Please Repay Me with Marriage! - Chapter 8

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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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Pay me back by marrying me!
Chapter 8
Leonard waited for their eyes to meet, then pinned the nameless brat with a glare laced with killing intent.
Calling it killing intent was a stretch. It was closer to a silent warning, something like, “Watch your back tonight,” as he eyed the brat’s wide-open vital spots with lethal interest.
But then.
“Gah, huff… hah…!”
The brat’s face drained of color, as if someone had clamped a hand around his throat.
Thrown by the strange reaction, Leonard quickly eased the glare from his eyes and looked away.
I thought he was some pampered young lord, but did Viscount Kalio drag in a self-harming extortionist from somewhere? Why is he so terrified over one little glare?
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
At the choking sounds behind him, Viscount Kalio also turned around, his face full of confusion.
The brat dodged the hand Kalio extended in concern and backpedaled. Trembling as though a beast had been thrown right in front of him, he fled the spot, letting out a shriek of pure terror.
“H-help! Somebody help me!”
He screamed so loudly that he drew the attention of everyone scattered across the vast banquet hall all by himself.
Leonard joined in, staring at the man with a worried look, wondering what on earth had come over him. Fortunately, this was an act he excelled at.
“What’s wrong with that man? Why is he suddenly acting like that?”
“Who knows. More importantly, who is he? I’ve never seen that face before.”
“Viscount Kalio brought him here, I heard.”
After a few exchanges like that, the crowd’s gazes turned toward Viscount Kalio.
The stares pricked at his face, all asking what on earth he meant by bringing such a fuss-maker to his niece’s engagement announcement.
His face flushed red. He opened and shut his mouth a few times before snapping his head toward Leonard with a whip-like motion.
“It’s you, isn’t it? What did you do?”
“I’m not sure what you mean… From where I stood, he was just standing there, and then he suddenly ran off as if something had startled him.”
Leonard turned with an innocent expression toward Irene, who was linked arm in arm with him.
“Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, I saw it too. I suppose he must have been standing there dreaming and had a nightmare or something…”
Irene smiled brightly and asked Viscount Kalio.
“Shouldn’t you go after him? I’m worried he’ll have another nightmare if you leave him like that.”
“You little… Just wait until it comes out later that you pulled some kind of scam!”
Under Viscount Kalio’s terrifying glare, Leonard felt a bit wronged.
‘Wait, what’s the difference between what I did and that?’
It’s not as if I could kill someone with a look, so why did he run away like that?
While Leonard was lost in confusion, unable to make any sense of it, Irene let out a light, tinkling laugh.
“I don’t know what misunderstanding you’ve got yourself into, Uncle, but my fiancé is not the kind of ruffian who picks fights with people who are just standing there. He’s a truly honorable knight.”
Irene gazed up at Leonard with sparkling eyes and showed him off to her uncle.
“See? Just as I told you before, isn’t he the perfect embodiment of my ideal type? Golden hair, handsome, broad-shouldered, and such a neat, dashing knight.”
‘…What is this?’
Sensing a strange discomfort beneath her seemingly childlike voice, Leonard glanced sideways at Irene.
In the brief moment their eyes met, she gave a small smile.
Thanks to that, he understood. The man standing right in front of them was the one who had tried to kill Irene.
‘Was the rumor that Viscount Kalio was involved in the late Marquis and Marchioness’s deaths true, then?’
Of course, the man who killed his own brother wouldn’t hesitate to kill his nephew, either.
“Hmph. Well, at least he’s a nobleman. Thank goodness for that.”
Viscount Kalio looked Leonard up and down with eyes full of displeasure.
“I was worried you’d bring that bodyguard of yours along to this event, since you’ve been clinging to that knight’s hand for three years straight.”
“Oh, my. Sir Hawk is simply my personal bodyguard, Uncle. I’ve told you several times already, so I can’t understand why you’d worry about such a thing.”
Irene waved her hand dismissively, as if to say, what nonsense is this, and stole a quick glance at Leonard’s expression.
Perhaps she was acting out worry that her fiancé might misunderstand. Leonard, guessing as much, admired her acting skills and smiled warmly at her.
As if he couldn’t stand the sight, Viscount Kalio cut in abruptly.
“So how long have you been seeing this fellow, exactly? From what I hear, you’ve been courting for quite a while…”
When Leonard flashed a smile right at the man who was blatantly sizing him up, Viscount Kalio instantly turned stone-faced.
The sight was so absurd that Leonard had to bite down hard to keep the laugh that was rising from escaping.
“Didn’t you tell me yourself? That you thought it would take three years before you could recover from the grief of losing your parents.”
“Yes, I did say that. But you were there then, Uncle, weren’t you? You told me that my late parents would want me to be happy.”
As she said this, Irene beamed. Brightly, as though she truly was happy right now.
“Thanks to those words, I found the courage. I’d like to thank you once more, from the bottom of my heart, here and now, Uncle.”
