EEA Chapter 15

When Ailea asked, Clint answered, "Among the Kanna Empire prisoners, there was a doctor, so I asked him once. Whether he could treat the spots on my hand." 

"...He said he didn't know, right?" 

"You know?" 

"Yes. I also asked a doctor in the imperial palace once, and he said he didn't know."

So she had asked Roylin to bring in an outside doctor, and he had said he would, but that was the end of it. He had either forgotten or didn't want to invest the time to search for and bring a capable doctor. 

Clint said,"Seeing that there are no symptoms at all, it seems to be a special kind of poison, but they had no idea about the cause. To treat it, they said we'd probably need to hire a dedicated doctor and spend a long time finding the cause." 

"Yes..." 

"It would cost a lot of money to treat it."

Clint was talking about treating Ailea, but Ailea thought he was talking about his hand. After a moment of silence, Ailea opened her mouth with an apologetic heart. Just then, Clint also opened his mouth, and their words overlapped.

"I'll somehow raise the treatment money for you." 

"If you marry me, I'll hire a doctor for you." 

"Pardon?"

Though their words overlapped, Ailea perfectly understood what he had just said. Clint asked first, "With what money?" 

"I received a wedding dress. If I sell it, it should bring quite a bit of money."

She was talking about the wedding dress she had received from Roylin. At those words, Clint was speechless and closed his mouth, so Ailea said playfully to lighten the mood, "But is this a drinking habit? Do you propose marriage when you're drunk?" 

"No, that's not it."

Clint looked at Ailea with eyes as clear as if he hadn't drunk a drop of alcohol. Then, in as calm a voice as possible so as not to startle Ailea, he said,

"It's His Majesty's command. If His Highness Roylin breaks the engagement because of another woman without providing accurate information about your illness, the nobles who follow General Ron will seriously rebel. Right now they're keeping quiet because there's no leader, but who knows what will happen if they get an excuse."

Emperor Murray had originally brought Ailea to the imperial palace to quell the rebellion of those nobles. Ailea had vaguely known this, but she hadn't known that her father had been such a powerful person. Thanks to his integrity, their house wasn't very wealthy, and since he was often away at the battlefield, he couldn't come home much.

Lost in thoughts of her father, Ailea snapped to attention at Clint's words.

"So he decided to bind you to me."

The moment she heard those words, her heart sank. Ailea had felt this way before. When black spots appeared on Clint's hand.

When her regression— when it had hurt him.

Ailea forced a smile and asked, "You're joking, right?" 

"It's true." 

"......" 

"We have to get married."

Ailea looked at Clint with vacant eyes.

The past two years had been reasonably happy. Nothing had particularly changed, but she had read books to her heart's content and raised a cat...

But she had only continued to hurt Clint. She had passed the spots to his hand, and now she was forcing him into marriage with her. Clint continued,

"We'll leave the castle tomorrow. Originally, the crown prince had prepared a separate mansion, but we came here secretly. Because it was comfortable here. But we don't know when the crown prince might send word asking for the engagement breaking ceremony."

"Did His Majesty really say that seriously?" 

"Yes." 

"Wh-what should we do?" 

"What do you mean what should we do? If the emperor says to do it, we have to do it."

Flustered, Ailea asked as if something had occurred to her, "C-could you teach me how to ride a horse? I'll go to Yuliana Castle. Please say I died in a fire!"

Why a fire again?

Clint frowned. When she was connected with fire, he somehow felt sensitive.

"This outer castle was surrounded by walls, wasn't it? You couldn't get outside them anyway. If you disappear in any way, Roylin will think it strange. A fire? There would have to be a fire for you to die in one."

"If I burn even part of it... Then you wouldn't have to marry me..."

As Ailea kept backing away, Clint grabbed her arm, thinking this wouldn't work.

Ailea's body trembled. How much she must hate this. How much she must despise me. Roylin had also terribly hated me for preventing him from getting the woman he loved.

When Ailea tried to pull her arm away as if asking to be released, he instead pulled her close and said, "I called you to talk, so why do you keep trying to run away?" 

