The Devil's Betrothed-Chapter 748: Stay Away From Me

Erin arrived at the Rainier residence in a carriage that crossed the shared gate separating the two estates. As Erin stepped down from the carriage, she saw Paul speaking with a man who was part of that same girl’s family. They appeared to be in good spirits, discussing something with smiles on their faces. She caught the tail end of their conversation as she passed by.

"Don’t worry. We’ll treat her well. She’s just like Rina to us." Paul was assuring the man.

Have they already planned on bringing that girl into this family? Erin clenched her fists. That scoundrel. Let him come to me and say those nonsensical things again. I’ll make sure he won’t live to utter another word. Want to marry me while planning to keep mistresses? Disgusting!

Erin made her way to Rina’s chamber, where the young girl was refusing to drink her medicine. Gwen was trying to convince her, but without success.

"It’s bitter, Mother. I don’t want it," Rina mumbled, burying her face in the blanket. Her muffled voice continued, "I won’t drink it anymore. It makes me want to puke."

"You drink it when your brother feeds you, but when it’s me, you find it bitter?" Gwen asked, clearly exasperated.

Just then, Gwen noticed Erin standing at the door. "Lady Erin, don’t mind her. Please, come in."

Erin stepped inside the room. Hearing her name, Rina peeked out from under the blanket, only her eyes visible. In a hoarse voice, she said, "Lady Erin, I missed you."

Erin smiled warmly and asked, "How are you feeling, Rina?"

"I’m much better," Rina replied.

"Much better? You’re just trying to avoid drinking your medicine," Gwen said sharply.

"I really am fine. I don’t need it," Rina insisted.

"Your brother, despite being busy, personally went to the kitchen to prepare it for you again. Can’t you appreciate his efforts?" Gwen countered.

"Then where is he? Why isn’t he here to feed me the medicine?" Rina complained.

"He can’t always be free to attend to you. He’s busy today," Gwen replied. "The fact that he prepares the medicine for you is more than enough."

Erin, overhearing their exchange, thought to herself, Why wouldn’t he be busy? Now he’s dreaming about having a mistress. That man even forgot his sick sister for that young girl. Truly disgusting. My brother would drop everything in the world if I were sick.

"Tell him not to do it anymore," Rina said, looking at Erin with pitiful eyes. "I’m truly fine."

Erin snapped out of her thoughts and sat at the edge of the bed. She placed her hand on Rina’s forehead and found that she still had a fever. "Rina, be a good girl and drink this."

Rina put on a sad expression, but Erin continued, "I won’t be here for many days and will leave soon. If you don’t get better before that, how will we spend more time together? I still need to teach you how to use a sword. Don’t you want to learn?"

"I... want to..." Rina mumbled.

"Then you have to drink the medicine first," Erin said with a gentle smile. "Come on, sit up. I’ll feed it to you myself."

Hearing this, Rina couldn’t refuse Erin—just like she couldn’t refuse her brother. Erin took the medicine from Gwen and began feeding it to Rina. Once she had finished, Gwen offered Rina some dates to get rid of the bitter taste in her mouth.

"Good girl," Erin said, patting her head.

"Are you leaving?" Rina asked hesitantly.

"No, I’m staying here to keep you company."

Rina looked relieved, and Gwen thanked Erin before leaving the two of them alone, as she had other things to attend to.

Erin and Rina spent some time together, chatting and enjoying each other’s company. freeweɓnovel.cøm

Once Rina fell asleep, Erin carefully tucked her in before leaving the room. She stepped out of the mansion to return to the Wynter residence in her carriage when she spotted something unusual. Lucian and a young woman exited his official study, and the woman appeared to be speaking with him.

"Thank you so much for accepting me, my Lord," the woman said gratefully. "I promise I won’t disappoint you."

Lucian simply hummed in response. As the young woman turned to leave, she crossed paths with Erin, who was standing some distance away, observing the interaction. The young woman gave Erin a polite bow, unaware of who she was, and then departed.

Lucian noticed Erin watching him and began walking toward her. However, Erin, visibly upset, turned abruptly, got into her carriage, and ordered the coachman, "Take me back to the Wynter residence."

The coachman obeyed, and the carriage pulled away. Lucian could only stand and watch her leave.

Afterward, Lucian returned to the mansion to check on Rina. When he entered her room, Gwen arrived as well.

"Where is Lady Erin?" Gwen asked.

"She left," Lucian replied as he walked over to check on Rina, who was sound asleep.

"Left?"

"Hmm," he murmured.

Gwen moved closer to Lucian, who was sitting at the edge of the bed, gently caressing Rina’s head.

"Lucian, I think Lady Erin is upset about something," Gwen said. "I’m not sure what it is, but if you plan to marry her, you should talk to her and resolve whatever’s bothering her."

Lucian hummed in acknowledgment, and Gwen left the room.

Later in the evening, Erin returned to the Rainier residence after having a meal at the Wynter estate. She headed straight upstairs to her chamber, muttering under her breath, "I didn’t even want to return here. If not for Brother Rowan insisting, I would have stayed at the Wynters. Making me stay in the chamber meant for his wife—what a jerk. He’s asking for a beating."

"Are you uncomfortable in that chamber?" she heard a familiar voice, startling her.

She turned toward the source of the voice, only to see Lucian standing behind her on the stairs. Shocked, she almost lost her balance, but Lucian caught her in his arms just in time, preventing her from falling.

Realizing she was safe, she opened her eyes and glared at him, catching her breath. "Are you a ghost? You scared me!"

"My apologies," he replied calmly.

"Let me go," she demanded with a frown, struggling to free herself, as though being close to him was unbearable. The moment she was steady on her feet, she hurried up the stairs and walked straight to her chamber.

Lucian stared at his empty hands. He had only caught her to keep her from falling—not done anything inappropriate—yet she reacted as if she despised his touch. He shook off the thought and followed her.

By the time he reached her chamber, and turned to close the door, but Lucian was already there, making it unable for her to do so.

"What?" she exclaimed, exasperated.

"I want to talk to you," he said, his tone steady and unaffected by her anger.

"If you’re going to repeat the nonsense you said this morning, don’t bother," she snapped.

"No. I’m here to ask what happened to upset you this much," he replied calmly.

"Upset ? Yeah, the way you act with me, when I don’t like it, it upsets me, no in fact it angers me," she spat out. "How can you enter the chamber of a lady like this? You cross my boundaries of being a noble lady" she replied coldly. "So stay away from me and leave me alone."

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A/N- Last few hours of final round of the character event is left. Make sure to vote your points or coins to Oriana.

If Oriana wins the final, there will be 5 ChapterS MASS RELEASE with Oriana and Arlan back in the novel along with other characters.