The Savior Who Bites My Neck (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 3

Did I just hear something?

Elaina, who always had a dry face with no expression at all, even she looked greatly startled by Melvin’s words.

“What on earth have you been up to outside! You damn filthy whore!”

Furious, Melvin grabbed Elaina by the collar and began shaking her wildly, as if believing that doing so could somehow undo everything that had just happened.

But Elaina had nothing to say either.

All she had done outside was visit secondhand bookshops to sell old books cheaply, or visit her mother’s grave—unmarked and forgotten.

“I had nothing to do with this!”

Elaina, pitiful as she was, gasped out a defense, but Melvin showed no intention of listening.

“Your Lordship, the Crown Prince…….”

At that moment, the butler from the noble house interjected. His face was drawn, as if he were an animal being chased by hunters.

“I told you to wait!”

“Yes, I did tell him that…….”

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

“H-He just barged in without any warning…….”

“…….”

“He’s waiting downstairs now. I fear if we delay any longer, he may come up here himself.”

Even in this situation, nothing good could come of it for Melvin.

Seeming to realize this, he released Elaina’s collar with all his strength.

Elaina, thrown helplessly onto the floor, gasped for breath.

“……Fix your appearance and come down immediately.”

Melvin looked down at Elaina and spoke.

“I don’t know what happened or how, but this is absolutely unacceptable. Even last night, Duke Hank sent someone again! I told you I could increase your dowry!”

Duke Hank.

Though he was old enough to be her grandfather, he possessed more wealth than anyone else.

And he stood at the very pinnacle of power, closely tied to the current Emperor and the Crown Prince.

For Melvin, there was no better reason for Elaina to be sold off than this man.

“Go down right now and fix this.”

Melvin threatened.

“If you can’t handle it yourself, I’ll break your other leg myself.”

“…….”

“No matter how strange Sinclair’s tastes are, even he wouldn’t want a woman with both legs crippled!”

That was his final word. Melvin left without looking back, taking the butler with him, leaving Elaina alone in the cramped, filthy attic, her eyes filled with confusion.

‘Why on earth…….’

All she knew about Sinclair were the unpleasant rumors everyone else knew too.

Then why did he send her a marriage proposal?

Even if he was the Emperor’s disgraced prince, he was still royal blood.

Indeed, though he had been sent to the front as a death sentence, Sinclair Butler had earned considerable glory on the battlefield.

In other words, even if Sinclair was reviled by everyone……, there was no logical reason for him to send a proposal to Elaina—unless he had truly lost his mind.

The Asweld family’s penniless daughter.

The limping Elaina.

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

A half-blood woman, carrying only half the noble blood.

Raised in isolation, rejected even by her own family, never once truly acknowledged.

Why me?

Has Sinclair truly gone mad, as the rumors say?

“…….”

Elaina, sitting dazed, suddenly clenched her eyes shut and opened them with all her strength.

Regardless, Melvin was right.

First, she had to meet him.

Elaina hastily began tidying her tangled, disheveled hair, then rose from her seat, limping.

[This is the timeline separator]

Thud.

Uneven footsteps filled the staircase as she descended to the first floor.

Gripping the banister with all her strength, Elaina soon neared the reception hall—and encountered a scene she could never have imagined.

First, the Asweld family members, who were the rightful owners of the house, stood helplessly in the corner, unsure what to do.

Melvin, his face ashen.

Melissa, trembling faintly as she hid behind him……

And Layla, likewise terrified, staring blankly into the air.

Still, Elaina continued limping forward.

And only then, in the center of the reception hall,

did she spot a man sitting alone on a large sofa, legs crossed, posture arrogant as if this were his own home.

[So that’s why it’s even scarier. Wasn’t it no accident that they called him a madman? After all, he killed a concubine.]

Suddenly, the words her family had spoken yesterday brushed softly against her ear.

[He charges into battle, killing men recklessly? He’s obsessed with murder.]

……Damn madman Sinclair.

