I Proposed Because You Were Terminally Ill - Chapter 4

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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 4

“I’m sorry, Count. That’s impossible.”

“Hmm?”

“I have someone I love.”

Damia clenched her small fists tightly to avoid shrinking back even by mistake.

‘Even if I incur that old count’s wrath, I need to buy time somehow.’

Next time, she would secure the position of temporary fiancée even if it meant shoving herbs into that arrogant young duke’s mouth.

“D-Damia! What are you saying when you’ve been holed up in your room just reading books…!”

Her father, Viscount Ponti, widened his eyes. The butler fidgeted restlessly, stamping his feet.

Both looked like they wanted to cover Damia’s mouth immediately.

“Ha, hahaha. Love, you say?”

Then Count Fabron, who had frozen in surprise, burst into loud laughter.

“My daughter has had a slight fever since morning, so she’s talking nonsense…”

“It’s fine. Young people’s puppy love isn’t such a big flaw.”

Her father, who had been trying hard to cover for Damia’s outburst, hesitated.

Count Fabron wore a very benevolent smile.

‘Huh? This isn’t how it should go.’

Originally, she had planned to make Count Fabron angry and leave in a huff.

He wouldn’t eliminate Damia from his bride candidates over this, but at least she could buy some time.

“The young lady still has charmingly childish aspects.”

But the old count’s eyes still held goodwill.

“Still, it would be better to learn more about the refinements of being a lady.”

“Count…”

“Well, she looks quite clever, so she’ll quickly become an exemplary lady.”

He rubbed his hands together as if he was truly looking forward to that moment.

“That’s fine, Count.”

Though chills ran down her spine at his reaction, Damia smiled brightly and replied kindly.

If she lost in this battle of wills, it would be over without even breaking even.

“Unfortunately, I really cannot enter the Count’s house. You see, I already proposed to the person I love not long ago.”

“What, what did you say? You received a proposal?”

Viscount Ponti’s eyes widened to their limit.

“No, Father. Please listen properly. I said I made the proposal.”

It was a rebuke tinged with slight irritation, completely at odds with her gentle voice.

Though Damia smiled calmly, her father and the butler were on the verge of falling backward.

“Wh-what kind of nonsense is that! A woman proposing first!”

The Belotea Empire was extremely strict about the chastity of unmarried noble ladies.

As Damia unhesitatingly damaged her own value as a bride, Viscount Ponti trembled with his clenched fists.

“But… what can I do when I’ve fallen so deeply for him that I can’t help my feelings?”

Damia blinked slowly and tilted her head slightly.

At her nonchalant expression, Viscount Ponti clutched his chest as if his heart was burning.

‘It would be easier if Father just collapsed here.’

Then that old count would have no choice but to retreat for today.

Perhaps because she had left filial piety in her previous life, she felt no guilt whatsoever.

“Father, I decided the moment I first saw him. If I can’t marry that beautiful person, I’d rather enter a convent and live as a spinster forever.”

“Damia, please shut your mouth!”

“I think I’m actually quite visually sensitive. So I’m sorry, but Count, I’m not attracted to you at all.”

“Damia!”

Now Damia’s father was on the verge of foaming at the mouth.

“I was going to overlook your cute antics, but now you’re trying to climb over my head.”

The smile that had been on Count Fabron’s lips disappeared.

As the count’s voice dropped a tone, her hands began to tremble finely.

Damia was deeply wounded in her pride by this fact. This was fear learned from her previous life.

“And…”

Damia hid her trembling hands behind her back and parted her lips.

“Asking me to marry a count who is older than my own father for the sake of the family… isn’t that too harsh a treatment for a young lady like me?”

Damia replied clearly with determined eyes.

If she didn’t keep talking, her entire body would freeze with fear.

“Wh-why are you acting like this suddenly, Damia? You’ve been attending tea parties you never went to before, and I wonder if you’ve fallen into some delusion.”

As Damia remained upright as if completely unaware of the seriousness of the situation, her father Viscount Ponti’s breathing became rougher.

“Ah, it is because of the tea party, Father. That’s where I met him.”

At that moment, her father’s face turned pale.

He seemed to suddenly recall Damia boasting that she would bring a much better fiancé than Count Fabron.

“There’s no young boy in the entire empire as perfect as him.”

“You, you…!”

Her father began trembling as if he had realized something.

“Child, you didn’t actually speak to the Sarkis Young Duke, did you?”

Please tell me that’s not it.

Damia felt like she could hear those words her father couldn’t bring himself to say aloud.

“I trust you haven’t lost your mind to that extent…”

“Oh, you were exactly right just now.”

“Damia! Do you think the ducal family will just stand by and watch you overstep your bounds! Do I really need to tie you up somewhere for you to come to your senses?”

At her father’s angry shout, a gleam appeared in Count Fabron’s cloudy eyes.

“I agree. Your daughter seems to need proper ‘discipline.'”

Recalling the countless ‘disciplines’ she had received in her previous life, Damia bit her lip hard and barely swallowed her curses.

“How dare you mention the Sarkis Young Duke! Does that even make sense!”

Her father seemed frantic about missing the opportunity to sell his daughter at a high price.

“Well, I thought so too.”

Then an unfamiliar voice brought silence to the noisy room.

Though still boyish, it was a pleasantly low voice with a leisurely attitude that seemed fully aware of the authority in his words.

“Y-Young Duke Sarkis!”

Jet-black hair and red eyes that immediately captured everyone’s attention.

Flawless sculptural perfection at an almost impossible level.

“N-no, how did Your Grace come to our humble family without notice…!”

It was overwhelming beauty that turned everyone around him into crushed potatoes just by appearing.

Even the quite handsome attendants from the ducal family who followed the young duke were instantly buried as part of the background.

At that wondrous sight, Damia was once again amazed even in this situation.

“The viscount’s daughter has a talent for making such impossible things actually happen.”

Perhaps due to lack of servants, no one seemed to notice that the Sarkis ducal family’s carriage had crossed the fence.

“Well, I apologize for visiting suddenly.”

Cassian, who smiled coldly, didn’t look sorry at all.

“I was planning to just greet you and leave today…”

Cassian’s red eyes looked at Viscount Ponti, the butler, and Count Fabron in turn. It was a cold gaze mixed with contempt.

“But as her fiancé, I couldn’t overlook such an unpleasant scene.”

It was the entrance of a somewhat insolent but picture-perfect savior.

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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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