Like many girls, Riena had dreamed of a romantic proposal since childhood. To be honest, Cassel’s proposal was far from what she had imagined.

First of all, they were not in love with each other. The proposal location wasn’t a garden full of flowers, but a muddy field where their feet sank. She wasn’t wearing her favorite dress, but old clothes chosen only for practicality.

No, not just her, but no woman would be excited in this situation. That’s how disastrous this proposal was.

However, there was one thing that matched her dreams.

Cassel’s gaze as he looked at her.

‘I must be going crazy.’

Even though he was a man she was seeing for the first time, his gaze seemed to be filled with affection. His calm voice somehow seemed to carry a hint of nervousness.

It couldn’t be, but it was as if he truly loved her.

She had received a proposal from Johannes as well, but the reason Cassel’s proposal stirred her heart more was probably because of that serious gaze.

But Riena soon snapped out of those emotions. Now was the time to think rationally. She calculated in her mind what would happen if she accepted Cassel’s proposal and what would happen if she didn’t.

If she accepted Cassel’s proposal, she would be married to a man she had just met. She couldn’t know whether their married life would be happy or not.

‘But…’

On the other hand, if she didn’t accept this proposal. Now that her escape had been discovered, she would inevitably be caught and forced to marry Baron Rothman. And she could assert with certainty that married life with him would be unhappy.

If not that, then she would have to accept Johannes’s proposal, which seemed somewhat suspicious. That didn’t appeal to her either.

An uncertain future, or a future certain to be unhappy.

It wasn’t even worth considering. Moreover, didn’t Cassel have a letter with her father’s handwriting? If he was a man her father had entrusted his daughter to, he surely wouldn’t mistreat Riena.

Riena trusted her father’s judgment.

‘But is that really the right choice?’

In noble families, many people married without love. Rather, love marriages were the unusual cases.

Riena had fled in disgust from the marriage talks with Baron Rothman, but in fact, there were often girls her age who married men old enough to be their fathers due to the interests between families.

Considering that, marriage to Cassel wouldn’t be a bad choice.

She didn’t know his status, or what title he held if he was a nobleman, but she trusted her father’s letter. Even if he turned out to be a blacksmith and she had to work all day as his wife, it might be fine. If it was her father’s choice.

But would that be a good choice for this man as well? Riena wondered about that.

Judging from the contents of the letter, Cassel’s father and Riena’s father seemed to have been close friends. Moreover, Cassel must have had some connection with Count Dyke as well. Perhaps quite a deep one.

That’s why he rushed here so urgently just because of a letter asking him to take care of Riena.

But wouldn’t this marriage be like a bolt from the blue for this person?

Maybe Cassel had a woman he loved. He might not want to marry her at all, and was doing this out of a sense of duty?

‘I don’t like that.’

She couldn’t make someone else unhappy just to avoid her own unhappiness.

Riena organized her thoughts and opened her mouth.

“I don’t want to choose another marriage just to avoid an unhappy one.”

“…”

“I’m very grateful that you came rushing here to help me after receiving my father’s letter, but I can’t burden you. Besides, marriage isn’t something that can be decided so easily.”

Riena tried to speak as politely as possible while looking at the still expressionless man.

“I appreciate your feelings. But sir, I can’t accept your proposal. Besides, I don’t know you well. And the same goes for you about me.”

“…If I said we had met before, would you be willing to accept this proposal?”

The man who had been silent all along asked. Riena was startled.

“Are you saying we’ve met before?”

In Riena’s memory, she had never actually met this man. She had only seen him in her dreams.

But they had met?

It was a vain imagination, but for a moment, Riena wondered if this man had dreamed the same dream as her.

If he had dreamed of kneeling before her and pleading…

But what came out of the man’s mouth was completely unexpected.

“Do you remember a child named Cas who stayed briefly at Count Dyke’s house when you were young?”

“Cas?”

Riena immediately pulled that name from a corner of her memory.

Now the puzzle pieces of memory that had been floating around since she read Count Dyke’s letter all fell into place.

“Cowardly Cas?”

About 10 years ago, Count Dyke, who had been away from the mansion for a long time saying he was visiting a friend, brought back a child.

The child with black hair and blue eyes was named Cas. That child stayed with Riena at the Dyke mansion.

Half a year later, when Cas heard the news that his brother had died and left the mansion, it was the last time Riena saw him.

Seeing that Riena seemed to remember, the man finally showed a slight smile. However, it was so faint that one might not have noticed if they weren’t looking closely.

“I don’t think I was a coward though.”

It wasn’t a direct answer, but his words were enough of an answer for Riena.

“Really? You’re Cas?”

“Yes. That’s what I was called when I was young.”

“Oh my, how…”

Riena looked at Cassel’s face anew. However, she couldn’t find any trace of the cowardly Cas she knew in him, who now exuded a sharp aura like a well-honed sword with thick lines.

“You look different from what I remember…”

The black hair and blue eyes were the same.

However, the Cas she knew was a delicate child who would startle at even the sound of rain falling at night.

But Cassel looked so strong that he wouldn’t even blink at anything.

“Hasn’t a lot of time passed?”

“But still…”

Even if 10 years had passed, wasn’t this too much of a change?

As Riena was still confused, the knight commander who had been watching their conversation interjected.

“Didn’t you hear the lady? I don’t know where you rolled in from, but go back right now. Don’t act so pathetically. And don’t try to lure the lady with strange talk about being Cas or whatever.”

When Cassel still showed no intention of getting up, the knight commander reached for his sword. However, he couldn’t even draw it. As soon as he grabbed the sword handle, someone put a knife to his throat from behind.

“Wh-when…”

It was the person who had come with Cassel. He had been observing the situation from a distance wearing a hood, but as soon as the knight commander moved, he approached so quickly that it went unnoticed.

A look of bewilderment crossed the knight commander’s face.

‘I didn’t even sense his presence?’

The Dyke County was a land guarding the southern border of the empire. All the knights that the count kept were skilled at a high level. The knight commander was also skilled enough to be scouted by the imperial knighthood.

To be able to subdue someone of his skill, just how good were they? The knight commander felt a chill down his spine.

Raw killing intent poured out from behind him. It really seemed like he might be killed.

‘At this rate, I might die…’

As the knight commander stood still, barely able to breathe, Cassel opened his mouth.

“Dean. Stand down.”

“…”

The man called Dean lowered his sword and returned to where he had been. Cassel glanced back and said,

“And I have something to discuss with the lady in private, so I’d appreciate it if you could step back for a moment as well.”

The knight commander flared up.

“How can I trust you and step back when I don’t know what you might do to the lady?”

“If you’re worried I might kidnap the lady and run away, can’t you just block the path?”

“That’s not enough!”

“You seem to be misunderstanding something, but this isn’t a request.”

Riena couldn’t see it, but Cassel’s eyes changed. The mournful look as he gazed up at her disappeared, replaced by the sharp gaze characteristic of a top predator.

The knight commander flinched.

As Cassel said, this wasn’t a request.

This was an order.