With flawless, elegant poise, Irene bent her knees before Viscount Kalio.
On the surface, it looked like an uncle and niece exchanging kind words, but the air between them crackled with sharp sparks, as if lightning were about to strike. Leonard secretly rubbed his goosebump-covered forearm.
‘Well, this battle of wills is no joke.’
But to Leonard’s eyes, Viscount Kalio seemed to be the one being pushed around by Irene.
‘It’s not like I’m so cornered that I need to hide behind a fake fiancé.’
That was the thought crossing Leonard’s mind when—
“Since you’re going to be my niece’s husband, we’ll be family from now on. Shall we toast to mark the occasion?”
“Sounds good. Then…”
When Irene raised a hand to summon a servant, Viscount Kalio waved off the attendant who was already approaching.
He then called over his own attendant, who had been waiting in the back. The tray the man carried carefully in both hands held an unopened bottle of wine and three empty glasses.
“I’ve brought a bottle as a gift, so let’s toast with this.”
“Oh my, a gift?”
“Indeed. On a day like this, shouldn’t we celebrate with something special? I went all the way to Latvi Farm to buy this personally. It’s a 67-Year Vintage Wine.”
Displaying the label on the bottle as though showing off, Viscount Kalio took an opener from the attendant and pulled the cork.
It happened before anyone could stop him, and Irene let out a sigh of regret, loud enough for him to hear.
“A 67-Year Vintage is one of the rarest wines, isn’t it? I heard only 300 bottles were made that year due to the drought.”
“That’s right. By now, I imagine fewer than fifty bottles remain. The longer it ages, the more its value rises… but then, what wouldn’t I give up for my dear niece?”
Irene pouted, well accustomed to her uncle lavishly reminding her how much he cherished her.
“Ah, if you were going to open it, you could have at least given me the whole bottle. Opening such a precious wine so casually, honestly.”
“My apologies. It took a great deal of effort to obtain, but surely I’m entitled to a taste myself?”
Viscount Kalio laughed heartily and poured wine into both their glasses. Then he filled his own and, lifting it first, led the toast.
“To my niece’s happy married life.”
“Thank you, Uncle. I’ll live happily enough to make everyone envious.”
At Irene’s glance, Leonard moved the hand holding his glass into position for the toast.
But just before his glass touched Viscount Kalio’s, a startled “Whoa!” rang out behind him.
He hesitated only for an instant. Leonard yielded to the force pushing at his back and fell to the floor along with the attendant.
-Crash!
“Eek!”
“What… what on earth do you think you’re doing!”
“I-I’m so sorry, so sorry! My feet just got tangled! A-are you hurt anywhere?”
Unluckily, the attendant had been carrying a tray crowded with whiskey glasses, and Leonard was drenched head to toe in whiskey.
Ordinarily, when someone made such an unseemly spectacle, the onlookers would feign concern and then snicker behind their hands. Yet no one laughed at Leonard, who sat drenched in liquor on the floor.
Not to mention that he was the fiancé of Blair, the Marquise who hosted this banquet.
‘Oh my, heavens…’
Droplets of liquor trickled down his wet hair. Beneath his lowered lids, his crimson eyes, deep as flames, seemed to hold smoldering desire. And the way he brushed the liquor from his cheeks was utterly sensual.
Especially the way he ran his thumb over his wet lips was so seductive, as though he had set out to bewitch someone.
Among the crowd who unconsciously swallowed hard as if by prior agreement, it was Marquise Blair alone who let out a scream.
“Good heavens, blood! Leonard, there’s blood on your hand!”
Irene, who had dropped to the floor beside Leonard, found her dress ruined by the shards of broken glass and the liquor soaking the ground.
Yet, as if none of that mattered in the slightest, Irene clasped Leonard’s hand, stained red with blood through his torn glove, her eyes brimming with tears.
Flustered by those tears, Leonard hid his hand behind his back and spoke at once.
“It’s nothing. There’s no need to worry.”
“Nothing? A wound on this precious hand that holds a sword!”
Irene snatched the hand he had hidden behind his back and examined it once more.
Fretting helplessly as she kept touching Leonard’s hand, she whipped her head around and glared at the attendant who had caused this disaster.
“You, what on earth do you think you’re doing?”
“I-I’m sorry. It was a mistake. I didn’t mean to. Please, forgive me just this once!”
“Forgive you? After reducing my fiancé to this state?”
“I’m really fine. Don’t cry. …My love?”
Since he was playing her fiancé, he ought to use a pet name, but he couldn’t just make up one he didn’t know, so the word he blurted out was a desperate last resort.
Of course, the moment it left his mouth, goosebumps crawled up his arm and he regretted it.
‘I humored her, and now she’ll go and marry me outright.’
Not knowing that this would become exactly his future, Leonard could only let out flustered sounds of “Uh, uh” as Irene threw her arms around him and held him tight.

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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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