“That’s not true.”

As expected, the anticipated answer came from Claude’s lips.

“Then why did you ask His Majesty for permission to marry me?”

The more Lisette talked with him, the more questions arose. The most puzzling was why he would seek marriage permission if she wasn’t to his liking.

“Because I said I wanted to marry you.”

“What? You said that? Why? Do you like me or something?”

This unexpected answer from Claude made Lisette doubt his words once again.

Suddenly? Why? Was her body that attractive that night? Doesn’t he know everything now? That she was the despised daughter. Yet he still likes her?

“Well. If you’re asking if I like you, I can’t exactly say yes, but the truth is you’ve been on my mind since I first saw you. After our bodies joined that night, I keep thinking about you, and even now my body reacts like this. What should I call this feeling? It’s something I’ve never felt with other women.”

Claude spoke with a serious expression.

Seeing his candid demeanor, Lisette couldn’t deny that the man before her had feelings for her.

This was the first time someone had liked her, and she felt incredibly grateful that Claude chose her over Natalie.

To be honest, she felt so fluttered that she wanted to accept his feelings. After all, before becoming entangled with him, Lisette had looked up to Claude with admiration.

Though she wanted to accept, Lisette couldn’t bring herself to say it. She needed to consider her current situation.

Marriage to Lisette, who had fallen from the Emperor’s favor, could bring great disgrace to the Usta family. It seemed they should only discuss marriage after clearing her false accusations.

Various thoughts swirled in her mind, but the conclusion was singular: it made no sense in the current situation.

“I don’t want to marry you. So I can refuse, right?”

Needing to reject him now, Lisette answered with a firm voice.

“What?”

Not expecting rejection, Claude’s eyebrow twitched. Then he tilted his head to one side.

“You don’t like me? Why on earth not?”

He clearly couldn’t understand.

“I just told you earlier. We’re not close enough. And I can’t disobey the imperial order.”

Unable to explain her various circumstances, Lisette tried to stick with her initial reasoning.

“I believe I also mentioned earlier that such things don’t hinder marriage at all.”

“You must know about me by now. I’m not loved by His Majesty—quite the opposite, I’m despised. If you marry me, you might fall out of His Majesty’s favor too.”

When nothing seemed to get through to him, she had to explain her current situation. Painful though it was, she needed to be honest so he would quickly change his mind.

“So what?”

But his response was unexpected. Surprised, Lisette stared blankly at Claude. Everyone else tried so hard to stay in the Emperor’s good graces…

“Why? I’m the empire’s hero. Who do you think maintains the empire’s peace? Do you think His Majesty could dismiss someone like me?”

Claude spoke with an arrogant yet confident attitude. His gaze was so intense and deep that she couldn’t avoid it.

The conversation had come full circle. It felt like an endless loop. Seeing his unwillingness to back down once he’d made a decision, Lisette needed to find another excuse to refuse.

“B-but Marquis Usta would oppose me…”

She tried to use the Marquis as an excuse, but Claude cut her off.

“You don’t think I’m a child who has to live according to my father’s words, do you?”

“When you marry, you become family. Shouldn’t we at least receive the Marquis’s blessing before marrying?”

“Then you’ll just have to act in a way that pleases my father. I’m determined to marry you no matter what.”

No matter what Lisette said, Claude’s mind remained unchanged.

“And you can’t refuse my proposal.”

Instead, he pushed his will even harder.

“Pardon?”

“You took my virginity, so you must take responsibility. Isn’t that right?”

His unreasonable attitude was absurd, but strangely, it made her laugh. When she snickered, he tilted his head.

“What’s so funny?”

Lisette thought that this man, who seemed completely unconcerned about who she was and refused to bend his will, might be someone she could trust for a lifetime.

Instead of answering, Lisette’s laughter grew louder. Claude simply watched, waiting for her laughter to subside.

When her laughter stopped, Lisette wanted to tell him her feelings. That she wanted to accept his marriage proposal.

But there was something she needed to say first. She needed to explain her current predicament, false accusations notwithstanding. Starting with why she had fallen out of the Emperor’s favor and the situation she was in.

