45. The Woman Who Visited The Dukedom At Night.
Something to talk about.
“I see.”
Jillian nodded.
They indeed had things to talk about.
With just one kiss, his mind felt as if it had been dipped in honey, but he suddenly lost all reason.
As Julie prepared the tea and put down the tea snacks, her eyes were fixed on Bianca and did not leave her.
Jillian, who was leaning against the backrest with his long legs crossed, looked very relaxed, but there was no room in his eyes for someone else as they stayed fixed on Bianca the whole time.
The gaze was so stinging that it seemed like he would pounce on and bite her at any moment.
As she received that gaze, Bianca lowered her eyes as she felt her cheeks heating up.
Soon, Julie left and the two of them were left alone in the office.
“It smells good.”
Bianca raised her lowered gaze at the gentle words.
The man across from her was smiling even though the look in his eyes was very hungry.
Bianca silently laughed at the sight of him elegantly savoring the scent while holding the tea saucer.
If she hadn’t experienced the way he took her every breath without hesitation before, she wouldn’t have known.
What does that gently fluttering golden light in his eyes mean?
It….isn’t a warm sunlight.
But a fiercely boiling sun.
Didn’t he vividly show that look, the moment he completely overwhelmed her, as if she were being swallowed up?
Her emotions were pouring out to the point that she was scared!
“……Bianca?”
“Yes?”
Bianca came to her senses when she heard a voice calling her.
Weren’t our gazes clearly intertwined?
But for a moment, Jillian’s face appeared as if it had never been that way.
Looking at the slightly tired, bluish face, I felt like I was dreaming.
“Are you okay?”
Me?
“I called you several times, but you didn’t seem to hear me.”
‘Can you hear me? are you okay?’
Jillian’s voice was splitting into two.
Bianca’s face became pale.
It was beginning.
Always, whenever she let her guard down, she had auditory hallucinations, as if they had been waiting for whenever this happens!
‘Don’t do it!’
Bianca chewed her cheek meat mercilessly.
The soft flesh was instantly crushed by the molars, and the pain that was so severe that the tips of her hair stood on end caused me to regain her dazed senses.
She didn’t know, but it seemed to have already started the moment she entered the office.
His golden eyes and white face now that she looked at them, they seemed different.
The smiling man’s face has turned pale.
Compared to when she saw it at dawn…
Compare to when she saw it this morning…
It was much more lifeless.
“Jillian?”
Bianca called out to him without realizing it, feeling her back somehow tense up.
“Yes.”
Even though he was right in front of her, he felt strangely fuzzy.
As if he would go away at any moment and never come back.
She felt certain that she would never see him again.
‘I won’t miss the chance this time.’
The only person in this world who wanted me.
Bianca suddenly became impatient at the sight of Jillian, who seemed far away even though he was right in front of her.
“Marry me.”
Cough.
Jillian was startled by the loud voice and started coughing.
Bianca suddenly realised that that wasn’t what she initially wanted to say..….
But there were no regrets.
“If you haven’t changed your mind, let’s get married.”
“Oh my god.”
Jillian groaned at the tone that went from being confident to being interrogative.
But Bianca just wanted to hear the answer quickly.
“Jillian. Come on.”
“Bianca. Wasn’t I the one who proposed?”
“That’s right. But I really want to hear the answer.”
She wanted to speak calmly, but her voice trembled at the end.
Bianca’s cheeks suddenly became hot as she felt like her anxious feelings were being revealed.
He was a man who had proposed to me and told me that he wanted and that he accepted me as I was.
Baloch on a leash.
Immoral Termina.
Nothing changed between them.
That’s why Bianca pledged to willingly accept this relationship, even if it was a lie and even if it was a trap of Baloch.
Even if it was a lie, she believed that she had received such a sweet gift and that it was worth the price.
It was okay to give her heart completely to him whether or not she would be abandoned.
She thought she could bear it even if this warmth was taken away all at once.
However, it would be much more difficult to bear if Jillian were to disappear.
I thought it was ridiculous, but my whole body was shaking with nervousness that I couldn’t figure out why.
“Bianca.”
He called from the other side, but my mouth did not open.
I felt like if I opened my mouth now, my teeth would make clatter.
A smart man will figure it out right away.
What kind of foolish thoughts am I thinking?
Suddenly.
Jillian stood up, approached me, and got down on one knee.
In an instant, our eyes met.
“Please be my wife.”
“……..”
“Please allow me to stay by your side for the rest of my life.”
“……..”
“Please.”
I thought it was a prank to soothe my nervousness, but it wasn’t.
Jillian was serious.
It was vague when our gazes met, but it was clearly Bianca herself that was in his golden eyes.
Bianca calmed down her agitated mind and nodded.
“I will accept your marriage proposal.”
For a moment, my breath was blocked and hot blood began to circulate throughout my body.
My cold fingertips regained their normal temperature, and my dry lips also regained their color.
I closed my eyes and took a long breath due to the dizzying sensation, but suddenly something was wrapped around my shoulders and I was dragged away.
“Bianca.”
Jillian got up and hugged Bianca in his arms.
“Bianca.”
The sound of his heart pounding against her chest rang very loudly.
“Thank you for accepting me.”
‘Thank you for accepting me.’
For a moment, his voice split in two once again, but Bianca was able to laugh.
