I am living unmarried with my terminally ill lover.
Episode 3:
The Last Days of the Dawn.
From head to toe, he was covered in black misery.
It would take a whole day to see it all.
One thing was certain, though.
Contact with Kalad would restore his powers.
Now that I’d confirmed it, I couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.
“Let’s approach him slowly.
Ines pretended to check the sword Kalad had dropped.
He looked at the broken blade.
“I have a backlog of orders, so it’ll be a couple of days, but…….”
Ines opened her mouth as if suddenly remembering.
“That’s him, isn’t it?”
“No.”
Ines narrowed her eyes at the knife-like answer.
Khalad didn’t recognize her.
It was as if he had mistaken me for someone else, and his answer was a swift no.
“Did you forget my face?
I asked, feeling somewhat humiliated.
“You’re the guy I took hostage with during the bank robbery.”
Khalid was silent for a moment as if he remembered.
Ines didn’t know what to say first, so she thanked him for the last time.
“Thank you for your help back then.”
Kalad’s eyes flickered briefly.
When he didn’t answer for a moment, Ines blinked.
“Did I say something wrong, and I haven’t even said thank you yet?
Finally, Ines held out a business card with the family seal.
“Come to think of it, I panicked and didn’t give you my business card.”
The beeswax seal, mixed with gold, glittered.
Ines flashed him an even more dazzling smile.
“I’m Innes Eldin.”
Most people were puzzled or surprised to hear the name Eldin.
But Khalad shoved the business card into his arms without even looking at it.
As if he wasn’t interested at all.
Ines’s smile cracked slightly.
But Kalad only spoke nonchalantly.
“I’ll be back in two days, then.”
As he turned to leave the armory, Ines called out.
“Lord Kalad!”
He stopped at the sound of his name.
“I wanted to wait a little longer to get this out.
With no choice, Ines pulled out her last resort.
“I can stop the misfortune that is about to befall you.”
Kalad slowly turned his head to look at Ines.
“What is your purpose?”
A sharp look of wariness crossed his hardened face.
“Do you want money or something?”
How many times had he been tricked like this already?
But when you’re that unhappy, you’ll try anything to grasp at straws.
Ines folded her eyes in half and whispered.
“You make me sound like a bad person when you say that, and I’m flush with money.”
Ines said confidently.
But Khalad didn’t let his guard down.
“Before I explain…….”
Ines shouted, reaching out with her arm and yanking Kalad hard.
“Get down.”
The sudden recoil jerked Khalad’s body.
There was a snap, followed by a piercing sound.
Kalad stiffened, then slowly turned around.
A rock had flown through the air, shattering the glass.
It had shattered exactly where he had been standing.
Kalad turned his head back to look at Ines.
Not missing an opportunity, Ines spoke.
“I will tell you what misfortune awaits you if you will accept my offer.”
Now that he’d shown a glimpse of his power, he might be inclined to accept.
But Khalad rejected the offer with a curt nod.
“No thanks.”
He turned and walked away.
It was a clear rejection.
Ines immediately grabbed his forearm.
While he froze, she spoke quickly.
“If you want the special stew, you’d better be there ten minutes earlier than usual.”
For a moment, Khalad’s eyes widened.
Ines let go of his arm.
She smiled as if nothing had happened.
“If you change your mind, come back here. I’ll be waiting.”
Ines opened the door for him. Kalad stared at her for a moment, then turned away.
Left alone in the shop, Ines shrugged her shoulders.
It was hard to eradicate deep-seated distrust after only one meeting.
But she was confident.
“When he realizes I was right, he’ll come to me.
If there was a way to stop the misery that had plagued him all his life, who wouldn’t want to hang on to it?
Now it was just a matter of waiting.
Calad was in my hands anyway.
“Ms. Innes.”
As I exited the armory, Shamore, the secretary, approached.
“Are you finished?”
“Yes, sir. Let’s go home.”
Leaving the armory, Innes and Shamore climbed into the carriage.
As the carriage pulled away, Ines leaned her head against the window.
Her thoughts naturally turned to Kalad.
Remembering the misery she had seen through him, she smirked.
