All the adults around Noah froze. Among them, I was the most flustered.

Noah sobbed miserably while covering his face.

“You, you said… it’s all lies… waaah.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“You, you said you’d throw me away.”

Noah said while constantly wiping his flowing tears with both hands.

“You said you’d throw me away because you picked up a dog……”

“Dog…?”

“Good heavens……”

The Ortega servants, including Lynen, stared at me with eyes full of strong messages.

‘Trash.’

I felt wronged at suddenly becoming trash.

“Don’t talk nonsense. When did I ever say such a thing?”

“……! Waaaaaah.”

Noah cried even harder, like someone who had been betrayed.

This is driving me crazy.

‘How could I treat a child like a dog! Especially Noah!’

But more urgent than such protests was getting him to stop crying.

But how should I comfort him? I already knew that suddenly acting gentle would backfire.

Not knowing what to do, I decided to take a stern approach and firmly crossed my arms.

“If you keep crying, I’ll leave you here.”

“……!”

Noah hurriedly covered his mouth with both hands.

Perhaps from forcefully holding back his tears, both his shoulders shook violently with hiccups.

People’s gazes poured onto me once again.

‘Trash……’

Ah, I want to cry too.

That’s when.

“Here.”

Lynen handed me two yellow candies.

“Why candies all of a sudden?”

“Put them in the child’s mouth.”

“Why two?”

“One is for you.”

Lynen looked at me calmly.

“It’s a method you can use when words are difficult.”

“……”

Would something this simple work?

Though doubtful, I followed his advice and shared the candies with Noah.

Noah’s cheek bulged on one side because of the candy.

“Is it tasty?”

“Y-yes. Hiccup. It’s dewicious.”

“Me too.”

Noah lifted his gaze from the floor and stared at me intently.

Just then, as I moved the candy from my left cheek to my right and my cheek popped out, Noah gave a small laugh.

Ah, what a relief.

You’re my boss, you little rascal.

After poking Noah’s candy-bulging cheek, I asked Lynen.

“Ahem. Um… Unlike your appearance, you carry candies around?”

“When I served as a temple knight, I often looked after children who were staying at the temple. It became a habit from those days.”

Lynen looked at me meaningfully and raised one corner of his mouth.

“When I made fighting children share candy, they would make up quickly.”

“……”

Is he mocking me for being childish right now?

Then Noah, who had been listening to the conversation, suddenly said something to Lynen like he had been struck by an idea.

“Isn’t the duke going to eat?”

“I’m fine.”

“No.”

“?”

Noah insisted firmly.

“You have to eat.”

“Why……”

And so.

Munch munch.

In the end, Noah, Lynen, and I all had one cheek bulging identically.

Noah looked back and forth between me and Lynen and smiled contentedly for some reason.

‘…I really don’t understand how children think.’

* * *

We moved to the Ortega family’s townhouse for now.

“Little one. Want some cookies?”

Lynen’s subordinate called Raul seemed to like children. He was desperate to win Noah’s favor.

But Noah only accepted the cookies while cautiously keeping his distance.

Glancing at the dog ears perked up on Raul’s head.

“…Are you a doggy, mister?”

“Doggy? I’m a much stronger hunting dog! An elite hunting dog warrior. Cool, right?”

Shake shake.

“Wh-what? Want me to show you some swordsmanship?”

“Don’t draw your sword in front of a child!”

The burly maid scolded Raul then spoke to me.

“Young lady, leave the young master to me and go have your discussion.”

“Alright.”

I checked on Noah briefly but he still seemed preoccupied with Raul’s ears. Lynen and I moved to the study.

Finally alone together, the atmosphere became extremely awkward.

After the servant prepared tea and left, I just sipped my tea for a while.

‘What should I bring up first?’

Blurting out my main purpose for coming here might make him question my mental health.

‘Let me lay the groundwork so it comes out naturally.’

Perhaps due to nervousness, various topics swirled around in my head.

Marriage, magical beasts at the banquet, magical energy thirst, debt, marriage again……

‘Right. I’ll bring up marriage after telling him to repay the debt.’

“About earlier……”

Just then, Lynen spoke first.

I too put down my teacup and blurted out at once.

‘I’d like you to repay the debt.’

“The price is marriage.”

“Pfft.”

Tea dribbled from Lynen’s mouth.

‘Eek. I skipped straight to it!’

