Chapter 15
*I’m the one who should feel unfortunate.* Seirena realized Ash wasn’t joking and her face twisted.
*Is this the punishment? Really? Why?* A jumble of thoughts scattered confusedly in her head.
What could possibly benefit Duke Ash Greywind from marrying her?
He was a man in a position to choose any woman he desired. Compared to him, Seirena was the daughter of a Count on the verge of bankruptcy.
Although she would receive the Count title when she turned twenty-one, that would become completely meaningless if she married Ash.
*What is it?* Seirena looked suspicious. *Is this some kind of trick or trap?*
“You can go back and think about it slowly. I know it’s sudden. But I’d like to make an announcement before the end of the year.”
Ash said, seeing Seirena’s distorted expression. Whether it was engagement or marriage, it was the same to him. However, he offered the engagement option to prevent Seirena from having to relinquish her title.
Suddenly, Seirena realized that, setting aside her strong dislike for Ash, marrying him would completely rule out marriage to the King.
A Queen must be a virgin on her first marriage. Even a broken engagement would be a blemish preventing her from becoming Queen.
“If I get engaged to you, becoming Queen will be impossible, correct?”
Seirena asked him abruptly. Since she had no intention of marrying him, she could get engaged and use some excuse to break it off later. That would make becoming Queen even more distant.
But Ash took her sudden question in an entirely different way. He looked surprised, then his eyes narrowed as he said,
“I didn’t realize Sir Hunter harbored aspirations of becoming Queen.”
*No, it’s not that I want to be Queen.* Seirena was about to tell him otherwise, but Ash continued before she could speak.
“But unfortunately, His Majesty already has a Queen consort. Or perhaps, are you aiming for the First Prince? The First Prince also has a Princess Consort.”
*What?* Seirena’s eyes widened in shock at the unexpected news.
**The Queen is alive?** She instinctively moved closer to Ash and asked,
“The Queen consort is **alive**?”
“What?”
This time, it was Ash who was flustered. He tilted his head at Seirena’s increasingly inexplicable question. *What is this?* He stroked his chin and said,
“That sounds like an incredibly disloyal question.”
Only then did Seirena realize how strange she must look.
*Damn it.* She quickly backed away from Ash. The Queen was alive. *How?* In her life before returning, the Queen had died, and that was why Seirena became Queen.
*When, when did she die?*
Seirena quickly tried to recall. Clearly, Queen candidates were chosen one year after the Queen’s death, based on the principle that the position of the Mother of the Nation should not remain vacant for long.
One year.
Seirena snapped her head up. She had become Queen when she was twenty-one. That meant the Queen had died when Seirena was twenty.
“**Next year!**”
“What?”
Ash raised an eyebrow at Seirena’s sudden exclamation. What was next year? But Seirena ignored Ash, lost in thought.
*Next year.* The Queen would die next year. *Why did she die?* She was told there was an accident at the Knights’ Order. And the man who decides the events of the Knights’ Order was standing right in front of her.
“Is there an event scheduled for next year, **early next year**?”
Seirena asked, not considering how odd her behavior must seem.
If she saved the Queen, the King wouldn’t choose a new one, and her uncle wouldn’t be able to offer her up as Queen. Then, Seirena could live a different life.
Ash narrowed his eyes, watching Seirena’s rapidly changing demeanor, and said,
“What kind of event?”
“An event the **Queen would attend**.”
“Surely you aren’t trying to…”
*Murder the Queen?* Before Ash could finish his question, Seirena pleaded,
“**My life depends on it!**”
*Her life?* Ash backed away from Seirena and leaned against his desk. She wasn’t trying to act crazy just to avoid marrying him, was she?
He sighed, seeing the small female knight clasping her hands and looking at him with such a desperate expression.
“If you’re doing this knowingly, it’s incredibly clever.”
Her expression, her gesture, made it impossible for him not to share the information. Her desperate face swayed him as much as her strange question.
“The Queen is scheduled to attend the **rank-up examination next month** to encourage the female knights.”
*That’s it.*
Seirena’s face brightened. The Queen would die that day. It was called an accident.
So that was why. Seirena realized why the number of female knights in the Knights’ Order had dropped sharply when she became Queen.
The Queen, attending a Knights’ Order event, died in an accident, and the female knights who were supposed to protect her were reprimanded.
She had heard that the female knights who were closest to the scene were even fired.
The atmosphere in the Knights’ Order became depressed, and the female knights who couldn’t bear it quit one by one, which was why Gale had encouraged her to quit, too.
Moana must have quit then as well. Seirena had visited the Knights’ Order after she became Queen, but Moana was nowhere to be seen.
“Sir Hunter, you aren’t thinking of anything strange, are you?”
Ash said, his tone a light warning at Seirena’s unusual demeanor.
But Seirena, only just realizing Ash’s presence, looked at him as if asking what he meant, then remembered what she was there for and said,
“Ah, the **punishment**. Yes. **Engagement** would be best.”
