“Yes. Let’s do that.”
Chase, who had been staring blankly at Lizelle, snapped back to reality and responded.
Normally, he would have declined and told her to forget about it, but today he needed an excuse—any excuse—to see her face one more time, so he didn’t refuse.
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
Her sudden, direct question startled him. He hadn’t expected it, and it shook him out of his thoughts.
He had been so preoccupied with gazing at her that he’d momentarily forgotten the matter he’d been agonizing over.
How could he keep Lizelle by his side?
Chase’s mind churned once more. He racked his brain, trying to find a way to make her stay.
No obvious solution came to him.
“Your Grace?”
“…”
Why wasn’t he answering when he was the one who wanted to talk? Lizelle watched Chase with an annoyed expression.
He remained silent, lost in thought, looking as though he were deeply troubled.
Chase tapped his thigh anxiously with his fingers, becoming more desperate with each passing moment.
If he let her leave now, their connection might be severed forever.
This was his chance.
While she was still here, he had to find a reason to make her stay.
Then, like a flash of light, an idea struck him.
‘Marriages for debt… they’re not uncommon, are they?’
“Your Grace, what is it you want to say?”
Lizelle, running out of patience, finally asked again. In response to her irritated question, Chase spoke quickly.
“Let’s get married.”
“To whom? Raphel?”
Lizelle was shocked by the unexpected statement.
“What? Raphelion is still a child!”
Chase retorted, visibly exasperated.
Marriage to Raphelion? How could she even consider such a thing?
Did the idea of marrying him, Chase, not even cross her mind? Was she unable to even imagine such a thing?
“That’s what I should be saying! You said something so absurd… Wait. Don’t tell me… you mean you and me?”
Her green eyes were filled with disbelief as she stared at him.
Chase felt a twinge of pain in his head at her answer, so he sighed and pressed his temple.
This was expected.
“…That’s right.”
What on earth…
“Are you out of your mind? Have you been drinking?”
Lizelle asked with a shocked look on her face.
Had she misheard? It was the most absurd thing she ever heard.
“I have not.”
Chase said firmly to the fidgeting Lizelle.
He couldn’t think of any other way, so he said what came to mind, but had his impulsive proposal really been so ridiculous?
Her reaction left him feeling a bit deflated.
“I am perfectly sober.”
He emphasized.
Lizelle’s reaction, more negative than expected, wounded his pride.
‘Does she really dislike me that much…?’
Even though he’d anticipated some surprise at his proposal, her excessive rejection made his heart ache.
He tried to console himself, reasoning that his sudden proposal would naturally shock her, but he couldn’t entirely shake his feelings of disappointment.
“Why? No, actually, I don’t even need to know. The answer is no.”
She didn’t need time to consider; her tone was firm and decisive.
She was probably the only woman to receive such a tasteless proposal.
No, you couldn’t even call this a proposal.
“Haaa.”
Chase sighed heavily and unbuttoned his shirt collar that felt like it was choaking him out of frustration.
Considering her attitude so far, this was a somewhat expected result.
He looked at Lizelle with a sullen expression.
“Do you dislike me that much?”
“It’s not about liking or disliking you. Why would I marry you? We don’t love each other.”
Lizelle’s voice rose in frustration, her facial expressions changing rapidly.
She had never once imagined that Chase had feelings for her.
How could she, when he had always been so cold and distant?
He had even treated her like a scammer at one point.
To Lizelle, their relationship was far from romantic. Just recently, they had been at each other’s throats, barely tolerating one another.
“Is that so.”
Chase murmured, his voice heavy with disappointment.
What he needed was time.
Time to spend with her.
His desire to be with her had grown so intense that he impulsively suggested marriage when he remembered that she was in debt.
He hoped that by marrying her, even if it was a contractual arrangement, he could keep her close.
He thought that if given enough time, perhaps he could repair their strained relationship that started off on the wrong foot.
But now, seeing her reaction, he began to regret his impulsive decision.
Her negative reaction was more than he expected, but he proposed something rude.
