“Why?”

Ricardo’s voice flowed softly, not at all flustered.

“In a hurry?”

I wanted to see his expression as he spoke playfully, but opening my eyes was not at all beneficial for me right now.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Ah…”

A rustling sound was heard, unclear whether he was putting on or taking off clothes. As I slightly raised my gaze, I saw him standing with his upper body exposed, his back turned.

“Eek.” I involuntarily swallowed a surprised breath. But why couldn’t I take my eyes off his broad back?

“Standing there?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking if you’re going to talk while standing there.”

Only then did I realize I was in an awkward state, with just one foot inside the room. Still clutching the doorknob.

“If you keep the door open like that, everyone will know you came to see me tonight.”

“…”

“Well, does it matter if they find out?”

No, it does matter. I haven’t given up on my life yet. Right now, my goal is to be temporarily engaged to him, but later, I dream of marrying a reliable husband, having children like rabbits, and living happily.

As I hurriedly entered, he put on a robe and sat on the sofa. Then he nodded towards the space in front of him, indicating for me to sit.

Suppressing the urge to approach him and tightly tie the sash around his waist, I meekly took a seat.

While I hesitated, unsure how to begin, he started the conversation first.

“I heard you met the Duchess?”

“Yes, along with the Duke.”

“Shall we have a drink?”

Without waiting for an answer, Ricardo immediately filled his glass and poured one for me as well. I gripped the glass tightly but didn’t drink. Not a drop of water had gone down my throat since meeting the Duke and Duchess.

“Countess Pennel, Sabrina, Jonathan.”

I looked straight into his eyes. No matter how much my heart raced whenever I saw him, I had no intention of showing it with my family’s lives at stake.

“They’re my family. Please save them.”

Nothing is more desperate to me right now than this.

“Why should I?”

A cold expression settled on his face, as if his slight smile just moments ago had been a lie. Yes, he has no obligation to save my family.

I should be grateful that he saved me alone, let alone anything else. But I can’t be happy having saved only my life without my family. Somehow, they had become a pillar of my happiness.

“You may not remember, but you owe them too, Young Master.”

“I think I’ve already repaid that debt by saving one life.”

Ricardo seemed to have prepared his words in advance. The way he kept shutting down my arguments.

“Ah, no. You’ve incurred a debt too big to be repaid with just that one time.”

“A lie.”

“Ah…”

My eyes, unable to lie, wavered like stormy waves, enough for anyone to see without needing to gauge the truth. Honestly, I couldn’t say Sabrina and Jonathan had protected him at the risk of their lives like I had.

“Anyway, you need me now, don’t you?”

“That’s why I’m keeping you here.”

“What if I say I’ll die?”

“Didn’t you make the Duchess understand?”

He crossed his legs and stretched out leisurely. Even smirking as if something amused him.

“I believe the Duchess also gave you another solution besides that.”

He was already practically the master of this mansion. There’s no way he wouldn’t have heard about the conversation in the reception room today. Moreover, the Duke and Duchess didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding it.

If the opponent knows all my cards, there was only one thing I could do.

I abruptly stood up. His head, holding a wine glass, followed my face.

Without taking my eyes off him, I slowly approached.

As I drew very close to him, my heart pounded so fiercely it felt like it might leap out of my mouth at any moment. However, I knelt on one knee before him, like a man in love proposing.

Ricardo slightly furrowed his brow, but I didn’t hesitate.

I immediately reached out and placed my hand on his protruding knee. The soft touch of silk suddenly gave me goosebumps. My hands, cold since earlier, were even more stiff from holding the wine glass.

“What… are you doing now?”

His eyes were still ashen, but his voice carried anger. But for some reason, he didn’t push my hand away. I gripped the fabric of his clothes more tightly in my palm.

“I’ll do anything.”

“What…?”

For the first time, his eyes wavered. A slight light flickered, but not enough to distinguish the color in the darkness. For now, it was fortunate if he felt any emotion at all.

“As you know, I have nothing now. All I have is this worthless body.”

