How to Turn a Kind Savior into an Emperor (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
From afar, Ines looked truly graceful. She didn’t make people tense up the way she did when standing close by.
Feeling the lazy upward curl of his lips, Carson leaned leisurely against the balcony railing to admire that curious woman. The more he looked, the more she kept heading toward the secluded garden.
“What on earth is this?”
At that moment, Carson doubted his own eyes because of the man following her. What he saw was unmistakably the guard knight of Count Graeham’s daughter.
A tall, upright man, slightly taller than others, was striding quickly after her. Raymond hurriedly left the balcony.
Ines, unable to ignore Joseph’s open staring, reluctantly gave him a look signaling him to meet her alone. Joseph showed his desperate feelings so plainly it seemed he had no sense of tact at all. Since they’d agreed to meet in the garden, he would surely follow her shortly.
“Ines.”
Joseph called her name with remarkable tenderness. She turned toward him, having barely managed to sketch a smile onto her face. But the man approaching her as if ready to embrace her at any moment began to ruin the fragile expression she’d so carefully composed.
Fortunately, Joseph stopped right in front of Ines. He let out a deep breath, as if surfacing from being fully submerged underwater.
“At last, we can finally stand face to face and talk.”
Had he yearned for her this intensely even in her past life? Ines shook her head. He had been kind, yes—but never this stubbornly insistent.
“Indeed.”
“Have you been well all this time?”
When she nodded, his face instantly fell with disappointment.
“I couldn’t eat properly or sleep well at all.”
“Of course I wasn’t at ease either. But we still have to be careful.”
“Yes, I understand. But I had good news, so I wanted to see you as soon as possible—even a day sooner.”
“Good… news?”
As Ines narrowed her eyes, he took a deep breath, puffing out his chest.
“I’ve been granted the title of baron.”
“Ha.”
Ines exhaled with a sigh-like laugh, lowering her head and trembling slightly even in her shoulders. To him, it probably looked like an overwhelmed gesture of joy.
Why on earth was he going to such lengths just to marry her? Or rather—why was Count Graeham so intent on marrying her to this man?
Not only had he transformed a commoner knight into the count’s household guard, but now he’d even granted him a barony.
In the Cainz Empire, when a noblewoman married, she was required to provide her husband with a substantial dowry. Back then, since Joseph had been a commoner knight, there’d been no obligation to give a dowry. Still, her father had supported them with a house to live in, ten years’ worth of living expenses, and two maids as part of the dowry arrangement.
If a wife died during the marriage, half the dowry could be reclaimed and returned to her birth family. But if the husband died, things were different. The wife would retain her husband’s name, his estate, and the dowry she’d brought with her.
In cases like Ines’s family—where she was the only heir eligible to inherit the title—Ines Benua could potentially receive the Swenden family title.
However, in such a case, she would become Ines Swenden Benua, and only her direct descendants could inherit the title thereafter. Thus, a woman held the title only temporarily, until she could pass it on to her direct heir.
If she had no direct descendants, the family line would end right there.
But what if the wife committed adultery and murdered her husband?
Then she’d have no choice but to surrender not only the dowry but also compensation and additional damages. Even so, the title itself was another matter entirely.
After her father’s death, the most natural course would have been to pass the title to some distant relative of the Swenden family. Yet, instead of anyone else, they’d granted the title to the family of her deceased husband—an outcome that defied easy understanding.
At the time, Ines’s crime had caused such a sensation it shook the entire empire.
People clamored in unison that she should be burned at the stake for cruelly murdering her husband just to keep multiple lovers.
But Joseph had a twin brother, who had returned to Cainz from a distant continent right on schedule. Perhaps the Emperor of Cainz had sought to quell the social unrest caused by the scandalous woman’s crime by bestowing the title upon her family instead.
“But you’re becoming a baron…?”
Misinterpreting Ines’s expression, Joseph took another step closer to her.
“Please don’t cry, Ines. Of course, even if I become a baron, Viscount Swenden will still oppose our marriage. But now that I’m nobility myself, he won’t be able to stop us completely.”
Yes, that made sense. Even when Joseph had been a commoner, her father ultimately couldn’t prevent Ines from making up her mind.
“How?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked how you received a baronial title. It’s not something that happens so easily or quickly.”
“Oh…”
Joseph blushed as if genuinely humbled by his own accomplishment.
