Please Repay Me with Marriage! - Chapter 23

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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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Please repay me with marriage!
Chapter 23
The carriage came to a complete halt, and the guard captain cleared his throat to steady his voice before knocking politely on the side panel.
“Excuse me, Lord Blair. I’m going to open the carriage door for a moment.”
“Of course.”
Only those who have been cleared may enter and leave, so every carriage passing through the Imperial Palace’s main gate is inspected on the way in and again on the way out.
There was only one exception: the carriage carrying the Emperor.
“Just as when you came in, I’ve confirmed that only Lord Blair and Count Elpias are inside.”
The guard captain gave the interior a quick glance and that was that.
Lloyd was dumbfounded that the inspection ended there. He knew better than anyone how thorough the captain’s checks normally were, having suffered through them himself.
“What kind of inspection is this… Gah!”
“We’re on official duty. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interfere.”
The knight who shoved Lloyd aside without hesitation regarded him with a gaze as cold as ice.
Under that bored, dismissive stare, Lloyd finally understood. He had truly become a kite with its string cut.
‘No… Why? What did I do wrong?’
He honestly could not comprehend it. He had never committed a transgression grave enough to warrant being turned away like this, at least not one that would have reached the Emperor.
How could he have? He had never once seen the Emperor’s face up close.
“So what’s happening here? That man over there… unless my eyes deceive me, he looks like young master Mathias. Why isn’t he going inside? What’s he doing?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. He’s been barred from the palace as of today, yet he keeps insisting we let him in. So we were just driving him off.”
“Goodness, what on earth did he do to get banned from the Imperial Palace?”
“I don’t know the exact reason, but His Majesty seems to be deeply furious. He must have committed some grave insult against him.”
“Heavens. If it were me, I’d have gone home at once, if only out of remorse. I can’t imagine what sort of face he has, begging to be let in.”
“Exactly my thoughts.”
The guard captain and Irene laughed merrily as they chatted, as though Lloyd, standing right there, were invisible.
Lloyd’s face flushed crimson with humiliation, and he trembled from head to toe.
Yet what shamed him most was the sight of Leonard seated beside Irene, looking down at him.
“…So that’s it. I couldn’t make sense of what was going on, but now that I see how things stand, it all makes sense. Leonard Elpias! It’s you again! You’re the one dragging me down again!”
“I have no idea what you’re babbling about.”
Leonard replied curtly, and as though he didn’t consider Lloyd worth arguing with, he murmured to Irene.
“We’re wasting time. Let’s go home.”
“Shall we?”
Irene smiled warmly at Leonard, then gave the guard captain a nod to signal that they were taking their leave.
Just as the captain nodded and moved to close the carriage door himself, a harsh laugh burst from Lloyd’s lips.
“What a pathetic creature! Useless, yet you cling to a woman and spout pillow talk like this? Leonard Elpias! Do you have no pride as a man at all?”
“You sound awfully envious, going on and on like that.”
“W-what?”
Leonard’s gaze finally turned to Lloyd. Since he was seated in the carriage, he naturally looked down on the man outside.
His look was like one tossing scraps to a stray, brimming with contempt.
“Do you think that by belittling me with words like that, my fiancée will take a second look at you? It’s truly unsightly, the way you flail about trying to snatch even a sliver of attention.”
Shaking his head slowly, Leonard murmured just loudly enough for everyone to hear, as if talking to himself.
“Aren’t you ashamed of being dumped? If it were me, I’d be too mortified to lift my head.”
At least two snorts rang out, undoubtedly from the guards, including the guard captain.
Lloyd’s face was now so red that one feared it might burst.
“Y-you… you… Who was dumped?!”
“Finally feeling embarrassed, are you?”
“Ray, that’s enough. Young master Mathias must have some pride left, surely.”
Irene, who seemed to be trying to stop him while in fact adding fuel to the fire, grated on Lloyd even more. But her grating voice did not end there.
“I’m sorry about what happened back then. But I simply prefer a strong man who can protect me.”
As if to say that this man was exactly that, Irene clung to Leonard’s arm and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Thankfully, the nasal bone Ray broke seems to have healed nicely. Your face looks fine, so I’m sure you’ll find another fiancée soon. Good luck!”
With that not-quite-encouragement, the Blair family’s lord carriage carrying Irene and Leonard quietly drove away.
Left behind, Lloyd watched the receding carriage until its door shut, and only then did he belatedly come to his senses.
“W-wait…!”
“This is your last warning. Keep pestering us and you’ll find yourself dragged off to prison.”
“If you’re so desperate to get into the palace, by all means, go ahead and make a bigger scene.”
The guards’ eyes, fixed on Mathias, were full of disdain.
‘Could a man like that have become one of my subordinates?’
‘Wasn’t there some kind of corruption behind it all?’
Someone nearby muttered as much.
Though humiliation made his whole body shake, there was nothing Lloyd could do. He could hardly throw down a gauntlet against the guards who stood watch over the Imperial Palace’s gates.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it…! Leonard Elpias…!”
Some nobody who crawled out of God knows where, and yet he keeps getting in the way of my life like this!
Lloyd nursed his grudge against Leonard as he returned home with nothing to show for his day.
Then, at his father’s hand, he received a Confinement Order after learning that an Imperial decree had barred him from the Imperial Palace.
Just like the Second Prince, who had been thoroughly scolded by the Emperor.

