I Proposed Because You Were Terminally Ill - Chapter 40

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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 40

 

“It’s okay.”

 

Before she knew it, Cassian had begun comforting her.

 

“Young Duke, this is….”

 

“You don’t need to say anything. I think I know what the situation is.”

 

He was calm. Damia realized that he had figured out what the ruins before them were.

 

“Come on, get up.”

 

Cassian brushed the dirt off Damia’s knees. Despite claiming to be a germaphobe, he showed no hesitation.

 

His attitude was as if Damia was somehow an exception.

 

“It won’t grow anywhere else. The promise I made to you, Young Duke, might come to nothing.”

 

Feeling something welling up inside her, Damia bit her lips tightly.

 

“We don’t even know how long the contact will remain effective.”

 

“It doesn’t matter. I was terminal anyway.”

 

“I know. That’s why we’re bound by contract. But now….”

 

“You promised to buy me time, not cure me completely. You’ve already fulfilled that role sufficiently.”

 

“But….”

 

“The rest is my problem to handle.”

 

She had thought he would be greatly disturbed, but Cassian was surprisingly composed.

 

“I have no intention of breaking the contract. Rather, I should be the one begging you.”

 

“What?”

 

“Right now, the only treatment I have left is contact with you.”

 

“I can hold your hand as much as you want, even every day.”

 

As Damia sniffled, the corners of Cassian’s mouth turned up slightly.

 

“There must be a way. Looking at how they burned everything, it seems they didn’t know exactly what to destroy.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Dragon’s Bane is said to change its appearance with each era.”

 

“Dragon’s Bane?”

 

It was a name she was hearing for the first time. It seemed Cassian had been investigating these weeds for quite some time without Damia knowing.

 

“You didn’t know?”

 

He tilted his head slightly.

 

“You didn’t know that was Dragon’s Bane? Then how did you figure out it would be effective against my curse?”

 

“Um… As I told you before, I had a dream. I don’t know anything.”

 

Cassian let out a short sigh.

 

His expression showed he was troubled by whether that was really the only basis she had.

 

“Then, that Dragon’s Bane thing….”

 

“A plant that kills dragons. It’s known to have gone extinct long ago. They also say it’s hard to find because its appearance changes with the times.”

 

Befitting a descendant of The Man Who First Slew the Dragon, he had much information that Damia didn’t know.

 

“It’s just hard to establish initially, but after that it’s difficult to uproot. Burning is the best method, but even the smoke is lethal to dragons and magical beasts.”

 

Cassian pointed with his toe at the dead wolf-like magical beast.

 

“This is probably a magical beast, not a wolf. They often inject magic into animals to use them as minions.”

 

“Then did it die because of the Dragon’s Bane? Come to think of it, it was strange that there were no wounds.”

 

“Probably.”

 

“Did the dragonkin find out everything? That I was growing Dragon’s Bane too?”

 

“We need to clean up so they can’t be certain.”

 

Cassian’s voice lowered.

 

“This time was probably just a warning. They would have thought you’d return here if something big happened to the viscount.”

 

He gazed at the garden with sunken eyes.

 

“If you had been growing Dragon’s Bane here, they would have tried to burn it at this opportunity.”

 

“….”

 

“But they probably didn’t have high expectations. They would have considered it more likely that you were getting it from somewhere else rather than cultivating Dragon’s Bane yourself.”

 

Cassian’s gaze became sharp. Damia clenched both hands.

 

“Not just anyone can grow Dragon’s Bane. Even if House of Ponti has deep knowledge of herbs, this is….”

 

Damia bit her lips tightly. She didn’t know how to answer.

 

“Let’s sort out the situation first and talk again.”

 

He took something from his waist. It was a small dagger. He seemed to carry it with him regularly.

 

“If the corpse stays in this condition, it will arouse suspicion. We need to wound it to make it look like the knights dealt with it.”

 

Cassian roughly lifted the wolf-like magical beast’s head with his gloved hand.

