I Proposed Because You Were Terminally Ill - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 19

Cassian Sarkis’s daily life was flawlessly perfect.

Except for his gradually stopping heart, everything in the world rolled along according to his will.

But lately, one troublemaker had emerged to crack that perfect routine.

“Um… Young Duke, it seems you won’t be able to meet Miss Damia today.”

It was his temporary fiancée, Damia Ponti.

“…Again?”

He had already visited the Viscount’s Manor several times, but could only see Romi’s troubled face instead of Damia.

She won’t even meet such a perfect fiancé like me and turns me away?

“Well, Miss has been very busy these past few days. So her health doesn’t seem to be good.”

“Where does it hurt and how much.”

“Um, well…”

Romi hesitated for a long time, only moving her lips.

Since an answer didn’t come right away, being sick was just an excuse.

“Then what was she so busy doing?”

“Just, this and that…”

Romi rolled her eyes and mumbled.

“Since she won’t come out when called, I’ll have to go get her myself.”

He couldn’t fall for such obvious tricks forever. Until now, he had endured it because he too had things to hide from Damia.

“I need to at least see her face today, so move aside.”

“B-but…”

“I said move.”

“The thing is…”

“…Don’t tell me she’s not at the manor?”

It was a question he threw out just in case, since Romi was desperately blocking the path.

“…”

It must have been the right answer, as Romi clamped her lips shut.

‘She’s really not home?’

Don’t tell me it’s been like this for the past few days? Where on earth does she go!

She said she had no friends and didn’t like going outside!

“Then I’ll wait until she comes back. I happen to have something to receive anyway.”

The medicine was effective even in small amounts. Honestly, it wasn’t lacking.

Cassian just needed to meet Damia, even if it was just that excuse.

Of course, it absolutely wasn’t because he missed that girl.

It was because Damia Ponti was the only being who could make his heart beat.

Since he hadn’t seen her for so long, he was starting to wonder if all of this had been a mistake.

‘Damn. No matter how I express it, it sounds strange.’

“Ah! Young Duke, is this perhaps what you came for?”

Romi pointed to a wooden box placed in the corner of the drawing room.

“Miss told me to give this to you when you came. She said it’s a stamina training potion to drink after finishing training?”

Cassian opened the lid of the box. About ten glass bottles containing purple medicine were neatly arranged inside.

‘She’s going this far?’

It seemed Damia intended to maintain this level of distance unless Cassian approached her honestly first.

Had her unrequited love that wouldn’t be reciprocated become burdensome?

He wasn’t ready to reveal the truth to Damia yet. It was because that girl had become too important a person to him.

He needed to think more about how to adjust the contract too.

Moreover…

‘If I told her my situation as it is, I’d be treated like a madman.’

My heart beats when I hold your hand.

No matter how he said it, it would obviously sound like a cheap trick.

‘Still, I need to make a decision. I’m the one who wants it more.’

Faced with a conclusion he absolutely didn’t want to acknowledge, Cassian bit his lips tightly.

* * *

“Damn it!”

Viscount Soro threw her wine glass. Red wine splattered everywhere, staining the carpet.

“Did you really say that person is coming in person?”

“Yes, that’s correct, Viscount.”

The messenger bowed his head. He was the one who had come to deliver the news.

“They don’t trust me, is that it?”

“No. It’s just that dragon-killing grass… given how dangerous it is, they seem to want to assess the situation directly.”

The Viscount let out a displeased groan.

It wasn’t an incomprehensible response. Dragon-killing grass was dangerous and didn’t disappear easily either.

Burning it with fire was the best option, but even that smoke was lethal to dragon-kind.

Moreover, that terrible plant appeared in different forms depending on the era.

“I should have killed that Ponti wench instead. So that person wouldn’t waste their precious steps!”

“That won’t do, Viscount. The master wants to meet that wench.”

“Why that worthless wench!”

“Please be patient. Don’t we need to investigate the mastermind behind this too?”

“…”

“The master intends to commend you for this matter, Viscount. Didn’t you discover a threat that no one else knew about?”

When the messenger soothed the Viscount with a subtle voice, the Viscount’s anger subsided somewhat.