* * *
Inside the rattling carriage, Irene glanced out the window and let out a thoughtful “hmm.”
‘So Lloyd Mathias has been banned from the Imperial Palace, huh…’
In other words, Lloyd had been pushed out of the Second Prince’s faction. Someone who couldn’t even set foot in the palace could hardly remain the Second Prince’s confidant.
‘What do you know. Even the rotten rope he was clinging to has snapped clean through?’
Lloyd Mathias had originally been slated to join the Imperial Knights as the top graduate of the Military Academy.
But after he suffered such a humiliating defeat in his duel with Leonard, doubts arose over whether he had truly graduated first, and his admission was revoked.
Afterward, the Crown Princess led an inspection team through the Military Academy, and it uncovered a host of problems: teachers who took bribes to rig scores, nobles who bullied commoners, and so on.
But there was no corruption related to the graduation exams among them. Lloyd Mathias had truly earned the top spot through his own ability.
Of course, that didn’t mean the canceled chance to join the knights would ever come back.
Despite being a Military Academy graduate, he’d had his knight appointment shamefully revoked? Few paths remained open to a man like Lloyd.
And on top of that, he had gone and provoked the Emperor’s wrath.
‘If it were me, I’d just retreat to my territory and live like a dead man.’
Who knows? If he showed some distinction, whether in managing his territory or in some business venture, the Emperor might look at him differently.
‘Though sadly, he doesn’t have the ability for that.’
As Irene recalled how poorly Lloyd Mathias had fared even before the regression and a smirk tugged at one corner of her mouth, Leonard, who had been lost in thought as well, checked outside the window as though he had suddenly remembered something.
“Where are we heading right now?”
“Home, of course. Oh, but I need to pack first. I’ll tell him to take us to Ivy Street.”
Irene rapped on the wall herself to change the destination. While the driver acknowledged and turned the horses around, Leonard opened his mouth with an awkward expression.
“Now that I think about it, I didn’t tell you in advance. I have to go repay my debt to Miles County.”
“Oh…”
You can’t go.
Irene nearly blurted those words out loud.
She knew. She knew what would happen in Elpias County while Leonard was away settling his debt.
“You have to go yourself? Can’t you send someone else?”
“My schedule is tight, and sending someone else carries too much risk. They’ve extended the repayment deadline several times already, and this is the final extension.”
Elpias absolutely has to meet this repayment deadline.
Otherwise, it would prove that Elpias couldn’t pay its debts, and Miles would gain the Right of Self-Repayment, allowing them to take whatever they wished from Elpias in place of the unpaid principal.
In the past, Leonard had put the Family Heirloom Sword up for auction thanks to the Second Prince and Lloyd’s scheming, and still couldn’t repay the debt.
And the one Count Miles demanded from Leonard in return was none other than Zenis.
To be precise, he wanted to settle the debt with the dowry Zenis was supposed to bring as a bride.
‘I can’t keep Ray here.’
For now, paying off the debt and clearing it is the priority.
Irene let out a short sigh and smiled at Leonard.
“Then there’s no help for it. To Miles County… that’s about ten days round trip from here, right?”
“I expect to reach Miles County in three days, so I should be able to return sooner than that.”
“Don’t push yourself too hard. You know you can’t get hurt anywhere, right? You’re getting married to me in a month.”
With that, Irene pursed her lips slightly toward Leonard.
She expected his lips to come down right away, but Leonard only blinked in confusion.
Irene, too, was inwardly flustered by his reaction.
‘I must have misjudged.’
Being near Leonard had brought out an old habit.
Fortunately, as a businesswoman, her poker face was thoroughly airtight.
Irene didn’t betray a hint of her embarrassment and asked Leonard in a composed voice.
“What are you doing?”
“What am I doing…?”
“It’s not like you don’t know what it is.”
Irene wrapped her arms around his waist so he couldn’t escape, and pushed her lips forward again. Then she closed her eyes.
“Seems you didn’t read the contract properly, but when we have to be apart for more than a day, we’re supposed to share a kiss of reluctance.”

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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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