He stood up abruptly, silent. Watching his broad shoulders blot out the window, I felt a fresh realization of just how massive he was.
“Ben.”
Moments later, he murmured a command to his adjutant, Ben, who had slipped into the room. Ben returned shortly after, carrying a bulky box from the next chamber.
Askin slammed the box onto the table and pried the lid open.
It was filled with gold coins. Without pausing, Askin tossed an additional pouch onto the table.
Clink. The sound was heavy, definitive. A golden glint caught my eye through the fabric of the pouch.
“As you can see, this is all I have for now. The remainder will be delivered on the designated date without fail.”
“…….”
I could practically hear him gritting his teeth at the words “without fail.”
I looked up at him, my mind cataloging everything I knew from the book. He was a man currently drowning in the setbacks of his territory and the slow decay of his sister’s health, yet he remained stubbornly upright—the type who would snap before he would bend.
Given his noble pride, this level of humiliation must have been a bitter pill to swallow.
“If you had just agreed not to break off the engagement, you wouldn’t have to resort to paying back money like this. Why do you insist on it?”
“Do you ask because you truly don’t know?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard it directly from your own lips.”
“…….”
Askin narrowed his eyes.
“I dislike you. I loathe you. You treat people like tools to be discarded at your whim, and to me—no, what you do to me is everything I despise.”
Askin heaved a shallow sigh.
“I hate you more than anyone else in the world for the humiliation you inflicted upon Aria. Even if the world were to end and only you and I remained, I would never spend the rest of my life with you.”
I reached out, toying with the gold coins before lifting my gaze.
“But it isn’t entirely my fault, is it?”
Askin’s expression soured, clearly reading my words as a deliberate attempt to be difficult.
I offered a bitter smile, leaning into that difficulty once more. After all, the resentment still lingered.
“If you had only understood my heart, things wouldn’t have come to this.”
“If you’ve said your piece, get out.”
I hadn’t used the words the original Charlize would have chosen just to back down.
“No. I’m going to make you a new proposal.”
A flicker of *‘I knew it’* crossed Askin’s face.
“Don’t you want to be free?”
“That is not for you to say.”
“True. But couldn’t the one who tied the knot also be the one to untie it?”
“……What are you trying to say?”
I moistened my lips.
“One year. Maintain this engagement for one year. If you still hate it after that, I will set you free.”
“A ridiculous deception. What kind of scheme are you planning?”
“You can even use a magical oath. I’ll stake my life on it.”
“Huh?”
Askin frowned, his face deepening in distrust.
“Your words are full of contradictions. Even if you let me go, the debt remains.”
“What if… I were to pay off that debt for you?”
“Then you would simply become the new creditor. How tiresome.”
Good grief, he was an impenetrable shield.
I let out a small sigh.
Charlize, what kind of life did you lead that people can’t even find a flicker of trust for you? If this were a credit-based society, you’d be a total delinquent. Do you hear me?
“Shall I stake my life right here? If you have a magic-bound contract, bring it.”
I crossed my legs and looked up at Askin.
“No, just meet me one last time. I’ll bring the contract. Once is enough.”
“Why should I?”
“If you meet me just once—even if you assume you’re being deceived—all your worries will be solved, won’t they? Even if I were tricking you, you could still force the annulment later. Nothing would change for you.”
“…….”
I stood up.
“You need time to think, too. Just consider it. As you said, isn’t it strange that I’m suddenly acting like a madwoman obsessed only with meeting you? And this is the first time I’ve only asked to meet without pulling any other schemes, isn’t it?”
Whenever Charlize found something she liked, she would wrap it up and gift it to Askin.
There was no regard for Askin’s will in that; if he ever threw those items away, she would lash out at him or those around him. And that wasn’t all. What about the abuse she heaped upon the knights of the Remut Family?
“……Just take the money and get out.”
In any case, the meeting I had finally managed to orchestrate wasn’t entirely without a harvest.
Because that man’s expression had wavered for the first time.
*Yes, please, I beg you, let’s just make a contract to maintain this for one year. If you just put your seal on that, I won’t ever show my face near you again!*
I cheered inwardly and grabbed the box of gold coins. Well, I tried to.
*‘What is this? Why is it like this?’*
The box didn’t budge an inch.
