“What did I just hear?”

Even Elaina, who always had a dry face with no expression, showed a greatly startled look at Melvin’s words.

“What the hell have you been doing outside, you filthy bitch!”

Melvin, who was very angry, grabbed Elaina by the collar and started shaking her like crazy. As if doing so would solve everything that had happened.

But Elaina was also at a loss for words.

Because all she had been doing outside was going to used bookstores that sold old books cheaply, or visiting her mother’s grave that had no tombstone.

“I don’t know anything about this!”

The pitiful Elaina let out a short groan and protested, but Melvin didn’t seem to want to listen to her at all.

“Master, His Highness the Prince…”

It was the Count’s butler who intervened. He muttered with a face full of timidity, like an animal being chased by a hunter.

“I told you to tell him to wait!”

“Yes, that’s what I told him, but…”

Melvin, who had been raging like a mad beast, faltered.

“He just barged in recklessly…”

“…”

“He’s waiting on the first floor right now. I thought if we delayed any longer, he might come up here too.”

Nothing good would come from showing this situation to Melvin.

As if he thought the same, he let go of Elaina’s collar with all his might.

Elaina, who was thrown to the floor powerlessly, breathed heavily.

“…Fix yourself up properly and come down.”

Melvin said, looking down at Elaina.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but it absolutely can’t happen. Just last night, Duke Hank sent someone again! Saying he could raise your dowry even more!”

Duke Hank.

He was an old man, but he had more than anyone else – that very Duke.

Also, the current Emperor and the Crown Prince were closely connected to him at the pinnacle of power.

For Melvin, there was nothing more fitting in this world as a reason for Elaina to be sold off.

“Come down right now and deal with it properly.”

Melvin spoke as if threatening.

“If you can’t handle it yourself, I’ll crush your remaining leg with my own hands.”

“…”

“No matter how strange Sinclair’s taste is, even a woman with both legs crippled would be too much!”

That was the last thing he said. Melvin left with the butler without looking back, and Elaina was left alone in the small, dirty attic with eyes full of confusion.

‘Why on earth…’

All she knew about Sinclair were the unpleasant rumors that others knew as well.

But why did he send me a marriage proposal?

No matter how much he was a prince out of the Emperor’s favor, his status was still that of royalty.

Even though he was driven to the front lines by the Emperor, Sinclair Butler was the one who had made significant achievements on the battlefield.

In other words, even if Sinclair was cursed by people… unless he was insane, there was no reason for him to send a marriage proposal to Elaina.

The half-blood of the Aswald family.

The crippled Elaina.

The daughter born to the Duke of Aswald from a concubine of common birth.

A woman with only half the blood of nobility.

So even her family turned away from her, and she grew up without ever being properly acknowledged.

Why me?

Was Sinclair really insane as the rumors said?

“…”

Elaina, who had been sitting absentmindedly, closed and opened her eyes with all her might as if trying to come to her senses.

Anyway, Melvin was right.

First, she had to meet him.

Elaina hurriedly began to tidy her very disheveled hair. Then she got up from her seat, limping.

[This is the timeline separator]

Thud.

The sound of uneven footsteps filled the stairs leading down to the first floor.

Elaina, who held onto the railing with all her might, soon began to approach the drawing room, and there she encountered a scene she had never expected.

First, the people of the Aswald family standing in the corner not knowing what to do even though they were the masters.

Melvin, whose face had turned pale blue,

Melissa, who was hiding behind him and trembling slightly…

And Leila, who was also frightened and staring into the air.

Anyway, Elaina continued to limp and move her steps.

And only then, in the middle of the drawing room, did she find a man.

Sitting alone on the large sofa with his legs crossed and an extremely arrogant posture, as if this place was his own home.

[That’s why he’s more terrifying. There’s a reason he’s called a madman, right? He beat his concubine to death too.]

For a moment, the words her family had said yesterday quietly brushed past her ears.

[He leads the charge in killing people on the battlefield too, as if addicted to murder.]

…The scoundrel Sinclair.

The mad murderer who was always soaked in blood.

