Chapter 2 (Part 3)

Emma, observing Reinis closely, misunderstood the cause of her state, assuming it was because of Elina.  

Reinis, who had become much brighter than before and had even started smiling more often, now seemed like she was closing herself off again, just like when she first arrived.  

Worried about this, Emma decided she couldn’t leave Reinis alone like this.  

After providing her with embroidery supplies that she could work on without leaving the bed, Emma immediately went to find Theodore.  

“It seems the lady is quite troubled by the Baroness’s visit.”

Theodore paused what he was doing and looked up.  

“What do you mean by that?”

“Lately, during meals, she often stops eating and sit still, and she’s been staring blankly out the window all day.”  

‘I feel like the physician mentioned something similar….’  

Theodore looked at Emma with a worried expression.  

“How could she not be troubled, living in a place where she knows no one overnight? Wouldn’t it be a good idea for you, Master, to have a conversation with the Miss?”  

Although her maid accompanied her, she didn’t stay in her room all day.  

Theodore began to wonder if he had failed to consider how difficult it must be for Reinis, confined to her bed in an unfamiliar environment.  

“You’re right. That’s a good idea.”  

Nodding slowly in agreement, Theodore suddenly stood up from his seat.  

“I’ll go see the lady right away.”  

Leaving his work behind, Theodore headed straight to Reinis’s room.  

At that moment, Reinis, who was embroidering, was moving her hands slowly with a vacant expression.  

As a result, she didn’t even hear the sound of knocking on the door.  

After knocking several times without receiving an answer, Theodore, growing concerned, eventually opened the door.  

At that moment, Reinis, distracted, pricked her finger with the needle she had been randomly poking into the fabric.  

“Ouch!”  

“Are you alright?!”  

Hearing her cry of pain, Theodore immediately rushed to her side.  

Holding her bleeding finger, Theodore looked at her with worried eyes, which reminded Reinis of the conversation the maids had earlier.  

“Ah! I-I’m fine!”  

Reinis hastily pulled her hand away from his grasp, her face gradually reddening.  

“I… I touched you without permission…. I apologize if it made you uncomfortable.”

Thinking that she was upset because he had touched her, Theodore apologized in a polite tone. At that moment, Reinis, startled, waved her hands and raised her voice.  

“Oh! No, it’s not that! I wasn’t upset! It’s just… I was… embarrassed… that’s all!”  

Her already round eyes widened even further, making her look so adorable that Theodore couldn’t help but smile.  

“Oh… no… it’s not just that… I mean, I’m embarrassed because… well, because you touched my hand, but also because… looking at your face like this… it’s just too embarrassing…!”  

Her flustered, rambling behavior was exactly the same as that girl he had met at the banquet four years ago. The fact that the image of her from his memory still lingered made him feel happy.

Reinis, seeing Theodore smiling at her while maintaining eye contact, lowered her head deeply and spoke.  

“Please don’t smile like that… It feels like my heart is going to burst.”  

Instead, it was Theodore’s heart that almost burst upon hearing those words.  

Did she even realize what she was saying right now?

He looked at her with eyes full of love.  

Not realizing that his gaze was filled with affection, Reinis lowered her head even further.  

“I’m sorry. Because of me… you’ve been troubled a lot, haven’t you?”  

“Troubled? What do you mean by that…?”  

Cutting off his words, he recalled the commotion caused by Elina and Earl Plarad.  

“My lady, you have nothing to apologize for regarding that incident.”  

“But… the Duke… and you Commander, were humiliated because of someone like me….”

Theodore let out a deep sigh, shook his head, and took her hand.  

“Please don’t say such things. Being insulted is nothing compared to your safety.”  

At those words, she looked up at him with wide, startled eyes.  

Theodore, smiling so sweetly that it was almost unfair, looked at her with a gentle expression.  

“I truly want to protect you, my lady. To the point where, if it were up to me, I would take you as my lifelong companion and protect you forever.”  

The words came out of Theodore’s mouth before he even realized it.  

“…What?”  