"What conversation could we have..." 

"As long as you don't interfere with my living freely, I don't care who I marry. So the woman who marries me won't be very happy. I'm not a faithful husband material at all. Moreover, if you marry me, you'll have to go live in Escalize Castle at the southern end of this country. Guarding the border means always being exposed to the danger of war." 

"......" 

"But if there's an advantage, it's that you'll be safer than you are now, at least."

At his words, Ailea's mysterious sky-blue eyes widened. She looked directly into Clint's eyes. He was a beautiful man she couldn't even dare to desire. She couldn't let a man who didn't love her be tied down. Tears welled up in Ailea's eyes. She shook her head.

"I can't do that. Something's wrong. It's wrong that I exist here..."

I should have died. But I lived.

When a tear fell from Ailea's eye, Clint grabbed her arm and led her. Being dragged by him, Ailea said,"Cl-Commander Clint?" 

"Call me by my name."

He said irritably and took her to the study. Then he opened the storage compartment with the key he had and took out a book he had kept inside.

Inside it was Ailea's letter.

Ailea stared at the letter with wide eyes, forgetting even that she had been crying. 

"You... still have that?" 

"You wrote in this letter like you were about to die any moment, talking like we'd never see each other again, so I got angry and almost came back once. To check if you were in the imperial palace."

At those words, Ailea's eyes widened.

This was the first time she learned that he had worried about her from the battlefield. Clint continued, "But while reading this letter and trying to leave for the imperial palace to find you, I spotted the enemy preparing an ambush." 

"...What?" 

"If we had been ambushed then, it would have caused serious problems." 

"......" 

"What I'm saying is, part of the achievements I made were thanks to you. So if I become the lord of Escalize Castle..." 

"......" 

"If that happens, then part of that castle, the space where you'll live from now on, was definitely earned by your own strength."

His words became tremendously meaningful to Ailea.

It proved that her regression, the past two years, hadn't only had a negative impact on Clint.

That fact.

Ailea was so happy that she—

"Thank goodness..."

She said that and burst into tears completely. She was so relieved that her tears wouldn't stop.

Clint absolutely, absolutely couldn't leave this woman alone because he was so anxious. How could she be so irritating in every single way? Was it because she was Ron's daughter?

He wanted to place this woman somewhere safe, somewhere he could protect her.

Ailea asked while crying with heaving shoulders, "Don't you... hate marrying me?" 

"I told you what I heard. I said it doesn't matter who it is. I don't need a wife. I need someone who will play the role of a wife. Escalize Castle is also a mess from the war. There needs to be a mistress." 

"......" 

"How about it? Do you still dislike me?"

He asked mischievously.

Before the emperor's command came down, Clint had first proposed marriage to Ailea. He was persuading her that it was what he wanted, not the emperor. Ailea nodded.

"Then... I like it too."

As if the sorrows of the past seven years were rushing over her, Ailea cried. With heaving shoulders, continuously.

"I really like it. I'll let you be as free as you want. So please marry me." 

"Hey, wait. Cancel what you just said." 

"What... should I cancel?"

Not knowing what he wanted her to cancel, Ailea was about to ask when noisy chatter was heard from outside.

"Ah, why! Why am I not popular!" 

When Tarren shouted, Kaiton answered, "It's your face, brother." 

"You little...!" 

"Aaaah!"

As Tarren grabbed Kaiton's neck and Kaiton dramatically complained, the Tiliph knight order, who hadn't succeeded in romance with even one person at the party, was returning. As expected of companions who had shared hardships together for life, they all thought the same thing. No matter how good a mansion was prepared for them, they were returning here, to their own home.

Ailea quickly wiped away her tears with her hands. Thinking it would seem strange if they saw the two of them together in the study, Ailea left the study first.

Ailea walked toward the knight order that was just entering the outer castle. Seeing the tremendous smell of alcohol spreading, it seemed they had all been neatly rejected and just drank heavily.

"Did you enjoy the party?" 

When she asked, Kaiton, who was young and handsome enough to have been rejected by just a hair's breadth, said, "Not really fun. When the commander was there, we weren't noticed because the commander was there, but even after the commander left, everyone's standards had gotten high so they were indifferent." 

