I Proposed Because You Were Terminally Ill - Chapter 64

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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 64

The trembling in his fingertips had not yet subsided. His ragged breathing showed no signs of calming down either.

Still, comforting his fiancée who was in his arms came first.

Cassian gently patted Damia’s thin back.

“….”

When he brushed the hair that had stuck to her cheek with cold sweat behind her ear, the girl’s pale cheek was revealed.

Even though it was a face he saw almost every day, today it felt strangely unfamiliar as if he was seeing it for the first time.

His heart churned uneasily.

“Damia.”

“Young Count….”

“Are you okay?”

Moisture welled up in Damia’s violet eyes.

“Why are you the one comforting me, Young Count….”

Cassian’s mind was extremely confused. It was difficult to understand exactly what had happened.

But a few things were certain.

That Damia had subdued whatever had been rampaging to dominate him.

And the terrible fact that he had almost harmed Damia, and everyone else.

“Why do you look like that? Don’t tell me you’re still hearing that strange voice?”

When Cassian said nothing, Damia sat up.

The girl who had suddenly come close placed her hand on his forehead.

“You don’t have a fever now….”

The distance was too close. He could even clearly see the teardrops hanging from the tips of Damia’s long eyelashes.

At that moment, a heavy thump resonated through his chest.

“Young Count…?”

Damia looked up at him with a puzzled expression.

Seeing those moist eyes made his throat tighten.

It felt like someone was squeezing his heart.

But it was completely different from the pain he had experienced earlier.

A much sweeter, more ticklish, and dangerous emotion filled his chest.

Thump.

His heart, which normally wouldn’t budge, began to beat wildly on its own.

“Don’t tell me you’re still hearing that voice?”

“…No, I’m not.”

All the strength in his body drained away in an instant.

“Young Count, you can’t collapse!”

Damia embraced him as if to support him. Cassian bit down hard inside his mouth.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. More than that, I told you before… to call me by my name.”

Damia was buried in his chest and couldn’t see what expression Cassian was making right now.

That was fortunate. Damia shouldn’t know.

His expression was obvious even without seeing it.

It would be such a dazed expression that even the oblivious Damia would immediately notice something was wrong.

“What? Don’t tell me you don’t remember what happened?”

“….”

“Young Count!”

“I told you to call me by my name.”

“Good heavens. You must have hit your head.”

Damia began chattering seriously, but he was unconsciously just holding the girl’s small head tightly.

“I can’t breathe. Let go of this!”

“….”

“Cassian!”

Finally, Damia shouted loudly.

The moment she called his name, all the strength drained from Cassian’s body.

It felt like not only his hands but even his facial muscles were disarmed.

Even though it was a serious situation, he buried his head in Damia’s shoulder, afraid she might catch his melted expression.

“Are you really okay?”

Damia seemed to misunderstand his reaction and embraced Cassian’s back with trembling hands.

“I’m not okay. So stay still.”

“Are you still in a lot of pain?”

Damia stopped struggling and became docile.

She began carefully stroking his back as if comforting a patient.

Cassian closed his eyes at his fiancée’s touch, which felt full of responsibility.

He wanted to continue acting spoiled like this.

“…I’m sorry.”

“That’s not something you should apologize for, Cassian.”

Damia seemed to already have an idea of what had happened to Cassian.

“It wasn’t my will, but if you hadn’t stopped me, I might have done something irreversible.”

“Still….”

“Ever since we left Viscount Soro’s mansion, I’ve been hearing a strange voice in my head. Rather than a hallucination, it felt like something deep inside me had awakened.”

“Has this happened before?”

“It’s rare, but when I’m in really bad condition, I apparently become quite violent. They say I speak and act differently than usual.”

“…Really?”

“I cause a brief commotion and then collapse, and when I wake up, I don’t remember any of it.”

He recalled the day he first heard that story from his mother.

Just recalling the memory made his mouth go dry.

“I thought it was just me being particularly irritable because I was in too much pain. Until today, that is.”

“….”

“I never imagined that another being was trying to take over my body….”

Cassian muttered lowly while running his hands over his face.

“Today was different somehow. This is the first time I have memories of when my consciousness was taken.”

“…That thing called itself Guanglong.”

Damia’s voice, which had been trying to act calm, trembled slightly.

“What could be the purpose of that curse? What if making you terminally ill isn’t all there is to it?”

Damia shuddered as if she was afraid just to voice that possibility.

The strength in Damia’s hand that had been patting his back increased.

“That’s very likely at this point.”

It wasn’t that Cassian wasn’t scared either.

No, a fear he had never experienced in his life ran down his spine.

Until now, he had thought the end would be his heart stopping and dying without leaving an heir.

He had already thought about how to prepare for it.

Although the men of House of Sarkis, even the collateral branches, tended to be short-lived, if he searched well, there would be at least one person with a long lifespan and capability.

He had planned to find a suitable person and have them take responsibility for the Countly House in his place.

He believed that would be for everyone’s good.

Though he couldn’t show it to anyone, Cassian had actually accepted his own death quite calmly.

But what if that wasn’t the end?

What if even after his soul and will were extinguished, only his body remained, turning him into a terrible monster like earlier?

‘I might destroy everything I’ve protected my whole life with my own hands.’

Countless retainers, the Sarkis family, his deceased father’s honor, his beloved mother’s safety, and….

His fiancée, Damia Ponti.

When his thoughts reached that point, even his head began to throb.

“….”

He gently pulled Damia away from his embrace. Then he pressed his forehead against her round forehead.

Damia flinched in surprise, but as if trying to comfort him, she didn’t pull away and stayed still.

Close enough for their breaths to touch. His own face reflected in her violet eyes was a mess.

“Don’t worry about anything.”

Nothing at all.

Cassian repeated those words like a vow.

* * *

He carried the drowsing Damia to her bedroom.

After laying her on the bed, Cassian fled to his study.

‘I need to keep my distance from Damia.’

Now that he had regained his reason, only that thought dominated Cassian’s mind.

Damia possessed too many weapons that could provoke the dragonkin.

She was no different from the most dangerous adversary to the Guanglong sleeping in Cassian’s heart under the name of a curse.

“Young Count? You’re out early today.”

How much time had passed?

His aide who had come to work offered a morning greeting, then was startled.

“Why does that handsome face of yours look so haggard today? Don’t tell me you didn’t sleep?”

“…I suppose not.”

Cassian rubbed his stiff neck and looked out the window.

The sun had already risen.

He had stayed up all night worrying about his relationship with Damia.

“Listen carefully, Alec. I need to keep my distance from Damia.”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure you will.”

“…This time it’s for real.”

“You hadn’t said that in a while. What happened this time? Is it because of that Rodion bastard?”

“….”

Cassian was serious, but Alec didn’t seem to be listening at all.

“You said Damia has been stirring up various things, right?”

“Yes, I really don’t like investigating the young lady… but since you told me to clean up the swindlers around her, I’ve been keeping watch.”

Cassian rolled his quill pen with a thoughtful expression.

“Anything unusual?”

Alec clamped his mouth shut. He clearly looked conflicted about how honest he should be.

“It seems the young lady doesn’t want people around her to know.”

Alec squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth.

“Tell me. From one to ten, everything.”

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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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