“He’s rumored to be a bloodthirsty murderer, and he’s lucky he didn’t get a bowl of stew.
He was more wary than the others, but he seemed unharmed by the rumors.
“But, Ines-sama.”
Ines looked up from her thoughts.
“Is he so important?”
Shamore knew that Ines had been on Callad’s case lately.
He’d been looking into Kalad’s information, too.
It was odd that he’d bought a shop just for one meeting.
“It’s important.”
“It’s important,” Ines said with a smile that made his stomach turn at the thought.
“It’s my gold.”
Shamore shook his head.
Ines waved her hand gently at him.
“Your powers are back.”
“……!”
Shamore’s eyes widened.
She nodded firmly.
“I will see to it that Kalad Asdeon is well taken care of.”
Ines laughed at the crackling reply.
Shamore was the only person besides her maternal grandfather and younger brother who knew of her abilities.
Ines trusted him, just as Shamor trusted Ines.
“One would think you were a mercenary.
Shamore had once been a notorious mercenary.
It was Innes who had taken him back from his life as a mercenary, cast out of his family.
Now he was living a second life as a capable secretary to House Eldin.
“Did you bring any correspondence?”
“Here it is.”
Taking the letter from Shamor, Ines tore open the envelope.
But after reading only a few lines, she tossed it aside.
“I’m bored.”
The offers kept coming, and she kept turning them down.
He was full of himself, and he was one of the richest men in the empire.
But it was all for nothing.
Ines had no intention of marrying.
“When you have to make money, where do you have time for a relationship?
If you have a lot of money, it’s best to live alone.
It’s best to live alone if you have a lot of money.
Like what happened to Ines’s mother’s husband, the Marquis of Harbert.
‘I can’t be bothered to say no to all of them…….’
It was hard to say no to all the marriage proposals.
It was especially difficult when business associates sneakily introduced their family members or relatives.
Since I had no intention of getting married, I thought about getting a fake fiancé.
“But I can’t just show up with anyone.
Someone with a big mouth and no interest in me.
I had to have a reputation and ability.
I had to have prestige and ability, so others wouldn’t bother me.
Ines shook her head.
She leaned back a little further in her chair and turned to Shamore.
“Give me that report on the cosmetics industry that I asked you to look into.”
“Yes, Ines.”
Now that I had a way to regain my powers, I decided to focus on my work.
After hearing Shamor’s report, Ines returned home.
Three days later.
BANG!
Ines slammed her fist down on her desk.
“Why aren’t you here……!”
As expected, Khalad should have already come to see me at the armory.
Then I could have used the excuse of putting him out of his misery to continue our meeting…….
I didn’t expect him to come at all.
“You should have pushed him a little harder.”
Ines bit her lip hard.
She’d taken Callad too easy on him.
“His powers will be gone by tomorrow, so you’ll have to…….
The first time we made contact, it only lasted a day.
I don’t know why, but this time it lasted longer.
Judging by his on-again, off-again unhappiness, it seemed like he would lose his powers completely tomorrow.
I needed to see Khalad as soon as possible.
It seemed the only way to do that was to go home.
I was trying to think of a good excuse to go to Kalad’s house.
“Mr. Ines. Your letter came in today.”
Shamore entered the office.
In her arms was a large box.
It was as big as mine, even if she had filtered through it once.
Ines plunged her hand into the box, which was packed tightly with letters, and pulled out a random one.
She frowned when she saw the red envelope.
Red was the color used for proposals and marriage proposals.
“Have you sorted them yet?”
“I just thought it might be helpful.”
How could a marriage proposal be helpful?
But Shamor wasn’t being silly.
Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, Ines turned the envelope over to see the family seal.
Her eyes widened at the familiar seal.
“Asdeon……?”
Ines tore the envelope open in a panic.
It was a letter from the Marquis of Asdeon, proposing a marriage.
This was Dihas Asdeon, the second son of the Marquis of Asdeon.
He was Khalad’s brother.
Ines read the letter carefully, not missing a word.
His head buried in the letter, he slowly lifted it.
“Shamore.”
Shamore, who stood in front of him, gasped in surprise.
“……, Innes?”
Ines smiled as brightly as she could.
“Let’s go face to face.”