“Actually, I saved the life of Count Graeham’s daughter.”
“Oh?”
“You know Lake Brida in Lusonia, right?”
“Of course I do.”
“Not long ago, Lady Graeham fell into the lake while enjoying a boat ride.”
“So you were the one who rescued her.”
“Yes.”
He beamed with a proud smile.
“There must have been plenty of people around.”
“There were. That’s why everything moved so quickly—the Empress approved it without delay.”
“Well, you’ve certainly accomplished something remarkable.”
“Thanks to that, I’ve been assigned as Lady Graeham’s personal guard.”
“And they granted you a title as well.”
“Yes. As soon as the barony is officially conferred, I intend to formally send a marriage proposal to House Ines.”
Ines stared at him silently. Fortunately, with her back to the light, her expression wouldn’t be clearly visible.
“But, Ines…? Aren’t you surprised by what I’ve said?”
“I am surprised.”
“Aren’t you… happy?”
“I am happy.”
For a commoner to join a count’s knightly order was already the pinnacle of what he could achieve in life.
Now that he’d received a barony and planned to send a marriage proposal to her family, her father likely wouldn’t oppose it strongly. That meant she’d marry him even sooner than in her original life. And if so, would the dreadful future awaiting her also arrive just a little earlier?
“By the way, Joseph?”
“Yes, Ines?”
“Shouldn’t you be going now?”
“Hm?”
She’d intended to soothe his feelings before sending him off, but she simply couldn’t bear to look at his face any longer. At that very moment, she felt like drawing the sword at his side and cutting his throat.
“You came here as Lady Graeham’s guard, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then you should hurry back. What if she’s left alone for too long?”
“There are other guards besides me.”
“Even so, you should work even harder precisely at times like this. After all, it’s thanks to them that you received a barony, isn’t it?”
“…”
“Go on, quickly.”
Joseph tilted his head with an innocent expression, then bowed politely to Ines. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to leave immediately, repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fists.
Noticing his desire to pull her into an embrace, she took another step back. Unable to approach her any further, he walked away with a face dripping with reluctance.
Before he’d fully disappeared from view, Ines swiftly followed after Joseph. Since he’d just met with her, he’d surely report everything they’d discussed.
At that very moment, Carson, standing not far from the two, had overheard their entire conversation. He’d followed them out of concern that Count Graeham’s guard knight might harm her—but what he’d learned instead left him utterly deflated.
A lowborn lover opposed by her family.
It was a common tale.
Given that he’d earned a barony through meritorious service, the man was clearly a common-born knight. Carson didn’t know how the two had met or fallen in love, but the story seemed even more clichéd than expected, leaving him slightly bored.
Perhaps one might call it a charming little scandal typical of a viscount’s daughter from some rural estate.
Maybe he’d assumed there was something extraordinary behind her actions, given how distinctly different her behavior had been from other women.
But something still felt off.
If he’d read their dialogue in writing, it would have seemed perfectly natural. Yet the emotions exchanged between them felt oddly awkward.
As Carson carefully retraced the undercurrents flowing between them, a dry chuckle escaped his lips. It was merely an illusion he himself had conjured.
Returning to the banquet hall, Carson avoided the central area and instead took the rear staircase up to the second-floor lounge. Since only those of countly rank or higher were permitted inside, it was likely empty.
As expected, the room was unoccupied. Annoyed by the bright lights left on during the banquet, he extinguished all the lamps except the one near the sofa where he intended to sit. Soon, a servant appeared to ask if he needed anything to drink, and Carson ordered a strong liquor.
A maid, having received the instruction from the servant, brought both drinks and food, but he took only the bottle and glass, sending everything else away. Telling her there was no need to attend him and that she shouldn’t linger, he poured himself a full glass.
The banquet, which had already felt dull since earlier, had now become utterly unbearable.
“Well, I suppose there’s no harm in it.”
Murmuring to himself like a sigh, he sank deeply into the sofa. Just as he tilted his head far back and used his free hand to massage his tense shoulder muscles—
A high-pitched feminine laugh reached his ears, followed immediately by a low male voice.
Carson grimaced in dismay. He had no desire to exchange greetings with anyone right now. Before he could even decide what to do, their footsteps drew close to the door. Quickly rising, Carson hid behind a pillar just before the door swung open.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
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