“I’ve finished discussing with the Emperor about raising you to marquis so you’ll have a strong background when you enter the household, and giving you part of the grand duchy as a fief.”

I remembered my father lying in bed calling “Your Majesty.”

This is not something to say with a contented smile!

In my urgency, I clutched my dress and stood up abruptly.

“No! If he rises to Marquis, my father will collapse! He might die! He’s already bedridden from overwork just from becoming a viscount! A marquis?!”

“Overwork?”

Gohalm, who had been listening quietly beside us, answered.

“Yes, I received a report that he didn’t go to work today.”

“The doctor?”

“I’ll send our physician Juan.”

Gohalm added to reassure me.

“He’s very capable. I’ll tell him to prepare medicine and depart immediately.”

“Th-thank you.”

Baron Gohalm soon left the reception room, presumably to issue orders.

With no maids present, only Kaien and I remained in the spacious reception room, and I could finally speak calmly.

“Kaien, please return my father to being a baronet. He’s a person who is perfectly satisfied being a baronet, so even being a baron was too much for him.”

Unfortunately, Kaien didn’t understand my words at all.

Hmm, stroking his chin, he spoke lightly as if discussing breakfast.

“No.”

“What?”

“Even though it was at my request, it’s the Emperor’s order. It’s not something that can be withdrawn because the promotion feels burdensome. What would the nobles think if His Majesty reversed a promotion?”

“Ah.”

That’s right. To rescind a promotion by imperial order shortly after it was granted would be unthinkable.

“Then what should I do? He’s already overworked. My father can’t even maintain his daily life because the pressure has paralyzed half his face, and he can’t properly eat or sleep.”

“The problem can be solved with an assistant to help with the work. I’ll recommend someone capable.”

I tried to reduce his burden, but it only increased.

“Now that he’s become a viscount, he needs to learn how to manage subordinates.”

“No, Kaien. That’s not the issue. My father is psychologically unable to accept a high title. He became bedridden from overwork just three days after becoming a viscount. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“He just needs to do it. What’s the problem?”

Goodness, he doesn’t understand at all.

Despite various rumors and storms, he was born as the only legitimate son of the grand ducal family.

He had been educated as the future Grand Duke since childhood, naturally commanding subordinates with assistants always by his side. This was such a natural environment for him that he couldn’t understand my words.

“So my father…… is a person satisfied with small things. He’s a modest man who is perfectly content and happy just working in the Imperial City as a baronet.”

“When your living environment changes, you accept your position. I was planning to give you a mansion on the outskirts of the capital as a gift soon, but I should prepare it earlier. When the house changes, the Viscount’s mindset will change too.”

I was surprised by the word “mansion,” but Kaien wasn’t finished.

“We’ll need to hire more maids to manage the mansion, so the current operating costs won’t be enough. For stable maintenance, there needs to be property that can generate additional income. A mine would be appropriate since it doesn’t require much management.”

“A mine?”

When visiting Marquis Rosiette’s residence, I sometimes saw Isilla reviewing documents for a gem mine she received from the Emperor, and I learned then how large even a small mine could be.

“If you don’t manage the mining directly and use professional operators, the profit margin decreases but it’s easier to manage. Understanding the structure helps filter out those who try to cheat, so field training is necessary at the beginning.”

“Wait! Just wait! Stop! No mine!”

I frantically waved my hands to stop his words.

Like bread rising in an oven, our house was about to instantly transform into a mansion with a mine.

I’m not one to refuse if given for free, and while I’d love it, we’re about to part ways, and if things get too complicated, the aftermath will be difficult to handle.

“No! I can’t accept it! Absolutely not!”

One of Kaien’s eyebrows rose steeply at an angle. The suddenly changed atmosphere pressed down on me with intimidation.

“I-I can’t!”

“Why? You’re going to enter the grand ducal household. Think of it as a gift to your family.”

“There’s no need to give gifts already when marriage hasn’t even been decided. We can decide slowly after the engagement, it’s not too late.”

I needed to postpone all progress related to Kaien until after the Hemington family’s banquet.

Kaien’s gaze sharpened as if he could see through my thoughts.

“You’re not thinking of not marrying me, are you?”

“……Please wait until after the Hemington family’s banquet.”

“What does that banquet mean to you? If I wait until then, will I receive a positive answer?”

I was at a loss for words.

Kaien already knew what I was thinking.

That I was waiting for the time to break up.

That’s why he had proposed, promoted my father, and was increasing our wealth to prevent us from leaving.

When I couldn’t say anything and lowered my head, Kaien spoke calmly.

Despite the fact that most lovers would be hurt and displeased by such excuses, he didn’t show those emotions.

“You said you wouldn’t change no matter who I was. I believe those words.”

This shook me more than if he had pressed me on why I didn’t want to marry him.

“I dream of the day you’ll enter my residence. I imagine how you’ll welcome me at the entrance. I enjoy pleasant fantasies about how the interior of the mansion will change with your touch.”

As I listened to his confession, so intense it took my breath away, one thought filled my mind.

His feelings for me seem genuine now, but when he meets the female protagonist, will he really fall for her as in the novel?

In the novel, he commits all sorts of obsessive crimes in the name of loving the female protagonist, but their love lasts only briefly.

He goes berserk from the curse, and the female protagonist ends up with the prince in tears.

When Kaien was dating me, he was ordinary like any typical lover. Not that his appearance or wealth were ordinary, but his behavior as a lover was.

Was it because he didn’t love me as much as the female protagonist?

