I am living unmarried with my terminally ill lover.
Episode 6
Ines left.
Back at the main house, Dihas was rampaging through the streets.
As soon as he and the Marquise spotted Calad, they rushed up to him and began to grill him.
They demanded to know why Ines had suddenly proposed to him, whether they knew each other, and so on.
Dihas, who doesn’t get along with Khalid, especially, bites the bubble and goes on a rampage.
After a long day of harassment from his family, Khalid returns to the annex, exhausted.
And when he opened his bedroom door.
[Ah, I had fun today].
Magum began to chatter as if he had been waiting for him.
[Dihas, his tantrums are hilarious.]
[We’ll have to wait and see.]
A jovial chuckle echoed through the room.
Kalad glanced back.
Only Kalad could hear Magum’s voice.
Even so, it had become a habit to look around to see if anyone was around.
When he was sure no one was around, Najik spoke.
“Shut up.”
Magum replied in a pouty voice.
[Pouty].
Kalad ignored him and took off his coat.
It rumbled as he set it down on the desk.
Others saw it as a symbol of evil, but not Kalad, at least not in his eyes.
It was just a crazy sword that liked to talk.
From the moment he first held it, Kalad had been tormented in a different sense.
[She seemed a little off her rocker, too].
[She’s suddenly asking me to be her fake lover].
[It’s ridiculous that she likes misery].
Magum rambled on and on.
Kalad pressed his brows together.
Part of him wanted to lock her in a warehouse, but he couldn’t.
He couldn’t, because if he didn’t keep it close, he’d get a headache.
Kalad sat down at his desk.
He pulled a notebook from a drawer and opened it.
It was a long list of things he wanted to do in the future.
He crossed things off as he accomplished them, but few were crossed out.
Callard glanced at the one he’d finally accomplished.
<Eat the specialty stew at 14th Street.
If it hadn’t been for Ines’ words, he would have failed again by the narrowest of margins.
After a moment of silence, Magum spoke up.
[Master, will you accept my offer?]
Kalad paused.
The magic sword glinted in his hand.
[You get a lover, you stop misery, kya.]
“I will refuse.”
[Why!!!]
The Countess Youngae, was so rich and exceptionally beautiful that the Marquis and Marquise of Asdeon would swoon.
The Marquis’s eldest son, who is rumored to be unhappy, is the owner of a magic sword and has a limited life.
No matter how you look at it, it’s a lose-lose situation for her.
Ines said the conditions were right, but her reasons were absurd.
-I don’t think you’d like me.
There had to be more to it than that.
“Maybe he’s a fraud.”
How could a mere mortal prevent misfortune?
A few times Ines’ words had come true, but it was probably just a coincidence.
Kalad sagged back in his chair and squeezed the corners of his eyes.
-Don’t you want to live a normal life like everyone else?
I’ve already given up on that.
I was never meant to live a normal life.
I don’t have much time left, and I don’t want to get my hopes up for nothing.
After a long moment of silence, Khalad muttered wearily.
“I don’t trust anyone anymore.”
After a moment of silence, Magum whispered.
[But that woman…….]
[What does she seem to be capable of?]
***]
“It’s going well.”
Ines smiled with satisfaction as she finished reading the paper.
With her ability to see misfortune temporarily restored, she made a few new investments.
Soon enough, each of her investments was on a steep upward trajectory.
The naysayers who had called me a dinosaur were silenced.
It was all thanks to Khalid Asdeon.
It had been several days since I had visited the Marquis of Asdeon.
Ines had proposed a fake romance to Kalad and was waiting for his answer.
In truth, she hadn’t intended to do so when she went to the manor.
Until she saw him unhappy that he was engaged to her in the future.
“Perfect for a fake lover.
The right status and location.
If you’re too high, you’ll have trouble breaking up, and if you’re too low, you’ll be looked down upon.
So Kalad, the eldest son of a powerless marquis, was perfect.
His seeming disinterest in me also played a part.
