Chapter 35

Translator: Nabi

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Chapter 35

I gasped for breath.

​​My body was stiff and tense even though I said only a few words. As if I had spit out the words that would decide his life or death.

‘Actually, it is no different.’

I was walking on a dangerous cliff. If you offend Cassius too much, you will die. However, if the development proceeds as I become his ideal type like this…

‘I will have a worse life than dying.’

Cassius’s answer did not take long.

“Evelyn, what do you want?”

Hearing those words, I swallowed dry saliva. His words were as generous as I had expected so far.​​“Please, let me be the handmaiden of the Empress.”

Immediately after I uttered those words, silence enveloped us. Cassius gazed down at me in surprise, as if he had never expected the words.

Well, I am sure he was not.

Because volunteering to become the Empress’s handmaiden was the stupidest thing a noble girl could do.

The Empress, Theresia, married the current Emperor, Pondiere the third, at the age of over forty.

The reason why King Pondiere the third chose Theresia as his second wife to succeed the former Empress whom he loved dearly was simple.

If he chose a young and healthy empress, an unwanted heir that was born could threaten the crown prince’s position. In a word, Theresia was the perfect scarecrow Empress, with no regard for her parents, and no worries about having an heir due to her age.

Naturally, it was impossible for her to be treated well.

It was only at official events that she could sit by King Pondiere’s side and wave her hand, but after that time, she would be locked up in the Empress’s Palace and had to pass her time without receiving even frivolous visitors.

Therefore, the benefits of becoming the handmaiden of Empress Theresia were at best…

“You don’t have to change your identity to marry me, Evelyn.”

A rather harsh expression came out of Cassius’ mouth.

I smiled bitterly.

The maidservant of the Imperial Family was a kind of bridal class that aristocratic Young Ladies of poor origin of many gossips went through before marriage. Of course, he must have thought that my purpose was identity laundering.

“Who dares to ignore you, the successor of Count Garneid? Please tell me their names right now. I…”

“If I tell you who it is, will you cut off their tongue this time?”

“…I will not do it because you do not want that.”

I shook my head.

“It is not about that problem. I have admired the Empress for a long time, so I want to spend some time with her.”

“What…?”

Cassius’s voice trembled as if embarrassed.

Seeing that, I nodded my head loudly in the most silly way possible.

“Yes. I admire her. Before His Majesty’s proposal, she devoted her whole life to helping the poor!”

Cassius’s reaction was quite worth seeing.

Isn’t his whole body shaking as though he had heard words he never imagined to hear?

Then, a terrified voice came out of his mouth.

“Is that what you wanted, Evelyn? Relief of the poor?”

“No.”

I immediately denied it.

It is already difficult enough to find a way to save my life right now, but the thought of relief for the poor should make sense.

“But, it is admirable. The fact that there was a utopia that she wanted to achieve while dedicating all her youth and fortune… Isn’t it delightful, right?”

Cassius’s face darkened.

“Evelyn, I understand your feelings for Her Majesty the Empress. However, first, there is something you need to know…”

As he added in a cautious voice, it looked like he was worried that he might go against my heart.

“The Empress has many enemies, and I do not want you to get hurt while protecting the Empress.”

I called for joy inside.

Seeing him continue to be embarrassed, my words must have gone against his common sense.

‘That is what I am looking for.’

I smiled brightly and opened my mouth again.

“Still, isn’t that the duty of a noble? To protect Her Majesty the Empress?”

“Since when have you been concerned about the duties of a nobleman, Evelyn?”

Now, Cassius did not even try to hide the fact that he was puzzled.

I gave strength to my voice.​​“Lord, do you think that I, as the next Countess of Garneid, did not fully understand the duties of a nobleman?”

“That is not what I am saying.”

He replied grimly.

“It is just that you did not pay any attention to those things before. Is there any reason for the sudden change of heart?”

“No.”

I answered firmly.

“As the Lord said, there are many times when the Empress did such courageous deeds. I want to give her strength in a dangerous time like now. Lord, can you help me?”

Cassius’s answer came after a brief silence.

“We can think about ways to give strength to the Empress. But, Evelyn, do you have to be directly involved in this situation…”

I cut off his words.

