If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 116

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 116
My relationship with Leonhardt had reached a standstill.
It wasn’t that our connection had stalled due to lack of progress or mutual passivity on both our parts.
It was simply that conducting our romance in this current state… weighed on my mind somewhat.
‘Perhaps it’s because I can’t entirely escape what appears on the surface?’
Through unspoken agreement, we maintained an exceedingly wholesome relationship befitting our physical ages.
At most, we held hands and occasionally exchanged the gentlest of cheek kisses—the sort of affection even children might share.
Since time would inevitably age us, I harbored no great complaints.
If anything, it felt delightfully ticklish and tender.
But that too would soon end.
I poked Leonhardt’s cheek once, pouring all my reluctance into the gesture.
Leonhardt, who had been frozen in bewilderment, startled visibly.
It seemed as though his mind had briefly departed before returning.
Yet soon after, his expression grew sullen—as though something displeased him greatly, but he lacked the words to explain it, leaving him frustrated and aggrieved.
‘I feel a bit wronged myself. But what can I do about it?’
This was the conscience of an older woman.
‘Your older sister will protect you.’
I shrugged my shoulders and shook off my reluctance.
“Two years will pass in the blink of an eye.”
Since I too hoped for that, my consoling voice carried a weight it might otherwise have lacked.
Yet Leonhardt’s reaction was decidedly more intense than mine.
He displayed his disappointment so transparently that I couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
‘What on earth was he expecting to be this disappointed?’
Today, Leonhardt seemed particularly endearing to me.
Smack.
I kissed Leonhardt’s cheek once more.
Leonhardt’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.
He appeared utterly bewildered, as though uncertain what had just transpired.
I laughed aloud and pulled Leonhardt into an embrace, then kissed his other cheek.
Smack.
Then I whispered near his ear.
“I haven’t had my birthday yet.”
“That’s true.”
Leonhardt, who had only shown sullenness moments before, now gazed intently ahead, as though counting the days remaining until my birthday.

* * *
After enough time had passed for one to visit the Market, purchase fresh cranberries, and prepare juice from scratch, the Maids arrived fashionably late, making a considerable commotion as they entered the Dance Hall.
“Oh my, have we arrived terribly late?”
“We happened to run out of fresh cranberries, you see. We were delayed preparing dried cranberries by soaking them, that’s all.”
Yet contrary to their excuse, fresh cranberries sat delicately as garnish atop the crystal glass.
To anyone’s eyes, it was merely a pretext to afford us both some time alone together.
“Wouldn’t orange juice have sufficed?”
I found it amusing watching the Maids alternate their expectant gazes between Leonhardt and myself, so I accepted the crystal glass with playful nonchalance.
“How could we possibly do that when the Young Lady expressed a desire for cranberry juice?”
“Precisely—if dried cranberries were unavailable, we would have cultivated them ourselves if necessary.”
The Maids parried my words with knowing smiles, exaggerating their winks with theatrical flair.
Despite their attempts at composure, their faces radiated such genuine delight that it was impossible not to find them endearing.
‘Indeed, observing others’ romance is the greatest entertainment, isn’t it?’
Already accustomed to their attention, I accepted it with a light heart.
Following the ‘betrothal rumors,’ the Emperor’s relentless opposition had prevented an actual engagement, yet Leonhardt and I were already an official couple in all but name.
Leonhardt was now treated almost as a prospective son-in-law.
“Thank you.”
I accepted the Maids’ thoughtfulness with a smile, then drank the refreshingly cool cranberry juice that had just been prepared.
I had forgotten my thirst while conversing with Leonhardt, but now that the juice was before me, I realized how parched I was.
Perhaps I drank too hastily, for a faint crimson stain of cranberry juice lingered at the corner of my mouth.
“Miela, look this way.”
Leonhardt naturally withdrew a handkerchief.
It was the handkerchief I had embroidered myself and gifted to him on his birthday two years prior.
