CH 65

“Well… didn’t you anticipate this to some extent? His Majesty can’t just let it go.”

“His Majesty is coming? Well, what did I say? You should have sent the marriage license request first, not the wedding invitation!”

Derek quickly returned to his sanity and struck himself in the chest. Yulif didn’t even pretend to hear Derek’s cry. He slid the cookies to the edge of the desk. He wouldn’t hand over a piece to Derek.

“What do we do now? Your Grace said to not have many guests! You told me to only prepare food for the residents, so I didn’t prepare anything else.”

“10 days is not a short time.”

“Are you serious?”

“Five days is better than three days. 7 days is better than 5 days. 10 days is better than 7 days.”

“You know what? The lord is sometimes like a demon, not a human.”

Yulif ignored Derek’s lament again. Great, this was his fate. Derek smacked his chest and swallowed his tears and anger.

Roana laughed as she looked at Derek, then suddenly came to her senses. It was fun to see Derek go through his hardships, but her business was different.

“Speaking about weddings. Lord, don’t you think it’s a little too much?”

Derek looked at Roana with eyes that were about to pop out of his head. Why was she taking his side? Yulif also had a slightly surprising look.

“Don’t you think 10 days is too tight?”

“What are you talking about? Does it matter to me whether Derek is overworked or how many guests there are?”

“Isn’t that a bit harsh…”

“What I want to tell you is about Miss Canaren.”

As soon as Canaren became a topic of discussion, Yulif’s eyes changed. His cold eyes, as if he had put ice on them, were burning with unknown emotions.

Roana had thought she had a pretty good grasp of her own boss, but he has never been as shaky as he was these days. She had been watching him for a long time, and realized he was very affected by Canaren. Roana understood yet was confused a hundred times.

“What about Canaren?”

“If you’re curious, don’t ask me. Can’t you go and meet her in person? No, I don’t deserve to step in between you two, but you’re too mean. Miss Canaren doesn’t have any say about the wedding. Not at all! What did you threaten her with?”

Canaren seemed to believe in the desperate testimony of Roana and Derek that Yulif had no relationship, let alone a woman he loved. After running to Yulif on the way, Roana’s anxiety was relieved because Canaren’s expression was quite bright when she returned after a long time.

However, as she prepared for the wedding in earnest, her worries snowballed again.

It was because Canaren had shown no interest in her wedding at all, not even once, not even the slightest bit.

Weddings were one of the most important and biggest events in one’s life. IIn particular, the bride had a lot to take care of as she was the most brilliant protagonist of the day. Literally, she has to be in perfect condition from head to toe. But Canaren was surprisingly indifferent. She never asked anything about her wedding in the first place.

Rather, Roana was restless, and when she asked Canaren what design was good for the dress, what jewelry to work on, what hairstyle to do, or the make up… she would blink her big eyes and reply like this:

“I don’t know about that… Roana, please take care of it.”

Roana was upset with her bright smile, saying, ‘Please take care of it.’

What’s wrong with her? A nice, gentle person who wanted to share even a piece of bean wasn’t trying to torment her.

Roana pondered all night and found an answer nearby. Yulif must have threatened Canaren. He was a great person who told lies that he had had another woman in the past while proposing, so it wasn’t difficult to predict what kind of extraordinary words he used to hurt Canaren this time.

After struggling with Canaren for a few days, Roana finally came to see Yulif.

“You may not know, but weddings are really important for ordinary people. So tell me, what did you say to Canaren?”

“I told her to do whatever she wants.”

“You didn’t say anything like that, did you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she really doesn’t want anything.” 

“Who does not have a wedding romance! At least I would have it that way!”

Roana screamed. Derek, who was quietly listening to the conversation, laughed.

“Do you really want something like that? I didn’t know.”

“Don’t mess with me.”

“As you prepare, why don’t you try mixing your romance a little bit. Though I don’t think there will be a chance at this time anyway.”

“Cut the crap. Is it Miss Canaren’s wedding or mine?”

“Wait a minute.”

The two of them started quarreling so naturally that they wouldn’t shut their mouths. Yulif was deep in thought while pressing his temples.

After a while, shocking remarks poured out of his mouth.

