Eleanor Sivert does not love Marcus Damel!

Having let those words pass through her lips, she felt as though the heavy weight pressing down on her chest had been washed away.

What a relief.

It even felt strangely satisfying, and so she cried out again.

“I do not love that man!”

I do not love him.

That wretched person, I absolutely do not love him!

Eleanor had shouted at the top of her lungs and was now drawing ragged breaths, her eyes shaking with feeling. Cayel watched her, and in his eyes there was not so much surprise as a quiet calm.

Eleanor barely managed to settle her wildly stirred emotions, then looked back at Cayel.

Cayel did not ask her again why she had let such rumors spread, or whether she had truly harbored feelings for the young lord of Viscount Damel, now that Eleanor had made her position on the matter more than clear.

Instead―

“You intend to use me in order to avoid marrying the young lord of Viscount Damel.”

He had grasped Eleanor’s intention precisely.

‘Use?’

Yes.

Making this plan work required Cayel’s cooperation without fail.

If it came to that, she was prepared to meet whatever conditions Cayel demanded in exchange for getting out of this situation.

‘I had no intention of deceiving him from the start.’

She needed to be honest.

The most basic way to earn someone’s trust was to show them that she, too, was someone worth trusting.

Having resolved to seek his cooperation, Eleanor did not want to hide anything.

“Yes.”

Eleanor smiled faintly at Cayel, who had not spoken in circles.

“The word ‘use’ may sound mercenary, but yes. When it comes down to it, that is the accurate way to put it. However, the reason I chose you out of everyone is not solely for that.”

Eleanor continued.

“Sir Cayel. You are someone my late father trusted.”

With each word she spoke.

“I trust my father’s judgment.”

Her voice carried weight.

“He trusted you, and so I will trust you as well. And you will give me that same trust in return. And……”

‘Why are they informing us of his death?’

According to her memories from her past life, Cayel would lose his life seven months from now in a battle against the Kingdom of Setra near the northern border.

She did not know how a knight as capable as he had died, or why he had gone all the way north to take part in that war, but it was almost certainly something that had happened after Marcus drove him out of the marquisate.

‘I cannot let this person die such a meaningless death.’

Cayel had been a retainer her late father trusted, and unlike the other knights who had broken faith, he had been someone who tried until the very end to protect the marquisate and herself.

Now that she had been given the chance to return to the past, Eleanor wanted to protect the good people around her by any means she could.

If it came to it, marriage would be a good way to do that.

After all, if he were to gain the title of Marquis rather than remain a common knight, the likelihood of him being called up for such a war would be lower.

‘Of course, the feeling called love…… would not exist between us.’

But if it meant she could protect the family, and he could keep his life.

That alone would be―

“Please marry me, Sir Cayel.”

Eleanor said.

“Though ours will begin as a contract, I will make sure no harm comes to you while you are with me.”

“……”

“Once you have taken the position of Marquis, you may do as you wish. I will support you in whatever it is. If you want, I can even establish a knightly order for you.”

“……”

“In return, promise me just this one thing. That you will protect our Sivert family to the best of your ability.”

“……”

“If only the family can be protected, if only the family remains standing, you may take all of my personal assets as well. So―”

“I understand precisely what you are asking of me, Miss.”

Of course, the Cayel before her did not look like someone with a hunger for money.

But in this world, there were people who wanted money, and no one who did not.

To protect the family from Marcus, Eleanor intended to enter even a false marriage with Cayel and keep the Sivert Marquisate safe.

As Eleanor grew more desperate and kept trying to persuade him.

Cayel cut her off first.

“I will do as you wish, my lady.”

And remarkably.

Cayel, who had stood unmoved no matter how much she pleaded, gave Eleanor the answer she had so desperately wanted.

Eleanor’s face naturally lit up at those words.

“Th, thank you, Cayel! I will never forget this kindness—”

“However, I have two conditions.”

Eleanor had been stepping toward him again and was about to take his hand when she stopped.

