Chapter 1: Take Off Your Wedding Dress

The Beauty and the Ugly Count - Chapter 1: Take Off Your Wedding Dress

Translator: Nezu

A delicately embroidered pure white dress, a glittering diamond tiara and flowers all over the place. Everyone in the mansion was busy preparing for tomorrow’s wedding. In the midst of all these people was one relaxed person, the new bride, Velita.

She yawned a little as if to drive her boredom away. She didn’t feel any excitement or nervousness for herself and continued reading her book. She was just filled with silence and drowsiness.

Her brother, Rael, roughly opened the door and saw her peacefulness. Velita tried to hide her book in a hurry but breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that it was only Rael.

“Older sister! Are you really going to get married?”

“You didn’t even bother to knock?”

“...I’m sorry. But older sister, please think about it once more.”

“It’s not like the wedding will be called off once that I did think about. There’s nothing I can do to stop this.”

“But the other person is… the Ugly Count, isn’t it? No matter how hard I think about this, this isn’t right.”

Rael lowered his head and clenched his fist. Velita stared at him with dry eyes then got up and stroked his head.

“What the heck are you even worried about? So what if Count Erten is ugly? Should I care much about that? And didn’t I tell you a lot of times before to not talk about someone else’s appearance? Calling him an ugly count, there’s not even an excuse for your impoliteness.”

“I know, but if you go, I may never be able to see you again. Don’t you know what will happen if you become the wife of Count Erten, who doesn’t even come out to the society, much less from his castle?”

“I think that’s rather good. I could live as quietly as I want.”

“Older sister!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep in touch with you. And if I told him that I want to meet my brother, what right does he have to stop me?”

“...Older sister.”

“Anyway, I’m looking forward to it since rumor has it that Count Erten is crazy about buying and collecting various books. I’m excited to see how big his library is.”

“You’re not marrying a book.”

“But I am marrying a man who can buy me a bunch of books.”

“Older sister, you…”

“Rael, it doesn’t matter who I marry. In the end, it’s not something that I can decide on my own.”

When Rael heard those words, he sat down on the chair weakly as if he had finally given up.

“It would have been nice if I was born as the eldest son.”

“Oh come on, you’ll only cause headaches if you ever become a Lord. When the right time comes, it would be better for you to go to the capital and take the official secretariat exam then get out of this house. That’s the best way.”

“The best way, you say… I’m not as smart as my older sister, so I’m not sure if I’d be smart enough to take the exam. When you look at it from our father’s point of view, one is sold, and the other plans to run away. Is that really the best way?”

“To live according to that man’s demands is the way for us to start our lives. Since he’s so obsessed with using us for the interests of our family, then let’s use this as a stepping stone to get the life that we want. Didn’t our mother tell us to live? Then we have to live.”

“Older sister, have you still not forgiven our… father and eldest brother?”

“Forgiveness? There’s no reason for me to feel that way towards a stupid man who does everything just for his greed.”

Velita crossed her legs and smiled. It was a very sweet smile, but Rael was not unaware of the venom and remorse it contained. But he didn’t have the heart to say anything about her lies. To their father, the two of them were beneficial to the family, and the only way that they could survive is to act like good children, devoid of thoughts of rebellion.

“So you’re saying that you’re still going to get married?”

“How did we get back to this question again? I don’t think there could be any better situation than this. Even if you stay in the capital, you’d probably still be bothered indirectly.”

“...really, older sister, you’re too stubborn.”

“That’s because I just want to read my books peacefully for the rest of my life. To be honest, I really wanted to end this marriage and submit the documents needed to the church, but since this will be the last time that I need to obey him then I’ll just pretend that I’m a submissive daughter. After that, I just need to leave and be free.”

Rael shook his head when he heard that his sister had no expectations about her marriage.

“Alright.”

“Right, go now. You’re busy greeting the guests, right? This older sister of yours still has to purify her thoughts before she gets married, so she can’t get out here yet.”

“You’re only acting like a new bride now?”

When Velita waved her hand as if to say that she was bothered, Rael looked at her with a disapproving face and stood up. Then he looked at the book on her desk. It was a book that would have already been tattered if it had not been for the paper wrapped around its edges so that it would not be damaged.

This old and thick book was a political science book written by Hitart, who was known as one of the great prime ministers in the history of the kingdom. In fact, there are only a few people in the whole empire who could fully understand that book. It was Rael who hid that book, which nobles don’t even read, in the library and secretly took it to give it to Velita.

‘A genius born in the wrong time and wrong circumstances.’ Velita didn’t have the chance to learn anything beyond their basic upbringing education. When she showed intelligence that was more than comparable to their eldest brother’s, their father banned her from entering the library.

Because of this Rael would sometimes steal books from the library or secretly give her books that he bought under his name. This is why she only has a few books.

However, these books that she had read countless times and could not be discarded are her only pillar in life. They existed in any era, in any other places but Rael thought that it was a pity that her sister did not even have the luxury to get a lot of them.

***

“With the blessing of the benevolent Milletian, I now pronounce the two as husband and wife for life.”

‘Ah, it’s finally over. Why is the Lord’s prayer so awfully long. It should be kept short, you know, short! It’s even placed as third among the longest prayers.’

