Chapter 1.4

Hearing an unexpected name, Rizle was quite shocked. True, he did have black hair. But the idea that the person who knelt before her and offered a ring was Heizen seemed hard to believe.

Who exactly was Heizen Warkliber?

He had jet-black hair and wore only black clothes, earning him the nickname ‘Black Rock’ among his knight comrades at Troskan Castle. He had a rather handsome face, was tall, and naturally muscular, which initially made him a promising figure within the knight order. Unfortunately, his swordsmanship skills didn’t live up to expectations.

Perhaps his lack of prominence was partly due to his disinterest in standing out. He lacked the fighting spirit to cling to battles, the ambition to compete and rise through ranks, and often retreated, easily admitting defeat.

Moreover, he had a fatal flaw. He showed little to no interest in women, even to the point of finding them bothersome. While his knight comrades often talked about who was beautiful or had a good figure, he rarely spoke and seldom smiled, which made him seem perpetually angry—earning the nickname ‘Rock.’

Still, he was someone who quietly completed the tasks assigned to him, so his colleagues didn’t entirely dislike him. In fact, some even appreciated him for it.

‘At least he seems like someone who would never cheat.’

Ironically, this made him quite popular as a marriage prospect. The problem was that he gave no opportunities to any of the women who approached him.

The women who failed to gain his attention all said the same thing.

‘He’s such a boring man.’

Some even speculated whether he was impotent or perhaps gay.

Whether he was shy or simply found it bothersome, his lack of words and stoic demeanor made him seem like a lifeless rock.

Rizle couldn’t agree more. She, too, was one of those who had tried to get closer to him, only to fail miserably.

In any case, Heizen, due to his physical traits, initially stood out but soon faded into obscurity. However, he suddenly rose to prominence on the battlefield when the retreat was blocked, and they were on the verge of defeat.

Had he consumed some mysterious elixir of divine power that turned him into a monster?

People were puzzled as he fiercely repelled the Imperial forces, saving the nation in an instant. He became a hero, received a title, and soared to prominence as Count Warkliber.

But as soon as the war ended, he returned to being a dull person. After attending a royal banquet once, he declined all subsequent invitations.

Those who had been eyeing the position of his wife assumed he had no intention of starting a family and gave up. However, he unexpectedly expressed his intention to attend the Thruella party.

Although it was an unusual decision, it wasn’t entirely strange. After all, he had worked as a knight at Troskan Castle before, and if one assumed he felt indebted to the Marquis, it made sense that he couldn’t decline the invitation.

Perhaps that assumption was correct because, after offering the usual polite thanks to the Marquis and Marchioness of Thruella for inviting him, he didn’t engage socially any further. The women who hovered around him, flaunting their beauty in hopes of catching his attention, had to retreat in defeat yet again.

‘Why did he come all the way here and not even dance once?’

‘I don’t understand what he came here for.’

Rizle recalled the complaints the women had about Heizen. Just as they had said, Heizen sat there with a rigid expression, merely occupying his seat.  

If someone spoke to him, he responded, but he never smiled, let alone danced or drank.  

‘That man proposed to me?’  

The more Rizle thought about it, the less she could believe it.  

“That man said he couldn’t refuse the party invitation because of the favor he owed Father. But from the start, you were his goal!”  

Gilbert speculated angrily.  

Could that be true? 

Rizle tilted her head in doubt but gradually leaned toward thinking it might be possible. Thinking back, there were moments when she felt someone’s gaze and, upon looking around, met his eyes several times.  

At the time, she thought it was a coincidence. But if he came with the intention of proposing, then him watching her must have been deliberate. However, even when she awkwardly smiled at him, he didn’t smile back. He merely stared blankly at her. Eventually, Rizle, embarrassed, turned her head away.  

“When did you two even get close? When we said we’d help find you a match, you didn’t say anything about this.”  

Even as Gilbert ranted furiously, Rizle had no words to respond. She herself couldn’t guess why he decided to give her a ring.  

They didn’t even have much of a connection.  

“Three years ago, when he briefly served as your escort in Kabakia, did something happen then?”  

Scratch that. There was a connection. But it wasn’t a particularly beautiful memory to warrant acting so mysterious about it. 

“No, back then, Count Warkliber wasn’t interested in me at all.”  

Even Rizle, who was generally kind to everyone, found Heizen’s cold demeanor exhausting.  

Since he was assigned to be her escort during her three-month vacation, she tried to get closer to him. But his responses were always curt.  

‘What kind of food do you like?’  

