The Church of Light held a special position on the continent, and the Temple Knights represented powerful warriors who protected the faith, a force revered by the people. As one of the most outstanding Temple Knights, Alex had countless admirers; he was like a celebrity on the continent, admired and loved by people of all ages and genders.
Seeing the growing crowd, some even eager to approach, Margaret involuntarily stepped back, shrinking herself even more. She wasn’t used to the intense stares; being surrounded by so many people, she even felt suffocated. What to do? The girl thought anxiously; she felt like… she couldn’t breathe.
“Don’t be afraid.” A deep male voice suddenly sounded in her ear. Alex tightened his grip on the trembling little hand in his palm, then wrapped his left arm around the girl’s thin shoulders, pulling her tightly into his embrace. “Excuse me, everyone, please make way.” He politely and quickly escorted Margaret forward, and in no time, they had passed through the crowd and entered the campus of the Valantis Magic Academy.
“Alright,” Alex released his hand. “It’s all right now. Go to class.”
Margaret nodded with her back to him, neither saying goodbye nor offering any thanks. Watching her walk away silently, Alex felt a surge of frustration. Was he really that terrible?
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the girl’s earlobes peeking out from her long hair. Margaret’s earlobes were round and small, now bright red like two ripe cherries, looking incredibly cute.
A student hurried past Alex, glancing curiously at the tall man. The man, who had maintained a cold expression, curled the corners of his lips into a gentle smile, as if watching the grey figure that was almost disappearing ahead.