‘I’m no different from Cedric, am I? Using money to buy her presence…’
Even so, he couldn’t take back what he said. After a moment’s hesitation, Chase decided to be honest about his intentions.
“Why would you suggest such a thing?”
Lizelle asked, never having imagined she would ever receive a marriage proposal from him and unable to understand his intentions.
“For me and Raphelion.”
“Why Your Grace, though?”
She vaguely understood if it was for Raphel, but why was Chase included in the reason?
Lizelle waited for an answer with a puzzled expression.
“I am…”
Chase hesitated.
He was uncertain whether now was the right time to confess and hesitated, wondering if he should say it so hastily.
He was even more unsure and confused because he had never liked someone or confessed anything like this in his life.
If only Rohan was there… Chase sighed inwardly.
“Please, just tell me.”
She waited for Chase.
As she watched him uncharacteristically hesitate and glance at her anxiously, she didn’t want to rush him.
What on earth was so difficult to say?
Her shoulders stiffened with tension as she thought it might be something serious.
“I… I like—”
“Achoo!”
The moment Chase made up his mind and was about to speak, Lizelle sneezed, cutting him off.
Maybe it was because she cried so much, but her body felt chilly, like she might be coming down with something.
She sniffled, quickly reaching for Chase’s jacket that she’d taken off before, draping it over her shoulders.
“Oh, I’m sorry about that. What were you saying?”
She trembled and wrapped her arms around herself.
She thought he just said something but couldn’t hear clearly because of the sneeze.
“It’s nothing.”
Although his first ever attempt at confessing had been ruined, Chase was almost relieved.
He was so caught up in the atmosphere that he almost overlooked something important and made a big mistake.
She didn’t have feelings for him yet…
He could tell just by her attitude that she never once thought of marrying him. It showed him how little she thought of him.
He almost forced his feelings onto her.
If he wasn’t careful, their relationship could completely fall apart before it even has a chance to start.
“…?”
Why did he stop talking?
Lizelle looked at him with puzzled eyes as he suddenly became silent.
He had seemed on the verge of saying something important, but now he was silent again.
Chase picked up a blanket from the sofa and stood.
“Here, take this.”
He then covered Lizelle’s legs with the blanket and returned to his seat.
“Oh, thank you.”
Lizelle replied, surprised by his kindness that was out of character.
Lizelle cared deeply for Raphel.
So much so that she treated him like her younger brother. She didn’t want to leave him.
But the idea of marrying someone she didn’t love, even for Raphel’s sake, was unthinkable.
She had her own life to live.
She didn’t know how she came to this world and became Wilhazelle, but she wanted to live her life well.
In her previous life she lived so fiercely. Here she wanted to make the most of being the daughter of a baron and live in comfort…
Given her current situation, at this point she was fortunate she hadn’t be sold off into the hands of a loan shark.
Once she received the reward, she had to repay her debt and think deeply about how she would live in the future.
“Anyway, marrying Your Grace… We’d have to spend our whole lives together. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Then how about this?”
“I’m telling you, the marriage itself is nonsense!”
“1 year. If you agree to a one-year contract marriage, I’ll pay you ten times the compensation I originally promised.”
Chase, frustrated at the sight of Lizelle shaking her head, blurted out in a rush.
Did she have to hate the idea so much, to the point of shuddering?
It was half out of stubbornness.
Why couldn’t she marry him? Why couldn’t he even be an option for her? His pride stirred.
Since the idea of a lifetime together made her recoil, he proposed a one-year period. And added ten times the compensation.
Whether it was the time or the money, as long as something appealed to her, that was all that mattered to him.
At the same time, he wondered—if he was given a year, would she really be able to keep ignoring him until the end?
Chase stole a sideways glance at Lizelle, who didn’t respond.
She was simply staring at him intently without saying a word.
Anxious, he bit his lip nervously.
He made the offer, but was on edge, fearing she might think even less of him.
Meanwhile Wilhazelle, momentarily dazed by the unexpected proposal, found herself muttering unintentionally.
“Should I call you ‘husband’?”
