“You’re really incorrigible, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Yujin stared at me blankly, as if he were seeing something unfamiliar, while I laughed out loud.

I realized I was laughing too much in front of someone who was sick. Feeling a bit self-conscious, I wiped the smile off my face and touched his forehead.

“Are you really okay? No pain anywhere?”

I was just trying to check his temperature, but Yujin leaned back slightly, avoiding my touch.

“Yes.”

Again, and again.

When he felt weak, he would lean on my shoulder and ask me to stay by his side, acting all needy, but then he’d put up a wall like this.

Seeing his composed face now made me suddenly feel a bit mischievous. I grabbed his wrist.

“Then come on. Bring the blanket you were lying on.”

“The blanket? Why?”

Did he really not know? I tugged him along as I spoke.

“Because you dirtied it, so you should wash it.”

If he was really feeling better, doing the laundry shouldn’t be a big deal.

***

We did our laundry on the rooftop, where tulips were growing vigorously.

It’s usually difficult to bring water up, so bathrooms and laundry rooms are typically on the first floor, but somehow, in this building, water flowed abundantly even up top, allowing us to use the rooftop space efficiently.

‘I never thought about it before, but could this be magic too? If it is, Yuri the mage is truly amazing!’

When Yuri returned, I planned to ask if the water flowing well on the rooftop was also due to magic.

Thinking that, I plopped down on a suitable spot on the ground.

In front of me, Yujin had rolled up his pants and was stepping on the laundry in the tub. But his posture was awkward, like someone caught by a slime.

‘He brewed coffee so elegantly…’

It seemed he didn’t know how to do laundry.

I shouted energetically.

“Step on it harder. Thump, thump! Just stepping lightly won’t get the dirt out.”

At my shout, Yujin asked with a bewildered expression.

“Is this how laundry is usually done?”

“If not like this, then how? With magic?”

“Is there such a magic?”

That’s exactly what I wanted to ask. I shrugged.

“I thought maybe Yuri showed you some laundry magic.”

If I knew how far magic could make our lives easier, I’d definitely request it when I really needed it.

Yujin frowned at my answer.

“It seems Yuri uses magic often here.”

“No, not really… I think he didn’t show me magic before because being a mage was a secret. Didn’t Yuri ever use magic at home? You said he was a mage from a very young age.”

“Yuri doesn’t like to talk about magic.”

“Really? Once he was found out, he talked about it quite easily. He even dried my hair.”

“…?”

It felt like we were talking about two different Yuris. Although we were referring to the same person, the feeling was strangely different.

Anyway, I thought talking about Yuri would just go in circles, so I asked something else I was curious about.

“Earlier, you said someone coveted Asel’s mine.”

“Yes.”

“Is it Princess Sabina? Is that why you prevented others from investing?”

“…That’s right.”

Yujin answered after a brief silence, confirming my suspicion.

I had been somewhat sure, but hearing it confirmed made my blood run cold. I pulled my knees up and rested my chin on them. Fortunately, my voice came out steady.

“I see.”

“You accept it easily.”

Yujin seemed puzzled.

“Earlier, you said you wanted to correct your past mistakes one by one. But right after that, you said you were investing in the mine of someone you suspected to be a fraud, which seemed strange. So I thought it might be because of the princess.”

After hesitating for a moment, Yujin asked me in a slow tone.

“Do you not resent me?”

“Why would I resent you?”

I shook my head.

“Anyone can make mistakes. I can’t hate someone who’s trying to correct theirs.”

When talking about Yujin, my voice flowed naturally as usual. However…

“But Princess Sabina…”

When her name came up, my throat tightened as if by magic.

‘Sabina, the princess’

How should I express this feeling?

‘Why are you so greedily coveting others’ things when you were born with everything?’

Just as she tried to ruin my business because I didn’t offer her the blue rose first, she was diligently causing trouble for others as well.

With a strange sensation bubbling up from my stomach, I kept my mouth shut. I felt that if I spoke now, I might make a mistake.

As I struggled to suppress my emotions, Yujin suddenly extended his hand to me.

“Titiana Este, how about marrying me?”

“What?”

I opened my eyes wide at the sudden proposal.

‘What on earth is he thinking?’

Instinctively, I examined his expression. But there was no trace of excitement or thrill that one might expect from someone talking about marriage.

Yujin continued with a serious expression.

“Aren’t you thinking of taking revenge on Princess Sabina? But in your current state, with no background, you can’t take revenge on her. You’ll be lucky if you don’t face retaliation.”

Since what he said was true, I couldn’t refute it. As the silence stretched, Yujin added a few more words, as if trying to persuade me.

“I don’t mean to bind you. If you achieve your goal and want to part ways cleanly, we can do that. I just…”

As he spoke, his voice gradually faded, as if he was getting tangled in his own words. Watching him, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“This is the most unromantic proposal I’ve ever heard.”

At my laughter, Yujin’s face showed a trace of embarrassment.

If I hadn’t known Yujin well, I might have been angry, thinking he was belittling me. But now I knew he was just not good with words, and that he was actually a kind person.

“You were concerned for me, right? Worried that I might get into danger while taking revenge on Princess Sabina.”

So, this wasn’t a proposal out of pity, but rather genuine concern for me.

‘He really doesn’t know how to calculate things.’

For someone like me, with no house or title, even getting married and divorced is a big deal, yet the Count of Esrenche and owner of the Esrenche Trading Company casually suggested a sham marriage.

‘What if I just said yes because I liked him?’

I put my hands on my hips and started to scold him like a teacher. I was worried about his social standing and financial situation, but more importantly, there was something missing that should be the first consideration in marriage.

“Still, you shouldn’t say things like that lightly. You should marry someone you truly love.”

Wasn’t it said that being compared to Yuri and not receiving warm love since childhood was his complex?

‘So when it comes to marriage, he should prioritize himself and marry someone who will welcome him warmly.’

He shouldn’t just reach out to anyone out of sympathy.

“I…”

Yujin looked confused. Before he could continue talking about marriage, I stood up.

“Come on, let’s stop here and get out. We need to rinse.”

Yujin came out of the laundry tub with a bewildered expression. I immediately dumped the soapy water and refilled the tub with clean water.

After rinsing the blanket a few times, Yujin, who had been working silently as if lost in thought, grabbed my attention.

“I didn’t propose impulsively.”

“What?”

“I don’t extend my hand to just anyone.”

“Well…

I blinked. His blue eyes swirled with turbulence.

In that gaze, I sensed a ‘sincerity’ he had never seriously confessed before.

‘That’s not good.’

The moment I glimpsed a part of his heart, I felt troubled. And just as I read his feelings, he seemed to understand my answer from my expression. My wrist, held by Yujin, tingled.

In the late afternoon, under the long slanting sunlight, his face was bathed in an orange glow. We stared blankly at each other.

A sharp voice interrupted us at that moment.

“What are you two doing?”

I turned around in surprise. Yuri was standing at the rooftop door.

He was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, but his face was so stiff it looked unfamiliar. He still seemed angry, and I instinctively shrank back.

Yujin stepped forward before I could.

“Are you just coming in? We were washing the blanket.”

“You were doing laundry?”

“I dirtied it.”

Yuri walked over. When he saw the blanket in the tub, his face twisted.

“This is Titi’s blanket, isn’t it?”

For some reason, he looked even more displeased than before.