As I was feeling embarrassed inside, Lynen gave me a look of contempt.

“Are you insane?”

D*mn, how do I salvage this?

“I believe you promised not to pester me just recently.”

“Th-this is a purely business proposal! I’m saying I want to hire you!”

“Hire?”

“As… a husband.”

An awkward silence flowed for a moment.

Finally, Lynen asked, dumbfounded.

“You want to marry me that badly?”

“Whaaat?! What are you saying!”

I reacted almost like having a fit.

“Am I crazy? No, going crazy would be better!”

Lynen’s brows furrowed sharply.

“Ha, you’d rather go crazy?”

“Why, would you rather marry me?”

“What a horrifying thought!”

“See! I’m saying it’s not something to do in your right mind!”

Lynen and I glared at each other while panting. Then we both gulped down hot tea at the same time.

After finally calming down, I said, “I’m not asking to really get married. I’m asking you to pretend we are.”

“What on earth do you mean?”

“As you know, I need to break off the marriage with Dietrich Rotten. So I need a fake fiancé to coordinate stories with.”

Lynen tilted his head slightly.

“So the marriage with Baron Rotten wasn’t voluntary after all.”

“Of course not. It’s Young Marquis Caiman’s scheme to get rid of me.”

“Because you’re a direct descendant. Bloodlines can only be cut off by death.”

“…Right.”

Lynen showed no particular reaction and quietly took another sip of tea.

“I can see why you chose me too. For House Offensa who doesn’t need money, Duke Ortega would be worth more than Baron Rotten.”

“……”

He was right.

Lynen Ortega was not only the head of a ducal house but also one of the empire’s few Sword Masters.

Even if vassals sided with Young Marquis Caiman, they couldn’t oppose Lynen unless it was an extremely serious matter.

“You’ll need to stay at the marquis mansion while pretending to be my fiancé. Don’t worry about opposing votes. They’ll actually be happy since having you there will improve the family’s reputation that dropped because of me.”

“So you’re saying you’ll use me as a shield to avoid being pushed out of the main family.”

“Right.”

“Then let me ask now.”

Cold gray eyes looked straight at me.

“I’ll make my decision after hearing your answers to two questions.”

“…Fine.”

“First question.”

Lynen’s fingers tapped the armrest of his chair.

“Is the reason for doing all this troublesome business to be reinstated as a direct descendant?”

“No. I have no interest in becoming the head.”

I answered without hesitation.

While playing a family head simulation game might be fun, I’d pass on it in reality.

Besides, becoming the Offensa marquis means having to manage the magic tower too.

“Not reinstatement, it’s for Noah and me.”

“……For Noah?”

“I brought him in but haven’t properly taken care of him. To be a proper sponsor now, I need to be safe first.”

“You’d go as far as a fake marriage for one sponsored child? You expect me to believe that?”

“He’s not just a sponsored child.”

I placed my hand on my chest.

“He’s the only child I’m responsible for.”

In ‘My Little Noah’, Noah never exceeded 80 affection points no matter how many potions he drank.

His heart had already closed off before the main story began.

But it’s not too late now, before the main story starts.

“For that, safety needs to be guaranteed at the most basic level. Do you understand what I mean?”

“……”

“Caiman Linke. I need you to protect Noah and me from him.”

“Until when?”

“Half a year at most. I promise.”

By then, I would have to let Noah go.

Because there are two conditions for the hidden ending.

Raise Noah’s affection to 100.

And entrust Noah to a guardian before his ninth birthday.

To one of the four guardians who appear in ‘Marino’.

“Of course, there’s also benefit for you—”

“Second question.”

Lynen put down his teacup completely and crossed his legs. Even that small gesture of slowly leaning back carried an intimidating pressure that made others tense.

“There’s something I’m curious about. If you answer, I’ll accept the deal.”

“Ask anything.”

I was expecting this.

‘He’ll ask about my ability. It’ll be an important condition for the deal.’

But unexpected words flowed from Lynen’s mouth.

“You obtained illegal magical tools that you had no interest in before, and brought them to an unrelated banquet.”

“…Huh?”

“And you were reluctant to sit in the front seats even before the magical beast fighting began.”

“W-wait.”

“Moreover, after the incident occurred, you came looking for me alone despite the danger. When there was no reason you had to.”

Wolf-like gray eyes pierced through me.

“You knew what would happen at the banquet, didn’t you?”

“……!”