I Proposed Because You Were Terminally Ill - Chapter 77

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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 77

This had already become a problem regardless of whether the other party was Damia Ponti or not.

‘Because there’s no way it’s not Damia.’

Her hair color, voice, age, even her dress preferences and way of speaking were all different.

But Cassian’s suspicion was close to certainty.

There couldn’t be many noble ladies who would touch soil so unhesitatingly.

There couldn’t be many people who possessed that way of speaking that made him bristle, that clearly got under his skin yet he couldn’t bring himself to hate.

Moreover, that woman had introduced herself as a noblewoman from Rodion and even mentioned her agent L.

‘Alec said it seemed like Damia was active under that kind of name. He also said L was Luke.’

But among all that evidence, more than anything else…

‘When I held her hand, it wasn’t unpleasant at all.’

Even though she was wearing gloves.

But if he acknowledged all of this, it would mean he had been excited by Damia just because she had dressed up a little more maturely than usual.

‘Damn it, by a kid who’s a full two years younger!’

He had even declared that he thought of Damia like a younger sister.

He absolutely couldn’t acknowledge it. But not acknowledging it was also a problem.

Even if it was unlikely, even if that noblewoman from Rodion really was a completely separate person from Damia.

Him being a screw-loose fool enchanted by a woman he’d just met – that he could let slide.

The real problem was…

‘I thought she resembled Damia.’

The fact that his heart had raced even though he clearly thought that.

No, perhaps he had been excited precisely because of that.

‘No matter which conclusion I reach, there’s no answer!’

In the end, he had either been excited by Damia’s unfamiliar appearance, or he had been excited by discovering aspects that resembled Damia in another person.

He had tried so hard to rationalize the emotions that ran wild whenever he saw Damia under the pretext of her being like a younger sister… Had that reached its limit now?

Cassian became extremely anxious. His heart, which had been gradually stopping due to the curse and whose beats had grown faint, felt like it was pounding loudly.

Bang!

“No, Young Count. Why are you banging your head on the desk…”

He could hear Alec’s shocked protest, but Cassian felt like biting his tongue.

It was an emotion he absolutely couldn’t acknowledge.

* * *

Arsene, who had taken over the neighboring house, now came and went from the Ponti Viscount’s Estate like it was his own home.

Damia guided him to the tea table in the garden at the rear of the manor.

“Did you hear the rumor, Damia?”

“Wh-what rumor?”

Damia pretended not to know even though she clearly knew what her innocent childhood friend was about to bring up.

Sure enough, Arsene drooped his eyebrows as if feeling sorry.

“About your fiancé the Young Count’s promiscuous behavior.”

“…Huh?”

Damia swallowed her breath.

‘It’s already reached even Arsene.’

Despite the modifier of being an anonymous society’s secret salon, it seemed like the entire West already knew what had happened that night.

“Do you know what kind of rumors are going around?”

“Well, I think I know… but also don’t…”

At Damia’s ambiguous response, worry appeared in Arsene’s sky-blue eyes.

“They say he attended some secretive social gathering and promised a future with some foreign woman he’d never seen before.”

“…What?”

Damia barely held back the urge to hold her forehead.

‘How do rumors get inflated to that extent?’

If a few more days passed, it seemed like stories would spread about Cassian falling in love and fleeing to Rodion.

“It probably isn’t… that serious.”

“What do you mean it isn’t.”

Arsene’s voice was very serious.

“Even if it’s an engagement arranged by your mothers’ will, the Young Count can’t do this. Right, Romi?”

When Damia showed a lukewarm response, Arsene turned to Romi for reinforcement.

“Huh. M-me?”

Romi, who had been quietly serving tea and trying to withdraw, froze in surprise.

“Yeah, you say something too. Isn’t this really too much?”

“B-but Young Master Arsene.”

Romi glanced around nervously before carefully opening her mouth.

“The Young Count feeling attraction to another person isn’t necessarily a bad thing for you, is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“It could be an opportunity for you… um… I mean…”

“No, this isn’t that kind of problem. And I don’t want to use something like that as an opportunity.”

Arsene shook his head firmly.

“The Young Count is committing a great discourtesy to his fiancée right now. As a friend, I can’t just stand by and watch this.”

