For a moment, I doubted my ears, wondering if I had misheard.

“You’re looking for a marriage partner?”

“That’s right.”

My dazed mind began to spin.

“Due to unavoidable circumstances, I have to get married, but since it’s a marriage of necessity, it feels like I’m committing a sin, so it’s not easy to find a partner.”

This man. He’s in the same situation as me?

“You don’t need to be so serious, my lady. I’m sure a suitable match will appear soon.”

He turned his head forward, smiling faintly.

Soon, as if the fog had lifted, my mind cleared.

How could I meet this man in this situation? Could this be the last chance God has given me?

It was as if someone was whispering in my ear.

Telling me not to let this man go.

I moistened my lips and asked a question.

“You’re a nobleman, right?”

Among the guards, sons of noble families who lack the skills to become knights often enlist. Nobles were usually of manager level or higher. Judging by his appearance, he didn’t seem to be a low-ranking guard. At least a viscount or above.

“That’s correct.”

I was right.

If he’s not a commoner, there’s nothing to hesitate about.

“I’ll be your partner.”

“…Pardon?”

His mouth fell slightly open.

“I said I’ll be your wife. If there are any necessary conditions, please tell me. I’m confident in anything.”

“Do you know what you’re saying right now?”

I straightened my back and brushed my hair behind my ear.

“Of course I do. I’ll be your wife until you need me.”

***

The man at the end of Anette’s gaze, Hertian, barely suppressed a laugh that threatened to burst out as he looked at her, her eyes wide open, staring at him.

She said she would be his wife.

At a point when they had known each other for less than an hour. In fact, it was a response he had elicited from her. Because he knew what Anette wanted when he said those words.

Hertian acted so that Anette wouldn’t suspect anything.

“I’m flustered by your sudden offer to be my wife…”

“You don’t need to be flustered. I actually needed a husband too.”

“But…”

In truth, he wanted to pull her into his arms as she proposed to him, inhaling the fragrance of her hair to his heart’s content, but he restrained himself.

He knew well that Anette was the type of person who would fiercely reject him if he carelessly crossed the line she had drawn.

Instead, he decided to satisfy his desires in a different way.

“No. I can’t burden you, my lady. I’ll handle my own affairs.”

He continued, drawing his eyebrows into a troubled expression.

So that Anette would genuinely want to marry him, not just marriage in general.

“No… Why bother looking far and wide? I said I’ll do it for you.”

“I can’t impose on someone I’ve just met today.”

“I said it’s fine with me too.”

“Even if you say it’s okay, it’s a forced marriage. I’m not the type to live with a debt, so I can’t do that.”

Hertian persistently refused her.

Finally, unable to hold back, Anette shouted.

“It’s not a debt! I was also desperately looking for a husband. Today, I went through so much trouble… No, anyway, I need you too.”

Her honesty and boldness, which he had sufficiently felt through her letters, felt different when facing her directly.

“So please marry me. You.”

Having finally heard the words he wanted, Hertian inwardly smiled with satisfaction.

‘Although all the plans I’ve made so far have turned to dust.’

His vow to propose to her after finishing this war had failed miserably. More precisely, it had succeeded in an absurd way.

“Wait a moment.”

Moreover, Anette, anxious about being rejected, hastily grabbed a red chip from the dealer’s tray and placed it in his hand.

“What is this?”

“I’m formally proposing to you. Since I don’t have a wedding ring at the moment, this will be the symbol of our marriage.”

Hertian stared intently at the single chip resting on his palm. A thin smile spread across his lips. Anette, thinking it was a joke, hurriedly added.

“It’s not a joke, you know? I’m proposing to you more sincerely than anyone else. So now you can’t back out…”

Despite proposing with a chip, she was even brazen about it. However, her body swayed, unable to maintain balance.

It was because she had been breathing cold air for a long time in a thin dress. Noticing the signs, the smile disappeared from Hertian’s face.

“Are you all right?”

“…First, answer me. Will you marry me or not?”

Anette tenaciously asked, barely holding onto her fading consciousness.

“Hurry up. I may look like this right now, but my family has a lot of money… We’re not a messed-up family… You can even treat me as a ghost if you want.”

Her eyes were half-closed.

“My lady…”

“Answer.”

Hertian reluctantly nodded his head slightly.

“I understand.”

“Make sure to keep your promise.”

“You’re not backing down either, my lady.”

“…Of course not.”

With that answer, Anette’s delicate body collapsed.

“My lady!”

Hertian quickly grasped Anette’s waist, but she had already lost consciousness. Perhaps because she had found a marriage partner. Her expression with her eyelids closed looked more peaceful than ever. Not knowing that the person was Cassian, with whom she had exchanged letters for three years.

