I Proposed Because You Were Terminally Ill - Chapter 78

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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 78

“Romi once said that all the servants who were kicked out of the viscount’s mansion lost contact completely. I found that suspicious, so while investigating, I found one of them.”

Cassian’s red eyes darkened ominously.

“The condition was terrible. They couldn’t even remember their own name, and their cognition was so damaged that conversation was nearly impossible.”

“Could it be… they were tortured?”

“That possibility can’t be ignored, but there was something that couldn’t be explained by that alone.”

Cassian seemed to choose his words for a moment, then whispered low.

“They reacted to magic amplifiers. Just like how I suffered because of that handkerchief.”

“What? That’s possible?”

“If you continuously inject magic at a level that won’t kill a person, their mind deteriorates. There are records that if this state continues, it becomes a kind of brainwashing.”

It sounded familiar. When Guanglong was still rampaging around, it was also a method the Dragon Clan used to collapse numerous families from within.

Though it was content that only appeared in history books now.

“Eventually, they can turn that target into a puppet that has lost its sense of self. If controlled properly, there’s no better spy.”

“Turning a perfectly normal person into a puppet?”

Damia bit her lips tightly. The expression ‘puppet’ was too chilling to be a simple metaphor.

“Drury Soro’s claim about having her engagement ring stolen was probably self-orchestrated anyway. Even the Prince didn’t believe that story.”

“Are you saying it was a scheme to frame Romi?”

“Probably.”

“You mean they could have used that excuse to take Romi back, then turned her into a puppet and sent her back?”

“It’s just a hypothesis, but yes. The possibility is sufficient.”

Was the reason Cassian avoided Damia’s eyes today because he had to have such a heavy conversation?

“There’s only one reason I can think of for going to such lengths to attach a spy to me.”

Damia swallowed a sigh.

“The Soro Viscount Family… might be connected to the Dragon Clan.”

“I can’t make hasty conclusions, but I believe the possibility is high.”

“Since Miss Drury is even engaged to His Highness the Prince, we can’t recklessly touch them without evidence.”

“Right. We can’t confirm how far the corruption spreads or who they’re connected to.”

Cassian looked directly at Damia. His red eyes held sincere concern.

“I don’t want to stop you from doing whatever you want to do.”

“I know. You’re even making this workshop for me.”

“But I want you to know that the outside world is more dangerous than you think. Because I might not be able to keep protecting you forever.”

“…What?”

Damia hesitated. An indescribable sense of unease passed through her.

“Why are you talking like it’s the end? Are you going somewhere far away?”

“…No.”

“Then why?”

“We should prepare for when the contract ends too. The deadline is set anyway.”

“That’s… true.”

For someone who drew the line first, Cassian’s face somehow looked lonely.

* * *

Damia, who had returned to the viscount’s manor, stopped by the garden and encountered Romi.

“Did the Young Count leave first?”

“Yeah. Arsene went back too.”

Romi was watering the plants. Except for the dragon-slaying grass that Damia had instructed to leave alone.

“Oh right. What are you going to use the soil from the Midnight Greenhouse for?”

“I’m still thinking about it. I have a use in mind, but I’m not sure if it will really succeed.”

Damia was carefully keeping the soil sample she had brought from the wetland garden.

“It really is mysterious. Why does the soil sparkle?”

The abandoned theater’s underground waterway was an environment where plants couldn’t easily grow.

Yet in the wetland garden, all kinds of plants grew luxuriantly, including luminous grass, which was particularly difficult to cultivate.

Damia thought the secret lay in this soil. If this soil was the ‘light soil’ mentioned in ancient texts, it wouldn’t be an impossible story.

‘I need to find a way to mass-produce the cure.’

Dragon-slaying grass had such strong vitality that it would spread uncontrollably if left alone, but it needed Damia’s constant care.

Until now, there was no big problem since she only had to think about Cassian, but there was no guarantee it would always be that way.

In her previous life, there had never been contagious demons.

But in this life, someday not just Cassian but others might need dragon-slaying grass too.

She needed to find a way to cultivate dragon-slaying grass in larger quantities than now.