The one always drenched in blood, the mad killer.

Even while hearing such rumors, she sometimes wondered—could they be exaggerated? Rumors always are.

But the moment she saw Sinclair, Elaina thought:

Perhaps these rumors were almost certainly true.

An overwhelming, terrifying presence—as if he might devour them all at once. Cold, chilling eyes that felt utterly devoid of warmth. An air of arrogance as if it had been with him since birth……

“…….”

In an instant, Sinclair’s eyes met Elaina’s.

His golden eyes, shining brilliantly like molten gold beneath the sunlight, seemed to pierce straight through her in one glance.

For no reason she could name, a shiver ran down her spine.

As if she were prey caught by a wild beast.

And so, without thinking, Elaina took a small step backward—and stumbled.

She was about to fall forward.

Right here, in front of everyone.

Even before this man she barely knew, who had sent her a marriage proposal.

Elaina bit her lip slightly, overwhelmed by sudden shame.

Yet, contrary to her expectation, she did not fall.

Instead, an unfamiliar thick arm suddenly wrapped around her waist.

It was Sinclair.

“…….”

As his face drew suddenly close, Elaina forgot to breathe, looking up at him.

Sinclair stared down at her for a moment without speaking—then, remarkably, did not push her away, but slowly helped her to her feet.

And then he sat her down beside him.

With no room for escape, utterly forceful.

“Melvin Asweld.”

Eventually, Sinclair’s gaze turned to Melvin, who still stood trembling behind him.

“I’d like you and your entire family to leave this room.”

“……Yes?”

“The intended recipient of my proposal is Elaina Asweld—not you.”

The unexpected words made Melvin falter.

“I—I am…… but I am Elaina’s father…….”

“You’re astonishingly stupid. Don’t you understand what I just said?”

Instantly, Sinclair’s face hardened.

“Leave.”

“…….”

“Now.”

Melvin could not utter a single word in reply.

Not because he dared defy Sinclair—but because he was utterly, overwhelmingly terrified.

After a brief hesitation, he hurriedly gathered Melissa and Layla and fled the reception hall.

It was absurd. Sinclair Butler had expelled the rightful owners and taken over the reception hall—and acted as if it were perfectly natural.

“Hello, Elaina Asweld.”

But Sinclair, regardless of what Elaina might be thinking, fixed his gaze on her and spoke.

“Have you heard the gist from Melvin?”

“…….”

“No, perhaps he didn’t even convey that properly.”

Sinclair frowned slightly, then reached out his hand.

Instantly, he seized a document lying carelessly on the table.

“Here, take it.”

Sinclair extended the document as if demanding she accept it.

Elaina, startled, took it into her hands.

It was the marriage proposal and betrothal contract from Prince Sinclair Butler to Elaina Asweld.

“Before I went to war, I asked the Emperor for one favor.”

[Why, isn’t it true that Lady Iona’s maternal family has royal blood? I heard from her that Sinclair dared to make a condition to His Majesty before leaving for war.]

“A favor that must be granted, no matter what.”

[If I return victorious, grant me one wish.]

“The Emperor granted it. I returned victorious. So if you refuse my proposal, you will be committing treason against the Emperor’s command.”

What on earth was this?

Elaina’s blue eyes trembled violently as she stared at Sinclair.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Sinclair continued.

“My one wish was this: to take the Asweld family’s penniless, limping bastard, Elaina Asweld, as my wife.”

“…….”

“So you’d best not think of refusing.”

—Unless you wish to die.

Stunned by Sinclair’s utterly incomprehensible words, Elaina lowered her gaze back to the document in her hands.

At the bottom of the betrothal contract, the Emperor’s official seal had been stamped, approving the marriage.

What kind of proposal was this? It was nothing less than a forced marriage decree.

‘This…… is insane…….’

Elaina’s hands trembled violently.

But the poor girl, so absorbed in scanning the document, failed to notice—

Sinclair’s gaze had lingered for a long time upon her injured leg.