Killian didn’t want to openly flaunt his mafia identity in front of Emily. It was clear that as a regular noblewoman, she would either fear or despise the mafia like everyone else. Was it necessary to remind her, who had reluctantly married him for money, that she had indeed married a mafia member?

However, Emily blinked her large eyes, hoping to be introduced to them. Killian sighed and spoke up.

“…These are my subordinates.”

Nox and Chambers, who approached the table to greet them, were high-ranking members within the organization. They were tall and well-dressed. Among them, Nox, who had known Killian since childhood, was one of the few close friends who treated him comfortably, albeit being a bit of an asshole at times.Emily greeted them, feeling relieved that even though they were mafia members, they didn’t appear menacing.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Emily Star.”

Although her attitude was shy, the way she confidently stated her name and made eye contact with them seemed bold. Nox’s eyes briefly sparkled with interest.

“I’m Nox, and the bespectacled guy is Chambers. He may look smart with glasses, but he’s not particularly bright.”

Chambers, a handsome scholar-type with glasses and silver hair, was indeed more skilled in combat than strategy, as Nox described.

“But I’m still smarter than Nox, that’s for sure.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Nox didn’t deny Chambers’ words; instead, he laughed heartily and took a seat beside Emily. Chambers naturally sat next to Killian.

When Killian tried to stand up to remove the uninvited guest, Emily shook her hand and dissuaded him.

“It’s all right.”

She felt uneasy in this situation, but it wasn’t unpleasant. She even found it slightly amusing. There were no people around Emily who spoke so casually. Nobles always wore similar masks.

“Indeed, you have a generous heart. It’s such a waste to live with someone like him.”

Killian was about to retort to Nox’s comment but stopped himself. He realized it would only fuel the fire of this annoying troublemaker.

“I thought it was nonsense when he said he would marry the daughter of the Sinope family for the past few years, but who would have known that he would really get married?”

Silence fell over the table for a moment after Nox’s remark. Killian immediately regretted not silencing that talkative mouth.

“…Past few years?”

Did he know her long before he proposed? A perplexed expression appeared on Emily’s face.

Killian pondered how to respond. If he were to say that he, a mafia member, had cherished her in his heart for the past eight years, wouldn’t it send shivers down Emily’s spine?

Fortunately, Chambers understood his dilemma. He took Killian’s place and explained.

“Killian has been planning to marry a noblewoman for several years, and Lady Emily was the most promising candidate.”

Upon hearing his words, Emily responded with a vague smile. Now she could understand why he had married her.

“Ah, so you needed an aristocratic background.”

Killian canceled out the word ‘fortunate.’ Neither Nox nor Chambers were of any help to Killian.

“Chambers.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Take Nox and go back to your seat.”

Chambers, who believed he had saved Killian from his dilemma, couldn’t understand why Killian was so angry, but he nodded while looking into Killian’s lifeless eyes.

“Then I’ll see you next time.”

However, Nox, who was even more stubborn than Chambers, clung to the table and refused to move.

“Nox, come on.”

“Huh? I still have more to say.”

Eventually, Chambers forcefully pulled him up and clasped his fingers, both an action that Nox found contemptible and a way to render him powerless.

“I’ll go on my own, so let go!”

Nox wriggled as if he despised Chambers and struggled to free his hand.

“I can’t do that.”

“Just hit me, damn it. People are watching!”

“Don’t you think it’s because you’re being noisy?”

“Damn it!”

Their struggle continued until they sat back down.

Watching the entertaining spectacle, Emily blinked her eyes and looked up at Killian.

“Will you introduce me to the others too?”

Ignoring Emily’s sparkling eyes, Killian responded firmly.

“No, absolutely not.”

This headache-inducing encounter was enough for now.

Unfortunately, little did he know that an even more troublesome person would appear the next day.

***

Translator note: Hi, If you were previously reading my translation on my website (maetranslations) this is where I’ll be posting my translations from now on. As we all could see from my last website, website design is NOT my thing. Isn’t this site so much prettier and well put together than my poor dumpster fire of a website.

     *~Functional buttons~ *     

                        ~*~Chapters posted in a pleasing and readable format~*

  ~*~things located where they are labeled they will be~*~* 

           ~*~Ability to link my Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/maetranslations btw 😉 )~

and all without me having to watch several hours of Dutch website design youtubers. (No hate to website youtubers especially that one Dutch guy, they did an amazing job. I was able to make a semi- functional site thanks to them) [if you are interested I’ll see if I can find his videos so lmk] but now the wonderful angels at Salmon Latte will do all that hard stuff and I can just focus on translating. So Happy reading ~ a MUCH less stressed Mae