I wasn’t aware that these kinds of prayers were actually the ones that are frequently heard in wedding ceremonies but I continued to say all these nasty things in my mind. I was hungry, and my head also felt heavy because of the unfamiliar tiara that I was wearing. I wanted to take it off as soon as possible.

“Now, the kiss of oath.”

When I turned my head to look at Count Erten, who had just become my husband, I waited for him to lift up my veil. As the veil, which was obstructing my view, disappeared, the white mask covering his face instantly became visible.

I couldn’t check how his face looked underneath that mask as it only showed his mouth. I saw a certain wrinkled part in his neck that the cravat of his clothes wasn’t able to conceal completely. 

I looked at those red marks indifferently and then made eye contact with him.

“Ah…”

A dark shade of deep green eyes. As soon as I thought, ‘Where did I see those eyes again?’, his white mask immediately approached. He kissed me lightly then moved away, making me see clearly those pair of deep green eyes.

‘Did I mistake it with something else?’

I lowered my gaze to avoid his eyes. Those stiff-looking deep green eyes of his didn’t look bad as I thought.

‘I like it. A lot.’

I suddenly felt embarrassed. We’ve never had any encounters before but now I’m saying that I like it at first sight. It was a strange feeling. I raised my head to double check, and still his deep green eyes were staring at me.

“...”

The sound of applause resounded through the church. Count Erten, who’s now officially my husband, reached out his hand to me and lifted both our hands. With him leading the way, I saw petals of flowers fluttering away in our surroundings. I also saw the very familiar face of Viscount Zoran with a very satisfied smile as he clapped his hands.

The moment I saw his face, I immediately felt disgusted, and my hands inexplicably clenched.

“It might be a bit uncomfortable but hang in there.”

“...”

Count Erten supported me and guided me gently. Afterwards, I finally reached the end of the long virgin road. A bitter, flat laugh came out of my mouth.

Though I didn’t think of him as family, I think that biological father of mine sold me in a good place, so I’m very satisfied. I can now run away from him, relying on my husband that I just met today. There’s no better performance than this.

‘I acted so haughtily in front of Rael…’

I told him that I didn’t care and that I didn’t have any feelings and yet, it was all just a lie. Before there was only the feeling of hatred, but now there was more of the feeling of disgust.

‘Right, disgusting.’

“You don’t seem like you’re feeling well, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, since today’s considered to be a day for a joyous occasion.”

“There’s no need to say that.”

“How come? I feel very happy, though?”

His eyes narrowed at my incomprehensible answer. When our eyes met, he turned his head again. I frowned as I looked forward.

‘Well, we’ll have plenty of time to talk.’

Since the relationship that we have is something that will last for a lifetime, whatever this relationship is, there was no need to hurry.

‘I have a feeling that it will be okay.’

“I’ll be attending to you, madam.”

It’s kind of awkward to be called ‘madam’, but I let go of my hands without showing any signs of expression and followed the maid. From the moment I walked past through the virgin road, I became the Countess of Erten, Velita Erten.

Now I will have to move to Count Erten’s residence in the capital and wait in the bridal room for our first night while the banquet is held.

‘While wearing this uncomfortable wedding dress.’

The pain in my chest was very unbearable and made it difficult for me to breathe because of the tight corset. I held the bouquet tightly to keep my expression blank. As I pushed the hem of my dress all over the carriage, Count Erten sat across from me. The carriage began to move and I finally managed to catch my breath.

Despite the carriage being fairly large, there were only a few spaces left on my side. I shrugged my hips and straightened the hem of my dress in order to sit comfortably.

“Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

“It is uncomfortable.”

Realizing that nothing would change no matter how I sit, I simply gave up and focused on my shoes. Even though I only managed to take off one shoe after wiggling my foot, I felt like I already could breath a little bit.

“If you feel uncomfortable, why don’t you take off your shoes?”

“I’m taking it off now.”

I used the heel of the other shoe when I first removed the other, but now that I need to remove the right shoe, I only had the lace socks to push it down but I couldn’t take it off. Count Erten, who was watching me squirm, walked near the hem of my dress and took off the other shoe.

“I’ll put it back on when we get there.”

Then he put my shoes next to him. His attitude inwardly made me smile.

“I’d also want to tell you that if you feel uncomfortable, then I won’t go tonight.”

“...What?”

“I can sleep in my own room so you won’t feel bothered and sleep comfortably.”

“What do you mean by that? How will I feel comfortable if the Count doesn’t come?”

“But you got married to a guy like me, and now you’ll be forced to spend the first night with me…”

“It’s exactly because it’s our first night, besides I won’t be able to take off this dress alone.”

“...Huh?”

“Besides, isn’t it a basic rule that no one except the groom could take off the wedding dress? Are you telling me to stay up all night wearing this dress and corset? Well, it would be great if no bodies are found tomorrow morning because some people had struggled with breathing. I also haven’t eaten anything all day long but water. It’s impossible to eat anything in this state. When I’m hungry, I get very sensitive. So if you don’t want us to fight and have your hair pulled just on our first day, then you’d better come tonight.”

**

I dont have raws so I cant continue

Do u? ?_?