Chapter 94
“Your Grace. Please review these documents as well.”
Kaiden pressed his temples hard as he received the documents from Vito.
Time passed relentlessly, and before he knew it, it was winter.
The Baltstein territory had completed its restoration before winter arrived, but the capital was still in the midst of full-scale reconstruction. Because of that, Kaiden was also working without rest.
Territories with less damage were helping those with more damage, and in return, certain future rights were promised, and so on. As an archduke, he had a lot to do.
So, for over six months, he had hardly been able to go on dates with Marion. He wanted to see her face at least once a day and eat meals together, but there were many days when even that was impossible.
‘When was the last time I held her hand….’
He thought things would get better with time, but he only became busier.
Moreover, he often had to stay in the capital for work, while Marion remained only in the north. So, it was difficult to even catch a glimpse of a single strand of Marion’s hair.
His irritation gradually built up.
‘If only we shared a room….’
When staying at the archduke’s residence in the capital, the previous duke had winked and set things up for them to stay in the same room.
But now that they had returned to the archduke’s castle in the north, it was awkward. Wasn’t it? They had promised marriage but had not yet married.
They already had separate rooms, and strictly speaking, it would be strange for an unmarried man and woman to stay in the same room.
So, opportunities to meet decreased further, and the days when he didn’t know what Marion was doing only increased, making his heart feel more and more frustrated.
Moreover, a few days ago, he had heard a bombshell statement from Lucas, who had now ascended to the throne as emperor.
“Do you know this, Your Grace?”
“What do you mean.”
“When you were kidnapped by the Demon King, I confessed to Marion.”
Sparks flew from Kaiden’s eyes. This came up while they were discussing building a different palace instead of the Diamond Palace due to budget issues.
“Oh dear. Please don’t look at me like that with a Sword Master’s eyes. How can I live being scared of the emperor?”
“…Do not covet her.”
“Hahaha! I have no such intentions.”
Lucas laughed as if it was truly amusing. Kaiden ground his teeth and glared at him.
“Aren’t you curious what she replied?”
“…….”
He was insanely curious. But he didn’t want to ask. He wanted to punch that sly face of Lucas. Lucas stared at Kaiden, then smirked and told him.
“She said she has a man she will marry.”
Kaiden felt relieved. He was also happy.
“So I said I don’t mind.”
Should I hit him?
Lucas chuckled at Kaiden’s rapidly changing expressions.
“I also said she can come to me if she gets tired of Your Grace.”
“Your Majesty.”
“She said that won’t happen.”
The shadow gradually fell over Lucas’s laughing face. He looked at Kaiden with a serious face and advised.
“Treat her well. Make her so happy that I won’t want to covet her again.”
“…Mind your own business.”
The eyes of the two men who met were chilly. But soon, Lucas turned the topic as if nothing had happened.
“Now, shall we get back to work talk?”
After that, Kaiden was bothered and couldn’t concentrate on work.
“Sigh….”
“Your Grace. Would you like to rest for a moment?”
Vito asked. Kaiden thought for a moment and pushed the documents aside. He was too restless to focus on work anyway.
“Where is Marion?”
* * *
“Your Grace!”
Marion ran over with a bright face. Her red hair and sparkling eyes, seen after a long time, were so utterly lovable.
“Did you finish early today?”
Kaiden nodded. In fact, there was still a pile of work left, but he couldn’t bear not seeing Marion’s face.
“Shall we go for a short walk?”
When he asked, Marion nodded vigorously. Her hair, tied up like a ponytail, bounced. Even that looked cute.
The two bundled up warmly and went outside. The sun had already set. Winter in the north brought evening quickly. They figured they could return before dinner time.
“Hiya!”
The two ran across the snowy fields. For them, a walk included riding horses. After running for a while, the horses got tired, so they decided to walk for a bit.
Snow was gently falling from the sky. The crunching sound of stepping on snow tickled their ears.
“How is your body.”
“I told you it’s fine now.”
Marion pouted her lips.
In fact, Marion was currently unable to use aura. Perhaps because she had forcibly drawn out all the energy in her body during the battle with Pelles, no matter how hard she tried, aura would not gather.
For Marion, who had lived as a Sword Master for over ten years, a life without handling aura must be extremely difficult. Thinking that she might feel a great sense of loss, Kaiden’s worry was no small thing.
Marion clenched and unclenched her fist as she said.
“I think it will come back by next spring.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It just feels that way.”
That would be good.
To him, ‘Marion who cannot handle aura’ sounded like ‘the most fragile Marion in the world.’ So much so that he had issued a recommendation-type order that she absolutely must not go out alone.