Most of all, I needed an excuse to see him often.
Since I needed regular contact with him to regain my powers, there was no more appropriate relationship than that of a lover.
On the downside, he has a terrible social reputation and is a master of magic swords. …….
“So what.”
As long as she could make money, it didn’t matter.
Ines rested her chin on the back of her clenched hands.
“Since you haven’t come to see me yet, I’m guessing you’re planning on refusing…….
Then he would have to give her a reason to accept his offer.
Ines thought of the other misfortunes she had seen when she had contact with Dihas.
[House Eldin sued me?]
[Damn……. I’ve been duped!]
In the not-too-distant future, Dihas was going to get into a big accident.
So Ines decided to delay what was going to happen a little longer.
“It’s about time I heard from you.
Ines smiled meaningfully.
There was a knock on the door, and Shamor’s voice came through.
“Mr. Innes, let me in.”
Shamor entered the office, three boxes stacked on top of each other and cradled in his arms.
“This is the correspondence that came today.”
“More than usual.”
“I think it’s because of the rumors that have spread through the capital.”
“Rumors?”
Ines lifted her head and looked at Shamore.
“The rumor is that Ines-sama and the Master of Magical Swords are engaged.”
“Alas. It’s time to fly.”
He had visited the Marquess of Asdeon that day in great haste.
No amount of rest would have stopped his servants from gossiping.
“I received hundreds of letters asking if the rumors were true. I filtered them all out.”
It was a good thing.
Now, if only it were true.
Shamor held out a letter he’d set aside.
“And a letter from the Earl.”
“From my grandfather?”
Ines opened the envelope immediately.
The corners of her mouth turned up as she read the contents.
“It’s all about how I’m doing.”
The last line was the punchline.
“Your health is much improved. Hopefully, you’ll be back within the year.”
“I’m so glad to hear that.”
Ines’s grandfather, Count Elrdin, had been in poor health and was recuperating in the countryside.
For that reason, Ines was acting as his representative.
Putting the letter down, Ines turned to Shamor.
“Didn’t you get a letter from Halo?”
“Didn’t you receive it …… two days ago?”
“It’s been two days.”
“It still hasn’t come.”
At Shamor’s answer, Ines briefly thought of Halo at the Academy.
She was proud of her younger brother, despite the considerable age difference.
He was sweet, cute, and studious.
He’d been fond of me since he was a little boy and would follow me around.
We relied on each other a lot, especially after their mother died.
“I’ve never met anyone as nice as her.”
Ines began to brag about her sister.
“Once I saw her walking around the garden with her heels up, and I asked her why, and she said she was afraid of stepping on ants or something.”
“…….”
“I thought she was an angel, and I still do.”
“…… Yeah, she is.”
Shamor usually eagerly agreed with anything Ines said, but this time he shuddered.
“Halo’s going to be surprised when she finds out, by the way.”
Shamor muttered, listening to Ines out of one ear.
“Will she be surprised…….”
“I’ll explain next time we meet.”
Shamor quickly changed the subject.
“Like you said, I’ve been researching the cosmetics market.”
At the mention of work, Ines turned serious.
They were deep into the debriefing.
Outside, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
A hired hand entered the office.
“Miss. We have a call from the Academy.”
Ines’s eyes narrowed.
The hireling hesitated, then spoke.
“Master Halo has been involved in an altercation on campus…….”
“Someone beat up Halo?”
Ines asked, frowning.
He was certain that Halo had been hit.
After a moment of silence, the hired man answered quietly.
“No. The Master says he beat him up…….”
Ines paused.
He was about to ask for more details when he heard loud footsteps in the hallway.
Someone was running at breakneck speed.
The footsteps got closer and closer until…….
BANG!
With a shattering crash, the door flew open.
“Sister!”
A boy with bright silver hair ran into the office.
In a flash, he was in front of Ines, slamming his hand down on the desk and shouting.
“Are you getting married?!”
The sobbing, shouting boy was Halo, Ines’s younger brother.