‘Conditions?’

Two of them, at that.

She was caught off guard for a moment, but Eleanor smiled as brightly as she could and said,

“What are they?”

“I would like the ceremony to be simple. And held as soon as possible.”

If Cayel agreed to cooperate with Eleanor and they truly married, the two of them would be deceiving everyone and going through with a false wedding.

Naturally, since it was not a marriage between two people who had given each other their hearts, keeping it simple made sense.

But Cayel’s wish to hold it as soon as possible was genuinely surprising.

‘No.’

The man before her had, until just a few days ago, refused Eleanor’s proposal without a second thought. She had not expected him to have thought through even the finer details like this, and for a moment Eleanor could not say a word.

Cayel, reading what Eleanor’s hesitation meant, added,

“I have no wish to waste time inviting nobles I barely know.”

If that was his reason―

“Once the marriage certificate is received, the marquisate title is inherited from that moment forward, as I understand it…… Is that correct?”

Eleanor had been about to nod without thinking, but her eyes narrowed again.

Cayel knew far more about noble marriages than she had expected.

Indeed, if Eleanor decided to marry Cayel and received the marriage certificate with the blessing of the priests at the great temple, the two of them would become an officially recognized couple from that moment on.

Eleanor’s husband upon marriage would naturally inherit the marquisate title and become the new Sivert Marquis.

‘Why?’

Until moments ago, Cayel had been a man trying by any means to push her out of his house.

Yet now he had suddenly grasped even the specific details surrounding Eleanor’s marriage and was asking about them, and a question stirred within her.

“Do not worry, Miss.” Cayel met Eleanor’s gaze and added, “I know what it means to become the Live-in Son-in-Law of a marquisate. I have no intention of ruining your family, nor of taking it from you.”

“……”

“If I inherit the title as you wish, I will never do anything that harms you.”

“……”

“I will not bring in any other woman besides you.”

She nearly let out a laugh at Cayel speaking as though to reassure her.

Do not make promises, Cayel.

‘That person said the same thing.’

‘El, my love. I, Marcus Damel, no, Marcus Sivert, swear before the god Fate. From this moment forward, I will never take any woman to my side but you. You alone will be my eternal love.’

A man’s words are not easy to trust.

Even one who whispers love every single day will do anything if it means achieving his ambitions.

Eleanor even knew a man who had pressed himself against his own maidservant while his wife, the one he had promised eternal love to, was still very much alive and watching.

But……

‘I decided to trust him.’

Cayel and Marcus Damel were completely different people.

Eleanor quietly stamped out the seed of unease that had begun to sprout and gave a nod.

“Understood. Then since it has come to this, it would be best to draw up a simple contract and include the conditions you want. So the first condition was holding the ceremony as soon as possible and keeping it simple. What else do you want?”

Cayel said nothing to Eleanor as she waited for the second condition.

“Cayel?”

Eleanor pressed him once more, and he drew a short breath before moving those deep red lips.

“It seems you think of this marriage as a short-term temporary measure, Miss.”

Eleanor smiled.

“Yes. Which is why I intend to draw up a contract―”

“But I do not want it to end as something so short-term.”

Eleanor doubted her own ears.

What had Cayel just……

“If.”

He spoke again to Eleanor, who flinched wondering if she had misheard.

“You wish to use me as your husband…… very well. Use me as much as you like. I will gladly move according to your wishes. I will protect your family, protect your people, and protect you.”

Cayel’s dark eyes traveled slowly over Eleanor from head to toe.

“But in return, you will have to give me everything you have.”

It was nothing like the indifferent gaze from moments before.

An intense look that set her entire body ablaze from the mere fact of his eyes landing on her.

“Miss.”

Eleanor stood frozen under that gaze, its heat refusing to fade.

Cayel had drawn close to her before she realized it, and slowly lowered his head―

“I want all of you.”

He whispered.

“From your body to your heart……”

Everything you have, all of it.