‘I don’t have any.’  

“I don’t have any.” “Understood.” Those seemed to be the only phrases he knew how to say. When she asked him if he disliked talking to her, his answer was simply, “No.”  

But wasn’t that essentially a “yes”?  

Out of sheer stubbornness, Rizle didn’t give up and tried various ways to find topics that might interest him. However, her efforts were in vain, as Heizen never strung together a long sentence.  

One day, after her barrage of questions, she caught him quietly sighing to himself!  

‘Am I really that uncomfortable?’  

She realized the only option was to give up trying to get close to him. Continuing would only make her efforts a burden to him. After returning to Troskan Castle, they had virtually no interaction. At most, they exchanged brief nods when passing by.  

And yet, suddenly, he proposed. What on earth had gotten into him?  

‘Did the world end last night and start spinning backward? Did the sun rise in the west today?’  

“Mary, which direction did the sun rise from this morning?”  

Rizle asked. Mary thought her lady was asking another strange question. But the maid, already accustomed to Rizle Thruella’s peculiarities, wasn’t surprised. Mary calmly replied that it rose in the east.  

“The sun rose in the east, and Count Warkliber proposed to me? That’s strange. Are you sure it was him? Could it have been someone else?”  

This question left Mary hesitant to answer.  

Instead, Gilbert stepped in.  

“That man came to Father this morning and said so himself.”  

After hearing Heizen’s words, the Marquis Thruella had been so shaken that he collapsed into his chair and couldn’t get up for a while.  

Gilbert was just as shocked. Even if they had secretly met, wouldn’t there have been rumors or signs? His sister was the type to make her feelings obvious when in love. How could she fool the entire family so thoroughly?  

“We called you here to confirm the truth…”  

Gilbert glared at the ring snugly placed on his sister’s finger.  

So she really did receive a proposal. That alone was shocking enough, and now she was asking about the origins of the ring? 

Frustrated, Gilbert pounded his chest with his fist.  

Rizle touched her cheek and tilted her head. It was hard to believe, but it seemed that the cold-hearted man had indeed proposed to her.  

How should she interpret this situation? Outwardly, Heizen Warkliber wasn’t a bad man. He was tall, with large hands, and fit her type in terms of physical appearance.  

‘But I like kind men…’  

Heizen’s personality was far from kind. Moreover, his dislike for conversations was a critical flaw. As a chatterbox, Rizle feared she might go mad if she had to keep her mouth shut around him.  

Whether or not she was happy about Heizen’s proposal, Rizle couldn’t help but wonder.  

‘Why did I accept his proposal?’  

According to Mary, Rizle had been beaming as she showed off the ring. That meant she must have been quite pleased with his proposal.  

But imagining Heizen Warkliber whispering sweet words seemed impossible. What would that stiff face look like when filled with love? She couldn’t picture it at all.  

“What exactly did Count Warkliber say when he proposed to me?”  

The thought spilled out of her mouth. At that, Gilbert angrily shouted that he wouldn’t know such a thing.  

“Rizle, think carefully. Did you really get proposed to? Try to remember.”  

Gilbert pressed her for answers.  

“If you can’t remember anything, maybe it didn’t happen. Maybe you rejected him, or the ring wasn’t for a proposal but for some other reason.”  

“What other reason?”  

“I don’t know. Maybe as a token of gratitude?”  

Desperate to deny reality, Gilbert blurted out whatever came to mind.  

Rizle didn’t agree with his claim that it wasn’t a proposal. What other reason would a man have to kneel before a woman and present a ring? Last night, she was indeed proposed to by a man with black hair.  

“There’s no way to deny it. It was definitely a proposal. But…”  

She had always dreamed of receiving a proposal in a specific, romantic way. But whether that dream came true or not, she couldn’t remember the details, which felt unfair.  

“If I can’t remember, it doesn’t count. Last night’s events never happened!”  

Rizle declared, clenching her ringed hand into a fist. Her loud voice echoed down the hallway.  

Both Mary and Gilbert stared at her in disbelief.  

“And I’ll make him propose again.”  

Rizle muttered quietly to herself with a smile, pleased with her plan.  

“That’s what matters to you right now?”  

“Of course it matters. Why wouldn’t it?”  

As the siblings bickered, Mary watched Rizle with a complicated expression. 

Was it really so easy to make someone propose again? 

Just as Mary thought it would be difficult, she suddenly felt a chilling presence behind her.  

Turning around to identify the source, Mary gasped.  

At the end of the hallway, Heizen Warkliber was glaring at them.