*Punishment? What punishment?* Ash asked, bewildered.
“Punishment? What are you talking about?”
“What? Marrying or getting engaged. Isn’t this the punishment for sparring?”
“**What?**”
Ash’s face twisted. He stared at Seirena in disbelief.
Did this woman just imply that marrying him was a **punishment**?
“I feel insulted.”
Ash said, taking Seirena’s hand. *Is he going to put a ring on it?* Seirena stared blankly as he lifted her hand.
“So, you consider being engaged to me a punishment.”
“Uh, isn’t it?”
Ash spread his hand wide and placed his palm over Seirena’s. Her small hand fit perfectly inside his.
“No, it’s not.”
He smiled broadly as he said it.
Seirena saw his dark eyes curve and instinctively tried to back away, but she couldn’t because he was holding her hand.
“It is His Majesty’s **order**, Sir Hunter. You must get engaged to me, or marry me.”
“H-His Majesty’s order?”
*Why?* A question mark appeared on Seirena’s face.
The King ordered her to marry Ash? He wasn’t the type of person to do that. *A persistent madman.*
She stopped that thought, realizing that the King didn’t even know she existed right now.
“It happened because of the **rumors**.”
Ash said, interlocking his fingers with Seirena’s hand.
*Rumors? What rumors?* When she maintained her confused expression, he smiled as if he had expected it.
“The rumor that **I murdered your parents and tried to kill you**.”
“What?”
Seirena’s eyes widened at the outrageous claim. But then, an even more preposterous rumor flowed from Ash’s lips.
“Or the rumor that **I was obsessed with you and killed your parents**.”
“That’s madness.”
*What unbelievable nonsense.* Ash chuckled at Seirena’s cool assessment, as she regained her composure.
Yes, he thought it was madness, too. Until a few hours ago, when the King summoned him and rebuked him.
The Count and Countess Hunter had died, and their eldest daughter, Seirena Hunter, had suddenly begun to antagonize the Commander, Ash Greywind. That was enough to create strange rumors in the palace, and they were sure to spread outside soon.
The surname Greywind was given to the royal family. Baseless rumors always followed them, but this time was different.
Events that could appear as **proof** had occurred. Seirena had swung her sword at Ash, and her blonde hair was publicly cut short and ended up in Ash’s hand.
The King had commanded his nephew to marry the Count’s orphaned daughter to quell the rumors.
“And I was the one who asked to **downgrade it to an engagement**.”
Seirena stared blankly at Ash’s face as he explained. *How did things get so complicated?* She had decided to change her life when she returned, but she hadn’t expected it to change like this.
Ash spoke again to the dazed Seirena.
“I know you dislike me, Sir Hunter. You **dislike all men**.”
*I don’t dislike ALL men.* Before Seirena could protest, Ash continued.
“But we don’t have a choice. You must be engaged to me. **Before the new year.**”
*Before the new year…* Seirena’s eyes grew wide. *Next year?* That was less than ten days away.
“That’s **too sudden!**”
Seirena struggled to pull her hand from Ash’s grasp. *This is absurd.* An engagement? She didn’t want to marry anyone!
“It can’t be helped. It’s better than marriage, isn’t it? Once we make the decision, the palace will announce it officially.”
*Announce what?* As Seirena stopped struggling, Ash grinned and said,
“The engagement, of course.”
“First of all, I **don’t intend to marry**.”
“Change that intention.”
*I won’t change it.*
Seirena glared at Ash and said,
“No. I will not marry, ever. You can use whatever excuse you like. You can even blame me. But if we absolutely must get engaged, **break it off when I turn twenty-one**.”
Ash’s eyes narrowed. This was an engagement officially announced by the palace. She wanted to break it off? Even if it was announced that he broke it off and blamed her? *Does she have a man in mind?*
A strange jealousy twisted Ash’s heart. He tugged at Seirena’s hand and asked softly,
“It will be difficult to break off an engagement announced by the palace and marry another man, won’t it?”
*There is no man.*
Seirena lifted her chin defiantly, challenging Ash’s threatening posture.
“I don’t intend to marry anyone.”
“Then why not just go ahead with it? Since marriage isn’t something you care about, and you don’t have anyone in mind.”
Noble marriages were closer to business. A commercial relationship to gain more advantage.
Ash knew couples who had three children and yet each maintained their own lover. Most of the women who approached him to become his lover were married.
Ash didn’t care who he married, but he thought it would be interesting to marry Seirena. He even thought he’d like to spar with her once her swordsmanship improved enough.
But Seirena, as she said, had no intention of marrying. There were various reasons, but the biggest one was probably because her previous marriage to the King was so **terrible**. But she couldn’t tell him that.
Seirena hesitated, then opened her mouth.
“I **dislike being touched by men**.”
Ash’s gaze fell to their tightly clasped hands. He had unilaterally interlocked his fingers with hers.
“Ah, I see.”
He quickly let go of Seirena’s hand and said,
“Alright. I will break off the engagement when you turn twenty-one.”