‘He must have hundreds of handkerchiefs, yet he carries only this one.’
Though scarcely years had passed, the handkerchief already seemed to bear the patina of time.
‘I should embroider several more when I have the chance.’
As I waited demurely while contemplating new designs, Leonhardt carefully wiped the corner of my mouth.
I accepted his touch with familiar ease.
“Oh my.”
The Maids, genuinely invested in youthful romance, stifled delighted squeals.
Leonhardt’s ears, which betrayed his inherent shyness, flushed a deep crimson.
Before his ears could literally combust, I deftly redirected the conversation.
“Shall we conclude for today?”
The time we had claimed for dance practice was nearly exhausted anyway.
“Yes.”
Leonhardt nodded and rose from his seat, extending his hand to me.
“You’re heading to your Room?”
As intimates who knew each other’s schedules, his guess was correct on the first attempt.
“Yes, I still have several debutante invitations to write.”
It was customary for the hostess to inscribe invitations in her own hand.
While I was accustomed to such tasks, they were manageable when attendance was modest. But for a party with the scale of invitations befitting a debutante ball, even I found it rather overwhelming.
Writing too many invitations at once only left my hand aching, so I had taken to carving out time bit by bit to complete them gradually.
“How much is left?”
“About half.”
We exchanged light conversation as Leonhardt escorted me to my room.
The quick-handed maids had already prepared blank stationery and writing implements on the table.
Beside them lay several letters that had arrived for me.
With some free time on his hands, Leonhardt settled into the chair across from me.
“Ugh, I don’t want to do this.”
I pouted petulantly, pursing my lips.
My doting parents, determined to give me a debutante ball worthy of historical record, had expanded the scale enormously, so I had begun preparing invitations well in advance—yet still half remained unwritten.
The mere sight of the quill made my hand ache already.
To procrastinate, I reached for the letter opener first to check the correspondence that had arrived for me.
“I’ll do it.”
Since the handwriting would differ and he couldn’t write the invitations in my stead, Leonhardt took the letter opener from me, offering to at least help with this.
He neatly slit open the letter envelopes with the dull, blunt opener, then hesitated as he tried to hand the letters to me.
“What? What is it?”
Wondering if the contents were serious, I asked, and Leonhardt offered an explanation with a cautious glance.
“I didn’t mean to look—I just happened to see.”
As I examined the letters he carefully extended, I understood his reaction.
Every single letter contained a request to be my partner for the debutante ball.
Because the Emperor had repeatedly delayed his approval, everyone assumed we would marry, but Leonhardt and I were not yet officially engaged.
‘And a noblewoman’s marriageable years span only about three years after her debutante ball.’
Apparently believing this was their last opportunity to approach me, all those who had previously shown interest sent partnership proposals.
I merely confirmed that all the letters were partnership requests and set them aside.
‘Rejecting them all is tedious—I’ll write replies tomorrow.’
For me, rejection was obvious, but Leonhardt did not see it that way. His eyes suddenly grew anxious and uneasy.
He hastily pushed the letters to the corner and swept them away, then asked with a pitiful expression.
“Your partner is obviously me, right? Isn’t it?”
I deliberately delayed my answer.
“I don’t know? I haven’t really thought about it yet.”
It had only just occurred to me that Leonhardt had never formally requested to be my partner.
Between us, such formalities weren’t truly necessary.
But still, everyone else does it, so I want to experience it too!
I picked up the letters Leonhardt had pushed to the corner and fanned them open wide like a fan.
As I began to wave them gently, Leonhardt’s gaze followed the flutter of the pile.
“You’ve never formally proposed to be my partner, have you?”
I smiled mischievously, and Leonhardt’s face flushed with alarm as he bit his lower lip.
Then he reached out, took the stationery and quill before me, and began writing something with a serious expression. A quick glance revealed it was a letter requesting to be my partner.
‘Now? And right in front of me?’
Still, since you’re adorable, I’ll let it slide.
Watching the letter fill in real-time, I couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————