"Ah."

Ailea nodded.

The knight order stared blankly at Ailea, who seemed unusually happy today. Her red eyes from crying stimulated both protective instincts and just plain instincts. Shante asked, "Should I tell you what we ate at the party?" 

"Ah, what does it matter what we ate? The architectural style inside the imperial palace is what's important."

When Kaiton spoke, Shante replied in bewilderment, "It's because you talk about things like architectural styles that women don't like you." 

"Neither of us was particularly popular, you know?" 

"They said I was cute." 

"Is it good to be called cute by women?"

As the two were arguing, Clint came out swaying drunkenly and grabbed Ailea's arm, pulling her. 

"I'll tell you about the party." 

"What?"

Ailea looked puzzled. Clint stopped and said to Kaiton, "Why are you talking about architectural styles? I find that boring too, man." 

"What? But Commander, you always wonder how much it costs whenever you see a castle!"

Clint pretended not to hear Kaiton's indignant words and dragged Ailea to her room. When Ailea hesitated with wide eyes, Clint said, "Are you going to keep pretending to be a maid when you have to marry me?" 

"I guess it's become a habit."

When she smiled, Clint muttered irritably, "I mean, setting aside the maid thing, what do those guys think they are—someone's mother? Why are they coming over here babbling away like that?"

He entered Ailea's bedroom with her and closed the door. In the cushioned basket, Blue was sleeping, and there were various cute accessories around.

Left alone again, silence flowed for a moment and Ailea asked, "But earlier... what did you want me to cancel?" 

"That you asked me to marry you." 

"What? Aren't we getting married?"

Ailea asked in surprise. Then Clint approached her and untied the blue ribbon that was binding her blonde hair. When Ailea hesitated, he straightened his shirt collar and made a bow tie with the ribbon. After arranging the collar, he knelt on one knee and said, "Proposals should be made by the man." 

"Where is that written?"

Ailea laughed with her eyes that had been crying for a while. He was a man who had never learned manners and hated neckties, but for this moment alone, he was being formal.

Clint extended his hand. 

"Ailea Elga Yuliana." 

"Yes." 

"Marry me."

At his mischievous proposal, Ailea burst into tears again and bit her lip tightly. She wanted to get married. For seven years, no—adding the two years since her regression, for a full nine years. The only goal in her life had been marriage.

She wanted to be bound to someone through the contract of marriage.

Even if he didn't love her, she thought it would be fortunate to be bound to such a dazzlingly attractive man.

"I will."

When Ailea barely managed to speak while swallowing her tears, Clint showed a somewhat lewd smile from being drunk and stood up.

Clint untied the blue ribbon from his neck. Then he grabbed Ailea's wrist, pulled it toward him, and tied the ribbon around it. Looking at the skillfully tied ribbon, Ailea exclaimed,"Wow... It's beautiful."

How can she be so happy? As if thinking she was pleased with something so trivial, Clint looked at her and said, "I'll replace it with jewels soon."

Then Ailea smiled and nodded. And she looked at the blue ribbon with such a happy face. It was the ribbon she always used to tie her hair, but could it be this lovely?

The blue color seemed to hold good meaning.

Roylin, whom she had waited for so long, had no interest in her for even a moment and only hurt her before leaving. And she was going to have a marriage in name only with a man she could never have feelings for no matter how much time passed.

But that fact—that she could finally tell her brother and siblings that she was getting married—made her so happy she couldn't contain it. Kyril, the fourteen-year-old lord who remained after Ailea left, had desperately rebuilt Yuliana Castle. Unable to worry such a brother, she wrote letters every year about how happily she was living.

So Ailea was happy in this moment. She was the same as Clint. Her goal wasn't love but marriage itself. Because now she could tell the family members who worried about her the lie that she was married and living happily.

She didn't hope for a fairy-tale ending where everyone lived happily ever after. She had long ago given up the dream of wanting to love.

'I'm married and living happily.'

If she could write such letters to her dear brother and siblings, Ailea wanted nothing more.