 

“Close your eyes, Damia.”

 

He slit the magical beast’s throat without hesitation. Blood splattered and stained the dirt ground.

 

Cassian seemed already accustomed to such acts.

 

“Why are you watching? I told you to close your eyes.”

 

“Maybe later… there might come a situation where I have to clean up alone.”

 

Damia replied clearly despite trembling.

 

“Do you think I’d let that happen?”

 

“There might be unavoidable circumstances. When I return home, you can’t always be by my side, Young Duke.”

 

Cassian frowned as if displeased.

 

“You’re still planning to return to the Viscount’s Manor? Even after seeing this?”

 

“Anyway, this is my home.”

 

The two faced each other as if in confrontation. Since neither would back down, silence continued.

 

Finally, Cassian sighed.

 

“Fine. But promise me one thing.”

 

“What promise?”

 

“I’ll renovate the entire Viscount’s Manor. I’ll also deploy the highest level of security personnel. This is non-negotiable.”

 

That was closer to a notification than a proposal. There was no justification to refuse.

 

“Understood, Young Duke. Given how things have turned out, Father will be pleased too.”

 

As Damia nodded, he smiled with satisfaction.

 

“You go get in the carriage first.”

 

Cassian began giving instructions to the knights as he left the backyard.

 

“….”

 

Damia slowly looked around the nearly burned manor. There weren’t really any memories worth mentioning.

 

Father was someone she couldn’t love, and her only memories—her mother’s belongings—had all been disposed of by Father.

 

Damia headed to where she had planted the Dragon’s Bane. Crouching in front of the burned garden, tears came from sadness.

 

‘Huh?’

 

The moment her fingertips brushed against it, one crumbled leaf trembled very slightly.

 

Had she seen wrong because of her tears?

 

Damia wiped away her tears and touched the weeds.

 

That’s when it happened. Light flashed briefly where she touched.

 

The ashen leaves began to gradually turn green.

 

‘It’s not my imagination.’

 

Damia quickly reached for other weeds.

 

Like releasing breath that had been held all at once, new shoots popped up between the crumbled traces.

 

Damia looked down at her fingertips. This was… not simply making plants grow well.

 

Making the Young Duke’s heart beat again was already miracle enough.

 

At some point, certainty settled in Damia’s eyes.

 

She brought both hands to the dirt ground. If she did this, the effect might spread to a wider range.

 

“Miss!”

 

It was Romi who had followed belatedly. Damia was startled and pulled her hands away.

 

“What are you doing!”

 

Romi ran over with a distressed face. She seemed to think Damia had collapsed from heartbreak.

 

“Why are you touching dirt? No matter how upset you are, still!”

 

Startled, Damia quickly brushed off her hands. Bits of soil came away.

 

“No… I didn’t do anything.”

 

Damia replied awkwardly and turned around. She tried to stand up, but staggered as if blood wasn’t circulating properly in her legs.

 

“Miss!”

 

Romi hurriedly ran over and supported Damia. Damia leaned on Romi and barely managed to regain her balance.

 

“What in the world…”

 

“What, what’s wrong?”

 

Romi’s gaze was fixed on something behind Damia. Her eyes were wide with shock, and her lips were half-open in astonishment.

 

“Miss, what on earth is happening?”

 

Pop, pop.

 

There was a sound of something bursting and springing up from behind.

 

Damia reflexively turned around.

 

The ash-colored leaves were all blooming at once, as if awakening from a long sleep.

 

Around them, translucent purple light spread like ripples on water.

 

“Miss, just now… what did you do?”

 

Romi trembled like someone who had witnessed a miracle.

 

In her gentle, calf-like eyes, awe and shock appeared simultaneously.

 

Damia’s heart pounded as if it would burst.

 

“I, I don’t know either.”

 

That was all she could say.

 

But her mind began racing without rest.

 

The vague plan she had set up might need adjustments.

 

After all, such an absurd ability had been completely outside her calculations.

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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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