Ansi’s eyes trembled.

She seemed to have misheard something.

“Are you… considering marriage with me?”

“That’s right.”

“You like me that much?”

“Yes.”

Contrary to his quick response, the man turned his head as if embarrassed. Ansi looked at his profile with an expression of disbelief.

A quiet steam locomotive.

Ansi decided to call him that.

To think he’s envisioning such an outcome, he must be out of his mind.

How could he harbor such feelings in the first place? How is it possible to decide on something as significant as marriage based on those trivial emotions? Is this just another thoughtless remark or is he serious?

She was flustered because she didn’t know.

After all, Ansi didn’t believe in love.

When girls her age read romance novels, she read history books. When her friends talked about the prices of dresses for balls, she talked about the price of arugula produced in the territory.

When her friend Elize said that marriage was a sacred ritual with someone you love, she thought it was impossible to marry for such an absurd reason.

And now this man in front of her wants to marry for that absurd reason? With her, no less?

“I…”

Sure. Why delay? Let’s just get married right now.

Though her mind commanded her to say so, she couldn’t bring herself to utter those words. The thought of dating and possibly marrying a man from Orpe, whom she hated, enveloped her in an unrefined fear.

“I…”

A trembling voice escaped. Ansi quickly shut her mouth. It was difficult to answer.

“I guess I pushed too hard.”

Sensing her state, Damion spoke up.

“I knew that Ansi didn’t like me yet. Even though I felt that way after hearing a lot about Ansi from Colonel Rubelsa…”

“What?”

What snapped her out of her hesitation was another truth the man revealed.

“Ah, I didn’t mention it. When I was in the military, I was briefly under Colonel Rubelsa. The Colonel often talked about you. Saying he had an intelligent and resolute daughter.”

“Did my father… talk about me a lot?”

A light passed over the woman’s hesitant face.

A faint elation enveloped Damion. It was similar to the sensation just before a successful hunt.

He could have mentioned Colonel Rubelsa from the start, but he was cautious. He didn’t know how this woman felt about her father who had ruined her future, and if he wasn’t careful, sadness and depression might overshadow any feelings of affection.

A dead father – it was a card that could elicit too extreme a reaction, so he decided to hold it back for now.

So he used their meeting at the Jeff family’s charity event as a starting point.

Love at first sight – she must have mulled over this simple yet intense fact several times over the past week.

Meanwhile, what Damion had newly learned was that a young woman had visited Colonel Rubelsa’s neglected grave. And that the graffiti on the tombstone had been erased.

So now was the perfect time to play the card he had held back.

“The Colonel was very proud of Ansi. I felt excited hearing him brag several times about having a beautiful and wonderful daughter in the capital.”

A strong connection between people makes one look at the other once more. In cases where one is unsure whether to hold the other’s hand, it can become the deciding factor.

In their case, it was Colonel Rubelsa.

And the situation unfolded as expected.

The woman, who had briefly lowered her head sadly as if remembering her father, raised her face again to look at Damion.

The next words that came out were in a much more relaxed tone than before.

“My father was of a taciturn nature. If he talked a lot, he must have trusted you greatly.”

“I also greatly respected the Colonel.”

“Perhaps… he might have thought of me as your match.”

“Actually, he once mentioned wanting to entrust Ansi to me.”

Damion furrowed his brow and gave a slight smile. It was a smile feigned to appear appropriately embarrassed.

In truth, Colonel Rubelsa, like any good father with a daughter who had become a lady, didn’t go around talking too much about his daughter. If he carelessly and thoughtlessly spoke about his daughter, she would likely become fodder for men’s gossip.

However, it is true that the Colonel trusted Damion.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked him to save his wife while revealing the secret of the Count’s family. Nor would he have asked him to take care of his wife and daughter if he died.

The fact that he told him about having to sacrifice one’s lifespan to change a companion’s future was probably because he thought Damion wouldn’t take away his daughter’s lifespan.

But Colonel Rubelsa’s judgment was wrong.