***

The room where Anette had collapsed from exhaustion and fallen asleep.

The top floor of the casino, located right above.

In the casino owner’s room, which had been empty for a long time, a pleasant heat rose.

Blanche Hertian.

He had finally returned completely after finishing a long two-year war.

Although it was no exaggeration to say that the sword had been stuck to his hand during the war, even a moment of rest was a luxury for Hertian.

Hertian took a seat at the desk and read the countless letters over and over again.

Osen, Hertian’s subordinate who arrived late, frowned at the warm sensation felt on his skin, stopping himself from reporting.

“Commander. What are you doing right now?”

Osen, who was used to calling him commander since Hertian had gone to the battlefield as soon as he inherited the title of duke.

“Osen. Bring me the letters from the year 826.”

For Osen, the sight of his lord holding letters was as common as everyday life.

Osen brought the letter box that Hertian had cherished more than his own life even on the battlefield.

“Which month’s letters should I bring you?”

“All the light green ones.”

Osen cleaned his glasses, which had become hazy due to the heat, and opened the box, pulling out all the light green envelopes.

Anette always sent different colored envelopes whenever the seasons changed.

Light green in the fresh spring.

Blue in summer.

Orange in autumn.

White in winter.

Although Hertian never mentioned this fact, Osen naturally realized it after years of watching his lord waiting for letters on the battlefield.

“Here they are.”

“Put the rest back in order. Report.”

Hertian opened a new envelope and gestured to Osen. Osen straightened his glasses, which were fogged up, and also corrected his posture.

“Evelyn and Kinta, whom Lady Leanberia was supposed to meet, have all been dealt with beforehand.”

“Good work.”

Osen felt puzzled seeing his lord like that. Because the plan he had made, even sacrificing sleep on the battlefield, had been ruined.

“Wait… Commander. I apologize for interrupting your reading, but didn’t you say you would follow the new plan once you arrived at the capital?”

“There’s no need for a plan anymore.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Could it be that he’s giving up on Lady Leanberia?

Did the lady seem different when he met her after a long time?

It was a sufficiently plausible story.

Honestly, although she was a beautiful woman, enough to be considered one of the best in high society, it had been a long time since they had only exchanged letters. When bodies drift apart, hearts also drift apart.

It was enough time for the long-standing plan to fade.

“Osen.”

A slightly trembling voice settled. It was the first time since he had killed someone in the first battle that his lord called his name in that tone.

Gulp.

Osen was convinced.

He really gave up like this.

“I will unconditionally follow your opinion, Commander. Even if you lead Blanche alone for the rest of your life…”

“Prepare for the wedding immediately.”

“Pardon?”

Osen doubted his own ears.

“Anette proposed to me.”

“Par-pardon?”

Surely, the earwax accumulated on the battlefield must have hardened and blocked his ears.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain this miraculous event.

“The method you told me seems to have worked.”

Hertian raised his little finger with crystal-clear eyes.

At the tip of his lord’s finger, there was a faint reddish tint.

At the same time, Osen’s face was also colored with shock.

‘Don’t tell me you crushed hollyhock petals and dyed your nails?’

He had once told his lord a story like that when he saw hollyhocks during the war.

“There is a saying that if you dye your nails with this flower and the color doesn’t fade until the first snow falls, your first love will come true.”

But who would have thought that his lord, who was called a war ghost beyond a war dog, would be doing that?

Who would know that flower dye was on the hands stained with the blood of thousands?

“Don’t space out. There’s no time, so I’ll meet the emperor first.”

“His Majesty the Emperor?”

Osen was surprised in many ways.

Following the marriage, he said he would personally meet the emperor, whom he had been avoiding.

“Are you really going to meet His Majesty?”

“Yes. It’s time to stop running away.”

***

When I came to my senses, I was already at home. And it was midday, with the sun high in the sky.

“Anette!”

Mom’s sharp voice woke me from my dazed state.

“Do you know how worried I was when you suddenly disappeared from the banquet?”

Mom’s voice rang in my ears.

‘How did I get home?’

I had escaped from Serdis and wandered the streets, then met a handsome guard.

I rested at the casino and got married…

“Mom! How did I get back home?”

I’m crazy.

Did I get a husband?

“The guard brought you back. Your dress was covered in dirt… Come to think of it, whose dress were you wearing yesterday?”

“The guard. Where is that guard now?”

I abruptly sat up and asked point-blank.

My last hope.

I need that man to avoid the original story without risk.

“Anette. Are you going to keep ignoring your mother’s words and saying irrelevant things? The guard went back to his post, of course.”

“I’ll explain everything later!”

As soon as I heard the answer, I quickly got dressed and ran out.

“Anette!”

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

I hurriedly added.

“I didn’t slam the door on purpose. It was an accident!”