Unlike the heart-wrenching auditory hallucinations before, what she heard in his voice now was deep joy.
Bianca pressed her head against his chest.
Now that she was in his firm embrace, she thought that everything is alright.
She felt a huge sense of fullness.
***
“Maybe these things evolve too?”
Killian, the leader of the 5th Castle, who cut down the last monster, pulled out the wet ax and tilted his head.
“Evolve?”
“I think the monsters speed has gotten better.”
The captain of the third Castle who was with him frowned as if he had heard something unpleasant.
“These things were originally fast.”
“No, this time is different.”
“They are already terrible as it is, so what would happen if they evolve?”
“I know.”
Even though it was called a cleanup, it was still a serious battle in which the captains of each fortress moved in an organized manner with the knights under their command.
This year, thanks to Jillian’s whipping, there were fewer monsters left, so it should be easier than last year.
But when he thought about it, it took as much time as previous years to clean it up, or even longer.
“Then what do we do?”
Killian shrugged his shoulders in response to the 3rd Castle captain’s question.
“What can we do? All we can do is hold on. Is there any other way?”
The face of Rayman, the captain of the 3rd Castle, wrinkled grimly at the tone of his voice that was so calm that it seemed insincere.
“We are currently barely holding on, but you say they may be evolving. So how can we keep up?”
“Then we die.”
This *****.
Rayman finally exploded at Killian’s indifferent response to his desperate words.
“You’re going to die anyway, so die by my hands today!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Rayman swung his long spear.
The spear he swang with all his might was blocked by the ax blade that Killian held like a shield.
The tension between them was scary, but no one was worried about the two.
Since these two had been like this every day since they became captains, there were even knights cheering for them as if it were just a moment of entertainment.
How much ups and downs they must have seen.
Rayman, exhausted, took off his blue blood-soaked helmet and sat down in the snow.
“Oh, I’m annoyed!”
“It’s not something that will disappear if you get annoyed, so why bother wasting your strength?”
“I thought it was better to do something.”
“Your skills must have improved.”
“I trained to death to increase them.”
“Then increase them further. You’ll be fine then.”
Killian, who was sitting next to him, still had an indifferent expression on his face.
It may seem like Killian was teasing him, but that was Killian’s natural tone. But even if he knew it, it was still annoying.
Still he was not really wrong.
“Just shut up.”
Rayman called out to Elizabeth, who was standing there blankly, as if he was annoyed.
“Hey, there. Do we have to report this?”
“Please call me Elizabeth, or Captain of the Sixth Castle.”
“Anyway. We have to report it, right?”
“I think we should report it. The Duke won’t know the difference anyway.”
As expected, this one also has a blunt tone.
It’s not exactly wrong, but he felt bad when he heard it.
Rayman, who was the only one anxious that the monster had evolved, felt even more angry.
“Forget it. I’m tired of being angry now.”
Rayman sighed so loudly that his shoulders shook and he laid down with a groan.
“It’s dirty. Get up.”
“I can’t get up. I’m having a hard time here. Hey, there. How about we decide that whoever has enough energy to stand up goes? I’m really tired.”
“You’re a weak guy.”
“You are the weakling.”
Even when Killian lashed out at him, Rayman held on steadfastly.
“I will go. Anyway, the walls of 6th Castle are also scheduled to be renovated, so I have to go report about them.”
Rayman glared at Killian after hearing Elizabeth’s words, as if saying ‘look’.
The snow-free sky was as blue as the land.
Everywhere was full of a fishy, foul smell.
***
That night.
The main castle was abuzz with the visit of Elizabeth Swann, the commander of the Six Castles.
“The captain of the 6th castle is coming, not the 7th castle?”
“I guess there’s something for her to report.”
“No, I think she has come for something else.”
“Why?”
“Why? Are you asking because you don’t know?”
“Can’t the commander of the 6th Fortress come here?”
Towards the servant who was blinking as if they had no idea, another person, who clicked their tongue, leaned in close and whispered.
“Don’t you know Swann? No way, she was rumoured to be the next duchess for a long time.”
“But she’s coming here?”
“Isn’t that why everyone is flocking here?”
“…Uh.”
“Shhh!”
The footman stepped forward, pushed against the grumbling servants, and put his finger in front of his lips.
“She is coming.”
“What?”
He didn’t apply much force, but the pain was so bad that the servant couldn’t speak for a moment.
The servant frowned as they rubbed their beaten side.1As you have noticed it’s important to know their gender.
“You’re doing that for no reason!”
“Just shut up if you don’t want to regret it later.”
The servant, who was rubbing their side, at the cold tone of his voice, looked at the open door.
It was pitch black everywhere and they couldn’t see clearly in front of them.
***
But how long has it been?
Suddenly something appeared in the distance.
In a moment, it became clearer, larger, and in the blink of an eye, a group was clearly approaching.
“Hey, that’s her!”
“She is the captain of the 6th Castle!”
“She really has come?”
People’s eyes fell on Elizabeth and turned to the main castle.
Particularly, they looked at he third floor where the Duchess was.
***
TL:
I tried to increase the use of ‘I’ for Bianca’s P.O.V in this chapter, did anyone notice?
Also I didn’t have much time to edit properly, so if you find any typo or mistake, please inform me.
