I Proposed Because You Were Terminally Ill - Chapter 23

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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 23

“…What? You’re saying you would have sold me out even without getting paid?”

“I have quite a personal grudge against your mother, miss.”

The butler’s brown eyes gleamed strangely even in the darkness.

The vivid hatred contained within them made Damia’s entire body feel frozen.

“So please don’t resent me too much.”

“What are you talking about? The thing about Romi being hurt was a lie too, wasn’t it?”

“Don’t expect anyone to come rescue you either. I’ve already prepared a plausible reason for your disappearance.”

“You always did your work half-heartedly, so why are you being so thorough today!”

“When you meet the Viscountess in the afterlife, please give her my regards.”

Bang!

As soon as the door closed, the carriage began racing at tremendous speed.

Damia, who had been thrown to the floor by the butler, crashed her back against the lower part of a seat.

“Ugh…!”

Naturally, the ride was extremely rough.

Damia suppressed the rising nausea and barely managed to climb onto the seat.

She couldn’t understand what nerve the butler had to do such a thing.

And he had a grudge against her mother?

He never said anything like that in her previous life!

“Wait, wait a minute!”

Damia pounded on the ceiling of the carriage.

She had to get the coachman’s attention and find some way to escape.

“Stop for just a moment!”

Damia struggled to open the window and shouted desperately.

She had actually considered just opening the door and escaping, but rolling off a carriage moving at this speed might actually kill her.

“You’re going to Count Fabron’s mansion, right?”

At her hopeful question, the carriage’s speed decreased.

The coachman held his breath and chuckled quietly.

‘What’s with him? Why has he been laughing so creepily?’

Goosebumps rose on Damia’s arms.

The coachman didn’t seem entirely sane, but she still had to try negotiating.

“Take me to Sarkis Palace instead. I’ll definitely reward you.”

Damia shouted toward the window.

“I’m the Young Duke’s fiancée. If I disappear like this, the ducal family won’t just stand by.”

“…”

“No matter where you take me, you’ll get caught in the end!”

The coachman gave no response.

Only the sound of whipping the horses echoed through the quiet forest.

Did he think Damia was bluffing?

“I’m not lying!”

Damia was no longer just an ordinary fiancée, but the only tool that could extend the Young Duke’s life.

Just by holding hands, she could temporarily ease the Young Duke’s curse.

Whatever Count Fabron had offered the coachman, she could match it and more.

“Lord Cassian will definitely pay a price that won’t disappoint you. I promise!”

Screech-!

As if Cassian’s name was some kind of signal, the busily racing carriage came to an abrupt stop.

From the impact, Damia hit her head against the wall.

“Oww…”

Soon the coachman opened the carriage door.

Through her tear-blurred vision, she saw a very tall man.

“Really damn noisy.”

The man removed the hat he had pulled low and smirked.

“Even bringing up that annoying name.”

The coachman wasn’t a shabby middle-aged man.

The face hidden under the hat was pale and smooth.

And ominously beautiful.

“Why did you have to go and attract attention?”

The man who had been pretending to be a coachman stuck his head into the carriage.

The moment she saw that white, clean face up close, Damia’s heart sank with a thud.

“Tell me, little girl. Why did you give the Young Duke that useless medicine? Hm?”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“I already know everything, so don’t pretend you don’t.”

“Who… who are you?”

“Do I have some obligation to answer you?”

The face smiling with the corners of his mouth pulled up resembled someone.

Namely, that young boy who was the most perfectly formed creature Damia knew – Cassian Sarkis.

However, unlike the real one, he looked somehow awkward and twisted, like a counterfeit.

His strangely sharp way of speaking was also completely different from Cassian’s.

‘The Young Duke shouldn’t have any other siblings, right?’

Whatever his identity, this man was dangerous.

At this very instinctive realization, Damia’s mouth went completely dry.

“You’re not someone Count Fabron sent, are you?”

“Oh, surprisingly smart. They probably still believe that.”

The man stepped closer and lifted Damia’s chin with the tip of his riding whip.

“So this is what you look like? Pretty decent by human standards.”

“Let go!”

“Tsk, speak more nicely. I came all the way here personally because I was curious about you.”

Damia’s lips trembled.

“Why are you being so cold? I even went to the trouble of wearing a face you like.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Go on, take a good close look.”

The man’s pupils up close were vertically slit.

And they gleamed even in the darkness.

Damia gasped. The other party didn’t look human at all.

“Y-you’re not human, are you? What exactly are you?”

“What do you think I am?”

A relaxed smile appeared on his bloodlessly pale face.

She couldn’t feel any humanity from him at all.

He was like a monster wearing a mask made to resemble the Young Duke and pretending to be human.

“Little girl, Cassian Sarkis needs to die as soon as possible. That’s my mission too.”

“…What?”

“Do you have any idea how long we’ve been working to exterminate the cursed Sarkis bloodline?”

At that cold reply, Damia’s heart constricted.

‘Of course I don’t know! What are you that you’re acting like this?’

She desperately twisted her head, trying to get away from the man.

The carriage was too cramped, and the man was too large. She couldn’t see any gap to escape through.

“Think about it carefully. We’ve hated the Sarkis bastards for quite a long time.”

In the Belotea Empire, Sarkis was an almost absolute family.

Their ancestor had saved countless lives by slaying a rampaging mad dragon…

‘Huh?’

A realization hit her like a blow to the back of the head.

Damia stiffened and looked up at the man before her.

Oval pupils, an eerily intense gaze, and upon closer inspection, there were even faint traces of scales around his eyes.

“Looks like you’ve figured it out? That’s why I don’t mind quick-witted kids.”

The man’s eyes gradually turned bright red.

“That’s impossible. I heard all dragons were extinct.”

Damia’s lips trembled slightly.

“Your ancestors probably never imagined it either. That we, with dragon blood mixed in, would survive by mimicking disgusting humans.”

She had heard stories of those born from the Mad Dragon’s whims calling themselves the Dragon Clan.

She had thought it was just a baseless legend, but could it really be true?

No, this man might just be a deranged lunatic spouting nonsense.

“Getting distracted again? I told you to look closely, kid.”

The man pointed to his own face with his fingertip.

“I even mimicked the face of this cursed bloodline, so what couldn’t I do with this stomach?”

“Why… the Young Duke’s face of all things?”

“Why? I told you. While I came to get you, I specially chose a face you’d like…”

“That’s not all there is to it.”

“You really are quick on the uptake. Do you really want to know? It would be better if you didn’t.”

“Tell me.”

A crooked sneer appeared on the face that resembled Cassian.

“Fine, good. After that brat dies, we’ll… ah, want to take a guess?”

Damia’s breath caught. Only the worst assumptions came to mind.

They knew that Cassian had limited time left.

Could it be that when Cassian passed away, they planned to replace him?

“What do you think we’ll do?”

The man tilted his head and smiled.

“We’ve been waiting in hiding our whole lives. Can you imagine how long a lifetime is for beings like us?”

“…”

“Especially for me.”

The man’s shoulders shook irregularly.

“Well, it’s not a span of years that a lowly human could comprehend.”

She thought he was laughing, but when the man raised his head, he was gritting his teeth.

It was clear he was suppressing rising anger.

‘What should I do? Should I try saying I’ll do whatever they want if they just spare my life?’

“Kid, don’t rack your brain.”

“Ugh…!”

The man swung his whip and struck the window with a bang.

The old carriage shook violently with the loud noise.

Damia, who had hit her head earlier, was overcome with dizziness again.

“Now, I’ll give you a choice.”

Suddenly?

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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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