“It doesn’t have to be me……”

I couldn’t stop myself. There was no need to provoke him with such words right now, but swept up in emotion, I blurted it out.

“Someone else will appear whom you’ll like more than me.”

He was silent for a moment as if thinking, then raised one corner of his mouth in a sneer.

“A woman other than you?”

He had been leaning toward me, but now straightened his back and leaned against the backrest.

He examined me lazily while touching his chin with his index finger.

His movements were relaxed, like a general who had secured victory.

“So that’s why you’ve been postponing your answer to my proposal. Oh, Ivy.”

Kaien wasn’t angry; rather, he laughed awkwardly like someone overflowing with joy.

Perhaps he thought it was just a woman’s insecurity.

I bit my rolled lips.

Looking at me now, he would probably think I was admitting to his question, but I couldn’t hide it.

“Kaien, I……”

“You’re right, I could love another woman.”

Though I was already thinking of breaking up, hearing his words felt like a blunt blow to my chest.

“I don’t know love. You’re my first, so I can’t judge whether I love you or not. So right now, I might not be the ideal partner you’re thinking of.”

Kaien, who had been searching somewhere in the distant past, regained his composure and cleared his clouded expression.

“But one thing is certain. What I want.”

His sharp eyes burned with the flames of desire, just like when he looked at me in bed.

Though we were facing each other with a table between us, the distance meant nothing as my gaze was captured by Kaien as if I were trapped in his arms.

“When I think about you leaving my side…… I want to make you look only at me.”

The brief pause contained many implications. His gaze swept over my body and down to my legs.

“I might chain your legs and confine you to the bedroom, unable to go anywhere, waiting only for me.”

The intense gaze soon returned to my face, and I felt a suffocating tension, as if he might act on it immediately.

“How ecstatic it would be. You, excited and helpless in the bedroom, looking at me.”

No, if he were to give the order right now, I would be unable to leave this place and would simply disappear from this world.

“I would do anything to keep you.”

Soon, seeing my expression, Kaien leaned back on the sofa and sighed deeply.

His furrowed brow was full of displeasure.

“I know, I won’t do it. I can’t even carry it out for fear you might be frightened. I’m afraid you won’t smile at me anymore.”

The pain and desperation in his twisted smile reached me as well.

“Ivy, let me ask just one thing. Were you unhappy during the time we were dating?”

No, there were no difficulties at all.

Kaien listened to everything I said and made an effort.

“Were you unhappy meeting me?”

After returning from our dates at night, I would lie in bed and recall Kaien’s actions, gazes, touches, and words.

I never thought of the word “unhappiness.”

I believed everything about him was sincere.

“Are you afraid of me?”

While others avoided his intimidating presence, I had found expressions of shyness or embarrassment in his face.

But I didn’t answer him.

Because we have to break up.

“Ivy.”

“We’ve finished talking, so I’ll go now.”

If I stayed any longer, I might be swayed by his words and end up setting a wedding date.

I hurriedly stood up, but somehow Kaien had already crossed the table and grabbed my waist, pulling me into his arms.

His hand gently caressing my cheek was rough from years of training, but his movements were delicate.

“Just remember the passionate moments. No need to think too much. You only need to think about me.”

His soft lips touched mine briefly and then pulled away.

“Trust me.”

His breath scattered over my lips, forming words as if to quell my anxiety.

“I won’t abandon you or change my heart. Only you are in my heart.”

The sound of his rapidly beating heart reached me as well.

“I’m so full of thoughts of you that it’s troublesome.”

Kaien lifted me up while embracing my waist and haphazardly kissed my cheek, the corner of my mouth, my lips, ear, and chin, as if everything was lovely.

It was too sweet and incredibly gentle.

“Let’s get married as soon as possible. The preparations to welcome you are already complete. You just need to come.”

“Ka-Kaien.”

“So, Ivy, what’s your answer to my proposal?”

I parted my lips, panting, and Kaien shook me with a sweet threat that almost touched but didn’t quite.

‘No.’

No. I mustn’t waver.

I pushed him away and stood up. I hurriedly headed for the door.

“I-I told you. After the Hemington family’s banquet, we’ll talk then.”

As I tried to open the door, a hand from behind caught me.

Somehow Kaien was already behind me.

I turned around in surprise, and he stepped even closer, pressing against my dress.

My back touched the door, and I couldn’t turn my head away for fear of what might happen if I avoided his gaze.

Kaien just looked down at me.

His arms planted on either side of my head imprisoned me in a cage of his making.

“Kaien……”

My voice trembled. My heart beat violently.

It was certainly not fear.

My body trembled, influenced by his desiring gaze and passion.

I was captivated by him. As my lips quivered, a dull knocking vibration resonated through the door against my back.

“Your Grace.”

“Speak.”

Kaien spoke to the person beyond the door while still looking down at me.

A voice mixed with laughter was heard.

“A message from the temple urging a quick response regarding the purification ceremony. Would you please handle that first before continuing?”

Startled by the voice that seemed to be peering inside, I moved away from the door.

Then Ransel, the assistant who had opened the reception room door and poked only his head in, grinned broadly.

“I’ve also prepared a bedroom for your comfort, my lady.”

“N-No need!”

Surprised, I pushed Kaien away and—

“Ivy, be careful!”

“Ack!”

I ended up smashing my forehead into the display cabinet next to the door.

Before I could even think about the pain, my consciousness faded and I collapsed, feeling Kaien catch me.

“Ivy!”

Ah, how embarrassing. Why was the cabinet there?

I don’t want to open my eyes again.