I Proposed Because You Were Terminally Ill - Chapter 8

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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 8

“For you to really be thirteen years old…”

“Wh-what about me?”

“Compared to when I was that age, you’re much smaller.”

“…What? Is that what you meant?”

It wasn’t what she had expected him to say, but it didn’t seem like he harbored any other suspicions.

Damia let out a sigh of relief.

“You’re only two years older than me, Young Duke.”

“Two years is a huge difference that can never be bridged.”

Cassian raised one eyebrow as if he alone were an adult.

“I really am thirteen. As you can see, our finances are difficult so I didn’t grow up eating properly.”

“You…”

The young boy who was about to retort bit his lips tightly. It had been a joke, but he looked serious now.

Cassian moved only his lips for a long while, then pushed the plate of cookies toward Damia.

“You need to eat a lot at your age. These are expensive, so hurry up and eat them.”

“Wow, I was actually curious about these!”

Damia bit into one of the cookies, which had been one of the gifts Cassian brought today.

The cookie crumbled and melted in her mouth with a crisp sound.

“Young Duke…!”

“…What?”

“It’s so delicious!”

It was sweet enough to make her eyes sparkle. Damia unconsciously burst into a happy laugh.

In fact, Damia loved sweets very much. Though she had no memory of eating them freely in her previous life.

When she was young, the Viscount’s Family wasn’t well off, and after marrying the count, he despised women’s gluttony.

“…That’s a relief.”

Cassian coughed softly and replied stiffly.

His straight lips seemed to twitch slightly.

‘Huh? He seems a bit proud.’

It seemed the precocious young duke still had some childlike aspects remaining.

“Anyway, at thirteen, there shouldn’t be much trouble reading, understanding, and signing a contract.”

Cassian, who quickly regained his composure, brought up his original business.

“What? Wouldn’t that be quite difficult at that age?”

“No matter how I think about it, it’s strange.”

“What’s suddenly strange now?”

“You, I mean you. You’re too small and thin to be thirteen, but your way of speaking is suspiciously mature.”

It seemed he had been thinking that Damia’s way of speaking was odd.

“I don’t have friends, so I read a lot of books instead. I guess that’s why.”

“You don’t have… friends?”

At her quick excuse, the young boy’s handsome face was stained with shock.

“Well, it’s not like I have none to the extent you need to worry… Oh, if it bothers you that your fiancée has no friends, I’ll make some from now on.”

“Ha, do you think friends grow if you plant them in the ground? You can’t just make them appear quickly because you want to.”

“You don’t seem to have many friends either, Young Duke.”

“What? You really…”

“By the way, what kind of contract are you trying to write?”

Cassian blinked his eyes slowly as if hesitating.

Eventually, the young boy opened his mouth with a sigh.

“I have so much money it’s rotting away.”

“Ah, I suppose you would… right?”

“I’m not trying to make a trivial boast. I mean there’s a lot I can give you in exchange for that medicine.”

“Wow, then can I look forward to it?”

“It would be good to document all those benefits. To make it clear that it’s compensation for a transaction, not a favor.”

“Why go to such lengths? I told you I won’t misunderstand.”

“I have no choice. It would be troublesome if you suddenly changed your position.”

That story again? At this point, is my unrequited love act too excellent?

“Keep this in mind. Even if you have some aspects I can communicate with, and even if the medicine you gave me was very effective, our relationship will never change.”

“Yes…”

What exactly do you want to do – compliment or warn me?

“I’m just trying to do my human duty to you, my benefactor.”

“Yes, yes, I understand. If it’s a contract for that purpose, I’ll sign it.”

“You…”

“As you know, I’m passionately in love with you, Young Duke, right? Since it’s something you want, I’ll try not to harbor any vain hopes.”

Cassian’s handsome face twisted with displeasure.

“…Can’t you put some soul into your words?”

“What?”

“I get the feeling you’re somehow mocking me.”

His intuition was annoyingly sharp.

“That can’t be, Young Duke. I’m really sincere.”