Damion de Orpe is a selfish person who considers his own purpose most important and can willingly sacrifice others for himself.

The purpose of his life is to possess Orpe.

In those hellish times, he had thought countless times about why he should live. And that was the conclusion he reached.

He’s sorry to Colonel Rubelsa, but his trust had become a well-honed blade in Damion’s hands.

“It might seem ridiculous, but I think this is fate. That I fell for you at first sight, that I happened to be under Colonel Rubelsa, and that we met again like this – all of it.”

It was quite a plausible story. Even Damion himself thought it sounded convincing after saying it out loud.

So to this foolish woman backed into a corner, how much more would it feel like a rope to grasp onto.

“…Yes. It does seem like fate.”

The answer was simple.

But a clear light flashed in her eyes. In those eyes, there was something that could be called certainty.

“Honestly, I thought you wanted to take back your words about liking me.”

“That’s…”

Damion tilted his head as if shy. His light golden hair flowed slightly forward following his head movement.

“I’m sorry. When you seemed to ignore me, I just acted petulant.”

“I didn’t mean to disregard you.”

“I know. It’s just that I find myself reacting to your every action. Even now, I’m anxious about what your answer might be.”

Ansi stared intently at Damion as he gave a bitter smile. She blinked slowly, and then, as if having sorted out her thoughts, opened her mouth.

“Let’s date, then.”

Finally.

Damion smiled brightly. His face, which at first glance seemed cold, became infinitely soft when he smiled.

He silently gazed at Ansi as if excited and elated, then pulled her hand and embraced her.

Ansi unconsciously held her breath as she felt his firm chest.

“Lord Damion.”

“I’ll treat you well.”

A gentle voice resonated in Ansi’s ear. She, who had been momentarily stiff, soon raised her hands to embrace Damion’s back.

Damion raised the corners of his mouth.

The deer that had been running away in fear now accepts food from the human before it with sparkling eyes.

Not knowing that this peaceful and cozy place where the food is placed is actually a trap set by him.

“Mom.”

Returning home, Ansi prepared water and medicine and opened the door.

Sophia de Rubelsa, the former Countess, was sound asleep on the narrow bed. Ansi, who had been looking at the dried tear stains around her eyes, gently shook Sophia.

“It’s time to take your medicine.”

“Darel?”

Calling her son’s name, Sophia opened her eyes. Seeing her daughter sitting by the bed, she smiled faintly.

“Ah, it’s Ansi. I thought it was Darel.”

But brother is dead. Ansi swallowed those words.

Sophia, who had learned of her husband’s and son’s deaths at once, had half lost her mind. Half of her time was in the present, but the other half was in the past. Now, the boundary of where she was often felt vague.

“Just take your medicine and sleep more.”

“No, I dozed off and slept too much. Mom needs to work too. I think I enjoy knitting more than embroidery now.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Ansi pulled up the corners of her mouth. Sophia got up from her seat.

“Rein, I baked a fig pie, would you like some?”

When she called her daughter Rein, it was definitely when her mind had returned. To prevent her from calling Ansi by that name in front of others, she had been calling her Rein usually.

Staring at her, Ansi asked.

“How would you feel about… living in the capital?”

Sophia’s eyes widened in surprise. But then she smiled gently.

“Mom is happy anywhere as long as our daughter is there.”

Sophia left the room. From the small kitchen-cum-living room came the sound of her bustling about. When she wanted to forget her pain, Sophia tended to keep herself busier.

“…”

The lump in her throat swelled.

Ansi, who had been staring blankly at the door, stood up.

She strode to the desk, took out a pen and paper, and quickly scribbled something. Like someone half out of her mind, she wrote down black letters on the paper.

Suddenly, she took a sharp breath.

Ansi, holding that paper filled countless times with the name Orpe, went straight to the candle and burned the paper.

The name of her enemy blackened and quickly disappeared. Standing in the place where the smell of burning lingered, Ansi stared intently at the fire.

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.