For that, it would need to be able to grow naturally without problems in places other than Ponti Viscount’s Estate’s backyard, and without Damia’s touch.

‘Can I succeed?’

She had set it aside thinking it was impossible until now, but she had to achieve it somehow.

She didn’t know what would happen in the future, and Damia might move to Rodion.

“By the way, it was fortunate that Lord Cassian didn’t seem to recognize you, miss. Ah, is it right to call this fortunate…”

Romi glanced at Damia and closed her mouth.

“Did it look that way to you too? Did he really not notice?”

“Hmm, if he had noticed, there would be no reason not to say anything, right?”

“…True.”

“The Young Count is so overprotective of you, miss. If he had noticed, he’d probably still be nagging beside me right now.”

That was true. Damia briefly swallowed a sigh.

“Miss, you’re not bothered by what happened that day, are you?”

“Huh?”

“It’s not necessarily something to view negatively. It means the Young Count was ultimately attracted to you in any form, miss.”

“I suppose you could see it that way.”

“Maybe he was particularly kind because he sensed something of you, miss, in that stranger.”

Romi desperately offered a positive interpretation.

‘But that day… it was an expression I’d never seen before.’

It was the first time she’d seen Cassian look so flustered.

No, to be precise, it was a look that seemed excited.

‘Was black hair his preference?’

He might have found a voice lower than Damia’s charming. Perhaps he preferred a generally more mature type.

Despite only being two years apart, considering how he always treated her like a little sister…

‘Could it be he preferred older women?’

Anyway, it wasn’t something Damia needed to worry about.

“I’ll go in first.”

“Yes, miss!”

Her mood inexplicably sank. Damia petted the dragon-slaying grass a few times before returning to her room.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have sent a card along when returning the coat.’

It was a card she had included out of courtesy, thinking Cassian would never contact her.

If she were a noblewoman from Rodion, that is, a cheerful and leisurely young lady who was the complete opposite of Damia, it seemed like the natural thing to do…

‘Maybe I actually wanted to keep in contact with Cassian while hiding my identity.’

It was a contradictory emotion that even Damia couldn’t understand.

Still, if Cassian really did contact the address written on that card…

‘I think I’d feel a little bad.’

Her heart beat irregularly. It was not a very pleasant rhythm.

* * *

Count Joel Fabron was in a very good mood these days.

He was certain to seize tremendous fortune soon.

However, a very subtle anxiety was gnawing at his nerves.

“Still no word?”

“Yes. My apologies, Count.”

The reason for his impatience was singular: his investment partner known as ‘L’, who had been out of contact for several days.

Not much was known about L for certain, but the prevailing theory was that he was a quite promising young noble from the Kingdom of Rhodion.

The reason he wouldn’t reveal his real name was also rumored to be because he was such a big shot.

‘There’s nothing particularly suspicious about it.’

Fabron had blind faith in his own judgment.

L’s respectable appearance, refined speech, and the dignity that emanated from his attire were not the kind of things that vulgar swindlers could imitate.

“It seems he hasn’t been going to Vesper Street at all lately.”

Fabron roughly stroked his chin.

Though L had an impressive build for a noble and scars all over his body, he had thought it reasonable given that he was devoted to swordsmanship at a young age.

No matter how much he mulled it over, there were no other suspicious aspects.

“Since he invested as much as he recommended, there’s no way he would unilaterally cut ties with me now.”

“Perhaps some urgent matter arose and he returned to his home country?”

That was the most reasonable deduction, though it wasn’t welcome.

“Then it’ll take quite some time for him to return.”

Fabron’s once-relaxed mouth went completely dry.

Mine development required enormous capital.

To break through solid bedrock, they would need to blast the mountain, and for that, they needed the power of mages who were already nearly extinct.

At minimum, they needed to obtain magic stones condensed with their magical power. Being so rare, the price was whatever they asked for.

In truth, it wasn’t a business to jump into recklessly. He too had planned to entice people like Viscount Ponti to invest first, then carefully assess the situation.

However, before he could execute that plan, numerous rumors that stimulated Fabron’s greed followed in succession.

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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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