Hearing the sudden word “companion,” she looked up at him in surprise.  

‘Damn it, it’s all because of that idiot Hel and his nonsense…’  

However, it wasn’t as though the words were entirely without sincerity.  

Now that he had already spoken to them, he thought it might be a bit premature, but he wanted to convey his true feelings. With a serious expression, he continued.  

“I apologize for being so abrupt. But there isn’t a single lie in what I’m saying to you right now. I want to stay by your side and protect you for the rest of my life. I want to marry you.”  

A moment of silence passed.  

‘It’s only natural for her to reject me when a man she barely knows suddenly says he wants to marry her.’

At that moment, as she was lost in thought, Reinis opened her mouth.  

“I’ll… think about it… It’s not that I dislike the idea… but… it’s too sudden… Please give me… some time to think.”  

Reinis spoke shyly, her face blushing red.  

Barely suppressing the urge to pull her into his arms at her adorable reaction, Theodore left the room, leaving behind a simple acknowledgment.  

When the sound of Theodore’s footsteps faded into the distance, Reinis came to her senses and muttered to herself.  

“Did I… just get proposed to?”  

‘They said the Master fell for the Miss at first sight.’  

‘I want to marry you.’  

Those two conversations refused to leave her mind.  

It was something she had never expected to happen. Yet, at the same time, a sense of worry began to rise within her.  

“Earl Plarad… was kind to me too… until we went to his estate…”  

Before their wedding and before they moved to the Earl’s estate, the Earl had acted as if he would give her the world. The memory of that behavior came flooding back.  

‘I know he’s not someone who would lie… But there’s no reason for him to love me… Could it be that, like the Earl, he just needs a wife for appearances?’  

As that thought crossed her mind, a bitter smile spread across her face.  

While she was deep in thought, another idea came to her.  

‘But His Grace is different from Earl Plarad. He didn’t treat me kindly with the purpose of marrying me. If I’m going to be a wife in name only, wouldn’t it be better to marry the Duke than the Earl?’  

Having reached that conclusion, she nodded firmly as if making a resolution.  

“I should… accept his proposal!”  

With her fist raised and a determined expression on her face, she finished speaking. But then, she fell into thought again.  

The dreadful “duties of marriage” she had endured during her time with the Earl came to mind.  

The memories were so horrifying that even now, thinking about them made her feel like retching.  

Those thoughts triggered a flood of memories of the treatment she had suffered at the Earl’s manor.  

Even the unjust things Yuria had endured came to mind, and she began to wonder if she could demand something in return for agreeing to marry.  

“If he refuses, I just won’t marry him.”  

As if all her worries had been resolved, Reinis smiled brightly.  

She decided it would be best to organize her demands, so she called for a servant. 

Before her lay a sheet of paper and a pen. As she began to write down all the things she disliked one by one, her hand came to a halt in mid-air.  

“Will he really… agree to these demands?”

***

“Whaaat?!”  

It was only natural for Heldor to be shocked. After all, it had been a joke when he said it.  

But now…  

“You’re telling me you proposed?!”  

Theodore, who wasn’t entirely comfortable with the situation, had told Hel about what happened, as Hel was the only person he could share this with.  

He had expected to be mocked, but instead, Hel looked at him with a serious expression.  

“Commander, are you in your right mind?”  

“I am.”  

“Did you at least tell the young lady that you’re a Duke?”  

“No.”  

“Wow… What are we going to do with you, Commander? How startled must the young lady have been, hearing such a sudden proposal from a man whose identity she doesn’t even know?”  

Even Theodore had to admit that the situation was absurd, so he simply kept his mouth shut and stared at Hel.  

“At first light tomorrow, you must visit the young lady and apologize. How could you tell such a naive young lady such a lie?!”  

“It wasn’t a lie.”  

“Whaaaaat?!”  

Hel’s expression grew even more serious as he saw the earnest look on Theodore’s face.  

‘This seems familiar….’

As such thoughts crossed Heldor’s mind, he recalled something strange that had happened four years ago.