Sinclair took Elaina to his privately owned villa.

It was far away from both the Duke Hank’s family and the Count Aswald’s family.

“You seem quite shocked.”

Sinclair muttered softly, looking at Elaina, who was sitting on the sofa trembling.

It was not simply that Elaina was just trembling. Her face was pale blue, like someone who had fallen into the water, and fear was still vividly evident in her bright, ocean-blue eyes.

“You can rest assured. No one knows about this place.”

“……”

“Or is this a situation where I need to comfort you separately?”

“…… No, it’s fine. You don’t have to go that far.”

Elaina replied in a mosquito-like voice.

“But how did you know to come here?”

Then she looked at Sinclair and asked.

“And so precisely……”

“I thought you were quick-witted.”

“Pardon?”

“You have a more naive side than it seems.”

Sinclair snorted.

“Did you really think I would simply give you a marriage proposal and leave?”

Elaina flinched.

“I had someone keep an eye on you. In case you were to be backstabbed like this.”

“……”

“I’m a more suspicious person than you think. And usually those suspicions bring more gain than loss. Just like today.”

He had been continuously monitoring the Aswald family.

However, Elaina couldn’t grasp how she should react to this.

Of course, if he had done so out of worry that Melvin would harm her, it would be something to be duly grateful for……

But if it was simply surveillance to ensure that Elaina Aswald, the woman he needed most right now, living the most miserable life in the Edenbell Empire, would not escape from him, the story would be a little different.

‘…… No, what’s the point of that now.’

Anyway, if it weren’t for Sinclair, she would have been sold to the old duke as it was. And she would never have been able to run away again.

“Thank you for your help.”

So Elaina decided to say what she had to say to Sinclair now.

“Regardless of what Your Highness’s intentions were.”

“It’s a bit of a thorny remark to be taken lightly.”

“…… I didn’t mean it that way on purpose.”

“No, you’re probably right. It stung a bit.”

Elaina didn’t answer anything.

“Well, I don’t care what you think at all.”

“……”

“Anyway, it seems you’ve definitely made a decision after today’s events. Right?”

I’ve given you enough time to think, too.

Sinclair’s voice filled the villa, and Elaina slowly faced him.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Then she spoke in a resolute voice.

“I will accept Your Highness’s proposal.”

Yes. From the beginning, this was the only way. Since the day Sinclair visited the Aswald family.

“Actually, I was planning to go to the Imperial Palace before I was kidnapped. It ended up like this anyway.”

Elaina said with a bitter smile.

“Then the discussion is over.”

As if he had finally heard a satisfactory answer, Sinclair laughed briefly. Then he took something out of his bosom and handed it to Elaina.

It was the marriage vow they had seen before.

But it wasn’t simply an ordinary marriage vow that people usually exchanged. At the end of the document densely filled with tiny letters, there was none other than the Emperor’s seal.

“When I said I wanted to marry the crippled half-wit of the Aswald family as my wish, he was overjoyed and stamped it.”

“……”

“He must have thought I would ask for something worse. He was even more delighted when I mentioned your name instead of someone else.”

[Since he’s a son who speaks ill of me, it doesn’t matter much which woman he wants. A tavern wench, a gypsy on the streets. Or…… a crippled bastard daughter of a noble family.] [What, what did you say?] [It doesn’t matter anyway, does it? If there is a flaw in my wife, it would be a very good thing for Your Majesty.]

It was true. The Emperor, who heard those words, was overjoyed. Revealing an unseemly frivolity that did not befit his status.

“I didn’t know there would be such a benefit to me becoming a crippled half-wit.”

Elaina said in a monotonous voice.

“If I had known, I would have had at least a little hope long ago.”

“Sign it.”

The only response to the words she uttered in vain was a resolute answer.

Elaina Aswald.

Elaina took the fountain pen offered by Sinclair and quietly wrote down her name.

Sincerely hoping that this choice would never come back to haunt her.

…… But Elaina at present had no idea how foolish this act was.

“Ah, but the date on the marriage vow is much earlier than today…… Will it be alright?”

“Leave it. It’s intentional.”

Elaina tilted her head slightly at Sinclair’s words, which were not easily understood.

“As I said before, it’s one year.”

Sinclair, who took the marriage vow with Elaina’s name on it, put it back in his bosom and said.

“I promise you once again. No matter what happens, I will perfectly finish everything within a year and become the Emperor, and immediately help you leave Edenbell.”

“…… Thank you.”