Even while hearing such rumors, Elaina sometimes wondered. Maybe it was a bit exaggerated. That’s the nature of rumors, after all.

But the moment she saw Sinclair, Elaina thought.

Perhaps those rumors had a high probability of being spot on.

The terrifying intimidation that seemed to devour everyone at any moment. The chilling eyes that lacked any warmth. That arrogant atmosphere that seemed to have been present since birth…

“…”

For a moment, Sinclair’s eyes and Elaina’s eyes clashed in midair.

His golden eyes, shining as if molten gold had been poured into them under the sunlight, just like his dazzling golden hair… somehow seemed to pierce right through her.

A chill ran down her spine for some reason.

As if she had become an animal caught by a beast.

So Elaina unknowingly took a small step back and staggered.

She was about to fall forward.

In front of everyone watching like this.

No, in front of a man she didn’t even know properly, but who had sent her a marriage proposal.

Elaina bit her lip slightly at the rush of humiliation.

However, contrary to expectations, she did not fall.

Instead, an unknown thick arm swiftly grabbed Elaina’s waist.

It was Sinclair.

“…”

Elaina looked up at him, forgetting to breathe at the face that had suddenly come close.

Sinclair stared down at Elaina without a word, and surprisingly, instead of pushing her away, he slowly helped her up.

Then he sat her down next to him.

Without giving Elaina a chance to avoid it, very forcefully.

“Melvin Aswald.”

Eventually, Sinclair’s gaze turned to Melvin, who was still standing behind with a frightened face.

“I’d like you to take your family and leave the room.”

“…Pardon?”

“The recipient of my marriage proposal is Elaina Aswald, not you.”

As if it was an unexpected statement, Melvin hesitated slightly.

“I… I’m… but I’m still Elaina’s father…”

“You’re more stupid than I thought. Do you not understand what I’m saying right now?”

Suddenly, Sinclair’s face hardened as he spoke.

“Get out.”

“…”

“Right now.”

Melvin couldn’t even give a proper answer.

It wasn’t because he was defying Sinclair, but purely because he was so terribly frightened.

After a brief hesitation, he hurriedly took Melissa and Leila and began to leave the drawing room.

It was truly absurd. Sinclair Butler driving out the masters and taking over the drawing room like this. And his behavior of acting as if it was only natural.

“Hello, Elaina Aswald.”

But regardless of what Elaina was thinking, Sinclair stared at her and parted his lips.

“Did you hear roughly from Melvin?”

“…”

“No, maybe he didn’t even convey it properly.”

Sinclair frowned slightly and reached out his hand.

He then picked up the document that was carelessly placed on the table.

“Here, take it.”

Sinclair said, holding out the document for her to take.

Elaina gripped it in her hand in a hurry.

It was a marriage proposal and marriage contract sent by Prince Sinclair Butler to Elaina Aswald.

“Before going to this war, I asked the Emperor for a wish.”

[You know, Lady Iona who comes to the gatherings has royal relatives on her mother’s side. She told me that Sinclair dared to set a condition to His Majesty before going to this war.]

“A wish that must be granted no matter what it is.”

[To grant him a wish if he returns victorious.]

“The Emperor agreed, and I returned victorious. So if you refuse my proposal, you will be committing treason against the Emperor’s order.”

What in the world was he saying?

Elaina’s blue eyes, staring at Sinclair, shook very roughly.

“Yes, that’s right.”

And Sinclair said.

“My wish was this. To take Elaina Aswald, the half-blood cripple and bastard daughter of the Aswald family, as my wife.”

“…”

“So you better not think of refusing.”

If you don’t want to die, that is.

At Sinclair’s incomprehensible words, Elaina shifted her gaze back to the document in her hand.

At the end of the marriage contract, the Emperor’s seal approving the marriage was stamped.

What kind of proposal was this? It was no different from a document simply forcing marriage.

‘This… is absurd…’

Elaina’s hand trembled and shook.

But the pitiful Elaina, frantically examining the document, failed to notice.

The fact that Sinclair’s gaze had lingered on her injured leg for a very long time.