If he still wanted to marry her after that, she planned to tell him everything honestly. That her mother had been falsely accused, and the accusers were the Empress and the High Priest. And also this current situation where she had failed to gather evidence and was almost forced into marriage.

“I…”

“If you’re going to say something unpleasant, don’t.”

But before Lisette could speak, Claude covered her mouth.

“Do you think I’m going to say something unpleasant?”

“Your expression became serious.”

“I want to try trusting you. So I must tell you before we marry. I think I can only accept marriage with you after that issue is resolved.”

“Then let’s talk about it later. Right now, there’s something urgent we need to do.”

“Oh, we need to escape, right?”

Lisette looked around to see if there were still people searching for her.

“No. My subordinates have already captured all the searchers.”

Just as Claude said, knights bearing the Usta family crest were binding unconscious people who had fallen to the ground.

“Then what do we need to do?”

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?”

Instead of answering her question, he pressed his lips together, and while speaking, he lifted her into his arms.

“We can get marriage permission later, but let me have you now. If I don’t have you right now, I think I’ll go crazy.”

“What?”

What is he talking about in this situation?

“Shouldn’t we go meet His Majesty first?”

“Can’t you feel how hard I am? It’s urgent, so let’s go to the Usta family’s villa. Fortunately, it’s not far from here.”

Regardless of Lisette’s bewildered expression, Claude gave her the look of a predator eyeing its prey.

“This isn’t the time for that. Even if Marquis Usta is meeting with His Majesty, shouldn’t we go too?”

“My father will handle it. So please allow me.”

“If you listen to my request, I’ll consider it. First, listen to my story.”

It wouldn’t be difficult to grant his wish. But she felt she needed to tell him the truth first.

“What? About Her Majesty the Empress?”

When Claude seemed to already know, Lisette’s eyes widened.

“No need to be surprised. Your sister told me everything.”

“My sister? You mean Natalie? You still want to marry me after hearing that?”

Lisette couldn’t believe it. Though it wasn’t true, she was suddenly portrayed as having a commoner father and a mother who had deceived the Emperor. Yet he didn’t care at all?

“I told you earlier. I’m an indispensable figure in the empire. So it doesn’t matter who your parents are. Even if I incur His Majesty’s displeasure because of it, he can’t dismiss me as long as the empire’s peace is threatened. Besides, the Emperor I know wouldn’t dislike me for such a reason.”

“Does Marquis Usta also know all this?”

“Yes.”

“And he doesn’t say anything?”

“I told you. By now, he would have gone to meet His Majesty to ask permission for our marriage. Satisfied? Can we go now?”

Claude urged her like someone in a hurry.

“Ah, then could I ask you to deliver this to the Marquis?”

“What is this?”

Lisette took out the evidence she had carefully gathered, and Claude tilted his head when he saw it.

“It’s the evidence I’ve collected.”

For the evidence she had worked so hard to gather to be effective, she needed the Usta family’s help. If they vouched for the authenticity of the evidence, the Emperor would be more likely to believe it.

So while she could give the evidence to Claude, sending it to Marquis Usta first showed her willingness to trust him.

“You trust Marquis Usta? What if he destroys the evidence?”

“How can you say that about your father? I want to trust him because he’s your father.”

“I like that answer. Cal, come here and take this to my father immediately.”

When he called out loudly, a knight came running, and Lisette handed him the evidence.

“That settles it, right? Will you allow me now?”

With all urgent matters resolved, there was no reason not to grant Claude’s request.

Rolling her eyes from side to side, Lisette gently nodded. Claude smiled with satisfaction.

Soon after, he seated her on a horse, then mounted behind her and buried his nose in the nape of her neck, inhaling deeply.

“What are you—”

“A scent I’ve missed so much. Do you know that?”

When the startled Lisette tried to speak, Claude interrupted and answered.

“We were together for just one day.”

When his forehead rested on her shoulder and his hands wrapped around her waist, Lisette twisted her body at the strange sensation, but the more she moved, the tighter he held her waist. Struggling was useless.

“Stay still, you might fall.”

“I won’t fall if I hold the reins properly.”

“Right. Hold the reins well. We’re leaving now. Hiya!”

Claude laughed at her words. The horse began moving toward the villa.