I was struggling with a flustered expression when I felt a gaze on me. I looked up to find Askin staring as if he’d seen something truly pathetic.
It was a look of pure bewilderment.
“……You should just call a servant. What are you doing?”
“Ah.”
Right. I hadn’t realized it would be this heavy.
“I was measuring the weight of the gold,” I replied, nodding with a shameless expression to match his mockery.
His expression soured even further.
“By the way, were you worried about me? I’m touched. Let’s keep being engaged.”
“……Stop talking nonsense and go back.”
“Even the way you reject me is charming.”
Feeling bold, I tried a line that was destined to fail.
As I smiled brightly, a flicker of pure disgust crossed Askin’s face—the look one gives to a certifiable lunatic.
“Alright, I got it. See you again. Pretty.”
“Pretty… what?”
“Ah, it’s just that you seem prettier than I am.”
Just in time, a servant arrived. “Well, goodbye,” I said, rising lightly and heading out.
On the way, I made eye contact with Ben, who was still standing nearby, but for some reason, he hurriedly turned his head away.
What was that? He looked like he was holding back laughter. Whatever. I don’t know, and who cares?
With the servant carrying the gold box and pouch in tow, I reached the carriage.
Just as I was about to board, I heard the *tap-tap-tap* of small footsteps.
“M-Milady!”
“Milady! Milady!”
To my surprise, it was the children from the territory I had seen in the crowd earlier.
Why were they still here? And why were they hovering around my carriage?
I signaled to my escort knights to stand down. The children, previously blocked, approached me with hesitation.
I looked around. The local residents were still standing some distance away. I scanned the area, hoping to avoid Aria, and thankfully, she was nowhere to be seen.
“Umm, Milady…….”
Since the children wouldn’t come any closer, I walked toward them.
A boy and two girls. The three of them looked at each other, then hesitantly held out their hands.
“W-we were waiting for you!”
“T-that’s right!”
“Why me?”
Their small hands were cupped, filled with tiny, red berries.
“These are wild strawberries we picked ourselves!”
“That’s right, we wanted to give them to you!”
“I picked dem, too!”
The boy looked the oldest and tallest, followed by one of the girls. The last one, the smallest, looked like she had just turned seven. Perhaps it was because she was missing a tooth, but she lisped. They looked identical, likely sisters.
I stared at the wild strawberries and picked one up.
True to their word, the fruit looked fresh and vibrant. Without hesitation, I popped it into my mouth.
I felt the knights nearby stiffen in alarm, but I didn’t care; I simply offered the children a faint smile.
“Not bad.”
It was sweet.
“I cannot just accept things like this for free.”
I reached back and took a handful of gold coins from the pouch the servant held. I pressed one into each of the children’s palms. As for the wild strawberries, those went to the escort knights standing nearby.
“In this life, nothing is free. That is the price. Go buy some candy.”
“Uh, u-uh.”
“I—I didn’t mean to take them!”
As the children stood there, bewildered, I narrowed my eyes.
“Oh, my goodness. Such little ones, already so greedy for money.”
“Y-yes?!”
“There, that is all. No more.”
I placed one more gold coin into each of their small hands and gave them a gentle nudge. Two coins were simply too much for the smallest child to hold; as I watched them struggle to close their tiny fist, my gaze drifted to their tangled hair.
“Your hair is a mess.”
“H-hik! I—I ran all the way here, that’s why!”
The youngest child stammered, their words slurring over a missing tooth. I pulled a small pin from my hair and pressed it into their palm.
“Fix it with this.”
“Gasp, it’s so shiny.”
I offered a wide, indulgent smile and nudged the smallest toward the one who appeared to be their older sister. They retreated, emitting small, confused sounds as I hurried them along.
Once the children had vanished, I popped another wild strawberry from the knight’s hand into my mouth. The tart flavor was delightful.
“Would you like one, Sir?”
“……N-no, thank you!”
I had only offered it because it was tasty. Since he turned as pale as if I were offering him poison, I decided to let it go.
I was just about to climb into my carriage when another pulled in from the opposite side. It screeched to a halt near mine; the door opened, and a figure stepped out.
‘Who is it?’
The carriage bore a crest, but I did not recognize it.
It meant that either Charlize had no memory of it, or it belonged to a family she had never bothered to notice.
Which could it be?