That was all she could utter in response. She couldn’t plead for him to keep his promise, nor could she say the presumptuous words of whether she could really trust him. Even in this situation, Elaina was well aware of her place to an excessive degree.

“For now, rest here today. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Elaina looked up at Sinclair again at his unexpected words.

“But Father, I mean Melvin, won’t stay still. Especially after today’s incident.”

“I thought you saw it. The Emperor’s seal.”

Sinclair said, slightly tilting his head as if not understanding.

“There is no one anywhere in Edenbell who can object to the Emperor’s decision. Do you know what this means? It means that a storm of blood will soon blow through the Aswald family.”

“……”

“No matter how much of a good-for-nothing prince, a discarded son, I am of the imperial family. And yet they dared to kidnap and try to sell off the woman who would become the wife of an imperial family member?”

Elaina felt goosebumps on her body at Sinclair’s sinisterly leaking laughter as he spoke.

He was someone who had beaten to death the Emperor’s cherished concubine in broad daylight at the Imperial Palace. So no matter what he did to Melvin, nothing was impossible. Realizing that fact, the man before her eyes seemed a little frightening.

“You’ll see clearly with your own eyes tomorrow. What will happen.”

“Tomorrow?”

“My escort knight will come to pick you up, so just keep that in mind. You left some belongings at the mansion anyway, didn’t you?”

Sinclair was right. Although they weren’t items of much value in the eyes of others, Elaina still had a few precious pieces of luggage left in the attic.

“Since it’s a villa I occasionally stay at, not everything is perfectly equipped, but it will still be better than that trash heap of an attic.”

“I understand.”

Now all the conversations to be had were over. But despite Elaina’s answer, for some reason Sinclair showed no intention of leaving his seat.

His gaze was directed at Elaina’s body.

“…… By the way, you’re in quite a sacrilegious attire.”

Only then did Elaina remember what state she was in, and she reflexively blushed deeply and covered the deeply cut area near her chest.

But Sinclair did not show any considerate behavior such as averting his gaze. Instead, he stared intently at Elaina, then began to approach her in big strides.

Elaina, startled, looked at him with a big flinch, but there was nowhere to run.

In that way, Sinclair soon reached right in front of her, and Elaina reflexively closed her eyes tightly.

However, contrary to expectations, nothing happened.

Elaina opened her eyes in puzzlement, and at the same time, something heavy settled on her shoulders.

It was the cloak Sinclair had been wearing.

“You may not be well aware, but that kind of attire is dangerous, Elaina Aswald. Especially in a confined space like this where it’s just the two of us.”

“……”

“Before adding the obligation of sharing a bed to the terms of our contract, how about keeping your body in check a little?”

Sinclair’s low laughter rang clearly in Elaina’s ears.

“Or were you deliberately like that, hoping for that?”

“…… No, no. I hope you don’t misunderstand……”

“Feel free to let me know if you change your mind. I think I wouldn’t mind enjoying that kind of fun for a year.”

Sinclair grinned, uttering words that couldn’t be more frivolous.

Elaina desperately covered the front with his cloak, and Sinclair briefly looked at her and then began to move his steps without any lingering attachment.

There were no words to rest well, nor a goodbye wishing her a good night. Sinclair disappeared without any hint, just as he had when he intercepted the carriage.

“……”

Only then did Elaina, her tension released, slump onto the sofa, close her eyes tightly a few times, open them again, and repeatedly take deep breaths as if to calm herself.

And unknowingly wiped the cold sweat that had gathered on her forehead with her hand.

Like this……

Will it be okay?

Is it really enough to just wait here quietly?

Once again, she felt like a deep, swamp-like anxiety was slowly raising its head and overwhelming her body.

But Elaina knew very well. The fact that there was nothing she could do in this situation now.

Elaina, who had put her feet up on the sofa and hugged her knees with both arms, quietly recalled the events of today and then flinched slightly.

But did I ever tell Sinclair that I was living in the attic of the Aswald family?

“…… He had been continuously monitoring, so he could have known.”

Especially considering that he immediately knew about the kidnapping and came to find me.

It would be a lie to say that she didn’t feel somewhat uneasy, but she no longer had the energy to think about and be anxious about anything anymore.

So Elaina sat still for a long time, and then, unable to even go up to the bedroom, she fell into a light sleep right there on the sofa.

Just before falling asleep like that.

[You don’t have to worry about anything. I will continue to protect you. Just as I have been until now.]

The words Ren had spoken in the dream echoed in her ears like an echo once again, but Elaina, who woke up in the middle, could not remember it.

And it was the very next day that the Aswald family was turned upside down.