If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 151
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 151
Leonhardt froze at my brazen and shameless demand, as though I had spoken an outright lie.
He stared down at me with wide, round eyes, as if time itself had stopped for him alone in this world. Then, his face flushed a deep crimson, he swallowed hard and asked.
“…How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That I was preparing a proposal.”
I wondered if he truly believed he had been so obvious yet remained undiscovered until now.
Since he seemed genuinely convinced it had stayed hidden, I gave him a vague deflection.
“I was just guessing, but you really were preparing one?”
I tilted my head as if genuinely surprised, and Leonhardt’s expression grew deflated.
“…I took the bait without you even casting a line. Then again, what could I possibly hide from you?”
Leonhardt released a small sigh, then with an embarrassed yet resolute expression, he withdrew a black velvet box from his breast pocket.
I could see his large hand holding the box trembling ever so slightly.
As though what he held was not a ring box weighing no more than a single gold coin, but rather an enormous mass of iron.
His evident nervousness was both endearing and adorable, and my heart swelled with warmth.
Click.
Inside the carefully opened box rested a luminous pink diamond ring, cradled with reverence. The craftsmanship was elegant yet restrained—it struck perfectly at my taste.
“It’s beautiful….”
“It’s the rarest raw stone currently obtainable. I wanted to give you something truly special.”
Leonhardt whispered softly as he gently enfolded my right hand in his.
His ruby-red, crystalline eyes held only me, unwavering and true.
“Will you marry me, Miela?”
Unlike the first proposal before my regression, there were no ornate flourishes of language.
For a proposal pledging a lifetime together, it was again far too brief, yet that very plainness felt so quintessentially Leonhardt that it struck me with greater weight.
Because now I understood the gravity of sincerity contained within those words.
I took a small breath and, without the slightest hesitation, nodded.
“Yes. I will.”
The moment my consent left my lips, Leonhardt’s shoulders, which had been held so taut, suddenly relaxed.
Watching relief and joy bloom in place of that tension, I let a soft smile escape.
Thump-thump—the sound of both our hearts beating filled me with joy.
Leonhardt carefully slid the ring onto my ring finger. Over the sensation of the perfectly fitted ring, his large, warm hand overlapped mine.
Leonhardt pressed a gentle kiss to the back of my hand and whispered a vow.
“I will love only you forever, and I will do whatever it takes to ensure your happiness by my side….”
Through the touch of our lips, a warmth bloomed pleasantly in a corner of my chest.
“There’s nothing you need to do—just being together is enough to make me happy.”
I wrapped my arms around Leonhardt’s neck and kissed him.
The moment I felt the warmth and softness of his lips, Leonhardt, overcome with passion, pulled me into his embrace.
“I can’t breathe!”
Beyond that first, colorless proposal, after all the twists and turns, we finally became wholly “us” in this moment.
* * *
Before the sweet, fluffy afterglow of the proposal could fade, the harsh reality we needed to prepare for rushed toward us with relentless speed.
The day had finally arrived when the Crown Princess of the Terban Empire would enter Arcadia.
The Grand Reception Hall of the Imperial Palace.
Leonhardt, one of the officials leading the reinvestigation into the death of Grand Duke Orcain, took charge of receiving the Crown Princess.
I stood beside him as his official fiancée.
Prince had been released from confinement, but the Emperor’s orders, mindful of public opinion, prevented him from attending this gathering.
As a result, a perfect stage had been created where Leonhardt alone commanded the spotlight.
“Thank you for the warm reception. Your Highness, and Lady Roderick.”
Isabella, the Crown Princess of Tervan, was indeed a woman of formidable bearing, as the rumors suggested.
Standing in practical military dress rather than an ornate gown, her blue eyes swirled with loss and fury that she could not entirely suppress.
She offered a slight bow and delivered her greeting with unmistakable weight.
“The reinvestigation into my brother’s unjust death was the only condition Tervan presented in the peace accord. I trust the significance of that accord will not fade.”
It was a protest against using the investigation of her brother’s death as a bargaining chip in the succession struggle.
Though restrained, her words carried an unmistakable edge, and palpable tension emanated from the Tervan delegation, while the Empire’s nobles made no effort to hide their displeasure.
Yet Leonhardt remained completely unshaken by the sharp provocation. He simply met Isabella’s gaze with his calm crimson eyes and responded.
“Your Highness, the tragedy your brother suffered is deeply regrettable for the Empire as well. Please understand that selecting this case as the succession challenge reflects our determination to investigate it more thoroughly. If the throne itself hangs in the balance of finding the true culprit, then both I and the First Prince will do our utmost.”
The sharp edge in Crown Princess Isabella’s eyes softened slightly.
She seemed to recognize that this approach would yield more tangible results than mere words of effort.
Crash—!
“Your Highness! Your Highness! Forgive my rudeness!”
At that moment, the heavy doors of the Grand Reception Hall burst open violently, and the Aide rushed in with an ashen face.
It was an incident that should never occur at an official reception with delegations from foreign nations.
The brows of the Imperial Palace nobles furrowed in unison, and knights began to move, but the Aide seemed too frantic to spare any thought for propriety.
He hurried directly to Leonhardt and reported breathlessly.
“A massive fire has broken out in the Underworld! Not just one or two locations! It appears someone deliberately poured oil across entire districts and set them ablaze!”
The Aide’s words sent the Grand Reception Hall into chaos.
“What did you say? The Underworld?”
The Crown Princess of Tervan was the first to react. Her complexion turned cold as ice, and her voice, thick with fury, cut through the air.
“Is that not where my brother, Orcain, met his tragic end? A fire breaks out there on the very day I arrive in the Empire? This is clearly the culprit attempting to destroy evidence!”
As the delegation’s leader erupted in rage, the Grand Reception Hall descended into utter pandemonium in an instant.
The timing was extraordinarily suspicious.
Nobles murmured frantically, while the Empire’s ministers turned ashen, desperately searching for excuses to offer.
The culprit was obvious.
‘Prince. He’s actually gone through with something this insane.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
To destroy evidence on the very day the Crown Princess arrived, he was willing to burn an entire slum district to the ground.
It was a clear mistake to have underestimated just how reckless and extreme an uncontrolled madman could become.
But panicking now would only make the situation worse.
Amidst the chaos, only Leonhardt and I remained calm.
“Silence!”
Leonhardt’s voice cut through the air like ice.
In the Grand Reception Hall, now hushed as if doused with cold water, Leonhardt turned his serene, composed gaze toward the Aide.
“What is the current direction of the flames and the speed of their spread? Have we assessed the damage to the residential areas?”
The Aide swallowed hard and answered rapidly.
“Fortunately, the wind is blowing toward the outskirts, so civilian casualties remain minimal for now, but given the dry conditions, if suppression is delayed, it could escalate into a catastrophe! The Security Force has mobilized, but they say it is insufficient!”
I stepped closer to Leonhardt’s side and gently gripped his arm, speaking clearly enough for all to hear.
“House of Duke Roderick will provide support as well. If our Spirit Contractors intervene, they will be invaluable in extinguishing the flames.”
Then I addressed the enraged Crown Princess in a quiet voice.
“As Your Highness anticipated, it is highly probable that someone has resorted to extreme measures to conceal the truth. But the flames will be extinguished, and the truth they sought to reduce to ash cannot be buried by fire.”
It would only mean that the scene of their crime would need to be examined twice through the Spirit’s Mirror.
I exchanged a glance with Leonhardt and nodded.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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