To put it bluntly, having come this far, there is no way I would back down!
It's not that I don't like Carcel, and I know that besides him, there isn't really anyone else who would help me this actively!
I'm the one who should be anxious, so I don't understand why he's getting so worked up.
"Don't just watch."
"Ah."
He probably thought he would have to spend more time persuading me.
As if the situation was still unreal, Carcel reached out his hand toward my outstretched hand.
After gently wrapping it, he took the ring out of the case and slipped it onto my left ring finger.
Carcel's eyes, strangely reddened, and his fingertips, trembling slightly, showed that he, too, was nervous in his own way.
'I thought he was just a shameless man.'
I couldn't help but laugh inwardly at that face, which seemed a bit embarrassed.
My finger, which didn't really have any special jewelry, has become heavy thanks to the ring suddenly slipping onto it, though.
"It's beautiful. I think there's a reason it's a precious gem passed down through generations of the Marquis's family."
"As far as I know, split a massive rough diamond from a mine owned by an ancestor long ago, and use one for an engagement ring."
Carcel tickled my fingertips and lowered his voice to continue speaking.
"I heard that the other one was given to be used on His Majesty's crown. So, Asha possesses a part of the jewel set in the crown."
"Gasp. May I, a humble person, wear something this valuable?"
"If it's not Asha, there is no one to join my generation, at least."
As I suddenly felt burdened and my fingertips trembled, Carcel chuckled softly.
Then, suddenly stopping his laughter, he spoke seriously.
"Let's register the marriage this afternoon."
"This afternoon? And not write a prenuptial agreement or any other contract?"
"Why would you write something like that? Doesn't that assume a divorce? You aren't planning a divorce already, are you?"
"But you said it was a contract marriage?"
At my bewildered question, Carcel's gaze briefly groped in the air as if to say, 'Ah.'
Then he answered shamelessly.
"Well, isn't trust the key to a contract? I trust Asha."
"I do appreciate you trusting me, but since problems might arise later, for now, the contract. At least write something..."
"Ah. By any chance, does Asha not trust me?"
"Yes?"
Why did the story suddenly jump to that spot?
However, Carcel was already looking at me with a sorrowful gaze and a bitter smile on his lips.
"It’s fine. Actually, if you really think about it, we’ve only known each other personally for less than a month. Even I couldn’t trust a man with whom I started a relationship in such a mess."
“Hey, over there.”
"A society where the human standard of law known as a contract is applied, rather than a marital relationship based on trust..."
"Oh, I'm saying I will! Just get married! Let's do it today!"
I knew that the hulking man would soon be slumped over again with the eyes of a lonely, abandoned puppy, so I shouted out loud.
At that, Carcel’s lips curved upward as if he had never been gloomy.
"Then we can register our marriage today, and hold a grand wedding ceremony later."
"I feel like I've been tricked for some reason..."
This time, when I looked at him with a suspicious gaze, Carcel let out a low laugh.
"Asha has already promised me, so you can't back out now."
And he slowly got up and sat beside me.
For some reason, his gaze looked satisfied, like a beast that had feasted to its heart's content.
"Now Asha is... mine."
***
An hour later, at the time when the exhausted Asha lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
Carcel bit his lip tightly in front of her door, struggling to keep the corners of his mouth from curving upward.
'I got engaged to Asha.'
What an unrealistic yet deeply moving statement this is.
Although he could not let his guard down yet, Carcel had one thing he was certain of.
'At least today, there is no man happier than me.'
He suddenly thought, "Was the world always this beautiful?"
He didn't originally intend to propose to Asha like this.
True to his nature as a meticulous planner, Carcel originally intended to propose at one of the villas that Asha would like.
'I read in a column that she would like it if I proposed to her at sunset on a cliff overlooking the sea.'
To think he proposed in such a terrible, messy way.
Honestly, it wasn't like him.
'I've always had a plan for everything I did. But whenever Asha is involved... I end up acting impulsively.'
Although he felt unfamiliar with himself, his heart pounded wildly when he thought of Asha, whose cheeks had turned a transparent pink like a rose as she accepted the proposal.
Asha was exceptionally innocent today, to the point where he felt like his heart might burst at this rate.
Carcel was overwhelmed by conflicting emotions; he wanted to give her everything, yet at the same time, he wanted to confine her to a villa on a cliff so she could not meet anyone other than himself.
'I can never tell Asa about this thought.'
Since Asha is proceeding with the marriage out of necessity, without being mentally prepared yet.
If he hadn't proposed a contract marriage, Asha probably would have continued to hesitate.
Even if it meant suffering a loss, Asha probably wouldn't have accepted the proposal until she was certain, just to avoid hurting herself.
At the same time, she instinctively sensed that in order for her to accept the proposal, the first thing to do was to bring the daughter who was currently before her.
"From now on, you must never let Asha find out."
If she knew that he was also the Duke of Lakan, whom she feared so much.
'It wouldn't be strange if she packed her bags tomorrow and disappeared abroad with her daughter.'
Even so, Carcel knew that he would find out where she was.
However, unless Asha finds it first, he won't reveal himself.
He should be able to be sure that Asha is safe, anytime and anywhere.
That was Carcel's way of loving.
If Asha runs away, even if he buys up the entire area, hires an actor, and traps her in a false, perfect world.
He will surely take Asha into his sight.
So, Carcel was grateful just for the fact that it ended with the name.
"I told Asha it was this morning, but... shall I head over?"
He still vividly remembered Asha hugging him the moment she saw him today.
Asha was not a person who was easily shocked.
Even so, she tried to rely on him, even if only for a moment.
How did you harass her?
And Asha's daughter was also completely drenched in tears, and today she was unusually weak and soft.
'She must have abused her daughter to make Asha suffer.'
Carcel tightly clutched the recording magic tool that Asha had handed to him.
He did not intend to use that content immediately because it was key evidence.
They first presented evidence that seemed to offer a way out, and then, at the moment, they laid out irreversible lies.
'This evidence will corner them.'
Everyone remaining in that household is a sinner.
Carcel strode toward the office.
“Are you here?”
"Matt, I have somewhere to go today."
"I-It's 3 AM right now?"
“Why don’t you like it?”
Matt's attitude softened instantly at that single, simple yet pointed remark.
"Oh, come on. I was just worried you might be tired."
"Play this."
Carcel handed the magic tool to Matt.
Matt looked at the unfamiliar object and eventually succeeded in playing the sound.
And the sounds that flowed from there...
Are you the type of person who feels relieved by tearing up Linea's dress and shoes and crumpling up all her books like this?
"Good heavens, what is this?"
Matt and Carcel were more full of malice than expected
Of course, to Carcel, this didn't seem like a particularly evil person, but he was dumbfounded by the fact that the target was a child and Asha's daughter.
Matt also couldn't keep a straight face.
"You're crazy. Does it make sense to tear everything up just because you don't want your granddaughter to have nice things?!"
"It’s a typical form of narcissism; there’s nothing strange about it. It’s just a personality that can’t stand not being the center."
Carcel let out a wry smile.
"Let's go now and tell them that the mother and son will be investigated amicably for the child abuse charges and the various other crimes for which we have been gathering evidence."
Carcel, who is also an inspector of the Kaldtran Empire, was granted the right to freely investigate or punish crimes.
"It would be best to leave now. Go and resolve everything before Asha wakes up."
"Understood!"
Matt also realized the seriousness of the matter and nodded enthusiastically.
And so, Count Delmore's mansion had to face the Knights who broke down the gate and entered before morning even came.
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