“Your tone is indifferent though.”

“No, it’s not. Aren’t you being too suspicious?”

When the suspicion didn’t clear from Cassian’s eyes, Damia decided it would be better to change the subject.

“But why are you so worried that I’ll cling to you, Young Duke? Do you perhaps have a young lady you’ve set your heart on?”

“What?”

“Just tell me. I’m good at giving relationship advice.”

“It’s not like that, so don’t jump to conclusions.”

‘It seems like I’m right though.’

The Cassian from her previous life had a fiancée.

Drury Soro, the beloved youngest daughter of the most prestigious Viscount’s Family in the West.

As soon as she recalled that perfect girl, the tea that had been bland from lack of tea leaves suddenly felt bitter.

‘I thought his relationship with Drury, his fiancée from the previous life, might have been emotionless too.’

Seeing how desperately Cassian insisted she must never like him, he might have been sincere about Drury.

Come to think of it, it might be quite difficult not to like a perfect girl like Drury Soro.

“It’s okay to speak honestly. I promise I won’t interfere.”

“I said it’s not like that…!”

“Yes, yes. I understand. By the way, these cookies are really delicious.”

Damia crunched the cookies nonchalantly, even making crunching sounds.

Though she wasn’t sure of the exact reason, it seemed to be an embarrassing secret of an adolescent boy.

“You really…”

Unlike the usual Cassian who carried himself with an air of near-boredom, he looked agitated.

Perhaps stimulated by Damia’s indifferent attitude, the young boy’s jaw tensed up.

“Now, calm down and try some yourself, Young Duke.”

It was just as Damia was about to hand the plate of cookies to Cassian.

“…Ugh!”

Suddenly Cassian clutched his chest area and curled up his body.

“…Young Duke?”

Startled, Damia jumped up and rushed to Cassian.

The young boy’s face, barely raised at the sound of movement, was pale as a sheet.

“Are you alright?!”

“Ha, ugh…”

“Sh-should I call someone?”

“…I’m, fine.”

Cassian forced out a few words with difficulty and immediately began coughing violently.

His beautiful face was twisted in agony from the excruciating pain.

“Fine? What’s fine about this! I’ll call for a physician right away!”

Damia stomped her feet frantically as she cried out in urgency.

However, Cassian stopped Damia.

“No. Do you want to spread ru, rumors that I’m… terminally ill?”

“Then, then….”

Not knowing what to do, Damia spotted the teacup on the table.

Inside the cup, about half of the purple medicine still remained.

“Young Duke, at least try finishing the medicine for now!”

Damia picked up the teacup and pressed it into Cassian’s hands.

Having removed the gloves he always wore at some point, his bare skin that touched hers was ice-cold.

Cassian swallowed the remaining medicine sip by sip.

Damia anxiously watched while still holding the young boy’s trembling hands.

How much time had passed?

Cassian’s gaze, having set down the teacup, turned to their bare hands that were touching.

“…Wait a moment.”

“How do you feel, are you alright?”

Just as doubt began to spread across Cassian’s straight features, dark red blood poured from his lips.

“Y-Young Duke!”

Damia’s face, usually half-indifferent, was swept with horror.

Could there have been some side effect to the medicine she had given him?

“Why… are you so surprised?”

“Because you’re currently coughing up blood, Young Duke….”

Though she knew intellectually that he was terminally ill, she hadn’t truly grasped the reality of it.

After all, Cassian usually appeared completely composed and robust.

“This much is nothing. I’m already used to it.”

Cassian bent over briefly to catch his breath, then wiped the blood from his lips.

“The engagement contract… ugh.”

“Is that really important right now?”

“I’ll send the contract separately later, so wait for it.”

Cassian calmly handled the commotion with his youthful face that still showed traces of boyishness.

“Young Duke!”

If his straight shoulders hadn’t been trembling faintly, she might have been fooled into thinking he was truly fine.

Damia’s feelings grew complicated as she witnessed for the first time the pain he endured as someone terminally ill.

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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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