“Derek, Ocard.”

“Yes.”

“You two. Get married.”

“I’m really sorry, but what did you happen to…”

‘Are you crazy?’ Roana drew in her self-restraint and swallowed the question. Derek muttered with a face like a man who had just woken up.

“Lord, what did you say? I misunderstood as if I was out of my mind.”

“I told you to marry Ocard.”

“I guess that’s all I can do. Thank you for your kindness my lord, I have been very indebted to you. Thank you for taking my sanity away from me. I hope that the Lord’s future is full of happiness.”

Derek pulled something out of his pocket and placed it on the desk. It was a letter of resignation.  He didn’t know that he would do this to the guy who used to comfort his heart by stroking him whenever life was hard and he was tired.

Yulif burned the resignation letter. As Derek saw the flames devouring his resignation letter, he feared for a moment that he would be burned like that too. But there were times when people had to do the things they hate to overcome the fear of death. Marriage to Roana was just that.

“I don’t like it. Even if you blow my head off, I don’t like what I don’t like. Do what with her? Never!”

“It’s the same for me. I’d rather die than marry that idiot. I don’t know what I did wrong, but just kill me!”

The two of them squawked. Roana lay flat on her floor, shouting ‘Kill me!’, she was protesting with her whole body. Yulif sighed deeply.

“It’s not really about getting married. Just pretend to be married.”

“I hate this!”

“I don’t even want to think about it in my dreams!”

“The emperor is going to cause an accident at the wedding.”

It was a serious voice without a smile. Roana ruffled her hair with both her hands and raised her upper body. Desperate, Derek shook his head helplessly.

“Is this reliable information?”

“Yes.”

The two of them wore the saddest faces in the world. This time Roana asked.

“If I ask you what you’re thinking, you won’t tell me, will you?”

“Yep.”

“Will your mouth hurt if you say it?” Roana grumbled openly. Yulif let out a short sigh as if he had no choice but to proceed with an unusually detailed explanation.

“Did you not hear it’s just pretending to get married? In the eyes of the guests, including the emperor, it will look like it’s Canaren and I. Or do you really want to get married? Then do it. I won’t stop you.”

“Are we going to pretend to be the two of you? Is the lord casting the magic himself?”

“I do it. It will be difficult if it got loose on the way.”

“Hey, I wish youI had said that earlier. It’s not that difficult. Since I’m not really getting married.”

The two breathed a sigh of relief and patted their surprised hearts. Yulif’s eyes were a bit strange, but the two of them, who had greater joy in escaping from a terrible fate, did not notice them.

“We need to increase the size of the wedding. Send invitations to all nobles above the rank of count.”

“All?”

“Yes. Festivals for permanent residents are canceled. We’ll discuss it later. Orcard, bring wizards and build a magic circle in the castle. I will call you when the ceremony is complete.”

“All right.”

“Is only His Majesty the Emperor coming?”

“The Empress will accompany him. She might come all the way with Lucian.”

“…I feel so pressured that I can’t breathe.”

“The salary will be 10 times higher. Lump sum payment.”

“I will show you how deep this Roana Orcard’s loyalty is to the lord! I will work hard until my bones break!”

Hearing her desperate determination, Yulif beckoned her to leave. With excitement in her greedy eyes, Roana paused as she was about to leave the office.

“Will the lord speak directly to Canaren?”

Yulif did not readily answer. The wealthy lord, who proudly declared that he would pay 10 times her salary at once, disappeared; in its place was a coward.

Roana shook her head.

“I think she will be disappointed even if she doesn’t expect anything from the wedding. It’s not a big deal. It’s a wedding. It’s a once in a lifetime event… Please be kind and meticulous. Don’t say anything weird. Once the lord does that, she skips meals for a few days.”

“Do think about it.”

Roana mumbled, but her voice was too low to be heard.

After the two noisy people left, the office was engulfed in silence. Yulif took out one of the cookies that Canaren had given him and bit into it. It was moderately sweet and savory.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime event for her, and even so, she didn’t expect anything. It felt as if those words of Roana were stuck in his ears.

‘Is there really nothing you want from me other than that condition?’