“Even so, this doesn’t seem like something you should interfere with.”

At that sharp voice, Arsene, who had been venting his indignation, stiffened.

“Oh my, the Young Count is here! I should quickly go get more teacups!”

As soon as Romi saw Cassian, she quickly disappeared.

She seemed happy to have an excuse not to get involved in the uncomfortable atmosphere.

‘Can I go with her?’

Damia swallowed a sigh and gripped her skirt tightly.

She had thought that brief contact that barely even counted as touching was nothing, but the moment she saw Cassian, her heart seemed to drop.

“Good day, Young Count.”

“Not particularly good. I witnessed you meddling presumptuously as soon as I got here.”

“That was presumptuous interference? That can’t be. I’m Damia’s closest friend.”

“Ha, only acting like a friend at times like this.”

A cool silence flowed between Cassian and Arsene.

“Wh-what brings you here, Lord Cassian?”

As the atmosphere between the two became hostile, Damia quickly intervened.

“…”

When she stepped forward and made eye contact, Cassian reflexively dropped his gaze.

‘Huh? What’s this?’

It was a completely un-Cassian-like reaction.

“Is something… wrong?”

Something was strange.

Damia took another step closer and looked up at Cassian. It was close enough for their breaths to touch.

At that moment, Cassian’s red eyes turned toward Damia.

‘Huh? This situation is similar to that time.’

She remembered the moment they had been alone together in the midnight greenhouse, and on the stairs returning to the banquet hall.

Realizing this fact, her cheeks grew hot. She couldn’t say anything.

“…Damia?”

She heard Arsene’s puzzled voice from behind her. Only then did she snap back to her senses.

“I have something to discuss about your workshop.”

Though his tone was extremely businesslike, Cassian couldn’t meet Damia’s eyes again.

“Leave that guy behind and come.”

Even so, keeping Arsene away remained the same.

* * *

Damia’s new studio was prepared between Ponti Viscount’s Estate and Arsene’s estate.

“I’m grateful that your childhood friend who’s like a sister allowed this.”

“A sister? Arsene is a boy, you know.”

To build a studio that would satisfy Cassian, they had to utilize the idle land between the two estates.

So they needed permission from Arsene’s family, who had once again become the owners of the neighboring estate.

Fortunately, Arsene readily cooperated, and the workers Cassian had called were just beginning the foundation work.

‘Why hasn’t he said a single word about what happened that day?’

Since the rumors had spread so widely, he could have at least made excuses or apologized out of courtesy.

But Cassian stubbornly kept his mouth shut.

She couldn’t tell if he was deliberately avoiding her because he had figured out the identity of the Rodion noblewoman, or if he simply didn’t feel the need to explain himself to Damia, who was merely a contract partner.

“About Romi.”

“R-Romi?”

Why was he suddenly looking for Romi?

Had he noticed that she was with Romi that day too? Damia’s heart sank.

“It seemed suspicious that Drury Soro was trying to frame Romi of all people, so I did some background investigation.”

“Ah… you mean that incident where Lady Drury’s engagement ring went missing?”

Contrary to Damia’s expectations, Cassian seemed to have no interest in the Midnight Greenhouse incident at all.

“Maybe she just wanted to torment me? I did practically steal Romi away from her.”

“You said Romi showed symptoms of vomiting that day? And she’s never had anything like that since then.”

“Yes, that’s right. I thought it was because she was nervous.”

“She did flee from the Viscount’s mansion, so she could have been intimidated. But… she didn’t seem like the type to get that nervous.”

Cassian narrowed his eyes as if lost in thought. Damia also unconsciously recalled Romi at the salon.

She was certainly different from during Drury’s coming-of-age ceremony. Back then, Romi had gone beyond simply being nervous—it was as if her body was having some kind of rejection reaction.

“Don’t you think Romi reacted to that strange smell at Soro Viscount’s household?”

Damia realized this was why he had come to see her today.

“You mean the magic amplifier? You said humans are rarely affected unless it’s a special case.”

“Right, there’s almost no effect unless you’re cursed like me.”

Cassian slowly nodded his head.

“What if someone had been poisoned by magic over a long period of time?”

“What? What do you mean by that?”

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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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