After Clint dragged Ailea upstairs, the knights headed to the bedroom. Kaiton said.

"The captain didn't seem to be enjoying the party much, so what could he be explaining to her?"

"Something like a dress? There were a lot of crimson ones. I'm thinking of buying my wife a crimson dress too."

Louison, the devoted husband, said. Shante rubbed his rarely full belly and muttered.

"But what are those two talking about for so long?"

"Right. For the captain to have such a long conversation..."

When Kaiton stopped speaking, Tarren stopped in his tracks.

"S-surely not... to Ailea, such a thing!"

"It can't be!"

Night. Playboy.

Kaiton hurriedly headed toward Ailea's room. When he put his ear to the door, it seemed like he could hear Ailea crying.

"Ah, it sounds like Ailea is crying..."

"Don't tell me he laid hands on Ailea too!"

"Such a vicious thing to do!"

Worry welling up, Shante knocked on the door.

"Ailea! Are you okay? I can hear crying!"

As he frantically knocked on the door, Clint opened it. Kaiton asked warily.

"S-surely you didn't seduce Ailea?"

"If someone about to receive a title seduces her, how can a maid refuse!"

For once his subordinates were rebelling, so Clint said calmly.

"Ailea Elgar Yuliana."

"Pardon?"

"She is Captain Ron's daughter and the one engaged to His Highness the Crown Prince. Don't call her name carelessly."

At his words, Louison, whose mind worked quickly, asked.

"Don't tell me... she's been staying at the outpost all this time? Since two years ago?"

Only four people had dared to come up here - those who had spent their knight days together with Captain Ron. The four of them were also scheduled to receive titles soon.

Since Clint trusted them completely, he stopped Ailea who was approaching with concern and said to the knights.

"His Highness the Crown Prince has gotten another woman. So His Majesty intends to bind Lady Ailea to me."

"You're saying that after breaking the engagement with His Highness the Crown Prince... Lady Ailea will marry you, Captain?"

When Louison asked, Clint nodded. Then hot-blooded Kaiton said.

"What wrong has Ailea... no, Lady Ailea done to be with the captain!"

"Hey, man."

"How could she spend two years here alone!"

Kaiton trembled with indignation, unable to contain his anger. These five members of the Tiliph Knights had tremendous resentment toward the imperial power. Still, they believed it was their duty as knights to serve the Emperor.

Clint said.

"This is all a secret. We shouldn't be here. Since the annulment ceremony hasn't been held, Ailea is still His Highness the Crown Prince's woman."

"Yes, understood."

Tarren answered on behalf of everyone, befitting a vice-captain. Then Clint smiled.

"Now, let's go out."

"Yes, Captain."

The knights rushed down to the first floor as if it were natural. Ailea asked Clint as he was leaving the room.

"Where is everyone going?"

"They need to arm themselves and train."

"N-now?"

"Isn't that obvious? They defied me and called your name carelessly, so there should be punishment."

"But that's because I kept it secret!"

"Whether they knew or not, calling the name of the woman who will be my wife carelessly is a great discourtesy."

While Ailea hesitated, Clint left the room.

Blue, who had woken up from the commotion, rubbed his head against her ankle, asking to be held. Ailea picked up Blue and said.

"I think I'm really getting married."

She found it hard to accept the fact that such a wonderful man whom anyone would covet would become her husband. However, Clint had already accepted this marriage long ago.

'The woman who will be my wife.'

Ailea's face turned bright red as she muttered once more.

"That man really seems to be thinking of marrying me..."

In this country, Teniac, the scale of a castle was that noble's prestige. All the nobles of Teniac learned about those castles from a very young age. As they grew up, they learned through social circles about which castles were more important and powerful in the current political situation.

Ailea's expression gradually darkened.

Right now, Clint is just the captain of a small knight order without even a title, but if he becomes the lord of Excalize and gradually gains power, he will have strong influence that even the Emperor would find difficult to deal with.

Her shoulders trembled slightly.

She shouldn't bother him. Whatever woman he meets, she shouldn't say anything.

She made up her mind.