That Marriage, With Me

Days had passed since that day.

Giselle’s father was satisfied that she was no longer rebelling and remained quiet. Her stepmother and half-siblings also sneered with an expression of ‘Well, what did you expect? You have no choice.’

But Giselle was quietly preparing to leave.

[Resignation Letter]

She quietly looked at the envelope on her desk. She had wrapped up her work over the past few days, and the only thing left was to submit the resignation letter.

‘…I have to do it today.’

She had written the resignation letter two days ago. But she hadn’t submitted it yet. Regret and reluctance had held her back.

Giselle sighed and looked around her desk.

The documents scattered everywhere, the pen case filled with all sorts of odds and ends, the cracked inkwell in the corner.

None of them were valuable, but they were the most precious things to her.

Because they contained the efforts and time she had poured into this office.

Perhaps it would be difficult for her to work in a place like this again. There were many people in the world who had prejudices, saying ‘How dare a woman?’

‘Well, that doesn’t mean I should give up beforehand.’

Wherever she went, she was determined to live boldly and well. Just as she had managed to live well despite being burdened by that enormous debt, and had maintained her dignity even amidst the vile comments.

‘Alright, no more hesitation.’

Just as Giselle picked up the resignation letter and was about to approach Schnickel’s desk, the office door opened.

“Oh! President!”

“The President is here!”

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Giselle looked up and saw Lucas entering the office, the resignation letter clutched in her hand.

And Lucas, upon entering, also noticed the awkward Giselle standing there.

For some reason, his appearance seemed more tired than usual. He also seemed more sensitive…

Now that she thought about it, she had overheard the employees whispering that the President seemed to be in a bad mood these past few days.

‘Looks like I picked the wrong day.’

Giselle forced herself not to look dejected. Her plan had been to submit the resignation letter to her superior and then go upstairs to say a final farewell to Lucas.

But that plan had gone awry from the very beginning.

From the moment she encountered the President, who seemed considerably more somber than usual.

‘I’ll give up on it today.’

She turned to go back to her desk. But before she could, Lucas spoke up, addressing Giselle.

“Miss Anticia, come see me for a moment.”

“…Pardon?”

“Come up to my office right now.”

Lucas left with just those words, as if that was the sole purpose of his visit.

The bewilderment on the faces of everyone in the office was palpable.

Giselle was no exception. If anything, she was even more dumbfounded than the others, standing there in a daze.

“Anticia, what are you doing right now?”

The first to regain their composure was Schnickel, the head of the office. His booming voice startled Giselle, and she turned her head.

“The President just told you to go up to him right away! Go, you’re keeping the President waiting!”

“Ah, yes. I’ll be right back.”

Giselle blinked confusedly, then quickly bowed her head.

‘Since it’s come to this, I should go greet Senior first.’

Then she’ll return to the office, submit her resignation, and truly be done with it.

She took a moment to gather her scattered thoughts, then stepped out of the office.

This was the first time she had directly faced Lucas since that day. Normally, she rarely had the opportunity to meet his gaze and converse with him.

‘That day was special.’

She couldn’t understand why she had spilled out all those intimate details about her family. And she also couldn’t comprehend why he had listened to her sordid family affairs.

…Well, that wasn’t the only thing she couldn’t understand.

The fact that he had let her use his personal rest area, that he had personally brought and put the shoes on her, that he had carried her up the stairs.

“Goodness, why is it so hot?”

Giselle’s face suddenly flushed, and she fanned herself as she hurried up the stairs.

When she reached the third floor, the rest area door came into view first. Feeling her face grow even warmer, she hastily averted her gaze and quickened her pace towards Lucas’ office.

Knock, knock.

After straightening her clothes, she knocked on the door and heard a voice beckoning her to come in. Giselle took a deep breath and opened the door.

Lucas, who was seated on the sofa, glanced back and spoke in a low voice.

“Come and have a seat, Miss Anticia.”