“…”

“I’ll do whatever you say. If you say to get engaged, I will. If you say to marry, I will. And if someday you tell me to leave, I’ll go without looking back.”

I lowered my head a little more, resting my cheek on my hand that was holding his knee. I felt his body stiffen slightly.

“If you tell me to love you, I will, and if you tell me not to, I’ll do that too. If the saint eventually becomes your companion, I’ll scatter flowers on the path you walk together. If you tell me to serve the woman who will be your wife, I can even do that.”

He gripped my shoulders tightly and pulled me away from him. His lips were raised, but his eyes weren’t smiling at all. His lips, red as blood, created an eerie atmosphere.

“You’ll do… everything I say?”

“Yes.”

“Even if I tell you to undress right now?”

I couldn’t even think of holding back the small laugh that escaped.

“Yes, even if you tell me to strip naked right now and lick your feet, I…”

I didn’t avoid Ricardo’s persistent gaze for even a moment. Hoping his eyes would strip me bare and know my sincerity through and through.

“I can do it.”

Truth.

“So, please save my family. That’s the only thing that matters to me right now.”

This too was the truth.

If someone were to see what was happening between Ricardo and me now, they might call me a shameless woman. But I wasn’t the least bit humiliated.

I didn’t feel ashamed of myself. Shame was an emotion one should feel when failing to protect what should be protected. I will tirelessly strive to protect the people I need to protect.

So.

“I really want to be engaged to you, Young Master.”

This too was undoubtedly the truth.

For the first time, Ricardo was the one to avert his gaze from me. He threw his head back completely over the sofa and placed his arm over his forehead.

As Ricardo laughed, shaking his shoulders, his bare chest heaved.

I quickly dropped my gaze from that smooth chest and returned to my seat as if nothing had happened.

After conveying what I wanted to say, my throat suddenly felt parched. Clink, the ice in the glass melted and slipped into the alcohol with a plop.

“Are you imitating the oath of the slaves in the Lesotia Principality now?”

“That’s right.”

“So you’d even become my slave?”

“My current situation isn’t much different from the slaves in the principality.”

A hand suddenly extended and gently lifted my chin, which had been fixed on the wine glass.

Under the black hair that had fallen forward, wet with water, his gaze was sharp. My shoulders involuntarily hunched.

“For a woman who recklessly visits a man’s room in the dead of night, this much would be gentlemanly behavior, wouldn’t it?”

The sound of dry saliva going down my throat thundered in my ears. Surely, he’s not really telling me to undress now, is he? Fearing he might notice my anxious feelings, I slightly lowered my eyes.

“Especially if that woman says she’ll do anything, claiming her body is all she has.”

His face slowly approached. As if about to kiss me. Unconsciously, my breath stopped and my mind became dizzy. But as if mocking my worry, he passed by my face and whispered in my ear.

“Don’t go around carelessly saying your body is all you have.”

Ricardo’s words, spoken as if grinding them out, seemed to remind me of my pitiful situation.

And as he tilted his lips a little closer to my ear, even my self-deprecation vanished. His hot breath tickled the fine hairs on my cheek. My body stiffened, unable to move a finger.

“This is the last warning.”

After leaving this mocking warning, he quickly pulled away from me. Or rather, he tried to. If I hadn’t roughly reached out and grabbed his robe.

“No.”

I pulled his collar a little harder to prevent him from avoiding my eyes. We were close enough for our breaths to mingle. My heart pounded heavily. I wanted to run away from this place right now, but I had no time to hesitate.

“Look straight into my eyes, Rica. From now on, I’ll only speak the truth.”

If I can’t save my family, I can’t live either. Once the saint becomes his companion, my usefulness will also disappear. Even if Rochester shows mercy and protects me after I’ve served my purpose, how can I live alone in this world where I have no one?

So now, I had no choice at all.

“If it weren’t for me… you would have died at 12.”

Of course, he wouldn’t have died. But can one dare say they lived to someone who endured such harsh years? In my fragments of memory, his eyes were already dead. So what I’m saying now is surely the truth.

“Just because you erased your memories doesn’t mean the debt you owe me disappears. Because I remember everything.”