Normally, I would have restrained myself for fear of offending him, though now, I had to look like a reckless fool.

“I want to be with the Empress for a little while. Was this too much of a request? You could not allow it even for a few months?”

“…It was the first time I knew that you had so much respect for the Empress.”

I blinked slowly.

Is he suspicious…? Or, is this a criticism?

Either way, it was certain that Cassius was in a bad mood.

“It is all right if you do not understand. I am not asking you to understand. However, I want the Lord to keep his promise to me.”

Silence passed again as I calmly waited for Cassius’ answer.

It would be nice if I became the Empress’s handmaiden. So, at least, I could get away from him, although it would not matter too much if I was rejected because my main purpose was to look stupid to him.

Fortunately, it seems that the purpose has already been achieved.

“All right.”

Cassius exhaled with a determined expression on his face.

“Though, there is one condition.”​​“Yes…?”

I swallowed dry saliva.

An ominous feeling crept up.

“I understand that few people visit the Empress Palace. However, there are bound to be gaps everywhere. You do not know what kind of foolish human being would approach and harm you.”

His tone was calm, but on the contrary, my body stiffened.

Just as expected…

The words that came out of Cassius’s mouth were very shocking.

“So, before you enter the Empress’s Palace as the Empress’s handmaiden, please allow me to announce that you are my fiancée.”

“….?”

I tried not to show surprise.

It was an ordinary and insignificant request than I thought, so I doubted whether I had heard him correctly.

“All right. Do whatever presentation you think is necessary. I will not care about anything at all.”

“Is that so?”

At my words, he answered in a more relieved voice.

“Great. I will tell them to get ready for the wedding proposal ceremony this weekend.”

“Yes…?”

He continued to speak with a proud expression, not caring whether I cried as I was stunned by his words.

“It is tight, though if we prepare from now on, we will be able to meet the schedule.”

I pursed my lips.

I could not help but doubt my ears.

…What? Wedding proposal ceremony?

It made me wonder if I was not the one who was pretending to be a fool, but Cassius instead.

“Are, aren’t we already engaged…?”

“Even though the engagement ceremony has taken place, the proposal has not yet taken place yet.”

Meanwhile, Cassius’s reply was blunt. It was like he was talking about something that was too obvious.

“Is there no greater way than this to announce that you are my fiancée?”

* * *

Cassius Brudenell is crazy.

It was a thought that popped into my head the day he suggested ‘the wedding proposal ceremony.’ It was not just because of the vain event of a wedding proposal, though it was because of the scene unfolding before my eyes.

“Sister, are you sick?”

“I am okay, Ophelia.”

Good Ophelia cared for me as always.

“Just…I think this is too much… All of this.”

Ophelia did not deny my words even though she did not agree either.

“Lord Cassius really does love sister.”

I had no choice but to agree with that.

Without love, there was no way to explain this reality right now. Clearly, beautiful artificial flowers were fluttering in the wind around the artificial lake, which did not exist until a week ago…

Well, when you think of artificial flowers, you usually think of something like plastic.

However, this is a romance fantasy novel.

There would be no such thing as plastic. So, Cassius—

“This is all gold, right? This is the first time I have seen something like this…”

Yes, as Ophelia’s kind description said, it was an all-gold fake flower. Still, it felt like a real petal when touched with how delicate technology was processed.

And, the closer you get to the man-made lake, the more visible the scent…

‘No way…’

I frowned.

It was because I have smelled this scent a few times.

Jasmine perfume was said to be the most popular in the Capital right now. Unlike modern times, it was one of the privileges of the rich to use jasmine perfume, which is difficult to grow and difficult to extract here.

It was as if Cassius had poured the perfume into the lake like fresh water…

‘Crazy, he is insane…’

And, what about the towering fountain on the left side of the lake? Instead of transparent water, dark wine was spewing out. It was surreal.

It seemed to be something that would only exist in paintings.

The proposal ceremony had not even started properly yet, but at this point, I could not even imagine how much money was spent on this event.

Ironically, there was only one thought that came to my mind when I saw this unimaginable money being spent this crazily…

Oh, there was a reason why Cassius did not even budge at all the money I had spent before… because this was how you really do it.

I give up… I lost.

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