“…Yes.”

Giselle responded awkwardly, then approached the sofa. As she was about to sit down, she noticed the resignation letter in her hand and made a perplexed expression. She should have left it behind.

“What’s that?”

Perhaps her troubled behavior had caught his attention. Lucas pointed to the resignation letter in Giselle’s hand and asked.

She couldn’t give a direct answer immediately and hesitated for a moment.

‘No. There’s no reason to hesitate. I came to say my final farewell, after all.’

Giselle took a deep breath to shake off the lingering regret, then responded to his question.

“It’s a resignation letter.”

“…A resignation letter?”

Lucas’ brow furrowed slightly. He leaned forward, away from the backrest, and looked at her intently.

Under his gaze, Giselle felt at a loss and tried to moisten her dry lips, when he extended his hand.

“Give it to me.”

“This is supposed to be submitted to the office…”

“After all, I’m the owner of this company. Even if you submit it to Schnickel, it will ultimately come to me. Hand it over, Anticia.”

Lucas spoke in a casual tone, as if he had never used honorifics. Yet, somehow, it felt like he was a little upset.

‘Looks like I really picked the wrong day.’

There was no way his gloomy mood from the past few days had improved in that short time. Giselle discreetly observed Lucas and handed him the resignation letter. He snatched it and quickly skimmed through it.

“Resigning due to personal reasons… Could it be that the ‘personal reasons’ are ‘marriage’?”

Lucas placed the resignation letter on the table and asked. Giselle’s eyes widened, and she shook her head.

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then what is the reason for your resignation? Have you perhaps received a job offer from somewhere else?”

“Surely you don’t mean that sincerely. Who else would hire me, a ‘woman’ like me?”

Giselle let out a wry chuckle at his words, but Lucas responded seriously.

“What does gender have to do with work? Anyway, it’s not a job offer, is it?”

“No.”

She nodded in response, then hesitated for a moment before impulsively adding,

“I’m trying to run away.”

“Run away?”

What an absurd thing to say. The look Lucas gave Giselle clearly conveyed that sentiment. She let out a light laugh and shrugged her shoulders as she continued.

“Since it doesn’t seem like my father will change his mind, I’m planning to leave. To a place where no one knows me.”

“…”

“There won’t be any inconvenience for the replacement. I’ve already wrapped up my work well, and I’ve left separate notes on what the next person needs to know…”

“How much is the total debt your father owes?”

Lucas interrupted her and asked an unexpected question. Giselle looked at him with a puzzled expression, then obediently answered.

“The amount borrowed from Count Maurice is probably around six million larcs.”

“I’m not asking about just the debt to that old nobleman who wants to marry you. I’m asking for the total amount.”

“Ah, then it would be around eighty million larcs, I suppose?”

Giselle roughly calculated in her head and responded. Lucas observed her for a moment, then bluntly stated,

“Pay off that debt. I’ll lend you the money.”

“…!”

“Shall I write a blank check right here? I can do that if you want.”

“Wait a moment!”

Giselle was so surprised that she couldn’t continue, and when she saw Lucas about to write the blank check, she hurriedly intervened.

“I don’t have any property or land to use as collateral. I don’t have the ability to borrow such a large amount.”

“I’ll use you as the collateral.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

Giselle’s green eyes widened as much as they could. Lucas looked at her with an unfathomable gaze and spoke again.

“Marry me.”

“…I think I may have misheard something.”

After a moment of silence, Giselle tilted her head and spoke. Lucas responded to her in a calm tone.

“If you heard a proposal, then you heard correctly.”

“…Ugh.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Giselle took a deep breath.

It was quite entertaining to watch the changes in her expression.

At first, she paled, then quickly flushed red.

Her green eyes that held him shook back and forth.

Even the pink hair framing her small face trembled in sync.

After going through several stages of transformation, Giselle clenched her fists tightly, furrowed her brow, and asked,