“That person wants to bring that wench to the nest. Even if it leaves some traces in the process.”

“…To the nest?”

“Yes. They also said to proceed with the matter as quickly as possible.”

“Then I’ll have to accept even violent methods. Fine, let’s give it a try.”

A cunning smile spread across his lips.

* * *

“Tsk… A grown girl getting dirt all over herself.”

While looking around the herb garden, unwelcome nagging reached her ears.

“Oh my? You’re up early today. That’s not like you, Father.”

Damia blocked his path before her father could look around the garden.

A white snake was roaming around the garden. She had been letting it take a walk because she felt sorry for it being confined.

Actually, she had grown attached to it from watching it continuously and even gave it the name Ruby, since the white snake had pretty pink eyes.

“Romi.”

At Damia’s signal, Romi hurriedly hid Ruby in her hands.

Like a true Imperial citizen, she had been afraid of snakes, but seemed to have gotten used to them.

“The Young Duke has become quite scarce lately.”

Damia calmly brushed the dirt off her skirt.

“He just hasn’t come for a few days. He must be busy.”

Cassian, who used to visit the Viscount’s Manor whenever he had a chance, had stopped coming for a while when Damia wouldn’t meet him.

Though Cassian was annoying for pretending otherwise when he obviously had something to hide, she hadn’t deliberately avoided him.

During that time, she had been quite busy going back and forth between the town and garden.

It just happened that Cassian often came when she was making medicine or out in town.

‘Even if Cassian is a trustworthy contract partner, I have things I want to hide too.’

She couldn’t tell if the Young Duke had bad luck or good intuition.

“Haven’t you already lost interest in me?”

“Hmm… Well, I don’t know. But you keep sending me gifts regularly. And they’re all things I really love!”

Father let out a sigh as if displeased.

“Tsk, what’s so great about sending a bunch of things that would be difficult to convert to cash.”

“You seem to have had many complaints.”

“Yes, of course. …Oh, Young Duke! What brings you here without notice?”

When I turned around, Cassian was standing at the garden entrance.

“The butler guided me here.”

“Welcome. Oh my, I should have come out to greet you.”

Cassian’s handsome face had grown gaunt over the past few days. Still, his eyes remained clear.

“Many of the gifts were personally selected by my mother, so I’m sorry to hear they didn’t meet the Viscount’s standards.”

Ever since sending the marriage proposal, Cassian had begun observing formalities with the Viscount.

The Viscount still didn’t know how to handle the courtesy directed toward him as his fiancée’s father.

“Th-that’s not what I meant!”

Father cleared his throat awkwardly and averted his gaze.

“They’re all too generous… I was just worried that Damia might forget her place.”

“I wouldn’t begrudge giving anything to my fiancée. Don’t you feel the same way about your daughter, Viscount?”

Cassian’s eyes sharpened at the poor excuse.

“Oh my. Of course I feel the same way. She’s my one and only daughter.”

As if no one believed those words, silence fell.

“I, I missed the time for my medicine… I should go quickly.”

Unable to bear the uncomfortable atmosphere, Father started coughing unnecessarily.

“Oh dear. I wish you a speedy recovery.”

Even though it was obviously an excuse, Cassian replied politely.

“Thank you, Young Duke.”

As Father hurriedly left, Damia also spoke up.

“What brings you here, Young Duke? As you can see, I’m a bit busy, so if it’s not urgent, perhaps next time…”

“You said we should keep some distance, but that’s impossible.”

Cassian firmly cut off Damia’s words.

Father’s steps as he was leaving the garden faltered.

“I didn’t want to admit it, but I do need you after all.”

“…What?”

“I realized it desperately over the past few days. I can’t even imagine life without you now.”

Even though it couldn’t possibly be true, it sounded exactly like a confession.

‘I’ve been giving him the antidote regularly, so why is he acting like this? Is he worried I might stop giving it to him?’

Damia glanced at Father with flustered eyes. As expected, his footsteps had stopped completely.

“Wh-what are you suddenly saying?”

Father is listening too!

At Damia’s desperate lip movements, Cassian stopped speaking.

“Let’s talk about the rest somewhere we can be alone.”

He slowly pointed to the carriage.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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