She had to always take the escort knight Bedel, and feeling that wasn’t enough, he added two more female knights of the same gender. Marion grumbled about it for a long time.
‘This is the one thing I can’t compromise on.’
Kaiden nodded to himself alone when Marion muttered.
“I got a letter from the Demon King saying he wants to see my face.”
“…Really?”
He was surprised that the Demon King had written a letter. Kaiden asked.
“What do you want to do?”
“I… don’t really want to.”
Marion’s expression was displeased. Kaiden tried to soothe her.
“But he is your biological father.”
“…I don’t know. It’s a bit complicated…. Ah, there was something I’ve been wanting to ask for a while. Your Grace has been so busy, and I forgot about it too.”
Why doesn’t she call me by name. Kaiden was slightly dissatisfied but let it pass since he didn’t want to interrupt.
“What is it?”
“How did you figure out that I am the Demon King’s daughter? How did you know that holy power doesn’t work on me?”
Kaiden thought for a moment about where to start explaining and slowly began.
“When I was dispatched to Marquis Fernandi’s residence….”
At that time, he saw the portrait of Marion’s biological mother, Charles. He didn’t know she was her mother then, but to his eyes, she looked so much like Marion.
He had been suspicious since then, and while she was in a coma, he overheard the conversation between the Demon King and the marquis.
“She said her mother ran away with the Demon King, lived together, passed away, and lost her daughter. The more I heard the story, the deeper my suspicions grew, but there was no definite evidence. Then, when Saintess Stella poured holy power on me, I realized. This is it.”
Marion had a puzzled face.
“How did you know that holy power doesn’t work on me?”
“Don’t you know? Holy power never worked on you from the beginning.”
“Huh?”
“When you fell into that lake as a child.”
Marion’s gaze turned toward the large lake. Kaiden recalled that time as he looked at her profile.
“After barely pulling you out of the water, you were burning with fever all over. Even after nursing you day and night for several days, you didn’t get better, so thinking you might die like this, I called the high priest.”
“…You called a high priest for a cold?”
Kaiden nodded.
“Yes. If no medicine works, then only divine power remains.”
“How much does it cost to call a high priest once…. Anyway, what happened?”
“The more the high priest used holy power, the higher your fever rose.”
“Ah….”
“Your grandfather almost killed the high priest, calling him a quack.”
“Gasp.”
“You don’t know how worried everyone was back then.”
“I’m sorry….”
“In times like this, you should say thank you.”
“Thank you.”
Marion grinned.
“So, knowing that fact, you were certain I am the Demon King’s daughter?”
Kaiden shook his head slightly.
“Not certain, it was a gamble. It could simply be that as a mixed-blood of human and demon, holy power doesn’t work. I didn’t know that mixed-blood of the two races are unconditionally human.”
“Oh…. Your Grace secretly likes gambling. You always scolded me for gambling.”
“If it’s a gamble with high probability, it’s worth trying.”
Then Marion grumbled. Kaiden fiddled with the small box that had been rolling in one corner of his pocket for a while as he watched her. It was something he had been carrying for several days.
‘Do you know. How I felt every time you passed a critical moment. I wish you would die just one day before me. Live long by my side.’
Kaiden looked at the snowy fields and began.
“Marion. Do you remember?”
“What?”
“This is where we first met.”
“Oh, that’s right?”
Marion smiled brightly and chattered about how Kaiden seemed so big back then, and how he pretended to be impressive by using difficult words.
Kaiden slowly knelt on one knee. His knee touched the cold snowfield. He took out the box from his pocket, opened it, and looked up at Marion.
The chattering gradually decreased. Marion looked down at Kaiden with eyes as wide as saucers.
“Marion.”
“Y-Your Grace…?”
“Will you marry me?”
“…….”
“When I was lying in a coma, you said that. That you ended up falling in love with me.”
He lowered his eyelashes for a moment. Small snowflakes landed on Kaiden’s eyelashes. But when he lifted his eyelids, they quickly melted away.
“I too, at some point, had fallen in love with you.”
“…….”
“Even now, in the future, even after death, I love you.”
“…….”
“Will you be with me forever?”
Marion pouted her lips and eventually shed tears. But she did not forget to extend her hand. She urged with her finger to quickly put on the ring.
Kaiden burst into laughter and slipped the ring on. Then he stood up and held out the box to Marion, asking her to put his ring on as well.
It was the delicate wedding ring from the Asili jewelry store, with diamonds densely embedded as if surrounding the band.
The two amicably shared the pair of rings and put them on each other, holding hands. Thus, once again, Kaiden and Marion promised marriage.
Not a fake marriage, but a real bond as husband and wife.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
