Please Repay Me with Marriage! - Chapter 37

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

Please repay me with marriage!
Chapter 37
“You’re not serious…”
“If you won’t tell me, then at least help me pick out flowers. I’ve been unable to make up my mind for ages.”
Zenis rose from her seat and pointed at several potted plants she had set aside.
“I asked for everything with a silvery sheen, but honestly, none of these are quite silver, are they? This one’s too metallic.”
Tapping a flower whose leaves gleamed glossily, Zenis let out a short sigh.
Watching Zenis scrutinize the flowers with such earnest eyes, Leonard could not hide his bewilderment.
Wait, how long has it been since she met that bodyguard?
“You’ve already reached the point of giving flowers to that man?”
“That man?”
Zenis’s pretty face crumpled in a most unlovely way. Her reaction was a more certain answer than any words, and Leonard realized he had misunderstood something.
Just as he let out a low hum, Zenis too managed to recall which silver-haired man he meant.
“Honestly, Brother! Why would I give flowers to Sir Hawk?”
“Thomson told me. He said you received help from that knight.”
“I’ve thanked him more than enough for his help. And Sir Hawk said so himself, didn’t he? That he was only doing what his master ordered, so if I wanted to express my gratitude, I should do it to the Marquis.”
“Ah.”
At that, Leonard nodded.
‘Come to think of it, Irene had silver hair too.’
Why on earth had the knight named Hawk been the first to come to mind as the person Zenis wanted to give flowers to?
Leonard clicked his tongue. It was all Hawk’s fault, he thought, for showing up in his dreams, calling him “Brother, Brother” and acting so familiar.
‘So she means to give flowers to Irene.’
He had nearly misjudged his innocent younger sister. As if to prove it, Zenis explained clearly, making sure he understood properly.
“The person I want to give flowers to is none other than the Angel. So please pick something cute and dainty that suits an angel, Brother.”
“The Angel?”
“Oh? Don’t you know?”
Zenis’s question meant, had he not yet been introduced to Charlotte Blair? But Leonard, still unaware that the girl existed, gloriously misread her words.
“Of course I know. She’s as pretty as an angel.”
“Right? I’ve never seen anyone so pretty and lovely… I wish Mother had given us a sister like her.”
Cupping her face in both hands, Zenis let out a wistful sigh. Leonard’s brows drew together slightly.
“A younger sister? Not an older sister like that?”
“Hm? No matter how cute and adorable Charlotte is, she can’t be an older sister, can she?”
“Charlotte?”
“You don’t know who Char…lotte is?”
It was the kind of situation where asking “Who is she?” seemed unwise.
Seeing Leonard’s pupils waver sharply, Zenis clapped a hand over her mouth to hold back the laughter bursting to escape.
Excluding Charlotte, there was only one person with silver hair in the House of Blair.
“Goodness! She’s supposedly as pretty as an angel!”
“Hey, those were your words.”
“I never said she was pretty! Those words came out of your mouth, Brother!”
“…”
Had he?
He had. The word “pretty” had come from his lips first.
Well, she was pretty, after all. That much was true.
“Right? The Marquis is so pretty! Goodness, you fell for her because she’s pretty! So you made a move on her!”
“Made a move… Zenis, a lady of breeding shouldn’t speak like that. If the countess were here, she’d have struck the back of your hand with her fan…”
“Lady Sara! Lady Sara! Listen, Brother actually—!”
Zenis darted through the arched doorway like an arrow. Since he hadn’t managed to catch her, Leonard could only cover his face with his hand in resignation.
He had no idea.
Zenis’s loose tongue reached not only Lady Sara but also the House of Blair knights who had been with her, and by the time they returned to the Marquis Residence, it would surely have reached Irene’s ears as well.

* * *
“The Marquis is waiting for you. Please, go right in.”
Damond gestured politely toward the study door, but the corners of his mouth twitched as though he might burst into laughter at any moment.
He was not the only one. Every servant they had passed on the stairs and in the corridors on the way to Irene’s study had been looking at him with that same expression.
‘So you’ve fallen hard for our Marquis, have you?’
It was as if they were saying exactly that.
Thanks to that, Leonard realized the commotion at the flower shop had already spread quickly through this mansion.
Just what had been going on in this house while he’d been washing up and changing after returning to the Marquis Residence?
It seemed the servants here took a great interest in their master’s romance with him, Leonard thought as he stepped into the study.
“Coming in.”
Usually, the room where a householder receives guests is the drawing room, while the study is where one admits guests of closer acquaintance.
Unlike the drawing room, which is decorated to suit the mood of the mansion, the study is furnished entirely to the owner’s taste.
In other words, it’s the place where you can glimpse the master’s personal preferences.
Leonard, stepping into Irene’s study for the first time as her fiancé, noticed the large round lace rug spread across the floor before anything else.
Then there was the wall hung with a drawing that bore the marks of a child’s hand, and a well-pressed dried rose wreath. On the mantelpiece sat a flat music box beside a basket of yarn.
Irene was seated in a rocking chair by the fireplace. The armrests, which must once have been snow-white, had faded, suggesting the chair was quite old.
“You’re back, Ray?”
In that lived-in room, Irene greeted him with a warm smile, as though welcoming someone who had simply stepped out for the morning.
That greeting made Leonard feel as though he’d lived in this house for a very long time… and, too, as though he had truly become part of her family.
If he stood still, he feared his cheeks would start to burn, so Leonard answered her with his face set stiffly.
“Yes, I’m back.”
“Then come over here quickly and give me a welcome-home kiss. Why are you standing there like that?”
Her eyes curved into crescents as Irene tilted her head slightly and spoke in a teasing voice.
“Is it because I look like an angel that you think you’d be sacrilegious to touch me?”
“…How on earth does gossip travel so fast in this mansion?”
Watching Leonard let out a groan, Irene burst into delighted laughter.
“Goodness, you didn’t misunderstand, did you? You actually said that? Cute and lovely, too?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Right? I didn’t think so either. That’s just how rumors are, isn’t it?”
Her easy agreement left Leonard at a loss for words. Apart from those rumors, though, I’m certain the word ‘pretty’ had come out of my own mouth.
Before his lips, which had hovered between saying it and holding back, could even part, Irene gestured for him to sit, pointing at the chair across the table.
“Now then, what’s that you’re hiding behind your back?”
Irene’s gaze flicked toward the space behind Leonard. He swallowed the words he hadn’t managed to say and stepped closer to her.
“I’m not sure if this is the right moment to give it to you, but…”
What Leonard handed to Irene was a bouquet of flowers.
A lily-of-the-valley bouquet, tied and decorated with a crisp white ribbon.
“What with Zenis and everything, you’ve looked after my household so well. Yet as your fiancé, I realized I hadn’t done a single thing for you.”
“Oh…”
Irene gazed down at the bouquet with an unreadable expression. Within her silver-blue eyes, countless emotions surged and churned like a flood.
Could she be holding back something she dislikes?
‘I thought she’d like it.’
Leonard ran his fingertip along the ribbon of the bouquet and said,
“If you tell me your tastes, I’ll make more of an effort from now on.”
“No…”
Whether it was his imagination or not, her voice trembled faintly, sounding as though she were struggling to hold back tears.
“These are my favorite flowers.”
“…Are they?”
“Yes, thank you. I’m really happy.”
As if to prove it wasn’t a lie, Irene hugged the bouquet to her chest and smiled with utter sweetness. She smiled so brightly that the entire room seemed to glow.
Thanks to that, Leonard let out a sigh of relief before he even realized it.
“But why did you choose these flowers? Was there some particular reason?”
Her voice, asking as though it meant nothing in particular, carried a faint note of anticipation. But Leonard, busy searching for an answer, failed to notice.
“I chose them because their name is lily of the valley.”
“What about their name?”
“Your hair…”
“Because it’s silver?”
Is that too corny, then?
Irene was laughing so cheerfully that Leonard felt suddenly, needlessly embarrassed.
“I also liked the meaning the florist told me about. Do you happen to know it?”
“Of course I do. It means you’ll surely be happy.”
Irene brought the lily of the valley to her nose and breathed in its scent.
The bouquet, crowded with tiny, delicate blossoms, suited her guileless smile remarkably well.
Watching her, so perfectly like a scene that belonged in a painting, Leonard recalled a moment he had seen in a dream.
‘…What is this?’
‘Can’t you see? It’s flowers.’
‘I know they’re flowers. What I mean is, why are you giving them to me?’
‘Does a man need a reason to give a woman flowers?’
She seemed to think that he did.
Perhaps that was why the dream-Leonard, wearing a face that plainly showed his reluctance, tossed out a single line as if it meant nothing.
“Just because you’re pretty.”
I’m not exactly silver-tongued now, but the man in my dream was even less of a talker.
So Leonard could not begin to guess what he meant. Was it the flower he found pretty, or the woman who had gazed down at a single lily of the valley and smiled faintly?
“Are you prepared for this?”
“Excuse me?”
“You knew what this flower means when you gave it to me. Did you give it with the resolve to make me happy, without a doubt?”
Unlike the faint, fragile woman who seemed ready to drift away like a dandelion seed if left alone, Irene before him radiated an abundant vitality.
As if she would seize happiness for herself, if she needed it.
‘Why me of all people? Why, really?’
The question he had never answered rose once more.
Was there any reason to seat me in this place, risking the Emperor’s displeasure, helping Zenis, and even treating common mercenaries as guests?
As though there were no other choice.
“…How.”
“Hm?”
Irene tilted her head as if she couldn’t quite hear him, and Leonard bent forward.
Thinking he meant to whisper into her ear, Irene turned her head slightly to the other side and offered him her ear.
But his lips, having passed the earlobe with its dangling earring, came to rest on her fair cheek.
As if to make sure she wouldn’t miss it, he pressed his lips firmly against her cheek, and Irene’s eyes went wide.
She had demanded a reunion kiss without hesitation, and yet now she was startled. Seeing her like that, Leonard let out a short laugh.
“I think I’m the one who should be asking that. If I make you happy, are you prepared to be happy in return?”
“O-of course!”
“I don’t think so.”
Leonard tilted his head, and Irene cleared her throat briefly.
“No, I’m prepared. I really am. So do it again.”
Lifting her chin slightly, Irene closed her eyes gently. Her face, still flushed, was full of anticipation and quiet excitement.
Leonard gazed at her face for a moment, then lowered his head once more.
‘How can she be so certain that I’ll be able to make her happy?’
His broad back curved, and his hands gripped the armrests of the chair she sat in, as if enfolding her.
At the same moment, Irene’s arms wrapped around his neck, holding on as though she would never let go, desperately.
She had always held him this way. Could there be a reason behind even this kind of embrace?
‘I wonder.’
What is the reason behind all these things you do for me? Is it really me you’re trying to hold like this?
I wonder if there will ever come a moment when I can know that answer.
Swallowing all those questions inwardly, Leonard pressed his lips against Irene’s.

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